Download Athenian Society

Athenian
Society
McKenna, Myra, Ariana, & Mary
Overview
● City Dionysia Background & Influence
● Oracles Background & Influence
● Athenian Debate Background & Influence
● Literary Elements
● Current Influence
● Easier Concepts
● Challenging Concepts
City Dionysia Background
● Ancient drama festival
● Where tragedy and comedy drama originated
● Held in Athens in March in honour of Dionysus
● Tragic poets wrote, produced, and acted in three
tragedies on a single theme
● Also presented a satyr play
● Judges awarded a prize
City Dionysia Influence
● Dionysus - god of wine and fertility &
represents springtime and joy
● One of the elements of these celebrations
was the dithyramb (an ode to the gods)
● Celebration of Athenian culture
City Dionysia in Antigone
● Creon and Antigone symbolize of the many
cultural clashes going on in Athens at the
time
● “Hast thou no shame to differ from all these? To
reverence kith and kin can bring no shame” (506512).
● “May I not speak, or must I turn and go without a
word? Begone! canst thou not see. Go, quibble with
thy reason. If thou fail'st to find these malefactors,
thou shalt own the wages of ill-gotten gains is
death” (313-327).
Oracles Background
● Prophets and prophecies
connected to the gods
● Interpretations of the future
sent to mortals
● Sounds of nature used to form
prophecies
● Oracle of Apollo at Delphi
○ Height of power- 1600 BC
○ Priestess Pythia
○ Fall of power- Christianity
Oracles Influence
● Influence and Use of Oracles
○ Times of crisis
○ Personal conflicts
○ Sickness and war
● Cultural Shifts
○ 1400 BC- earliest known use of oracles as a part of Ancient
Greek religion
○ Seekers all around Greece traveled to hear from oracles
○ People questioned accuracy of prophecies
○ Fell around 4th century AD due to Roman Christianity
Oracles in Antigone
● Defiance of gods and Teiresias
● “You want to talk but never to hear
and listen” (815)
● “This is the city’s sickness--and your
plans are the cause of it” (1064)
● “...the avenging Spirits of Death itself and the gods’
Furies shall after your deeds...and in their hands you
shall be taken cruelly” (1134-1137)
● “That was a terrible prophecy, my lord...he has never
spoken a word of a lie to our city” (1153-1156)
Athenian Debate Background
● Mytilenian Debate
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427 B.C.
Mytilenean revolt during Peloponnesian war
Debated over punishment
Chose to spare lives; only executed leaders
● Agora - “Gathering Place”
○ Center of athletics, art, spirits, and politics
● Pnyx - Democratic assemblies
● Law Courts - trial by jury
○ Heliaia - 6000 members
Athenian Debate Influence
● Importance of democracy
● Application to plays
○ Episodes - two characters often debate over
differing viewpoints
○ Law of the Gods vs. law of man
● Appeal to audiences
○ Athenian male citizens
Athenian Debate in Antigone
● Antigone vs. Creon
● “It is impossible to know any man...until he
shows skill in rule and law” (193-195).
● “It was not Zeus that made the
proclamation; nor did Justice” (494-495).
● “There is nothing worse than disobedience
to authority” (723-724).
● “Must I rule the land by someone else’s
judgment rather than my own? (792-793).
Greek Literary Concepts
● Hubris - excessive pride or defiance of the
gods
● Hamartia - a fatal flaw leading to the
downfall of a tragic hero
● Catharsis - releasing strong or repressed
emotions
Greek Literary Elements in Antigone
● Hubris - Creon’s perceived supremacy over
the gods
○ “Now here I am, holding all authority and the
throne” (191-192).
● Hamartia - Antigone’s stubborn loyalty to
her family
○ “I shall lie by his side, loving him as he loved me”
(83-84).
● Catharsis - series of suicides at the end of
the novel
○ “I am no more a live man than one dead” (1386).
Greek Audience
● Led by drunken men dressed up in goat
skins
● Primarily adult male citizens of Athens
● Embassies from other regions
● Women were excluded
Greek Audience in Antigone
● Chorus is made up of a group of old Theban
men
● They represent the male dominated society
that Antigone defies
● “Supplied with cleverness of every
imaginable type,He ventures once towards
evil, and then towards good”(379-380).
● Many things are formidable, and yet nothing
is quite so formidable as man” (340).
Current Influence
● The Concept of Debate
○ Debates are still an essential part of life today.
○ Politics
● City Dionysia was the birthplace of
tragedies and comedies
○ Influenced drama all over the world
Easier Concepts
● The religious festivals where plays were
performed was a significant part of
Athenian culture.
● The reality that the audience for these
plays were predominantly male
Challenging Concepts
● How debate was incorporated into dramas,
and how it kept the audience engaged.
○ Creon’s conflict takes the form of a debate
● The idea that both Creon and Antigone
believe in the power of the gods, yet they
have extremely different ideas of what the
gods deem ‘just’.
Discussion
Question #1
In the tragedy Antigone, there are several
conflicting ideas about the role of the gods.
Discuss these views with the people around
you and cite specific examples.
Answers
Antigone believes that she can control her own destiny and believes that
what she is doing is right. Antigone tells Ismene, “‘... I shall be a
criminal- but a religious one. The time in which I must please those that
are dead is longer than I must please those of this world. For there I shall
lie forever. You, if you like, can cast dishonor on what the gods have
honored’” (Sophocles 84-89). Antigone believes that she will have the
blessing of the gods when she properly buries her brother, Polyneices,
after Creon declared that his body not be buried. However, Creon
believes that he is the voice of the gods, and has the blessing of the gods
because he has authority. When the Sentry tells him that Polyneices body
has been tampered with, Creon replies, “‘For what you say is surely
insupportable when you say the gods took forethought for this corpse. It
is out of excess honor for the man, for the favors that he did them, they
should cover him’” (Sophocles 312-314)? Creon can not believe that the
will of the gods is being taken, because he had considered this body
disgraced.
Question #2
In Ancient Greece, the gods were
seen as ‘almighty’ and ‘omniscient’.
This belief has been translated into
several works studied throughout
your high school career, such as
Oedipus and The Odyssey. Looking at
these two works and an additional
work of your choice, describe how
they relate to the idea of fate and
the power of a higher being(s).
Answers
The entire premise of Oedipus is that Oedipus was not able
to change his fate, despite his numerous attempts. The will
of the gods and the prophecy of the oracle all proved to be
the truth. In The Odyssey, Odysseus spends seven years
trying to get home. Along the way, he is constantly deferred
by the gods, who have taken sides. The gods influenced
Odysseus's journey, which ultimately had a happy ending.
One example of such influence over the life of others
presents itself in The Scarlet Letter. In this novel,
predestination is a crucial aspect that follows the belief that
there is an all-knowing higher being. The idea of
predestination states that no matter what one does in this
current life (as in actions good or bad) he or she is already
predestined to go to Heaven or Hell, as determined by God.
Question #3
Antigone’s main conflict is between Creon and
Antigone. Creon believes that Antigone should
be killed for her crime, and the Chorus
persuades him to let Antigone go. How does
the interaction between the Chorus, Antigone,
and Creon reflect the style of debate of the
time period? Be sure to cite examples from
the text.
Answers
These debates that take place in the play only take place with two characters
on stage. Both characters give their different viewpoints to contribute to the
argument. For example, when Creon and the Chorus are debating about what
to do with Antigone after they had discovered what she did, they go back and
forth sharing their ideas.
CHORUS: The savage spirit of a savage father
shows itself in this girl. She does not know
how to yield trouble.
CREON: I would have you know the most fanatic spirits
fall most of all. It is the toughest iron,
baked in the fire to hardness…. This girl has learned her insolence
before this, when she broke the established laws
(Sophocles 515-525).
Question #4
When Antigone was written, there was a
growing cynicism of religious beliefs. What do
you think Sophocles’s intention was in writing
this play, considering previous knowledge
about Sophocles from other presentations?
How was his intention portrayed throughout
the work? Support your answers with
evidence.
Answers
● Sophocles believed that the government was controlled by the
gods. Destruction would occur if people did not obey the gods.
This aspect of the growing cynicism in religion can be seen by how
greatly Creon disobeyed the gods. Throughout Antigone, he
developed this idea in the downfall of Creon’s character.
● “...what bravery is this, to inflict another death upon the dead? I
mean you well and speak well for your good. It is never sweeter
to learn from a good counselor than when he counsels to your
benefit” (1079-1083) - Value of listening to the gods
● “There is nothing worse than disobedience to authority” (723)Irony in Creon’s beliefs- He (Creon) believes in only his authority
and fails to recognize his fate by the gods
● “Lead me away,a vain silly man who killed you, son, and you, too
lady. I did not mean to, but I did...a most unwelcome fate has
leaped upon me” (1403-1408). (Creon)
Bibliography
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DiYanni, Robert. "Glossary of Drama Terms." Literature. McGraw Hill, n.d.
Web. 03 Sept. 2015.
Hager, George. "Oracle." Oracle. MCMXCV - MMIX Encyclopedia Mythica, n.d.
Web. 02 Sept. 2015.
"The Oracle at Delphi." PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 02 Sept. 2015.
Scholtz, Andrew. "Thucydides 2." Binghamton. N.p., 2012. Web. 02 Sept.
2015.