Download greek worksheet from robert cohen book answer key

Greek Theatre
Read chapter 4 (pages 63 - 120) in Theatre 2nd edition by Robert Cohen and answer the questions below:
1.
Where did Western theatre originate? GREECE
2.
Greek Theatre specifically refers to theatre in the city of ATHENS during the 5TH century B.C.
3.
Why is the theatre of that time so significant?
- one hundred year span, only 150,000 people,
socially important and aesthetically majestic
4.
5.
6.
7.
How was Greek theatre misinterpreted in the
Victorian era? White robed actors strutting
ceremonially through marble buildings,
speeches about morality, pallid, stiff
Name the four most known playwrights from
that time: Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides,
Aristophanes
8.
The theatre of these playwrights combined the
following elements: myth, legend, philosophy,
social commentary, poetry, dance, music, public
participation, visual splendor – archetypes
remain
What was ancient Greek theatre actually like?
Spectacle of loud music, vivid colours, vigorous
dancing, bawdy, obscene, scandalous,
passionate, controversial
9.
Where did acts of violence occur and why?
Off stage – later monks librarians determined
which plays survived
10.
What topics/themes were at the heart of Greek
drama?
Ethics, war, murder, lust, betrayal
14.
What did the annual festival include? New
dramas, week of public wine drinking and
phallus worshipping – religious orgy
15.
The Greeks believed that gods had HUMAN
form and believed themselves to be created in
the IMAGE of the gods.
Today, the following items still remain: 43 plays,
fragments of plays, Aristotle’s Poetics
(criticism), remnants of theatres, a record
Origins and Evolution
11.
12.
Greek theatre originated from RELIGION. The
religion at the time was a POLYTHEISTIC
RELIGION with BELLIGERENT not benevolent
deities.
At the time, gods were viewed as: meddlers,
disrupters, prayed to appease
13.
The theatre in Athens was dedicated to the god
DIONYSUS the god of FERTILITY (and WINE
AGRICULTURE and SEXUALITY)
The Classic Period
16.
Define and describe the tetralogy. Four play
sequence – trilogy of tragedies (cast of gods,
demigods and historical figures) followed by
satyr play
17.
Define and describe the satyr play.
Grotesque travesty of same trilogy – features satyrs
dressed in goatskins – comic tone
EXTRA – tragedy in Greek is tragoidia meaning “goat
song”
18.
How did the first actor come about?
Thespis, an Icarian, first to move out of
dithyrambic chorus and assume the role of
answerer – introduced impersonation and
enactment – also invented mask
19.
actor
Hypokrites means answerer – first word for
19.
What was Aeschylus’ significant innovation?
Explain.increased number of actors to two,
allowing for dialogue
20.
What dramatic techniques were founded by
Sophocles? Added third actor allowed for
“overheard” dialogue and more subtle and
complex character interactions
21.
What were the basic elements of the
tragedy/satyr form?
Limited number of masked characters, a singing
and dancing chorus, , triad of tragedies followed
by satyr
22.
Describe Greek comedy.
`Audacious, sexy, political
The Theatron
23.
Define and describe the following areas of the Greek theatre: a) orchestra, b) thymele, c) theatron, d) skene, e)
periaktoi, f) pinakes
a) orchestra – “dancing place” – a large circle on the ground
b) b) thymele – a simple altar (replaced phallus)
c) theatron – “seeing place” – semicircular tiers of seats dug into hillside adjoin orchestra – later wooden bleachers
or stone
d) skene – wooden changing room – on other side of the orchestra, opposite hillside, actors not chorus could enter
orchestra through its door – skene originally meant hut or tent
e) periaktoi – pivoting 3 sided prism
f) pinakes – abstract panel of painted scenery – introduced by Sophocles
24.
Draw the layout and areas of the Greek theatre.
25.
Explain how Greek audience members were “active spectators”. Participated , audience was visible, players
could see audience, interactive
26.
Many Greek plays were little more than staged DEBATES.
The Spectacle
27.
The spectacle of Greek theatre cam e from:
costuming, acting, dancing, music
28.
29.
30.
Comedy – more realistic, simulated partial
nudity, phallus (penis and testicles) blatantly
displayed, adorned, masks to amuse
Greek tragic actors were always MALE.
31.
Define phallus.
Penis/testicle representation
32.
How did Greek society demonstrate the
importance of theatre? Business closed,
allowed everyone to attend, ceremonies to
introduce playwrights , processions, sacrifices,
awards
Describe the masks. Wooden, carved, full faced,
richly painted, stylized, extended up to wig
How did the costumes of the comedy/satiric
form differ from the tragic?
33.
Match the terms up to the definitions:
a) chitons, b) chlamys, c) himation, d) kothurnoi, e) onkoi (plural - onkos)
E fancy, stylized wiggings exaggerated in scale to
give the actor the appearance of height
B
a short tunic
D footwear which was exaggerated in scale to
give the actor the appearance of height
C
a long tunic
A
brilliantly coloured full-length robes
The Greek Plays
34. Hundreds of plays were written and performed at the time. Today only 43 complete playscripts remain. Of
these there are 31 tragedies, 11 comedies and 1 satyr play.
35. Which celebrated playwright wrote comedies? ARISTOPHANES
36. Define prologue. Opening speech - Aristotle’s structure
The Three Greek Tragedians
37. Name three classic Greek tragedies. Briefly describe.
a) Prometheus Bound – Aeschylus – primitive structure, series of 2 character scenes, epic narrative speeches, looks
on beginning of time, old fashioned style, simple plot Zeus and Prometheus
- abstract themes
b) Oedipus Tyrannos/ Oedipus Rex or Oedipus the King – Sophocles – ancient absolute ruler of Thebes - prophecy
and exposition human tragedy * human focus is Sophocles trademark
b) The Trojan Women – Euripides – most powerful antiwar play ever written – from perspective of Trojan women –
survivor victims of war
Aeschylus
- Wrote epic works time of
great Athenian military victory
over Persians
Sophocles
- Serene, philosophical
- - golden age of Athenian
democracy
Euripides
- Firebrand – irreligious,
iconoclastic, enraged at
politics of time
- Acute political insight in time
of corrupt tyrant Alcibiades
- psychological insight
- inspired later playwrights to
use ancient history to cast
light on current political issues
The Roman Theatre
38. When was the Roman era and how long did it last? After Greek, 1000 years to beginning of Christian era
39. Define the following Roman theatrical terms that still exist today:
a) auditorium, - hearing place
b) vomitorium- a tunnel leading through audience and onto the stage
and c) persona – mask or character represented by mask
40. What were Roman plays based on? Greek plays
41. What did Roman plays compete with? Circuses, celebrations, gladiator contests, combats
42. How did Roman plays differ from Greek plays? Free of cultural rituals, religious odes, serious politics or
Dionysian revelry
43. Name three Roman comic playwrights and explain how they differed from one another.
Titus Maccius Plautus – most popular – 21 known plays adapted from Greek comedies, fast-paced, joke-filled,
farcical
Publius Terentius Afer (Terence) freed African slave – 6 comedies – more elegant and refined than Plautus – prized
for rhetorical excellence and philosophical depth in Middle Ages and Renaissance
Lucius Annaeus Seneca – tutor of Emperor Nero, nine tragedies, - none performed – influenced Elizabethan plays beauty of choral passages
44. Plautus plays inspired later playwrights. Name the plays and playwrights.
45. Describe/draw the Roman theatre building and its parts.
-vast, outdoor, build to hold many thousands, freestanding, semi-circular , semi-circular orchestra surrounded by
audience in forty or more rows rising in an arc, long narrow stage backs the orchestra, itself backed by elaborately
decorated wall (frons scaenae) doorways in wall provided entrances and exits to dressing room behind
Stage devices – front curtain (falls into pit at beginning of play), extravagant stage machines - water filled orchestra
battles
46. What caused the end of Roman theatre? The decadence and extravagance at end of Roman empire, stern
condemnation of Christian church – late Roman times excommunicated all actors and forbade the faithful from
attending theatrical performance of any kind
47. Define the influence of the dark age on theatre. No plays written or performed for nearly 500 years
Theatre Diagrams
Greek Theatre
Roman Theatre