Download 1 UNIT 2:1—Spectacle in Antiquity (City Dionysia) Introduction

EA/Unit 2 master_Spectacle in Antiquity.doc Friday, November 04, 2005 UNIT 2:1—Spectacle in Antiquity (City Dionysia) Introduction AUDIO CLIP: Click here to listen to the 1 st Chorus From Euripides Tragedy “Orestes” (3’32”) from CD Music of Ancient Greece. You are listening to the first chorus from Euripides’ tragedy Orestes. Some scholars believe this may be the oldest specimen of ancient Greek music that has yet been discovered. The musical extract was discovered in 1892 in a papyrus document preserved in the private library of an Austrian nobleman. If the music is authentic, it would have been composed by the great dramatic poet Euripides and performed at the City Dionysia or “Great Dionysian Festival” in Athens in 408 B.C. In this lesson we will investigate the City Dionysia as one example of spectacle in ancient Greece. The City Dionysia was an important festival instituted by the city­state of Athens in the later part of the 6 th century B.C. It is typical of religious and civic festivals in Greece and, indeed, throughout the ancient world. All of the lessons in this unit deal with spectacle in antiquity. The first chapter in the textbook will provide you with a broad introduction to theatre in ancient Greece and Rome—be sure to look at the pictures, they’re great. It will be essential for you to read Aristotle’s Poetics before proceeding with the second lesson. WEBLINK: Aristotle’s Poetics can be found at: http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/poetics.1.1.html. At the end of this lesson you will be able to browse through a portfolio of historic images of ancient theatre. You may want to select one of these images as the subject of your second short essay assignment.
1 EA/Unit 2 master_Spectacle in Antiquity.doc Friday, November 04, 2005 Section A: Festivals in Greece The Greeks had a wide variety of civic and religious festivals that they observed and celebrated. Many of the festivals were tied to the agricultural/lunar calendar and embraced a wide variety of activities and events including:
· Religious ceremonies and sacrifices
· Feasting
· Processions
· Recitations of lyric and epic poetry
· Music
· Dance
· Athletic games
· Dithyrambic choruses
· Presentations of tragedy, comedy, and satyr plays. The specific mix of activities depended on the purpose of the festival and the deities or heroes who were being honored. Contests and competitions were frequently part of the festivals, whether it was a drinking contest, a foot­race, or dramatic presentation. The ancient Greeks were highly competitive, and their festivals were the focus of democratic culture, where people could enjoy displays that were a combination of public feast, religious experience, and great art. While you may be unfamiliar with some of the activities on the list (i.e. dithyrambic chorus) most of the activities remain components of 21 st century festivals and celebrations. It is interesting to compare the list of activities with those that are depicted in Breughel’s “Village Festival in Honour of St. Hubert and St. Anthony” which we looked at in out last lesson. With the exception of that mysterious dithyrambic chorus, the painting contains examples of all of the activities on the list. What motivates communities to create festivals? The answer to this question may be found in examining the beginnings of the City Dionysia.
2 EA/Unit 2 master_Spectacle in Antiquity.doc Friday, November 04, 2005 Section B: Origins of the City Dionysia The creation of the City Dionysia was accomplished during the reign of Athens’ first tyrant: Peisistratus, who ruled from 546­527 B.C. This was the era in Greek history just preceding the establishment of Athenian democracy. Peisistratus was an enlightened dictator who provided Athens with political stability and transformed what was a sleepy country town, into a major political and military power. Peisistratus’ objective was to establish a unified political state. During his reign he launched a vast public building program, instituted a system of taxation, and established a wide sphere of Athenian influence and dominance in the Aegean. One of his nation­ building schemes involved re­organizing some of the local Athenian festivals on a grand scale; transforming them into national spectacles. One such festival was the City Dionysia in honor of the relatively new deity Dionysus (also known as Bacchus). Dionysus was one of two, popular agricultural deities (the other being Demeter, the corn goddess) whom the Greeks worshiped. Dionysus was the god of wine and vegetation. He was also traditionally associated with fertility and the theatre. Dionysus, whose father was Zeus, was the only Greek god to have mortal mother: the beautiful Theban princess Semele. Like many Greek deities, Dionysus has a colorful and violent history. Semele died through the trickery of Hera, Zeus’ wife, before she could give birth to Dionysus. Zeus saved the child by keeping it in his own side until it was ready to be born, when it was whisked away by Hermes to be raised by nymphs. Dionysus grew into manhood and traveled around the ancient world teaching men how to cultivate grapes and introducing them to the mysteries of his worship. Dionysus was reputed to have died a terrible death: in one story he is torn to pieces by the Titans and in another by Hera. But his story ends happily when he is resurrected and reconstructed by Zeus, and goes to reside on Olympus. Dionysus was a popular god whose story followed the life cycle of the vine. As the god of wine, he could be kind and beneficent, and also terrible and cruel, driving men and women to terrible deeds (just as drink can). The primitive worship of Dionysus was centered in these two ideas: one of freedom and ecstatic joy and the other of savage brutality. In mythology the female followers of Dionysus were known as Maenads (or Bacchantes) who, frenzied with wine and the spirit of the god, would roam through the woods and mountainsides, swept away in a fierce and violent ecstasy. If you should be unfortunate enough to encounter them, you could be ripped to shreds. Euripides’ tragedy The Bakkhai chillingly dramatizes the destructive power the maenads were capable of. Dionysus is often depicted in vase paintings and other works of art with the maenads and his other legendary followers: the satyrs who were half­men and half­goats. Dionysus was such a popular deity because the cultivation of grapes and the making of wine were so important to the Greeks. Dionysus’ exploits were celebrated in hymns and chants known as dithyrambs. Over time the dithyrambs became more elaborate and were performed at different ceremonies and festivals by large choruses of men and boys.
3 EA/Unit 2 master_Spectacle in Antiquity.doc Friday, November 04, 2005 Scholars have theorized that Greek tragedy developed out of the choral chants and dances of the dithyramb when one member of the chorus—the legendary Thespis (the Greek equivalent to Caveman Bob) stepped out of the chorus, wearing the mask of the god, and engaged it in dialogue. There were four Dionysian festivals celebrated in ancient Greece, from mid­winter to the spring. The festivals were:
· Rural (or Country) Dionysia—celebrated in December/January. Initially this was a religious holiday and a local festival, because of bad weather and the closing of the shipping lanes in the Aegean.
· Lenaia—celebrated in January/February. This was a local festival intended to bring spring and fertility. In the 5 th c. B.C. the Lenaia became the site for the presentation of satiric comedies.
· Anthesteria—celebrated in February/March. The festival of the “new wine”— when the jars in which last season’s wine were fermenting would be opened and tasted. It was also known as the festival of flowers, as it corresponded to the time of year when the first blossoms appear.
· City or “Great” Dionysia—celebrated in March/April after the shipping lanes were re­opened and Athens was thronged with visitors. This festival was second in importance only to the Panathenia (held every four years in honor of city’s patron goddess, Athena Polias). The City Dionysus was a celebration of the god and his gifts of wine and theatre. As such, it became the showcase for the presentation of tragedies, comedies, and satyr plays.
· By 534 B.C. Peisistratus had reorganized the City Dionysia, giving it national prominence and including dramatic performances in its program of events. His aims, like those of all promoters and organizers of religious and civic festivals throughout history, were to: 1) Honor the god. 2) Promote a sense of community and national identity. 3) Promote commerce. 4) Project political power and authority.
4 EA/Unit 2 master_Spectacle in Antiquity.doc Friday, November 04, 2005 Section C: Organization of the City Dionysia Festivals in ancient Greece were civic events sponsored, organized, and managed by the polis. The overall responsibility for the supervision and organization of the City Dionysus was given to the Archon, who was a high civic official responsible for the general administration of all aspects of city life. Along with his staff, the Archon functioned in the same way that an “executive producer” might for a theatrical production or motion picture. He was responsible for planning and organizing all aspects of the festival including: 1) selecting the plays to presented at the festival 2) identifying wealthy citizens (choregos) who would serve as the financial sponsors for different activities and events 3) working with the Architekton (also referred to in some sources as the theatrones or theatropoles) to ensure the performance space—the theatron (a seeing place) was in order 4) appointing judges for the various competitions 5) making sure all procedures and religious regulations were observed 6) crowning the victors in the various competitions The festival involved months of planning and hundreds of individuals were involved in its realization.
5 EA/Unit 2 master_Spectacle in Antiquity.doc Friday, November 04, 2005 Section D: Structure of the Festival In its mature form, the City Dionysus was presented over a period of six days. Day One. Day one was taken up with an elaborate, ceremonial procession that commemorated Dionysus’ first arrival in Athens. An effigy of the god (a statue or column with a terra cotta mask) was carried throughout the city, marking the progress of his journey. Some historians speculate that the effigy was pulled through the streets on a float, in the shape of a boat, since Dionysus had come across the sea from distant Thrace. (See page 11 of the textbook for a picture of what one of these floats might have looked like.) The procession paused at different locations for sacrifices (the principal form of Greek religious worship) and performances of music, dances, and recitations in honor of the god. Eventually, the effigy of was brought into the Theatre of Dionysus, which was adjacent to the holy the god’s temple on the southern slope of the Acropolis. The Theatre served as the site for the performances that were the focus of the festival. It is estimated that the Theatre of Dionysus could hold upwards of 15,000­20,000 spectators. Initially spectators simply sat on the hill side. The first stone theatre wasn’t built on this site until around 330 B.C. The presence of the god’s effigy in the Theatre underscores who the primary audience for the performances would be (Dionysus) and the sacred nature of the event. Day Two. Day two consisted of the dithyrambic choral competition. Choruses of 50 men or boys, sang, chanted and danced ancient hymns in honor of Dionysus. The choruses represented the different Greeks tribes and were sponsored by wealthy citizens who were discharging responsibility. This portion of the festival may have concluded with a large feast and reveling in which perhaps as many as 240 bulls were ritually slaughtered and eaten . (The Greeks burnt the viscera of their sacrifices as offering to their gods.) The barbecue was, of course, consumed with prodigious amounts of wine. This has led some historians to conclude that many people spent the night sleeping in the streets. Part of the experience of the audience going to the theatre the next day “must have been the reek of dried blood and a monumental hangover” (see H. W. Parke, Festivals of the Athenians, p. 226). Days Three to Five. Days three to five were taken up with the dramatic performances. On each day the work of one poet (playwright) would be presented. The three playwrights whose work was featured in the festival submitted a tetralogy for production, which consisted of three tragedies (trilogy) and one satyr play. Scholars theorize that the short satyr play, which took its name from its chorus of satyrs, ended the day’s performances on a lighter note. Somewhat later, in 486 B.C., performances of comedies were added to the festival. When this occurred, a day was set aside for the presentation of five comedies by five different playwrights. In the very earliest days of the City Dionysus, playwrights not only wrote the plays but were responsible for devising all aspects of their presentation. Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides acted in, directed, and designed the original productions of their plays. All of the actors in the productions were men who performed in elaborate costumes and masks. The productions were presented non­stop and performances probably lasted 6 to 7 hours.
6 EA/Unit 2 master_Spectacle in Antiquity.doc Friday, November 04, 2005 Final Day. The final day of the festival was given over to awarding the prizes (best tragedy, best actor etc.). Prizes consisted of victors’ wreathes, ceremonial tripods (the Greek equivalent of an Oscar statuette), goats (intended for sacrifice) as well as gifts of money and produce. Time was also devoted by the Archon and his staff to assessing the administration and execution of the festival. In times of war and national emergencies the Archon could be shortened or cancel the festival. There is a great deal of scholarly debate over who participated in the City Dionysus and attended the performances. Athens was relatively small by contemporary standards. Historians estimate that Athens, at the peak of its glory at the beginning of the Peloponnesian War, had a population of 350,000. One­half (175,000) were citizens, one­ tenth resident aliens, and the rest were slaves. If a maximum of 20,000 spectators could be accommodated in the Theatre of Dionysus—that meant approximately 13% of the citizens could attend productions. While this was not a majority of the population, the number is much larger than the estimated 2–3% of the population that attends theatre performances today. While we know male citizens attended the dramatic performance, historians are uncertain if women, children, and slaves were allowed to attend. It is important to remind ourselves just how spellbinding and exciting dramatic performances were for a mass audience at this time in history. Theatre was the television/internet/movies of the ancient world, a source of entertainment and enlightenment, and spectacle was an essential part of it. WEBLINK: In our next lesson we will examine spectacle in the age of Aristotle. In preparation you should read Aristotle’s Poetics: http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/poetics.1.1.html Aristotle lived approximately 200 years after the establishment of the City Dionysus. In the Poetics he describes the six parts of tragedy (read “drama”), one of which is spectacle. The Poetics is significant because it is the oldest surviving critical discussion of theatre. Dramatic theory and criticism begins with Aristotle. When reading the Poetics pay close attention to what he has to say about spectacle.
7 EA/Unit 2 master_Spectacle in Antiquity.doc Friday, November 04, 2005 Images of Ancient Performance Theatre was one of the glories of the ancient world. It survives not only in plays which can still be read and seen but in artistic images. Depictions of performances, actors, and their masks were frequent in classical times and continued to appear down into the 5 th – 6 th centuries A.D. and beyond, long after the plays had ceased to be staged. The remains of actual theatres and the surviving texts of plays also help to give us an idea of how Greek drama developed from its choral origins and how it must have appeared in its heyday. Painted or sculpted representatives may not be as literal as photographs, but they tell us much about spectacle and performance. Terracotta figurines and vase paintings often show fascinating details of costumes, masks, and stage settings. They also give enticing glimpses of scenes from lost plays, as well as from famous and familiar ones. Most of all, they allow us an opportunity to recapture how theatre was seen and experienced by its early audiences. What follows is a collection of ten historic images of Greek and Roman performances. You may want to use one of these images as the basis for your second short essay which is due at the end of the fourth course unit. 1. Actors and satyr chorus, Pronomos Vase, Naples, Museo Nazionale. 2. Iphigenia in Tauris. Vase, Naples, Museon Nazionale. 3. Medea. Vase. Munich, Staatliche Antikensammlungen. 4. Amphitheatre of Pompei from the house of ‘Via del Teatro’. Naples, Museo Nazionale. 5. Chorus of Knights. Vase. Berlin, Staatliche Museen. 6. Tragic actor. Ivory statuette. Paris, Petit Palais. 7. Chiron being pushed up the stairs. Vase. London, British Museum. 8. Comic scene. Terracotta relief. Naples. Museo Nazionale. 9. Middle Comedy characters. Greek terracotta statuettes. New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art. 10. Mosaic with Gladiators: panel showing equites. Romermuseum, Augst, Germany.
8 EA/Unit 2 master_Spectacle in Antiquity.doc Friday, November 04, 2005 Unit 2:2—Spectacle In The Age Of Aristotle Introduction The age of Aristotle (384–322 B.C.) was one of nostalgia and profound change: nostalgia for the glory days of Athens in the 5 th century B.C. before it was defeated by Sparta, and profound change initiated by the conquests of Philip of Macedonia and his son, Alexander the Great. Philip and Alexander transformed the Greek world of the independent and warring city­states by conquering and unifying them, opening them up to the resources and influences of the Middle East. The Macedonian conquest resulted in the exportation of Greek civilization beyond the Mediterranean. The founding of new towns popularized Greek architectural styles and ideas of city planning. Greek sculpture, vase painting, and jewelry were all exported. Educated individuals were expected to be able to speak, read, and write Greek. Greek intellectuals were sought after as teachers, administrators and advisors in all of the major political centers. And while Athens was no longer a political power, it retained its reputation as the cultural capital of the Mediterranean world. Greek art became the art of the Western civilized world. As Greek art spread, so did the theatre. In this lesson we will examine spectacle in the age Aristotle. We will begin by looking at Aristotle’s Poetics where our concept of spectacle comes from. We will conclude by investigating what Aristotle refers to as “the art of the stage machinist” (i.e. the technical elements of production in Greek Theatre).
9 EA/Unit 2 master_Spectacle in Antiquity.doc Friday, November 04, 2005 Section A: Aristotle’s Poetics Aristotle is one of the great figures in the history of humankind. My Google search on “Aristotle” resulted in 1,270,000 listings: a persuasive indication of his importance in the 21 st century. The son of a physician, Aristotle was a student of Plato’s at the Academy in Athens. During his life he researched, lectured, and wrote on a vast array of subjects, from logic, philosophy and ethics, to physics, biology, psychology, politics, poetry, and rhetoric. There wasn’t an area of knowledge and human activity that did not engage him. He was a “Renaissance man” long before there was a renaissance. WEBLINKS: For more information on Aristotle visit either: http://www.philosophpages.com/ph/aris.htm or ( http://www.utm.edu/research/iep/a/aristotl.htm The Poetics is of singular importance to literary scholars and students of theatre. Not only is it the first significant work in dramatic theory and criticism that has come down to us, but it has exerted a continual influence on dramatic theory from ancient times to the present. This is in spite of problems with the surviving text. Marvin Carlson in Theories of the Theatre outlines some of these problems when he writes: Although Aristotle’s Poetics is universally acknowledged in Western critical tradition, almost every detail about this seminal work has aroused divergent opinions. Since the original Greek text is not extant, modern versions are based primarily on an eleventh­century manuscript, supplemented by material from an inferior thirteenth­ or fourteenth­century version and a tenth­century Arabic translation. Passages are unclear in all three versions, and the style in general is so elliptical that scholars have come to assume that the original manuscript was a series of lecture notes or a work meant to be circulated privately among students already familiar with Aristotle’s teachings. In recent years there has been speculation that some of the Poetics may come not from Aristotle at all but from subsequent commentators. The date of the composition is also cloudy; though most scholars place it early in Aristotle’s career, when he was still under the influence of Plato, some place it much later, when its significance as a rebuttal would be much reduced. (p. 16) Despite these controversies, the primacy of the Poetics remains unchallenged and its influence undiminished. It has provided dramatic theorists and critics with a provocative set of definitions, concepts, and observations that continue to inspire debate and enquiry.
10 EA/Unit 2 master_Spectacle in Antiquity.doc Friday, November 04, 2005 Section B: Aristotle on Spectacle What does Aristotle have to say about spectacle in the Poetics? The simple answer is, not much. Aristotle mentions spectacle only five or six times, primarily in Part VI of the text. Several oblique references also appear in parts XII, XIV, XV and XVI. While he acknowledges “every play contains spectacular elements” and identifies spectacle as one of six essential elements of Tragedy (plot, character, diction, thought, spectacle, song), it is clearly a minor concern to him. When Aristotle gets around to discussing the different elements of Tragedy, he moves spectacle down a notch, rank ordering it last, behind “song,” in his listing. Spectacle, for Aristotle, is what happens to the text of a play when it is performed. It is created by the actors and “stage machinist” who through their work give physical form and expression to the words of the poet. It is what an audience sees and hears when they witness the performance of a play. While spectacle brings the play to life, it also can take on a life of its own. Aristotle reflects on this when he writes, “The spectacle has, indeed, an emotional attraction of its own, but of all the parts, it is the least artistic, and connected least with the art of poetry. For the power of Tragedy, we may be sure, is felt even apart from representation and actors. Besides the production of spectacular effects depends more on the art of the stage machinist than on that of the poet”(Part VI, p. 6). Aristotle reiterates this point later when he denigrates the use of spectacle to arouse pity and fear in an audience (Part XIV, p.2), the use of a Deus ex Machina (god from the machine) to unravel plot complications (Part V, p.4), and the use of tokens (props) in recognition scenes. Aristotle acknowledges that tragic poets certainly employ these devices, but states they are “less artistic,” extraneous, artificial, and even irrational. He sternly warns the would­be tragic poet that “Those who employ spectacular means to create a sense not of the terrible but only of the monstrous, are strangers to the purpose of Tragedy […]” (Part XIV, p.3). Aristotle is interested in the “art of poetry.” His focus in the Poetics is primarily on the text as a literary composition and the work of the poet. Performance is a minor concern to him because ultimately, “the power of tragedy. . . is felt even apart from representation and actors.” With this idea in mind, he cautions the tragic poet against pandering to the taste of the audience who are easily enthralled by spectacle. Nostalgically, he culls examples from the works of the early masters of Tragedy—Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides—to support his position. Sophocles, Aristotle tells us, is the most perfect of this triad of classic poets, and contemporary writers would be well advised to use him as a model. Aristotle can be considered reactionary and elitist. Writing at least fifty years after the death of Sophocles in 406 B.C., at a time when the theatre had changed considerably from what it had been a century earlier, Aristotle seems intent on reconnecting Tragedy to its ancient roots and re­establishing the preeminence of the playwright whose prominence was being eclipsed by the popularity of the actors, and whose dramas were being confused with spectacles. Historian Andrea Gronemeyer reflects on this in Theater when she writes:
11 EA/Unit 2 master_Spectacle in Antiquity.doc Friday, November 04, 2005 Tragedy as an art form survived the collapse of the polis at the end of the 5 th century. But spectacular scenography and the virtuosity of the actors were forcing the achievement of the dramatic poets into the shadows. This devaluation is Aristotle’s target in his Poetics: for him, Sophocles provides the ideal model of the art of tragedy. Staging and mere dramatic virtuosity—“spectacle”—counted as nothing for Aristotle; on the contrary, the art of tragedy consisted in the ability to arouse fear (phobos) and piety (eleas) in the audience to in order to effect a cleansing (katharsis) of these emotions. For Aristotle, this serious philosophical intention makes tragedy supreme among the poetic arts. (pp.16­17) It may be an overstatement to say “spectacle counted for nothing” for Aristotle. After all, he does recognize it has “an emotional attraction of its own.” At the same time, Aristotle is, above all else, a supremely rational individual—casting a cold eye on appeals to emotions, which are exactly what actors and stage machinists often excel at. The issues Aristotle touches on in the Poetics are just as relevant today as they were in ancient times. Some of these issues include:
· the control writers exercises over their work when it is presented in another medium (i.e. theatre, film, television)
· the creative contributions actors, directors and designers make to productions— are they “less artistic” than the work of the writer?
· the nature of the “emotional attraction” spectacle has for an audience
· the distinction between “the terrible” and “the monstrous” in tragedy and art
· the amount of attention artists should pay to their audiences These remain provocative issues that continue to be debated and discussed today.
12 EA/Unit 2 master_Spectacle in Antiquity.doc Friday, November 04, 2005 Section C: Spectacle in Greek Theatre At the time Aristotle was writing, theatre production was becoming quite sophisticated. Plays were no longer presented by amateur performers just at festivals honoring Dionysus. Plays were staged at celebrations in honor of other gods and on special civic occasions. For example, when Alexander the Great captured Thebes in 335 B.C. he held a nine­day festival devoted primarily to dramatic contests. Actors and performers were becoming increasingly professional and organized themselves into guilds or unions. Civic officials negotiated with the guilds to provide everything that was necessary for a dramatic presentation. Unionization led to increased specialization and professionalism. Guild members—primarily the leading actors— enjoyed a privileged status. They could travel unimpeded between major cities and countries, sometimes served as royal ambassadors and couriers, and could be exempt from military service. Actors, along with military heroes, athletes, philosophers and other artists, were the celebrities of their day. The period also witnessed the building and remodeling of a great many theatres throughout the Mediterranean—in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Simple, rustic performance spaces that took advantage of the topography of a specific site were renovated and enlarged. Theatres could accommodate anywhere from 3,000 to 30,000 spectators. The most extensive renovations occurred to the skene. The word skene comes from the Greek word for “tent.” Historians speculate that originally the skene was a temporary structure located at the back of the orchestra (circular performance space used for choral dances) and utilized by the actors to change into their costumes and masks. Gradually, over time, the skene developed into a more formalized, permanent stone structure that included a proskenion—a fore­stage or porch that is the prototype for our modern stage— and an elaborate, multi­story stone façade with three entrances that could serve as an “all­ purpose” background for the play that was being presented. Archaeological and textual evidence indicates the Greeks used a number of technical devices to suggest changes of scene, to reveal interior tableaus of death and destruction, and to stage the miraculous appearance (or escape) of a god or mortal character. The most fabled example of one of these devices was the Mechane or Deus ex machina (its Latin form).The Deus ex machina was probably a large, crane­like device that was used to lower an actor from the roof of the skene building to the proskenion or orchestra. It was frequently used for the miraculous entrance and exits of gods. While the Deus ex machina would seem to be rather crude and naïve by contemporary standards, at the time it was the epitome of technical innovation and stage­wizardry. Over time, this technical device—the province of the stage machinist—came to refer to a literary device where a character is introduced (i.e. a god) at the climax of the play who arbitrarily resolves all the complications and messy intrigues of the plot in a quick and efficient manner. Aristotle obviously didn’t think much of the Deus ex machina either as a technical or literary device.
13 EA/Unit 2 master_Spectacle in Antiquity.doc Friday, November 04, 2005 Section D: Masks and Costumes Some of the most striking visual elements in a Greek theatre production were the actors’ masks and costumes. Tradition holds that the legendary Thespis was the first actor to use a mask in a theatre performance. Masks covered the entire head of the actor and included realistic wigs and facial hair. Mask­makers were highly skilled artists and craftsman, and their work could have a tremendous impact on a production. An ancient chronicle reports that upon the entrance of a chorus of Furies, in the third part of Aeschylus’ trilogy the Orestia, the visual effect was so frighteningly horrific that women suffered miscarriages and small children died. In Greek Theatre all of the performers, with the exception of musicians, wore masks. The masks for principal characters were individualized, whereas chorus masks were presumably standardized, visually emphasizing the idea of a group. Masks were probably made out of light­weight materials such as various reeds and grasses, cork, leather and wood. They were covered with linen and painted in a life­like manner. References abound to the realistic appearances of masks; sometimes recognizable caricatures or portrait masks were made of prominent citizens. Like all elements of theatre, masks changed over time. Historians believe that they became larger and more stylized in their appearance as the theatres increased in size. One of the sources historians have gleamed information about masks from is the Onomastikon, an encyclopedia complied by Julius Pollux in the second century A.D. In this work Pollux describes a wide variety of masks distinguished by age, gender, complexion, hair style, status etc. Here, for example is what he has to say about slaves: The slave’s comic masks are a grandfather, upper slave, thin­haired behind, bristly slave, a curled slave, a middle slave, foppish slave, shaking upper slave. The grandfather alone of all the slaves is hoary and shows the freeman. The upper slave wears a crown of red hair, elevates the eyebrows, contracts the forehead, and among slaves is like an aged governor among freedmen. The thin or bristly­haired behind has a bald crown, red hair, and elevated eyebrows. (A. M. Nagler, A Source Book In Theatrical History, New York: Dover, 1959; page 14) Masks served a number of important functions in ancient theatre including: 1) Allowed actors to quickly establish the identity of a character. 2) Allowed a single actor to play a number of different characters just by changing masks. 3) Enhanced the visibility of the actors in the vast amphitheatres in which the plays were performed. 4) May have enhanced the audibility of performances by functioning as a resonating chamber or a megaphone to direct the voice.
14 EA/Unit 2 master_Spectacle in Antiquity.doc Friday, November 04, 2005 5) Facilitated the playing of women’s roles by men. Because of the use of masks, the facial expression and the physical appearance of an actor counted for nothing. To be successful as an actor in ancient times you needed a splendid voice (strong, flexible, with good diction and enunciation, and the ability to recite verse and sing songs), a perfect memory, and a limber body—capable of expressive movements and gestures. While masks provided actors with a means to quickly establish the identity of characters, bringing characters truly to life required special skill and imagination. The actor contemplating his mask is one of the great iconographic images in theatre history. Actors were viewed as being mystically inspired or possessed by the gods. Aristotle thought that actors were under the influence of the actual passions they were counterfeiting and that “dramatic ability is a natural gift that can hardly be taught.” Plato, on the other had, thought of actors as liars (someone who assumes someone else’s identity) and banished them, along with poets and artists, from his Utophia. Costumes, with the exception of “enhancing audibility,” fulfilled the same range of functions masks did in the Greek Theatre. The surviving Greek plays have numerous references to clothing items of the period. It is assumed that actors and choruses representing ordinary people wore costumes that were similar to everyday clothing. Extraordinary characters (Gods, foreigners, royalty, warriors, etc.) had more unique and sumptuous costumes. Color and pattern was used decoratively and expressively to communicate important information about the characters. Comic costumes tended to be more spectacular and grotesque. A notorious item in comic male attire was the large leather phallus, which hung out below the short tunics comic characters wore. The final elements of spectacle in Greek Theatre were the performances of the actors and chorus. The visual pageantry of masked heroes and gods coming to life and enacting stories of myth and legend, the singing and dancing of a chorus of 12–15 actors accompanied by musicians, must have been absolutely dazzling—as indeed it still is. Modern productions can only begin to approximate the sense of wonder, awe, and delight that must have greeted these spectacles when they were first presented. In order to experience a little bit of this sense of wonder, I want you to look at a brief video clip of scene from Sir Tyrone Guthrie’s 1954 production of Oedipus Rex. Guthrie was a brilliant 20 th century stage director who—throughout his career—was intrigued with exploring the conventions of ancient Greek theatre. VIDEO CLIP: Click here to see the video clip from Oedipus Rex.
15 EA/Unit 2 master_Spectacle in Antiquity.doc Friday, November 04, 2005 Unit 2:3—Bread and Circus in Ancient Rome Introduction In the 5 th century B.C., when Athens was reaching the peak of its power under Pericles, and Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides dominated Greek theatre, the Romans controlled only a small part of central Italy. In 510 B.C., the Romans expelled the last Etruscan king from Rome and establish a republic. Over the next several hundred years, through a process of political and military conquests, the Romans would expand their power over the Italian peninsula and eventually, by 44 B.C., control the entire Mediterranean world. Rome was a large, sprawling, multilingual empire made up of many different peoples. What we call “Roman culture” was an amalgamation of influences, forms, and elements that were assembled over several hundred years of conquest and cultural acquisition. The Romans borrowed, adopted, and (most importantly) adapted the art, institutions, and gods of many other cultures. In this lesson we will examine the various forms of popular entertainment and spectacle that engaged the ancient Romans. The Romans were masters of public spectacle whether it was the staging of elaborate funeral ceremonies or a triumphal procession for a victorious general. Spectacle was used in sophisticated ways. Popular entertainments subtly reflected the tensions and conflicts in society at large— diverting the public’s attention from them while simultaneously presenting them in symbolic forms. The term “bread and circus” refers to the twin appetites Rome’s emperors and political figures needed to satiate in order to curry the political support of the mob: food and entertainment, nourishment, and diversion. If it all sounds faintly familiar, that’s because America’s popular entertainments (with their guiding capitalist philosophy) bear a strong resemblance to those of ancient Rome. The size, longevity, and diversity of the Roman Empire promoted the development of a wide range of leisure time and recreational activities that could be found in all corners of the Empire. These included formal dramatic performances of tragedies and comedies, mimes and pantomimes, horse and chariot racing, gladiatorial combats, animal fights, and elaborate battle re­enactments. Performances of these events persisted throughout the entire history of the empire, although their popularity varied at different times and in different places.
16 EA/Unit 2 master_Spectacle in Antiquity.doc Friday, November 04, 2005 Section A: Theatre Theatre was never as popular in Rome as it was in Athens. It was simply one form of popular entertainment in Rome. It held little of the civic or religious significance the Greeks invested in it. Roman theatre was a cultural acquisition from Greece, a trophy of imperial conquest. It flourished for a relatively brief time in Rome between 240–100 B.C. and then disappeared as a vital form of popular entertainment near the end of the millennium. Rome’s first actor­playwright was Livius Andronicus (280–205 B.C.) who was brought to Rome to create a Roman version of Greek theatre. He wrote and produced Latin versions of Greek tragedies and comedies and is regarded as the founder of Roman drama. Andronicus imported Greek actors and spectacle to create Roman theatre. Andronicus was followed by other actors and playwrights who adopted and adapted Greek dramas, but only three whose work survives: Plautus (254–184 B.C.) and Terence (195–160 B.C.), who wrote comedies, and Seneca (4 B.C.–65 A.D.) who wrote tragedies. In Plautus’ and Terence’s comedies can be found the beginnings of situation comedy as we know it from television. Whether it’s a classic sit­com like “I Love Lucy” or more contemporary shows such as “Friends,” “Everybody Loves Raymond,” or even “The Simpsons,” the stories, characters, and relationships can all be found in embryonic form in the plays of Plautus and Terence. Plautus and Terence derived their inspiration form Greek comedies that are now lost to us. They borrowed characters and plots and romanized them. These masters of Roman comedy populated their plays with stock comic characters (i.e. domineering mothers, doltish fathers, irascible old men, naïve young lovers, parasitical and quirky friends, clever slaves and servants, etc.), employed broad forms of physical and verbal humor (i.e. invective, harangues, insults, put­downs, puns, satire, parody, slap­stick, etc.), and focused their plots on family relationships and every­day life. While these plays were performed for a relatively short period of time, they became incredibly influential because they were copied, studied, and preserved, surviving the collapse of the Roman Empire in monastic libraries. They influenced ideas of comedy during the Middle Ages and beyond. Their names became adjectives for certain types of comedy (Plautine farce, Terentian comedy). Shakespeare studied their works and based his Comedy of Errors on Plautus’ The Menaechmi. The famous 20 th century musical comedy team of Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart’s The Boys From Syracuse is yet another version of The Menaechmi. Finally, Stephen Sondheim’s A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum is a brilliant compilation of characters and situations from several of Plautus’ plays. Roman comedy truly lives on in productions of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way Forum. AUDIO CLIP: Listen now to Nathan Lane perform “Comedy Tonight” from the 1996 Broadway revival. Likewise, Seneca, who wrote just nine tragedies, exerted a tremendous influence over the future direction of serious drama. In his plays, which are all Roman versions of Greek tragedies, we see one of Aristotle’s greatest ideas realized: the “terrible” is transformed
17 EA/Unit 2 master_Spectacle in Antiquity.doc Friday, November 04, 2005 into merely the “horrific” in tragedy. Seneca concentrates the dramatic action in his plays, introduces psychological elements into his characters, and demonstrates a taste and talent for creating scenes of gruesome violence. While his plays were probably written as rhetorical exercises, intended to be read and not produced, it is no exaggeration to state that without their example, tragic drama in the Renaissance would have been quite different. For example, Shakespeare’s youthful tragedy, Titus Andronicus, is a catalog of Seneca’s most extreme dramaturgical devices. Plays were presented at festivals and celebrations in Rome, originally in temporary, wooden theatres constructed for specific occasions. Once a festival was over, the theatre was dismantled. These temporary theatres were probably modeled on more permanent Greek structures. While grand, free­standing stone­and­concrete theatres were being constructed outside of Rome, the Senate was very resistant to erecting a permanent theatre within the city­limits for fear that it could serve as a site for political assemblies and civic agitation. Only in 55 B.C., long after the deaths of Plautus and Terence and the decline of written drama, did Rome get it first permanent stone theatre: the Theatre of Pompey. Soon, every Roman city of any size—from London in the West to Antioch in the East—had a theatre. These theatres, many of which survive and are used for performances today, functioned as civic centers and were the sites for a wide variety of different performances and events.
18 EA/Unit 2 master_Spectacle in Antiquity.doc Friday, November 04, 2005 Section B: Mime and Pantomime Mime and pantomime were two performance forms that proved to be far more popular and long­lasting than literary drama. Today, mime and pantomime are used interchangeably to describe wordless gestural performances, but in Roman times they referred to very different entertainment forms. Mimes (from the Greek mimos) were short, comic folk plays, and also referred to the actors who performed them. The mimes who performed mimes worked without masks (and occasionally without clothes). Both men and women worked as mimes and appear to have organized themselves into small companies of 2–6 actors. A modern equivalent might be an improvisational comedy company. This is the first recorded instance, in the history of western theatre, where women worked professionally as actors. The sketches and skits the mimes presented were often bawdy and exploited sex for its comic potential. A typical mime might involve a scheming, unfaithful wife who plots with her lover to deceive her husband. Occasionally, mimes could be pornographic with naked performers simulating sex acts; or, even more notoriously, convicted criminals who could be actually tortured and executed as part of the stage performance. Pantomime was a dramatic dance performed by a masked male dancer to chanted recitation and musical accompaniment. The pantomimes single­handedly interpreted a work of classic literature silently playing all of the different characters. Pantomime performers were talented and versatile performers who with the aid of masks transformed themselves. Lucian of Samosata (120–180 A.D.) has left us this description of the pantomime’s talents: And now I come to the pantomime. What must be his qualifications? What his previous training? What his studies? What his subsidiary accomplishments? You will find that his is no easy profession, nor lightly to be undertaken; requiring as it does a knowledge not of music only, but of rhythm and metre, and above all of your beloved philosophy, both natural and moral, the subtleties of dialect alone being rejected as serving no useful purpose. ( A. M. Nagler, A Source Book in Theatrical History. New York: Dover, 1959; p. 28). Pantomimes were performed in palaces and amphitheatres. They were embraced by Rome’s ruling elite, and the performers could be very popular,sometimes to their peril. It was reported, for example, that when the emperor Nero realized that the pantomime dancer Paris the Elder, his favorite and confidant, was more popular with the public than he was himself, he had Paris executed. You definitely needed to be careful who your biggest fans were if you were pantomime artist. Mime and pantomime were popular entertainment forms dominated by the actors who created them. Their individual virtuosity, as performers, as opposed to special technical effects devised by stage machinists, determined the success of the spectacles they created.
19 EA/Unit 2 master_Spectacle in Antiquity.doc Friday, November 04, 2005 Section C: Racing The most popular and long­lived leisure time activity in Rome was horse and chariot racing. The relationship between human beings and horses is fascinating and complex. The domestication of the horse was pivotal to the development of civilizations and advancements in warfare. The Greeks had a passion for horse racing. The Olympics, which were instituted in 776 B.C., added equestrian events in 680 B.C., during the twenty­fifth Olympiad, and dressage remains an event in the modern Olympics. The Romans also had a passion for horses—probably inspired by the Greeks and Etruscans. Legend has it that the first horse race was run in Rome immediately after the founding of the city by the mythic Romulus, who staged a race to entertain his loyal followers. Owning and maintaining a horse in Rome was expensive and an emblem of luxury. Equitation was the sport of the upper classes. Wealthy individuals built luxurious hippodromes at their villas. Races were staged in vast public hippodromes and circuses (the term circus refers to a large stadium). The first tracks were temporary structures that were eventually replaced by large stone stadiums. The most famous racing arena in Rome was the Circus Maximus, which was first constructed in the second century B.C., twice destroyed by fire, and rebuilt and expanded several times. The Circus Maximus’ dimensions were impressive: 2000 ft long, 650 feet wide, with a reputed seating capacity of between 260,000 and 300,000 spectators; it was without a doubt the largest sporting arena in the ancient world. The best preserved hippodrome in Rome today is the Circus Maxentius, which was constructed in 309 A.D. and accommodated 18,000 spectators. On race days, major portions of Rome could be deserted, the crush of the crowd at the stadium suffocating, and visitor accommodations difficult to come by. It sounds like a NASCAR event, doesn’t it! Equestrian activities consisted of individual horse races, and 2­ and 4­horse chariot races. There were also stunt­hitching events that involved 6, 8, and 10 horse teams. Races were funded by the state and sponsoring patrons and breeders who maintained large stables and drivers. The different stables were identified by the color of their banners and regalia (not unlike the use of team colors in today’s sporting events). Riders, charioteers and horses were the true celebrities of the day. Riders and charioteers frequently came from humble circumstances, although wealthy individuals and even the emperor, on occasion, would participate in the races. Riders and charioteers collected large prizes, fees, and gifts from their patrons and fans. Victorious horses were lionized by the public. Records exist of famous horses being given splendid funerals and having monuments erected to them. Racing fans could be rowdy and frequently violent. Historians believe the competition was a ritualized or covert way for the public to deal with political and social tensions. Betting on the races was a major industry in ancient Rome with industrious bookies using carrier pigeons to carry racing results to anxious patrons. The Romans even had laws against the “doping” of horses.
20 EA/Unit 2 master_Spectacle in Antiquity.doc Friday, November 04, 2005 Section D: Gladiatorial Combat Gladiatorial combat was first instituted in Rome in 264 B.C. as part of the funeral rites for the aristocracy. The sons of Junius Brutus decided to honor the memory of their illustrious father by matching three pairs of slaves in combat with one another. The combatants shed their blood to appease the spirit of the dead person they were honoring. The first combats were staged in the Roman Forum with the gladiators armed in the same way, with a straight sword, helmet, and greaves. This unique memorial rite soon became popular and grew in size within a century from 3 pair of combatants to as many as 60. Julius Caesar was particularly fond of large scale exhibitions (300 pairs on one occasion), which prompted the Senate to attempt to limit the number of combatants. Over time, what was once part of a funeral rite became secularized and lost its religious connotations, becoming a popular, bloody, public spectacle using a variety of weaponry. Gladiatorial fights could be very large events. In 107 A.D. the emperor Trajan, to celebrate a military victory, staged a fight with 5000 pairs of combatants. Like racing, gladiatorial combats were supported by prominent patrons and political figures to gain the favor of the citizenry. The combats were presented in arenas, hippodromes and amphitheatres—sometimes over the space of several days. The gladiators were frequently condemned criminals, prisoners of war, slaves, or otherwise desperate men who were prepared to fight to the death in order to win fame, popularity, and even freedom. Records exist that the profession attracted some freemen and even members of the upper class. During the reign of the emperor Domitian (circa 90 A.D.), women and dwarfs also performed as gladiators. Gladiatorial schools and barracks were founded and managed by the state to ensure a steady supply of brave combatants. Cicero wrote, “We hate those weak and suppliant gladiators who, hands outstretched, beseech us to let them live.” Hollywood, throughout its history, has been drawn to the spectacle of the hippodrome and coliseum and created cinematic epics set in ancient Rome. Ridley Scott’s Gladiator (1999) and earlier “sword and sandal” blockbusters such as Ben­Hur and Spartacus are effective at evoking the pageantry and spectacle of the arena. Television has also gotten in on the act. In 1991 there was a short lived television series entitled American Gladiator, where the contestants competed against each other in a series of mock combats—not unlike some of the events that are used in today’s reality­based programming. Professional wrestling, boxing, extreme fighting, and even team sports such as football and hockey all hearken back to our primeval fascination with life­and­ death struggles as a form of entertainment.
21 EA/Unit 2 master_Spectacle in Antiquity.doc Friday, November 04, 2005 Section E: Animal Fights The Romans not only enjoyed human combat but also reveled in the “blood­sport” of animal hunts and fights. Stadiums, arenas, and amphitheatres served as sites for these spectacles, which included:
· Staged animal hunts.
· Animal fights, frequently involving packs of trained hunting dogs fighting with a wild (and hungry) bear, lion, or bull.
· Public executions where criminals were tied to stakes and exposed to wild beasts. This was regarded as the most shameful form of all punishments— soldiers who deserted were executed in this manner. Throwing Christians to the lions is another example of this. As the capital of a vast empire, Rome had access to exotic animals from all over the Mediterranean world. Huge numbers of animals were imported for these events; and the Coliseum in Rome, where many of these events were held, had large animal holding facilities. It is recorded that when the Coliseum opened in 80 A.D. some 9000 animals were slaughtered during 100 days of celebration. Many of the hunts and fights made use of elaborate settings and even costumes. While we pride ourselves in treating animals more humanely in the 21 st century, blood sports still persist in the form of (mostly illegal) dog fights, cock fights, and bull fighting. Circuses and rodeos regularly attract the scrutiny/protests of humane societies and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) but continue to draw large audiences. Television’s popular cable channel Animal Planet regularly broadcasts programs depicting examples of aggressive, predatory animal behavior. Popular fiction and motion pictures frequently pit man against beast—whether it’s Little Red Riding Hood’s wicked wolf, a great white whale christened “Moby Dick,” a flock of birds, a ravenous killer shark, a grizzly bear, or a ran named “Willard.”
22 EA/Unit 2 master_Spectacle in Antiquity.doc Friday, November 04, 2005 Section F: Battle Reenactments The last, and in some ways the most exotic and rarest, form of spectacle in Rome was the battle reenactments. Reenactments could be of actual historical battles or mythological and legendary ones. These were extremely rare because they could be very so expensive to mount. In 46 B.C. Caesar held a mock battle in the Circus Maximus involving 1000 foot soldiers, 600 cavalry, and 40 elephants. The public must have been thrilled to see the military pageantry and maneuvers. By far the most spectacular and elaborate of these re­enactments were the naumachia (mock naval battles) which could involve thousands of participants. The most elaborate of these was one staged outside Rome on the Fucino Lake in central Italy in 52 A.D. during the reign of the emperor Claudius. It is reputed to have involved 19,000 gladiators who manned various war­ships surrounded by rafts of praetorian guards to keep them from escaping. An immense crowd congregated around the lake to watch the battle. Smaller naumachias were presented in Rome in excavated basins, and some historians suggest, even in circuses and amphitheatres. Today, historic reenactments are very popular form of recreation. They attract history­ buffs and individuals who, for a variety of personal reasons, want to experience what it was like living and fighting in a different time in history. A quick Google search on “reenactments” resulted in 97,300 listings for sites ranging from the ancient Romans to World War II.
23 EA/Unit 2 master_Spectacle in Antiquity.doc Friday, November 04, 2005 Unit 2:4—Spectacle in Traditional Asian Theatre Introduction This lesson is intended to serve as a brief tonic to the euro­centric view that informs the textbook and overall content of the course. In this lesson you are going to explore three classical Asian theatre forms: the Kathakali dance­drama of India, the Beijing Opera of China, and the Kabuki Theatre of Japan. These three performance forms have rich histories with roots that extend back to ancient times. While not always accessible to Western theatregoers, they are nonetheless extensions of the roots in ritual common to all dramatic forms around the world. Over the centuries, these Asian theatre forms have developed highly complex and symbolic rules for gesture, body movement, makeup, masks, and costumes that are truly spectacular. Unlike contemporary Western theatre forms where reproducing reality frequently seems to be the sole intent, traditional Asian theatre forms—which are anchored in Eastern religion—seek to reveal the truth behind the appearance of the world. Historian Andrea Gronemeyer writing in Theater says: “Simple, straightforward plots serve merely as an occasion to present feelings, which are then transferred to the audience. The world is structurally divided into a finally victorious good and a conquered evil, while both the characters and the audience remain aware of the illusory nature of the performance” (p.23). In this respect, traditional Asian theatre is much closer in spirit and execution to the performance traditions of ancient Greece and Rome that we’ve been studying. They have preserved the original nature of theatre that has, by and large, been lost in the West.
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