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WHAT HAVE THE ROMANS EVER DONE FOR US? Greek New Comedy and Roman Theatre QuickTime™ and a decompressor are needed to see this picture. “Comedy is Tragedy plus time” Woody Allen “The world is a tragedy for those who feel and a comedy for those that think “ Horace Walpole “Comedy is simply a funny way of being serious.” Peter Ustinov “Dying is easy, comedy is hard.” Edmund Gwenn Jack Shall Have Jill Naught shall go ill The Man Shall have his mare again and all shall be well A Midsummer Night’s Dream What does Comedy Mean? • Komos - A ritual drunken procession on the 1st day of the Dionysia • Kommodia - Laughter provoking (literally any play with a happy ending) The Three ages of Comedy • Old Comedy (480-440 B.C.) - Mainly the 11 plays of Aristophanes • Middle Comedy - No plays from this period exist • New Comedy ( ends 260 B.C.) - only fragments exist (mainly Menander) Aristophanes • Born 447 B.C. • 40 plays - only 11 survive • The Peloponnesian War • 462-431 Pericles in charge of the assembly - creates subject states for Athens • Sparta declares war in 431 Aristophanes • Cleon succeeds Pericles • War ‘concludes’ in 421, then restarts in the same year • 410 - Athens abandons democracy for eight months • 405 - Naval disaster forces Athens to surrender - loses all overseas possessions • The glory days are over Aristophanes wrote comedies during this period. why? Aristophanes • Gives the chorus a distinctive character (Wasps, Frogs, Clouds) • Makes an advantage out of the convention that once on, the chorus never leave the stage • Chorus often stands in opposition to the main characters Brief Roman History 509 B.C Etruscan (from Etruria) ruler was expelled, and Rome became a republic (just as Athens became a democracy). Roman theatre and festivals highly influenced by Etruscan practices Brief Roman History by 345 B.C • There were over 175 festivals a year 240 B.C • The beginnings of Roman theatre recorded • The first record of drama at the ludi Romani (Roman Festival or Roman Games). Roman Festivals • Held in honor of the gods, but much less religious than the Greeks • Performances at festivals probably paid for by the state. • Were often lengthy and included a series of plays or events, and probably had prizes awarded tp those who put extra money in. Roman Festivals • Acting troupes (perhaps several a day) put on theatre events. • Festivals were sometimes repeated, since whenever any irregularity in the rituals occurred, the entire festival, including the plays, had to be repeated. (known as instauratio) Roman Festivals ludi Romani • oldest of the official festivals • held in September and honored Jupiter • regular performance of comedy and tragedy began in 364 B.C. Roman Theatre • Borrowed Greek ideas and “improved” upon them • Topics less philosophical • Entertainment tended to be grandiose, sentimental, diversionary Roman Theatre • Included more than drama : • acrobatics • gladiators • jugglers • athletics • chariot races • naumachia (sea battles) • boxing • venationes (animal fights) Roman Theatre 3 Major Influences • Greek Drama • Etruscan influences, which emphasized circus-like elements • Fabula Atellana – which introduced FARCE (Atella was near Naples). Roman Theatre Farce • Short improvised farces, with stock characters, similar costumes and masks • based on domestic life or mythology • • burlesque, parody Most popular during the 1st century B.C., then frequency declined Roman Theatre Farce • Probably was the foundation for commedia dell ‘Arte • Productions included “stock” characters: Stock Characters • Adulescens: the young, rich, love-struck and none too brave hero; he tends to bemoan his fate and requires backup • Senex: the old man. He has several incarnations: a father, a miser, too strict, too soft, foolishly in love with a younger woman, etc. He usually comes up short in the end. • Leno: the unabashedly amoral, money- hungry proprietor of the brothel. • Miles Gloriosus: a braggart, self-absorbed soldier; considers himself handsome & brave; in reality he is stupid, cowardly, & gullible. Stock Characters • Parasitus: a greedy beggar • Servi: the clever servant/slave; talkative; loyal; engages in tricks and comedy; usually the largest part in the play; drives the plot; often the one who finds the truth out at the end of the play; tendency to use alliteration & rhythmic speech • Ancilla: a maid or nurse of no particular age; usually a minor character used to move the plot by presenting information or helping to develop another character; sometimes a messenger. Stock Characters • Matrona: the mother; loves her children, but is shrewd & temperamental towards her husband. • Meretrix: (prostitute): either a mercenary or devoted. The first type is older or more experienced and has seen a lot. The second type is truly in love with the Adulescens. • Virgo: the young maiden; beautiful and virtuous with little personality; treated as a prize. Roman Theatre Pantomime • solo dance, with music (lutes, pipes, cymbals) and a chorus. • Used masks • The story-telling was usually mythology or historical stories, usually serious but sometimes comic. Roman Theatre Mime • overtook after 2nd century A.D. • The Church did not like Mime • Most common attributes of mime: • Spoken • Usually short • Sometimes elaborate casts and spectacle Late Roman Theatre • Serious or comic (satiric) • No masks • Had women • Violence and sex depicted literally (Heliogabalus, ruled 218-222 A.D., ordered realistic sex) • Mocked Christianity Roman Comedy Characteristics of Roman Comedy • Chorus was abandoned • No act or scene divisions • Concerned everyday, domestic affairs • Action placed in the street Roman Comedy Material from only 2 playwrights survived • Platus (c. 254-184 B.C.) • Terence (195 or 185-159 B.C.) Roman Comedy Platus (c. 254-184 B.C.) • Very popular. • Plays include: Pot of Gold, The Menaechmi, Braggart Warrior • All based on Greek New Comedies, probably, none of which has survived Roman Comedy Platus (c. 254-184 B.C.) • Added Roman allusions, Latin dialog, witty jokes • varied poetic meters • Developed Slapstick & Songs Plautus • First Professional Dramatist • Began as an actor in Atellan Farces • A very ‘self aware’ playwright The Brothers Menachmus • The success of this play depends on: • The Construction of the plot • The use of dramatic irony - we know more than the characters • The audience’s ability to predict the inevitable disasters Roman Tragedy Characteristics of Roman Tragedy • 5 acts/episodes divided by choral odes • included elaborate speeches • interested in morality • unlike Greeks, they depicted violence on stage Roman Tragedy Characteristics of Roman Tragedy • characters dominated by a single passion which drives them to doom (ex: obsessiveness or revenge) • developed technical devices such as: soliloquies, asides, confidants • interest in supernatural and human connections Roman Tragedy Seneca (5 or 4 B.C. – 65 A.D.) • only playwright of tragedy whose plays survived • Nine extant tragedies, five adapted from Euripides (Gr.) • Though considered to be inferior, Seneca had a strong effect on later dramatists. Roman Tragedy Seneca (5 or 4 B.C. – 65 A.D.) • WroteThe Trojan Women, Media, Oedipus, Agamemnon, etc., which were all based on Greek originals • His plays were probably closet dramas—never presented, or even expected to be. Seneca • Tutored young Nero, who later became emperor • A respected statesman and philosopher, as well as dramatist • Falsely accused of trying to assassinate Nero; sentenced to imperial “suicide”