Greek Tragedy Everything you wanted to know about Greek tragedy but were afraid to ask.
Greek Tragedy in Performance
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Transcript of Greek Tragedy in Performance
GREEK TRAGEDY IN PERFORMANCE
Skene• DEFINITION: a structure facing the audience and forming the
background before which performances were given• Medea- the children die off stage• Hippolytus- Phaedra commits suicide off stage, and so does
Hippolytus• Antigone- Creons wife (Eurydice) and son (Heamon) die off
stage, and Antigone’s attempt to bury her brother is off stage• Oedipus the King – Oedipus gouges his own eyes out, and
Jocasta kills herself off stage.
Ekkyklema
• DEFINITION: a wheeled platform rolled out through a skene in ancient Greek theatre. It was used to bring interior scenes out into the sight of the audience
• Antigone- the corpse of Eurydice is draped over the household altar.
• Hippolytus- Hippolytus' dying body is revealed to the audience in the final scene of the play.
Pinakes
• DEFINITION: pictures hung to create scenery• In Oedipus the King, and Antigone, the play
takes place in front of a place, formed using pinakes.
• Medea- takes place in front of Jason and Medea's house.
• Hippolytus- takes place outside the royal palace in Trozen.
Mechane
• DEFINITION: a crane used in Greek theatre to lift an actor into the air, usually representing flight
• Medea- when “Medea appears above the place in a chariot drawn by dragons”.
- this elevates Medea to a god-like being