1. The Theater of Ancient Greece
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Tuesday, November 16, 2010

2. Dionysus
•God of wine, winemaking,
and the grape harvest
•God of ecstasy and
madness
•Enjoys worship and
celebration, festivals and
theater
•During the Festival of
Dionysus, three playwrights
compete for glory on stage

3. The Stage

5. Conventions of Greek Theater
3 actors, chorus (no women)
Highly stylized
Large, elaborate masks
Large, flowing robes
Song and dance (usually chorus)
Action confined to 24 hours
Non-naturalistic passage of time
No violence/blood on stage

6. Greek Plays only used 3 actors, regardless
of the number of characters.
They distinguished between characters using
masks.

7. Greek Chorus: the group of actors
who represented the general
public, and commented on the
action of the play through poetry
and song.

8. Choragos (choragus): the leader of the Chorus

9. oA serious play in which the chief character – tragic
hero – passes through a series of misfortunes
leading to a final, devastating catastrophe
oDownfall usually occurs as a result of fate, gods,
and a tragic flaw
Tragedy

10. Hamartia = tragic flaw.
The flaw that makes the character seem more
human is also the flaw that contributes to his or her
downfall
Anagnorisis = a realization or transformation that
saves the tragic hero from death.
•A change from ignorance to awareness, usually about
the characteres’ fate, destiny, gods’ will, etc.

11. Antigone by Sophocles
oWritten ≈ 442 B.C.E.
oThird (chronologically) in The Theban Plays:
oOedipus the King
oOedipus at Colonus
oAntigone
oAnti = “against,” gone = “birth” (daughter of incest)
oAlso translated as “unbending”
oTakes place in Thebes, Greece
oChorus represents Theban elders