Download Ancient Greek Theater

ANCIENT GREEK THEATER
TODAY’S AGENDA
Class Starter- What do you know about
Greek drama and theater?
●Bonus C.S.-Mythological Word Search
(handout)
●Read play Antigone
●Finish Vocabulary Word Puzzles (you may
have already done this and just need to turn
the puzzle grid and your definitons in)
●
WORD BANK MYTHOLOGICAL
WORD SEARCH
P.125
●Zeus
●Neptune
●Hermes
●Athena
●Apollo
●Hera
●Dionysus
●Eros
●
Ares
Demeter
Minerva
Aphrodite
Poseidon
Mars
Pluto
throne, Zeus, Ares, head, trident, sandals,
helmet, Styxx, Cerberus, sun, Eros, arrows,
crops, wine, Mt. Olympus
Greek and Roman Gods and Goddesses
●
Greek Name
Roman Name
Responsibilities
Aphrodite
Venus
Goddess of beauty
and love
Mars
God of war
Diana
Goddess of hunting
and childbirth
Minerva
Goddess of war,
wisdom, and crafts
Ceres
Goddess of the
harvest
Juno
Protector of women;
wife of Zeus/Jupiter
Hermes
Mercury
Messenger of gods
Hades
Pluto
God of the
underworld
Zeus
Jupiter
King of the gods
Poseidon
Neptune
God of the sea
Ares
Romans borrowed
Artemis
their gods and
goddesses from the
Greeks and gave them Athena
new names. Here is a
chart of the Greek and
Demeter
Roman names of the
God /Goddess and a
Hera
description of what
they were believed to
control
.
This is where it all began:
the Theatre of Dionysus in
Athens.
SCOPE OF INFLUENCE
The comedy and tragedy that developed in
Athens and flourished in the fifth and fourth
centuries BCE have influenced nearly all
subsequent Western drama, starting with
that of the Romans.
●When the Romans conquered Greece they
brought Greek literature back to Italy and
set about making it their own.
●
The Romans, with their love of spectacle, soon took
over the existing theatres in Greece and began
renovating and rebuilding them for their own
spectacles, which included everything from
pantomime (closer to ballet than to the children's
'panto') to mock naval battles. Most of the remains
of the theatre of Dionysus which we can see in
Athens today date to Roman times and not the fifth
century BCE.
●
The tragedies and comedies of the fifth and fourth centuries BCE that
remain to us today were almost all written for performance in the Theatre of
Dionysus at Athens. The Theatre of Dionysus was first dug out of the slope
beneath the south side of the Acropolis in the late 6th century BCE.
Theater is a ritualistic art form which
celebrates the Olympian gods who often
appeared as characters.
●Dionysus, god of wine and procreation, was
honored at the dramatic festivals.
●Legendary kings and heroes were often
portrayed as well.
●
THEATER AND THE COMMON
MAN
Business and activities were suspended
during the week-long festivals held three
times per year.
●It was considered a CIVIC DUTY for people
to participate in the productions in some way.
●The plays were to give a lesson to the
people
●
Major Greek Dramatists
Dramatist
Born
Aeschylus 524 B.C.
Wrote
Seven Against
Thebes
Sophocles
496 B.C.
Antigone
Oedipus
Euripides
480 B.C.
Medea
THE PHYSICAL STRUCTURE OF THE
GREEK THEATER
The Stage
The theatron held benches on which the audience sat. The semicircular theatron was specifically built in to a hillside to provide good
views of the action.
●
The orchestra was the circular dancing place for the
chorus.
●The
skene was a rectangular building with three doors which
provided a generic backdrop for entrances and exits of the characters.
●The
proskenion was a small platform in front of the skene to
give actors more visibility to the audience.
The Physical Structure of the
Greek Theater
Approx. 15,000 people fit in the Theater of
Dionysus in Athens.
●No sets, props, etc.
●Actors’ lines marked the passage of time and
the setting.
●Design of theatron was important for
acoustics – no microphones.
●
THE PLAYERS
Because Greek tragedy and comedy originated with the
chorus, the most important part of the performance space
was the orchestra, which means 'a place for dancing' .
●A tragic chorus consisted of 12 or 15 dancers.
●Athenians were taught to sing and dance from a very early
age. The effort of dancing and singing through three
tragedies and a satyr play was likened to that of competing
in the Olympic Games.
●
PERFORMANCE
CHARACTERISTICS
Plays were initially held with just the chorus
singing/chanting the lines.
●In 534 BCE Thespis was credited with
creating the first actor (thespians). The
character spoke lines as a god.
●This begins the concept of DIALOGUE – the
character interacts with chorus.
●
THE ROLE OF THE ACTOR
Aeschylus – earliest Greek tragedy writer brought
idea of second actor.
● Sophocles – brought third actor – no more than
three actors on stage ever in a Greek tragedy.
●Euripedes – also used three actors after
Sophocles.
●Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripedes each wrote
a version of the Oedipus tragedy, but Sophocles’
version is the most famous.
●
Actors needed to be LARGER THAN LIFE
and thus easy to see.
●Size was symbolic of their social status.
●Wore a long, flowing robe, padded at the
shoulders for width, selected in symbolic
colors and platform shoes for added height
●
THE GREEK ACTOR
Participation is a civic duty; many
volunteered for the chorus.
●Experienced speakers became actors (often
govt. officials or imp. businessmen)
●Actors were revered and exempt from
military duty.
●Women were excluded from acting and had
to sit in the higher seats in the theatron.
●
MASKS
All gestures had to be large and definite so as to 'read'
from the back rows. Facial expression would have been
invisible to all but the closest members of the audience.
● The masks worn by the actors looked more 'natural' than
bare faces in the Theatre of Dionysus. The masks of
tragedy were of an ordinary, face-fitting size, with wigs
attached, and open mouths to allow clear speech.
●Contrary to some later theories, there were no
'megaphones' in the masks, and their decoration and
expression was quite subtle.
●
Theatrical masks were made of wood ,
leather, or cloth and flour paste ). Various
theories are advanced in favor of each
material, but no originals remain, only stone
carvings which may have been used as
mask-molds and the paintings on pottery.
●
ACTING STYLE
Actors could not move easily, so lines were
delivered in a “speech” style.
●Broad sweeping gestures.
●General movements to express emotions:
Bowed head – grief; beating chest –
mourning; stretching arms – prayer.
●Minor props – scepter – king, spear –
warrior, elderly – cane.
●
Greek Theater Masks
OEDIPUS REX (OEDIPUS THE
KING)
Written by Sophocles in 430 B.C.E.
●Based on a great legend of western culture
from Ancient Greece.
●Greatest Greek tragedy; drama of extreme
tension; one person rules action
●Sophocles’ version deals with the discovery
of Oedipus’ fate.
●
Oedipus Solving
the Riddle of the
Sphinx
Sophocles’ Antigone
 Set in
Thebes
(a city in
ancient
Greece)
Sophocles’ Antigone
●
Antigone is the
daughter of
Oedipus and
Jocasta.
Copy Only The Boxed
Portion!
Sophocles’ Antigone
Antigone’s brothers,
Eteocles and
Polyneices, were to
rule in alternate years.
●
Sophocles’ Antigone
●
Eteocles refused to
give up the throne
for Polyneices at the
end of his year.
Sophocles’ Antigone
Polyneices went
to Argos and
raised an army to
gain the throne.
●
Sophocles’ Antigone
Eteocles and
Polyneices killed
each other in
battle.
●
Sophocles’ Antigone
●
Antigone’s uncle,
Creon, became
king of Thebes.
Sophocles’ Antigone
●
Antigone’s uncle, Creon,
gives Eteocles, his ally, a
hero’s burial and issues a
decree against burying
Polyneices.
Sophocles’ Antigone
The conflict
between
Antigone and
Creon is the
basis for the
play.
●
Sophocles’ Antigone
●
Antigone believes that
he is wrong and that
both of her brothers
should be buried with
honor.
Cast of Characters
Narrator:
Creon, King of Thebes-Bryan
Eurydice, Creon’s wife-Aileen
Haemon, Creon’s son-Jeff
Antigone, Creon’s niece-Esmeralda, Glorimar
Ismene, Antigone’s sister- Staci
Teiresias, a blind prophet- Bailey
Messenger- Barry
Sentinels-.Alyssa
Chorus Leader- Ciara
Chorus- Morgan, Brinkley, Patrick, Edrea, Zaria, Bethany. Desmond,
Helen, Cierra, Kamara, Brett, Hayleigh