Western Civilization

Greek
Theater

The Greek Theater

5th Century B. C.
Golden Age of Greek Drama
Dramatic festivals were popular
People witnessed tragic and
comic plays

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

Three 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

The Stage

The Stage
Greek plays were performed during religious
ceremonies held in honor of Dionysus, the
Greek god of wine and revelry (altars generally
on stage)
Banks would shut down for days, people would
travel from all around to see the drama
competitionseven prisoners were temporarily
released to see the plays
Tragedy means goat song (relates to
Dionysian rituals)

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.

Masks of Greek
Theater

The masks were worn for many

reason including:
1. Visibility
2. Acoustic Assistance
3. Few Actors, Many Roles
4. Characterization

Some general categories of masks

1. OLD MEN
Smooth-Faced, White, Grizzled, Black-Haired, Flaxen and
More Flaxen
2. YOUNG MEN
Common, Curled, More Curled, Graceful, Horrid, Pale
and Less Pale
3. SLAVES
Leathern, Peaked-Beard, Flat Nose
4. WOMEN
Freed Old Woman, Old Domestic, Middle Aged, Leathern,
Pale-Disheveled, Pale Middle Aged, Girl
5. SPECIALIST MASKS
Some made for specific characters, others for: Mourning,
Blindness, Deceit, Drunkenness...etc. (The comic masks,
those especially of old comedy, were as like as possible to
true persons they represented, or made to appear more
ridiculous)

Masks of Greek Theater

Masks
of Greek
Theater

Modern-day replicas

Hero-King

Comedy
(Servant or Herald )
Tragedy
(Weeping Chorus)

Theater at Epidaurus

Theater at Epidaurus

Major Greek Dramatists

Aeschylus

524 B.C.

Seven Against
Thebes

Sophocles

496 B.C.

Antigone
Oedipus

Euripides

480 B.C.

Medea

Dramatist

Born

Wrote

Sophocles Antigone
Set in Thebes (a city in ancient Greece)
Antigone is the daughter of Oedipus and
Jocasta
Antigones brothers, Eteokles and
Polyneces, took opposite sides in a war
Eteokles and Polyneces killed each other
in battle
Antigones uncle, Kreon, became king of
Thebes

Sophocles

Greek Comedy and Aristophanes

Euripides Medea
Medea is a princess from Colchis
Medea marries Jason, who is in Colchis
on a quest for the Golden Fleece
Medea betrays her father and murders
her brother for her love of Jason
Medea has magical powers
Jason takes Medea back to his homeland,
Corinth, where they have children
Jason takes another wife, the king of
Corinths daughter

Jasons Voyage on the Argo

Jason and
Medea meet
Corinth: Where Jason
and Medea settle down

Myths played a key role

in Greek drama

The Myths Why they were written

1. Explained the unexplainable
2. Justified religious practices
3. Gave credibility to leaders
4. Gave hope

5. Polytheistic (more than one god)

6. Centered around the twelve

Olympians (primary Greek gods)

Explained the Unexplainable

When Echo tried to get
Narcissus to love her, she was
denied.
Saddened, she shriveled to
nothing, her existence melting
into a rock.
Only her voice remained.
Hence, the echo!

To justify religious practices

Dionysian cults in ancient Greece

were founded to worship Dionysus,
god of grapes, vegetation, and wine.

Roots in Worship of
Dionysus

God of wine and revelry

Theater of Dionysus
Dionysia was an annual festival
in honor of the god Dionysus
Theater of Dionysus was an
open-air Theater with room
for fifteen thousand spectators

Theater of Dionysus
carved out of a stone hillside
looked like a semicircle with
steeply rising tiers of seats

Theater of Dionysus

Theater of Dionysus
At the bottom was the
rounded orchestra or
performance area where
the chorus sang and danced

Dionysus Theater in Athens

Theater of Dionysus
Behind the orchestra was an
open, almost bare, stage
where actors spoke their
lines from behind huge
masks

Dionysus Theater in Athens

Theater of Dionysus
Male actors performed all the
roles
Actors switched masks to play a
number of roles both female
and male

Dionysus and Satyrs

To give hope
The ancient citizens of
Greece would sacrifice and
pray to an ORACLE.
An oracle was a priest or
priestess who would send a
message to the gods from
mortals who brought their
requests.

Where DID hope come from?

After unleashing suffering, famine, disease,

and many other evils, the last thing Pandora let
out was HOPE.

Oracle of Delphi

Oracle of Delphi

Delphi

Delphi

Mount Olympus
Where the

Olympians
lived.

Who are the Olympians?

The
Olympians
Are the 12
Main Gods

The Olympians
Aphrodite Hephaestus

Ares

Zeus Hera

Hermes Apollo

Artemis
Dionysus
Demeter

Athena
Poseidon

The
Storyline:
Tragedy

Central
Character is
of the Elite
Class

Central
Character
suffers a
Downfall

Central
Character is
Neither
Wholly
good nor
wholly evil

Downfall is
the result of
a Fatal Flaw

Misfortunes
involve
characters
who are
related or
who are
friends

Tragic
actions take
place
offstage

Central
Character
has a
moment of
recognition

Audience
experiences
pity and
fear

Pity and
Fear leads to
a catharsis

The End