Greek drama and its original days, brief history of the birth of Greek Drama, where Greek Drama first took place, its purpose, and its sequence of events.

1. Group members:
Rajeef Suckra
Chantelle Beckford
Karinski Brown
Othelia Service

2.  A theatrical culture that flourished in ancient
Greece.

3.  Came into existence in Athens, Greece, and
was usually staged there.
 Greek drama was constructed as a way of
honouring Dionysus, the Greek God of ecstasy.
 Athenians spread these festivals to its
numerous allies to promote a common identity.
 Staged in the amphitheatre.

4.  represents an ethos, a social consciousness that
serves as a constant reminder of moral and
social issues at stake in the drama.
The chorus in
comedy is 24
The chorus in
tragedy changed
overtime from 50
to 15

5.  Lamentation or warning.
 Heightening significant moments.
 Encouraging and rejoicing.
 Foretelling the future.
 Remembering what characters had forgotten
and did not know.
 Better performed by symphonies and
orchestras today.

6.  Choral entry song (parados)- in which the
Greeks invite the God/Gods before beginning.
 First stasimon- reflects what was done in the
episodes and puts it in a larger mythological
framework (usually done in tragedies).
 Exodus- the exit song, offers words of wisdom
related to the actions and outcome of the play.

7.  Greek term for mask is persona.
 Known to have been used since the time of
Aeschylus and considered to be one of the
ironic conventions of classical theatre.
 Made of wood, stiffened linen, animal and
human hair, cork, leather.

8.  Exaggerates expressions to help define the
characters being portrayed (sex, age, social
status).
 Allowed actors to play various roles or
genders.
 Had greater dramatic effect in tragedies.
 Were normally ugly and unsightly in comedy
and satyr plays, but life-like in tragedies.

10.  Help to create character.
 They were elaborate decorated versions of
everyday clothing of the Athenians.
 Tragic actors wore buskins (raised platform
shoes) to symbolise superiority.
 Comedy actors wore plain socks.
 For female roles, males wore a prosterneda
(imitation of breasts) and progustreda
(stomach or belly), both wooden parts.

12.  It depicts the downfall of a good person by a
fatal error or misjudgment, producing suffering
and insight on the part of the protagonist and
arousing pity and fear on the part of the
audience.
 It should evoke pity and fear on the part of the
audience.
 A tragic hero must be essentially admirable
and good.

13.  In a true tragedy a hero’s demise must come as
a result of some persona error or decision.

14.  Anagnorisis- the moment that the tragic hero
suddenly realises the web of fate he has entangled
himself in.
 Hamartia- the error of the protagonist that
eventually leads to the final event in the play. It
can be something as simple as a miscalculation or
slip-up.
 Nemesis or retribution- the inevitable punishment
or cosmic payback for the acts of pride or over-
aspiration on the hero’s part.
 Peripateia (plot reversal)- a crucial action on the
part of the protagonist that changes his situation
from seemingly secure to vulnerable.

15.  Ancient comedy originated from the komos, a
curious spectacle in which a company of festive
males apparently sang, danced, and cavorted
rollickingly around the large phallus.
 For most of its history, comedy has involved a
high-spirited celebration of human sexuality
and the triumph of eros.
 In essence, a comedy is a story of the rise in
fortune of a sympathetic central character.

16.  Comic figures are usually average or below
average in terms of moral character.
 The most ridiculous characters are those who
are high-born, but self-centered instead of truly
noble.

19.  Diazoma- horizontal walkway dividing upper and
lower sections of the theatre.
 Kerkis- wedge-shaped seating section of the
theatron.
 Klikames- stairways in the theatron
 Logeion- Greek stage.
 Orchestra- space between the audience and the
stage; primary chorus performance space in Greek
theatre.

20.  Paraskenion- hellenistic projecting side
additions to the skene.
 Parodos- side entrance into the orchestra of a
Greek theatre.
 Skene- building behind the orchestra originally
used for storage but provided a convenient
backing for performances.

21.  http://www.whitman.edu/theatre/theatretou
r/glossary/glossary.htm
 http://condor.depaul.edu/dsimpson/tlove/c
omic-tragic.html
 The School for New Learning, DePaul
University, Chicago, IL 60604
© David L. Simpson, 1998