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Classical Greek Tragedy
Ancient Greece invented drama
 Drama grew out of festivals honoring
Dionysus—included performances by choruses
(troupes of dancers who would chant and sing)
 Famous Greek playwrights:
 Aeschylus (525-456 BC)
 Sophocles (496-406 BC)
 Euripides (484-406 BC)
 Aristophanes (450-388 BC)

Greek Theater
The Greek theater is the predecessor of the
current day “amphitheater.”
 Built in the open, usually on the side of a
hill.
large, could usually accommodate as
many as 15,000 spectators
basic shape was circular

Greek Theater

Threatron: the seating area; higher
than the stage
15,000 could be seated
Seats of honor in the front row were
reserved for important guests.
Greek Theater


Orchestra: stage area, at the bottom of the
seating area
 Where the chorus and actors performed
 At the back of the stage was the altar of
Dionysus. This was the place where
sacrifices were performed before the
plays.
Passageways: corridors through which the
chorus came on stage
Greek Theater

Skene: added in 5th century BC; a long, rectangular
building with an open platform in front and three
doors in the back and served as a scene
background (no elaborate scenery for plays)
 Used for costume changes
 Usually had three doors for characters to go in
and out
 In Oedipus Rex, the skene would be made to look
like Oedipus’ castle and the doors would be
palace doors.
Greek Theater
Proscenium: façade of the skene; where the
scenery was painted or placed

Usually a palace or temple

Mechane: on top of the skene; was a
technical device that consisted of a metal
crane from which a dummy representing a
god was suspended
 god could be lowered to the stage or
raised from the stage.

Deus Ex Machina

Sometimes, plays would end with a god lowering to
the stage and setting all the affairs in order—an
overly simplistic ending to the complicated plot of
Greek tragedy.
 This was called the deus ex machina, which means
“god from the machine.” The deus ex machina
was employed largely by Euripides to give a
miraculous conclusion to a tragedy. The god
appears as if from on high and unravels all the
unsolved problems of the play.
 You’ll need to determine if Oedipus Rex ends
with a deux ex machina or not.
Costumes

Because the theater could seat so many
people, actors wore expensive costumes,
including masks, and used small megaphones
to make sure everyone could see and hear
 Padding, headpieces, and platform shoes
to increase their size on stage
 Communicated largely through gestures,
tone of voice, and body movement.
 Masks made quick changes possible
between scenes (some actors played multiple
roles)
Types of Greek Theater
Greeks created the three major types of plays:
tragedy, comedy, and farce
 Festival line-up: three tragedies and a satyr
play by one playwright and a comedy by a
different playwright
 Tragedies usually written in cycles of 3
Oedipus Rex
Antigone
Oedipus at Colonnus

Greek Tragedy
Best definition was by Aristotle in Poetics
 Downfall of a character who is neither
completely good nor completely bad
 Fall brought about by a tragic flaw
 Witnessing the downfall of basically
good people evoked emotions of pity
and fear in the audience
 Audience then experiences a catharsis or
some sort of emotional cleansing

8 Characteristics of Tragedy
1. The hero (protagonist) is a person of high
estate who must be good and have good
intentions. The hero must also be true to life.
2. The hero has a hamartia, fatal or tragic flaw,
an error or
frailty; usually hubris—
excessive human pride, arrogance.
3. The hero suffers a reversal of fortunes.
4. No universal questions are raised; fate is
accepted as inevitable when it becomes
apparent; no debate is held with the gods.
5. The gods are capricious; often enemies of the
hero and are never loving or righteous. No
justice can be expected from the gods.
6. A full chorus is present and gives advice. The
chorus reflects opinions of the townspeople.
7. A complicated plot is present along with
cataclysmic events; however, all violent actions
take place off stage and are reported to the
audience by witnesses.
8. Hero suffers a great and permanent fall with
no hope. The story ends in despair and evokes
both pity and fear in the audience.
Role of the Chorus in Greek Plays


The play begins with the prologue, the time before
the chorus enters.
The play is divided into a series of episodes or
scenes, each ending with an ode, an elaborate lyric
poem, sung or recited by the chorus. Each ode is
divided into:
 Strophe:
first movement and reading; chorus moved
from right to left
 Antistrophe: countermovement and/or reading; chorus
moved from left to right
 1, 2, or 3 strophe/antistrophe readings at the end of
each episode
History of the Chorus

Thespis: the famous chorus leader gave himself
individual lines separate from the chorus.
 This
made interaction possible between the
chorus and a lone actor on stage—drama was
born and modern-day actors are called
thespians.
Size of Chorus Dwindles

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At first the chorus was composed of fifty men and was
significant to the plot of the play.
Later as time progressed, the importance of the chorus
diminished as did the size and the number of lines.
 In
the plays of Aeschylus, a second character was
introduced and so one-half of the lines in the play were
spoken by the chorus.
 In the plays of Sophocles, a third actor was introduced to
the play. One-fourth to one-seventh of the lines in the plays
were spoken by the chorus of fifteen men with one serving
as the leader. He became the fourth actor in many scenes.
 The chorus usually remained on stage during the entire play.
Function of the Chorus
1. Represents members of population or
townspeople and converses with or gives advice
to characters. The chorus is involved in or affected
by the action of the play.
2. Serves as commentators on events, interprets
events, and gives background of preceding events.
3. Chants odes between episodes of play. Often the
singing is accompanied by stately dance
movements to the left and to the right which
contributed beauty to the play.
4. Relieves tension
Examples: Mamma Mia! and Hercules
Other Characteristics of Plays (seen in
Oedipus Rex)
Unity of Time: All the action in the place takes
place during a single day, though characters may
recall previous events.
 Unity of Space: The play takes place in a single
location—in front of the Palace at Thebes.
 Unity of Action: Everything that takes place,
occurs, or is described, relates to the overarching
idea. There are no subplots and no unrelated
patterns of imagery or diction. Nothing that does
not relate is included.
