Greek Tragedy: an Overview

Greek Tragedy: An Overview The Golden Age of Greek Tragedy – 5th- 4th BCE

Religious Origins  Worship of the god Dionysus  Choral lyric performed in honor of Dionysus, god of wine and fertility  Men danced in goatskins impersonating the satyr followers of Dionysus  Tragoedia = goat song

Introduction of Actors

Thespis (@525 B.C- thespians)- introduced the first actor  performed in intervals between the dancing/singing of the chorus  took several parts, at times have a dialogue with the chorus  gradually new stories beyond those concerning Dionysus emerged  chorus would not be dressed as satyrs, but according to the new stories

Aeschylus (approx. 524-455 B.C.) added second actor

Sophocles (approx. 497-405 B.C.) added third actor  caused the role of the chorus to decrease as number of actors increased

Plays Performed at Drama Festivals in honor of Dionysus  Dramatists wrote in their spare time (Sophocles was a general)  Submitted their works to a jury  3 day drama festival each year held in honor of Dionysus  Winning dramatist presented 3 tragedies and a satire  Prizes for playwrights  Wealthy patrons paid production costs

Political and Religious Function of the Plays  Plays produced by the state as a function of the state religion  Plays presented with the mystery and grandeur of a religious experience  For the Greeks, all art has a moral purpose/performs a function for the good of the state  Lessons taught through the tragedies: moderation, piety, importance of the state  Audience had a civic duty to attend; virtually free admission, familiar themes, audience participation The Greek Theater  Audience sat on the hollowed-out hill-side in the open air )theatron)  Seating capacity at the theater in Athens - 17,000  Audience looked down on a flat round area, at the base of the hill, which was the dancing place of the chorus (orchestra)  Before the play, sacrifices were made to the god, Dionysus  Behind the orchestra was the dressing room for the actors (skene)  The front of the skene served as the scenery for the play, usually representing the front of a temple or palace  ￤There was no curtain  The deus ex machina was a technical feature consisting of a metal crane on top of the skene from which a dummy representing a god could be suspended. The god seemingly descended from Mount Olympus and resolved all the play's complications

The Tragic Structure  Prologue - opening scene, background  Parados - entrance of the chorus  Episodes - like scenes or acts, dialogue between actors  Stasima - choral odes or songs at the end of each episode (usually reinforce ethical themes)  Exodus - final scene after last stasimon - ends with ceremonial exit of all players  Usual format: 5 Episodes

Characters Chorus  Beauty of poetry and dancing  Mood and central themes of the play  Interpret events - not necessarily correctly  Relieve tension  Converse with and give advice to characters  Give background information to the audience

Actors  Wore masks, shoes with high soles, rich robes  Made only dignified movements  No violent action  Great prestige  No women

Tragic Hero  Flawed, usually motivated by overbearing pride/hubris  Sets himself or herself above or equal to the gods  Breaks the order of things, perverts the design of the gods  Climax is the hero's recognition of error and subsequent fall to destruction  May be trapped by necessity and responsibility to perform acts which inevitably lead to disaster

Plots  Drawn from Greek myths familiar to everyone  No need to tell the story in full detail  Interest is not in how the story would turn out, but how the individual poet would interpret it  No information on characters beyond relevance to the issue at hand  No subplots  3 unities: time, place, action

Greek View of the World

Man is limited, ruled by fate and the gods  is nevertheless dignified  must be resigned to his own limitations  even the innocent suffer  human self-confidence and wisdom are illusory before divine truth  when divine and human purposes conflict, the gods are supreme

Gods  occupy the same kind of world as the Greeks themselves  send suffering and evil  bring the downfall of the tragic hero  constant tension between free will (men) and necessity (gods and fate)

Suffering  brings knowledge  shows us the greater world beyond mere human concerns

The Effect of Tragedy on the Audience (according to Aristotle)  produces catharsis - purging of emotions  causes pity - for those in the tragedy who suffer misfortune  causes fear - that someone like or greater than ourselves suffers misfortune  teaches a lesson about the gods, about citizenship, about leadership Antigone

Sophocles (497-405 B.C.)

Prologue (1-116) Antigone and Ismene: Background to the ethical conflict

Parados (116 –178) Chorus: The battle between Polyneices and Eteocles

Episode 1 (179-376) Creon justifies his edict as leader, interviews the guard

Stasimon 1 (377-416) The Chorus : Ode on Man

Episode 2 ( 417-655) Antigone, Ismene and Creon debate religious and civil law

Stasimon 2 (656-700) The Chorus: Ode on the Gods

Episode 3 (701-879) Haemon and Creon debate mercy and leadership

Stasimon 3 (880-895) The Chorus: Ode on Love

Episode 4 (896-1035) Creon, Antigone and the death sentence

Stasimon 4 (1036-1090) The Chorus: The power of Fate

Episode 5 (1091-1239) Tiresias and Creon: disease in the leader/in the state

Stasimon 5 (240-1273) The Chorus: Appeal to the Gods to heal the city

Exodus (1274-end) Creon, Eurydice, Messenger: Lessons learned from suffering