Athenian SocietyMcKenna, Myra, Ariana, & Mary

Overview

● City Dionysia Background & Influence

● Oracles Background & Influence

● Athenian Debate Background & Influence

● Literary Elements

● Current Influence

● Easier Concepts

● Challenging Concepts

City Dionysia Background

● Ancient drama festival

● Where tragedy and comedy drama originated

● Held in Athens in March in honour of Dionysus

● Tragic poets wrote, produced, and acted in three

tragedies on a single theme

● Also presented a satyr play

● Judges awarded a prize

City Dionysia Influence

● Dionysus - god of wine and fertility & represents springtime and joy

● One of the elements of these celebrations was the dithyramb (an ode to the gods)

● Celebration of Athenian culture

City Dionysia in Antigone

● Creon and Antigone symbolize of the many cultural clashes going on in Athens at the time

● “Hast thou no shame to differ from all these? To reverence kith and kin can bring no shame” (506-512).

● “May I not speak, or must I turn and go without a word? Begone! canst thou not see. Go, quibble with thy reason. If thou fail'st to find these malefactors, thou shalt own the wages of ill-gotten gains is death” (313-327).

Oracles Background

● Prophets and prophecies connected to the gods

● Interpretations of the future sent to mortals

● Sounds of nature used to form prophecies

● Oracle of Apollo at Delphi○ Height of power- 1600 BC○ Priestess Pythia ○ Fall of power- Christianity

Oracles Influence

● Influence and Use of Oracles

○ Times of crisis

○ Personal conflicts

○ Sickness and war

● Cultural Shifts

○ 1400 BC- earliest known use of oracles as a part of Ancient

Greek religion

○ Seekers all around Greece traveled to hear from oracles

○ People questioned accuracy of prophecies

○ Fell around 4th century AD due to Roman Christianity

Oracles in Antigone

● Defiance of gods and Teiresias ● “You want to talk but never to hear

and listen” (815) ● “This is the city’s sickness--and your

plans are the cause of it” (1064)

● “...the avenging Spirits of Death itself and the gods’ Furies shall after your deeds...and in their hands you shall be taken cruelly” (1134-1137)

● “That was a terrible prophecy, my lord...he has never spoken a word of a lie to our city” (1153-1156)

Athenian Debate Background

● Mytilenian Debate○ 427 B.C.○ Mytilenean revolt during Peloponnesian war○ Debated over punishment○ Chose to spare lives; only executed leaders

● Agora - “Gathering Place”○ Center of athletics, art, spirits, and politics

● Pnyx - Democratic assemblies● Law Courts - trial by jury

○ Heliaia - 6000 members

Athenian Debate Influence

● Importance of democracy

● Application to plays

○ Episodes - two characters often debate over

differing viewpoints

○ Law of the Gods vs. law of man

● Appeal to audiences

○ Athenian male citizens

Athenian Debate in Antigone

● Antigone vs. Creon● “It is impossible to know any man...until he

shows skill in rule and law” (193-195).● “It was not Zeus that made the

proclamation; nor did Justice” (494-495).● “There is nothing worse than disobedience

to authority” (723-724).● “Must I rule the land by someone else’s

judgment rather than my own? (792-793).

Greek Literary Concepts

● Hubris - excessive pride or defiance of the gods

● Hamartia - a fatal flaw leading to the downfall of a tragic hero

● Catharsis - releasing strong or repressed emotions

Greek Literary Elements in Antigone

● Hubris - Creon’s perceived supremacy over the gods○ “Now here I am, holding all authority and the

throne” (191-192).● Hamartia - Antigone’s stubborn loyalty to

her family○ “I shall lie by his side, loving him as he loved me”

(83-84).● Catharsis - series of suicides at the end of

the novel○ “I am no more a live man than one dead” (1386).

Greek Audience

● Led by drunken men dressed up in goat skins

● Primarily adult male citizens of Athens● Embassies from other regions● Women were excluded

Greek Audience in Antigone

● Chorus is made up of a group of old Theban men

● They represent the male dominated society that Antigone defies

● “Supplied with cleverness of every imaginable type,He ventures once towards evil, and then towards good”(379-380).

● Many things are formidable, and yet nothing is quite so formidable as man” (340).

Current Influence

● The Concept of Debate○ Debates are still an essential part of life today. ○ Politics

● City Dionysia was the birthplace of tragedies and comedies○ Influenced drama all over the world

Easier Concepts

● The religious festivals where plays were performed was a significant part of Athenian culture.

● The reality that the audience for these plays were predominantly male

Challenging Concepts

● How debate was incorporated into dramas, and how it kept the audience engaged.○ Creon’s conflict takes the form of a debate

● The idea that both Creon and Antigone believe in the power of the gods, yet they have extremely different ideas of what the gods deem ‘just’.

Discussion

Question #1

In the tragedy Antigone, there are several conflicting ideas about the role of the gods. Discuss these views with the people around you and cite specific examples.

AnswersAntigone believes that she can control her own destiny and believes that what she is doing is right. Antigone tells Ismene, “‘... I shall be a criminal- but a religious one. The time in which I must please those that are dead is longer than I must please those of this world. For there I shall lie forever. You, if you like, can cast dishonor on what the gods have honored’” (Sophocles 84-89). Antigone believes that she will have the blessing of the gods when she properly buries her brother, Polyneices, after Creon declared that his body not be buried. However, Creon believes that he is the voice of the gods, and has the blessing of the gods because he has authority. When the Sentry tells him that Polyneices body has been tampered with, Creon replies, “‘For what you say is surely insupportable when you say the gods took forethought for this corpse. It is out of excess honor for the man, for the favors that he did them, they should cover him’” (Sophocles 312-314)? Creon can not believe that the will of the gods is being taken, because he had considered this body disgraced.

Question #2

In Ancient Greece, the gods were seen as ‘almighty’ and ‘omniscient’. This belief has been translated into several works studied throughout your high school career, such as Oedipus and The Odyssey. Looking at these two works and an additional work of your choice, describe how they relate to the idea of fate and the power of a higher being(s).

Answers

The entire premise of Oedipus is that Oedipus was not able to change his fate, despite his numerous attempts. The will of the gods and the prophecy of the oracle all proved to be the truth. In The Odyssey, Odysseus spends seven years trying to get home. Along the way, he is constantly deferred by the gods, who have taken sides. The gods influenced Odysseus's journey, which ultimately had a happy ending. One example of such influence over the life of others presents itself in The Scarlet Letter. In this novel, predestination is a crucial aspect that follows the belief that there is an all-knowing higher being. The idea of predestination states that no matter what one does in this current life (as in actions good or bad) he or she is already predestined to go to Heaven or Hell, as determined by God.

Question #3

Antigone’s main conflict is between Creon and Antigone. Creon believes that Antigone should be killed for her crime, and the Chorus persuades him to let Antigone go. How does the interaction between the Chorus, Antigone, and Creon reflect the style of debate of the time period? Be sure to cite examples from the text.

Answers

These debates that take place in the play only take place with two characters on stage. Both characters give their different viewpoints to contribute to the argument. For example, when Creon and the Chorus are debating about what to do with Antigone after they had discovered what she did, they go back and forth sharing their ideas.

CHORUS: The savage spirit of a savage father

shows itself in this girl. She does not know

how to yield trouble.

CREON: I would have you know the most fanatic spirits

fall most of all. It is the toughest iron,

baked in the fire to hardness…. This girl has learned her insolence

before this, when she broke the established laws

(Sophocles 515-525).

Question #4

When Antigone was written, there was a growing cynicism of religious beliefs. What do you think Sophocles’s intention was in writing this play, considering previous knowledge about Sophocles from other presentations? How was his intention portrayed throughout the work? Support your answers with evidence.

Answers

● Sophocles believed that the government was controlled by the gods. Destruction would occur if people did not obey the gods. This aspect of the growing cynicism in religion can be seen by how greatly Creon disobeyed the gods. Throughout Antigone, he developed this idea in the downfall of Creon’s character.

● “...what bravery is this, to inflict another death upon the dead? I mean you well and speak well for your good. It is never sweeter to learn from a good counselor than when he counsels to your benefit” (1079-1083) - Value of listening to the gods

● “There is nothing worse than disobedience to authority” (723)- Irony in Creon’s beliefs- He (Creon) believes in only his authority and fails to recognize his fate by the gods

● “Lead me away,a vain silly man who killed you, son, and you, too lady. I did not mean to, but I did...a most unwelcome fate has leaped upon me” (1403-1408). (Creon)

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