Overview of Greek Theatre• The land

• The myths

• The stage

The Land

• Greece has thousands of inhabited islands and dramatic mountain ranges

• Greece has a rich culture and history

• Democracy was founded in Greece

• Patriarchal (male dominated) society

• Philosophy, as a practice, began in Greece (Socrates, Plato, Aristotle)

The Land

Located in Europe in the Aegean Sea

The Stage

Where and how were the dramas performed?

…In an amphitheatre

…With a chorus who described most of the action.

…With masks

…With all the fighting and movement going on off stage.

….With tragedy first, then comedy later.

The StageThree Main Portions of Greek Theatre:

Skene – Portion of stage where actors performed (included 1-3 doors in and out)

Orchestra – “Dancing Place” where chorus sang to the audience

Theatron – Seating for audience

The Stage• Greek plays were performed during religious

ceremonies held in honor of Dionysus, the Greek god of wine and revelry.

• Enormous audiences (40,000)– Loud actors with exaggerated movements

• All actors were men• Audience knew the story ahead of time, they

came to see emotional acting

The Chorus• A group of actors who sang and spoke in unison

during choral odes• Represented a single character • What did they do?

– Set the mood– Summarized action– Took sides during an argument– Warned of diseaster

The Stage

Who was Sophocles

1 of three great Greek playwrights

Wrote 100 plays Lived to be 90 years old

Born 496 B.C. Only 7 plays remain

Competed against Aeschylus and Euripides

Civil servant Regularly entered and won contests with his writing

First to add a third actor to his plays

Antigone• The play is part of a cycle of three plays that together

describe several generations of the Cadmus family

• Cadmus family is cursed by gods– Oedipus will kill his father (king) and marry his mother

• Eventually he does, his parents die/exile from shame.

• Oedipus becomes king. When he dies, his 2 son’s split the title, and end up killing each other in a power struggle. They are not given equal respect in death, which creates a conflict.

More Antigone

• Set in Thebes (a city in ancient Greece)• Antigone is the daughter of Oedipus and

Jocasta• Antigone’s brothers, Eteokles and

Polyneces, took opposite sides in a war• Eteokles and Polyneces killed each other

in battle• Antigone’s uncle, Kreon, became king of

Thebes

Copy Only The Boxed Portion!

The EndThe End