 |
|
|
|
|
|
Drama Home Page |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Drama Home Page |
|
|
|
|
Glossary |  |
Role of Chorus |
|
|
Playwrights | |
Actors |
|
|
History of Theatre | |
The Stage |
|
|
The Plays | |
Home Page |
|
|
Medea (10th grade) | ||
|
Antigone (10th grade) | ||
Glossary |
|
| Comedy | "Song of Revel" |
| Dihyrambs | Hymns which celebrated Dionysus' life |
| Drama | A thing done |
|
Maenads |
Dionysus' mad women followers |
|
Satyr |
Half man/half goat |
|
Theatre |
A seeing place |
|
Theatron |
Viewing place |
|
Tragedy |
Goat song |
Playwrights |
|
|
Thespis |
Founder of drama; introduced actor on
stage; dialogue with chorus |
|
Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides - big three in Greek tragic drama |
|
|
Aeschylus |
Introduced 2nd actor on
stage, dialogue between actors/chorus |
|
Sophocles |
Introduced 3rd actor; reduced role of chorus |
|
Euripides |
Wrote encouraging social reform; made fun of the gods; more emotional than other two |
| History of Theatre | ||
| Evolved from celebrations honoring god Dionysus | ||
| Held on threshing floors | ||
| Maenads: mad women followers who sang and danced - became chorus | ||
| Hymns called dithyrambs honoring Dionysus | ||
| Athens converted rural festivals to dramatic spectacles | ||
| Theatres built into hillsides for better viewing - open air | ||
| Theatre of Dionysus - 17,000 people | ||
| Spring festivals became tragedy | ||
| Winter festival became comedy | ||
|
Series of three plays -
tragic trilogy |
||
| All were expected to attend, including women | ||
| Tickets purchased for poor people | ||
| Considered a religious duty | ||
| Spectators wore bay leaves to honor Dionysus | ||
| Theatre at Epidarus honored Asclepias | ||
| Music essential part of drama - chorus | ||
| Performances lasted all day | ||
| Romans modified theatres for
gladiatorial contests Theatres built in the center of towns Not religious in nature |
||
| The Plays | ||
| Plots taken from familiar myths and stories | ||
| No violence on stage - happens off stage and reported | ||
| Consistent format/form of presentation | ||
| Prologue - background of plot | ||
| Parados sung by chorus | ||
| Scenes | ||
| Odes sung by chorus divide scenes/actors left stage | ||
| Tragedy | ||
| Study of conflict in human nature, in society, within self, and with the gods | ||
| Protagonist often high born person | ||
| Protagonist brought down by flaw in character which results in downfall, misery, great sorrow, and/or suffering | ||
| Role of Chorus | ||
| Acts as collective conscience of community | ||
| Essential part of play | ||
| Helps interpret meaning of play | ||
| Two functions | ||
| Sang and danced during interludes | ||
| Dramatic function Embodied moral ideas of society Admonished characters against breaking laws |
||
| Technical function | ||
| Announced entrance and exit of charact | ||
| Foreshadowed events | ||
| Recount/interpret history for clarification | ||
| Actors | ||
| Actors all male | ||
| Wore masks for identification | ||
| Megaphones in masks | ||
| Exaggerated expressions | ||
| May be divided: male/female; sad/happy | ||
| Wore thick soled shoes | ||
| Large robes with big sleeves | ||
| No more than 3 actors plus chorus (15 members) | ||
| The Stage | |||
| Orchestra where chorus sang and danced | |||
| Greek orchestra - round | |||
| Roman orchestra - semi circular | |||
| Raised platform behind orchestra for actors | |||
| Skene: small building behind platform | |||
| Used for changing clothes | |||
| Became building in scenes - later balcony | |||
| Theatron - viewing place for spectators | |||
|
|
Stone benches carved into hillsides served as seats | ||
| Sophocles was one of the three great tragic playwrights |  |
||
created by Dorothy Westenskow
Denver South Public High School
last edited:07/12/00
