Greek Theater Euripides (480-406 B.C.E.). Historical Background Golden Age of Greece (594 – 338...
-
Upload
bridget-armstrong -
Category
Documents
-
view
213 -
download
0
Transcript of Greek Theater Euripides (480-406 B.C.E.). Historical Background Golden Age of Greece (594 – 338...
Greek Theater
Euripides (480-406 B.C.E.)
Historical Background
• Golden Age of Greece (594 – 338 B.C.E.) – beginnings of democracy, defeat of Persia gave Greek city-states independence
• Play festival emerged from religious celebrations of Dionysus (god of wine and intoxication)
• Plays were entered in contests – judges gave awards for best actor and playwright
• At first, only tragedies – comedies added later
Participants of Greek Drama• All actors and playwrights were men• Wore large, lightweight masks (quick changes,
character easy to see, funnel-shaped mouths [megaphones])
• Chorus: approx. 50 men, chanting lines & songs, would speak directly to audience, functioned as narrator
• 534 B.C.E.: First play where “actor” stepped from chorus and spoke lines by himself (Thespis – thespian)
• By 471 B.C.E., three actors standard
Example of Greek Mask
Greek Theaters• Would hold 14,000 to 17,000 people• Orchestra: flat circular area in center where
acting took place• Aeorema: a crane could “fly in” a God to
intervene in a play (deus ex machina: “god in the machine”)
• Ekeclema: wheeled platform where dead characters were revealed. Murder, suicide, and graphic violence always happened offstage.
• Skene: painted backdrop (scene/scenery)
Greek Theater at Epidaurus
Famous Greek Playwrights
• Sophocles (tragedy: Oedipus Rex, Antigone)
• Euripides (tragedy: Medea)
• Aristophanes (comedy: Lysistrata)
Aristotle: Poetics• Aristotle (384-322 B.C.E.): Greek
philosopher, thinker
• Profound influence on Western science, logic, philosophy, and drama
• Poetics concerned with “correct” poetry (includes drama)
Key concepts of Poetics• Catharsis: the emotional, overwhelming
feeling from watching a tragedy• Tragedy has superior characters, comedy
has inferior characters• Aristotle believed proper tragedy should
have only one important plot and a short timeframe; plays with one setting were the norm in Greek theater.