Theatre HistoryTheatre History

Greek Theatre

Why the Greeks?Why the Greeks?

Because of what happened afterwards: • Hellenization (influence of Greek culture) • Influence of the Roman Empire • Renaissance values (Greece & Rome revisited)• Aristotle (criticism as footnotes)

Where is Greece?Where is Greece?

TimelineTimeline1300 BC Trojan war, worship of Dionysus arrives800 Homer (Iliad & Odyssey), origin of myths for Greek

Drama800 – 600 Development of the Polis (city-state), rise of the

nobles, developed writing from Phoenicians

750 Development of Greek colonies - dependent on control of the sea, states

compete for control650 – 500 Rule of the Tyrants560 - 510 Peristratus (tyrant) founded City Dionysia508 - 404 Democracy - Classical Greece490s War with Persians

480-404 Golden Age of Athens Socrates, Plato, Aristotle - philosophers Herodotus - father of history as a social science Pythagorus - geometry Hippocrates - oath for physicians Playwrights - Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Aristophones

430-380s Pelopennesian war/Decline of Athens 404 Athens falls, Sparta takes control371 Thebes takes control

Hellenistic Period338 Macedonia takes political control, Athens continues

as cultural capital336-323 Alexander the Great146 Rome conquers Greece

Classical Greek CultureClassical Greek Culture

Never complete/whole, has elements of Helladic, democratic, near eastern, Egyptian, etc.

Religion Individual (Humanism) Democracy Justice

Art Concepts Beauty – is part of character, aesthetic, not

philosophical. Beauty is realized through actions, art is realized in artworks/not discussion. Consisted of rationality, idealism, proportion, balance.

Greek architects - Parthenon, Acropolis

SculptureSculpture

ArchitectureArchitecture

AudienceAudience

4 Festivals a year – Rural, City, Lenaia, Anthesteria (2 Dithyrambs, satyr play)

City Dionysia – c. March 530 B.C. presented in honor of Dionysus, god of wine, fertility, revelry/celebration

- c. 501, becomes dithyrambs, 3 tragedies and a satyr play, 5 writers compete

- c. 430 B.C. Oedipus Rex - 3 actors, 1 musician, 15 chorus

Play selection & finance Archons (magistrates) give out chorus, choregus pay for it all,

playwrights direct

AudienceAudience

Theatre of Dionysus held 14,000 - 17,000 people Performances lasted all day Women and slaves? Special seats for archon, choregoi, city leaders Violence punishable by death Prizes for actors, representatives selected from the audience Plays represent community values, are social events

Theatre Architecture Theatre Architecture

• orchestra (dancing place)• theatron (seeing place)• skene (background building with doors)• paradoi (chorus entrances)

• pinakes (flats) • periaktoi (triangles)• ekkyklema (for revealing bodies) rolls out• machina (crane)

PlaysPlays

Fifth Century tragic playwrights – 31 0f 1000 survive

• Aeschylus - introduced 2nd actor, plays dealt with noble families & lofty themes, used chorus extensively, powerful poetry in choral sections, soldier, prominent citizen, fought at Marathon, wrote 90 plays, 7 extant,

• Sophocles - plot construction, added 3rd actor, exploration of character, focus on individual, innovations in scene painting, single dramas not trilogies, civic leader,

• Euripides - sympathetic potrayal of women, greater realism, skeptical treatment of gods, ‘modern’, diminished use of chorus

• Aristophones – old comedy, attacks authority figures, bold comic premise, exagerration, sexual humour

Tragic Play Structure

a. Prologue

b. Parodos - Chorus Entrance

c. First Episode - Characters have dialogue (scene)

d. First Stasimon - Chorus response

e. Exodos - Chorus Exits

AristotleAristotle1. PLOT Beginningi) Exposition

ii) Point of Attack iii) Inciting Incidentiv) Major Dramatic Question

Middle i) Complicationsii) Crisisiii) Division of Scenes

End Resolution

2. CHARACTERS3. THOUGHT/IDEA 4. DICTION (Sound)5. MUSIC

6. SPECTACLE

ActingActing

In early days playwright was the single actor, Thespis considered the first actor in 6th Cent. B.C. (534)

Aeschylus added second actor By Sophocles it was three semi-professional actors playing multiple

roles through the use of masks. Emphasis on voice’s ability to express character, no facial expression,

use of body to express emotionChorus 5 functions of the Greek Chorus i) group character, gives advice, expresses opinion ii) expresses author’s point of view iii) ideal spectator, model the audience’s response iv) establish mood v) spectacle