Greek Theatre

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• Taking Cornell Notes-Review
• Jot down key points on the left side of your
  paper
• Take notes on right side of paper
• Summarize key points at the bottom of page

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Greek Theatre
Overview Sophocles Antigone Greek Gods
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Greece

• has thousands of inhabited islands and dramatic
  mountain ranges
• a rich culture and history
• Democracy was founded in Greece
• Patriarchal (male dominated) society
• Philosophy, as a practice, began in Greece
  (Socrates, Plato, Aristotle)

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Location

• Greece is located in Europe on the Aegean Sea

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The Land
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Overview of Greek Theatre

• The land

• The myths

• The stage

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The Stage
Greek theaters were built on hillisdes with a
slight inward slope Seats were built in rows of
earth and stone or of wood
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The Stage
Three Main Portions of Greek Theatre Skene
Painted wall where actors entered and exited
Orchestra Dancing Place Place where chorus
chanted and danced and where actors
performed Theatron Seating for audience
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The Stage
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The Plays

• Greek plays were performed during religious
  ceremonies held in honor of Dionysus, the Greek
  god of wine and revelry (altars generally on
  stage)
• Banks would shut down for days, people would
  travel from all around to see the drama
  competitionseven prisoners were temporarily
  released to see the plays
• Tragedy means goat song (relates to Dionysian
  rituals)

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The Stage
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Where and how were the dramas performed?
In amphitheaters chorus consisted of 15 men
who commented on the action of the play and
interpreted its meaning in chanted poems or
odes Choragus, the leader or spokesman of the
chorus
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• Actors wore
• Oversized masks with exaggerated features to
  amplify the sound
• Oversized costumes and tall shoes with raised
  soles to aid audiences viewing

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Violent acts were never performed on stage but
were communicated through the dialogue of the
characters.
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Major Greek Dramatists
Dramatist Born Wrote
Aeschylus 524 B.C. Seven Against Thebes
Sophocles-famous playwright-wrote 120 tragedies 496 B.C. Antigone Oedipus
Euripides 480 B.C. Medea
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Sophocles

• First competed for the prize in
• tragedy when he was 27. He won, defeating
  Aeschylus, then the most famous playwright in
  Athens.
• Had a fortunate life
• Born at Colonus to wealthy family
• Given traditional education in music, dancing and
  gymnastics

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• Only 7 of his plays remain today, but are among
  the greatest plays ever written.
• At his death, he was given the honors of a hero
• Credited with having an understanding of human
  grief and suffering

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• When Greeks defeated the Persians in 480 B.C., he
  led the chorus in singing and dancing at the
  victory celebration.
• Active in public life
• Served as priest of the god Asclepius
• At 83 was appointed to a commission studying a
  revision of Athens constitution

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Sophocles Antigone

• Set in Thebes (a city in ancient Greece)-ill
  fated royal house of Thebes
• Antigone is the daughter of Oedipus and Jocasta
• Antigones brothers, Eteokles and Polyneices,
  took opposite sides in a war
• Eteokles and Polyneices kill each other in battle
• Creon, Antigones uncle becomes king of Thebes

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Overview of Greek Theatre

• The land

• The myths

• The stage

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The Myths Why they were written

1. Explained the unexplainable
2. Justified religious practices
3. Gave credibility to leaders
4. Gave hope
5. Polytheistic (more than one god)
6. Centered around the twelve Olympians (primary
   Greek gods)

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Myths played a key rolein Greek drama
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Explained the Unexplainable

• When Echo tried to get Narcissus to love her, she
  was denied.
• Saddened, she shriveled to nothing, her existence
  melting into a rock.
• Only her voice remained.
• Hence, the echo!

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To justify religious practices

• Dionysian cults in ancient Greece were founded to
  worship Dionysus, god of grapes, vegetation, and
  wine.

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To give credibility to leaders

• The Romans used myths to create family trees for
  their leaders, enforcing the made-up idea that
  the emperors were related to the gods and were,
  then, demigods.

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To give hope

• The ancient citizens of Greece would sacrifice
  and pray to an ORACLE.
• An oracle was a priest or priestess who would
  send a message to the gods from mortals who
  brought their requests.

Where DID hope come from? After unleashing
suffering, famine, disease, and many other evils,
the last thing Pandora let out was HOPE.
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The Oracle at Delphi
Most famous oracle in Greek mythology.
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Mount Olympus
Where the Olympians lived. Who are
the Olympians?
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The Olympians Are the 12 Main Gods
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Temperaments of the Olympians
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Zeus

• King of gods
• Supreme power and ruler
• Lord of the sky
• Storms
• Thunder
• lightning

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Poseidon

• Zeuss brother
• Carries 3 pronged spear
• King of the sea
• Earthquakes
• Gave man the horse

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Hades

• Brother to Zeus and Poseidon
• God of the Underworld
• King of the Dead
• Husband of Persphone

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Ares

• God of war
• Son of Zeus and Hera
• Was not liked anywhere in heaven or earth

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Hephaestus

• God of fire
• Craftspeople
• Metalworkers
• Lame, ugly god was loved everywhere because he
  was kind and peace loving

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Apollo

• God of the sun
• Music
• Poetry
• Fine arts
• Medicine

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Hermes

• Messenger to the gods
• Trade
• Commerce
• Travelers
• Thieves scoundrels

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Dionysus

• Honored by the Greeks plays
• God of Wine
• Partying (Revelry)

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Hera

• Queen of gods
• Zeus wife and sister
• Protected marriage and married women

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Demeter

• Goddess of Harvest
• Agriculture
• Fertility
• Fruitfulness
• Mom to Persephone

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Hestia

• Goddess of Hearth and Home
• Zeus sister
• Had no distinct personality and played no major
  part in myths
• A candle burned in every Greek city to honor her

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Athena

• Goddess of wisdom
• She had no mother and was born from Zeus head
  invented the bridle and first to tame the horse
• Her city was Athens
• Goddess of civilization, agriculture and
  handicrafts

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Aphrodite

• Goddess of love and beauty

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Artemis

• Goddess of hunting and the moon.
• Lover of the woods and wild things
• Goddess most mixed with both good and evil
• Goddess of the Wild

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• Lets Summarize...
• Cornell notes-
• Key points on left
• Notes on right
• Summarize on bottom
• Greek Drama-
• Drama of early Greeks began as religious
  celebrations
• Performed with a chorus
• Leader of the chorus-choragus
• Two types of plays, comedy and tragedy
• Actors wore masks, costumes, tall shoes
• Antigone is a tragedy
• Identify Sophocles-famous playwright
• Describe a typical amphitheater-
• Sloping, outside, semicircle, arena
• What played a key role in Greek drama? Myths

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