english
Bella edwards
GreekDramaIntrod2l.pptGreek Drama &
Aristotle on Drama
An Introduction
The Theater of Dionysus, Athens (Saskia, Ltd.)
Historical Context
- The Greeks produced the first great era of theater during 800 BC to 600BC
Historical Context
- 776 sees the first Olympic Games
Historical Context
- Homer writes the epics the Iliad and the Odyssey sometime around 750 BC.
Historical Context
- The Greeks learned to write sometime around Homer’s birth—they borrowed the alphabet from their Phoenician Neighbors to the Near East
The Big 3 Ancient Greek Dramatists
- Aeschylus—founder of Tragedy
- Euripides
- Sophocles—developed the form and for almost 50 years won all the tragedy contests of ancient Athens
The Greeks’ view of the Gods
- The Greeks conceived of their gods in human terms.
- Zeus presided over a number of other unpredictable deities
- Gods were as easily won over by mortal prayers as they were offended
- Greeks believed that a single human could be blessed by one god while being cursed by another
- Human happiness depended upon human and supernatural forces
Greek Drama Emphasizes:
- Human struggles in the face of conniving, scheming, jealous gods.
Greek Goddess Hera, wife and
sister of Zeus. (pictured right)
Incest was taboo for the Greeks, but
Greek gods were above man’s laws
and taboos.
The Gods and Fate
- Interestingly, for the Greeks, the gods were subject to Fate as well!
Bust of Zeus, British Museum
The Story of Tiresias
(also spelled Teiresias)
The Roman poet Ovid retells the Greek’s tale of Tiresias. While the names of the gods are changed to Roman names, the capriciousness of the Gods remains intact.
See page 779 through 780 in your text.
Intellectual Curiosity like none before…
- Perhaps the most important aspect of the Ancient Greek mind was its concern with humanity!
- The Greeks asked questions of everything:
the nature of the gods, the nature of the universe, & the power of fate
A Paradox of thought
- Despite their urgent quest for knowledge the Greeks believed there were limits upon what humans could know
- Despite establishing a democracy these same peoples kept slaves and restricted the role of women in society
The Tale of Icarus
Original illustration by Brian Warchesik
The Roman poet Ovid retells the Greek’s tale of Icarus. While the names of the gods are changed to Roman names, the tale contains the Greek cautiousness against aiming too high in life.
See page 789 through 791 in your text.
Origins of Greek Tragedy?
- From Aristotle’s Poetics we know that tragedy grew from an improvisational hymn call the dithyramb, a hymn and dance dedicated to Dionysus the God of wine and fertility.
Alternate theories abound…
- But we know that in 534 B.C. Tragedy was recognized officially by the state.
How was Greek Drama performed?
The actor(s) wore masks…
The masks were essential because:
- Only men could act, so the masks allowed the audience to suspend disbelief when men played female roles.
- Actors could play multiple parts simply by changing masks, which was good because there were usually only 2 or 3 actors.
The Chorus
The Chorus
Ranged from 50 to 15 citizens (not professional actors) who stood around the stage (see slide 19):
- Provided commentary and background information to the audience
- Allowed time for scene changes
- Responded to the play itself, modeling the expected response in the audience
Aristotle’s Influence
- Aristotle writes Poetics—a treatise on drama.
- Aristotle admired Sophocles & considered Oedipus the perfect Tragedy
- He considered tragedy to be more important than the study of history!
Aristotle’s principles in Poetics
(simplified to the extreme with modern lingo)
Plot comes first! He had some rules for plot (more in a moment…)
Character: the star of the tragedy will mistakenly bring about his or her own destruction simply because he or she cannot see the big picture that the audience can see!
Theme: Beyond entertainment, the tragedy ought to prove some maxim or moral.
Aristotle’s principles in Poetics
(continued)
Diction—the dialogue needs to contain metaphors.
Chorus—Greek plays should have a group of singers whose lyrics advance the plot and theme of the play. This was not elevator music—it contributed to the play.
Spectacle—just what it sounds like—stage effects. Or in modern day terms, special effects at the movies.
THE BIG FINISH!!!!
- Finally you gotta have this:
Catharsis
(sometimes spelled Katharsis)
Literally, the word means purging! But metaphorically, Aristotle is saying that watching a play engages your emotions and you get to experience a whole range of human emotions for 2 hours, then you release all of that energy at the end.
Back to PLOT!!!
- Plot was so important that we need to break it down and see what Aristotle said about it!
- (Note: later scholars interpreted Aristotle’s rules to include 3 unities: time, action and place)
Gotta Have ‘em Details for PLOT
Whole! The play needs a beginning, middle and an end (if this seems obvious, remember that drama was new at this point.).
Chain of events—cause and effect was important for the Greeks—remember, the Greeks are worried about fate, about the machinations of the gods, so they need to see how one event sets a chain of events into motion. Basically, the playwright needs to make each action and event a product of other elements in the story.
More Gotta Have ‘em Details for PLOT
The plot should be “of a certain magnitude.” Huh? This means that you needed a bunch of interwoven stories, fates, characters, events, subplots and so on. For Aristotle, the more events that you can have coming together in an organic way, the better the tragedy.
Whew…that concludes Aristotle's breakdown of Tragedy.
Irony
- A literary device in which there is a gap between what the speaker says and what the audience knows…
Tragic Irony is at work in Oedipus—we the audience know Oedipus’s fate before he does.
