Ancient Greek Tragedy

Ancient Greek Tragedy NotesSophocles (495-405 B.C)At 28, he won first prize in the City Dionysia--a festival held every year at the Theatre of Dionysus in which new plays were presented, defeating another famous Greek playwright, Aeschylus.Wrote more than 120 plays and won at least 18 other 1st prizes. Only 7 plays survive.Known as a great innovator:Introduced a 3rd actorAbolished the trilogic form- each of his plays was complete in itselfOedipus RexAlso known as Oedipus the King or Oedipus TyrannusCommonly considered Sophocles finest workOften heralded as a "perfectly structured" playExplores the depths of modern psycho-analysis; was very influential to the theories of Sigmund FreudAntigoneThe 3rd of Sophocles' 3 Theban plays, although it was written firstWritten around 442 BCPreceded by Oedipus Rex and Oedipus at Colonus

Definition of tragedya drama whose plot centers around a reversal of fortune

stresses the vulnerability of human beings whose suffering is brought on by a combination of human and divine actions

not totally pessimistic in its outlook

Definition from the Classics Technology Center

The Tragic Herothe central character of a tragedy (like Oedipus)

suffers some serious misfortune which is not accidental (and therefore meaningless), but is logically connected with the hero's actions (thus, the term tragic flaw.)

from Classics Technology CenterThe Theateran open-air auditoriumin earliest performances, just a circular area (the orchestra) at the bottom of a gently sloping hilllater, wooden and stone seating was builtthe Theater of Dionysus seated up to 15,000 peopleTheater of Dionysus

The Setthe set, called the skene, consisted of a tent or wooden building, in front of which all scenes were actedall scenes in tragedy take place outside; any off-stage action is conveyed by a messenger because it was too awkward and difficult to change the set

Wooden theater, 5th century BC11

2nd century BC12

1st century AD, Roman period used for gladiator matches13

View from above14The Chorussang and danced in between scenes so that the actors could changeparticipated in scenes through the chorus leader, called Choragussang entrance song (called the Parados)

The Purpose of the ChorusRemained on the stage for the entire play to observe and comment on the actions of the main characters

Can you think of any modern film or real-life equivalents to the Greek chorus?

The CastOriginally, the Greek plays had just one actor and a chorus of up to 50 people.Later, a second and third actor were added always men.

The CostumesThe actors wore masks so that they could portray multiple characters, as well as so male actors could believably portray female roles.

The masks had exaggerated features so that the large audience could see changes in characters from far away.

Greek Theater VocabularyTragedyTragic heroTragic flawChorus and choragus