Transcript Greek Theatre

Greek Theatre
Neanderthals established the earliest
rituals - Bears
Masks
Music 50,000 y.a.
• Drum – 60,000
• First instrument with
tones was the flute.
• Both were used for
music and
communication
Storytelling
• Origin is unknown
• Existed before written
language
• Shaman – Telling
stories to preserve
history, mythology or
to reflect important
values
• Accessible to an
illiterate majority
Dance
Tied to both ritual and
entertainment.
Dance in India dates back 5000
years
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Left - Bronze Statue of a Dancer
Mohenjo-daro Civilization, 2nd millenium
B.C
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Nataraja
-- the
cosmic dance of
Lord
Shiva
Ellora, Maharashtra
Dance
• Before recorded
history. Records of
dance through other
arts
• Greece and Egypt
had dance
Entertainment
• “Popular Entertainment
– Singing, dancing, juggling,
acrobatics, sketches,
storytelling
– Humans like to entertain
and be entertained
– Sometimes called non-text
based theatre
– When traditional theatre
dies, popular theatre often
survives.
– What is TV like now? Do
we like popular theatre?
First Poems
• Indian Vedas (1700 – 1200 BCE)
• Zoroaster’s Gathas (1200 – 900 BCE)
• Homer’s Odyssey (800 BCE)
Abydos Ritual
• 2500 – 550 BC
• Mystery Play
• Tells the story of Osiris
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Married Isis, his sister
His brother Seth was jealous, killed him
Osiris was torn into pieces but resurrected
God of afterlife.
• Tale is virtually universal
• Acted out episodes of the story
Classical Greece
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510 – 323 BCE
Establishment of democracy 510 BCE
War with Persia until 449 BCE
Death of Alexander the Great 323 BCE
Greek Religion and Rituals
Greek Religion
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Polytheistic – Many Gods
Each god controlled different
aspects of life
Many temples for the different gods
Oracles – sacred sites where
religious heads could pray and
received answers from gods, often
through signs in nature. E.g. Zeus
and Dodona Rustling of oak trees
Sacrifices at the temples
Festivals for the gods that included
singing, music, dancing, parades
and later theatre.
Myths – Oedipus and the Sphinx
Dionysus
• God of wine, fertility
and revelry.
• AKA Bacchus – “mad
one”
• Female followers Bacchae or Bacchantes
– Mad women
Dionysus Rituals
• Aspects of Dionysian Rituals
• Oreibasia (“mountain
dancing”) dancing that led
to trance
• Sparagmos “tearing to
pieces” found small animals
and teared them (on vase
right)
• Omophagia (“eating raw
flesh”) eating the animals
made the worshippers one
with Dionysus and nature’s
forces
Arion – Early 6th Century
• Created or contributed
to the dithyramb
• Made it dramatic by
including spoken
elements
Dithyramb
• Long hymn sung and
danced by a chorus of
50 men.
• Competitions
developed
• Developed as a literary
form
• Laid foundation for
what became Greek
Chorus
Thespis
• Credited as being the first
actor (Thespians)
• Stepped away from the
chorus and performed as
a character
• First writer of tragedy
• Greek word for actor was
hypokrite – “answerer” –
showing give and take
between actor and chorus
Other theories of origin or Greek
Theatre
• Story telling
• Story tellers added to
dithyramb
• Aristotle – human
desire to imitate
– Mimesis – imitation of
nature
Public, Private and Religious Event
• City provided funds for the performance and
organized the event as part of religious festival
• Rich individuals sponsored aspects of
production – Choregus
• Theatre was part of the religious celebrations
• Theatre was also political – ex. Antigone,
Medea, etc.
The Dinagyang is a religious and
cultural festival in Iloilo City,
Philippines
http://dinagyangsailoilo.com/
Mardi Gras and Carnival
Ash Wednesday and Lent
Pompe – Greek Processions
Goddess of religious procession, Pompe with Eros
prepare for procession to celebrate Dionysus
City Dionysus Festival starts with
Phallika
• – Still runs at Tyrnavos Phallus Festival
Displayed Weapons
Bull Sacrifices
Komos
Komos
• Ritualistic drunken
progression
• May have worn Mask and
costume
• No choral leader, script or
rehearsal
• Music
• All night - May have used
torches
• komos and κωμῳδία komoidia or "comedy" are
etymologically related
Proagon
• “Preview” Next day
playwrights announced
their plays
• Judges chosen by lottery
• Praise was given to
selected citizens and
foreigners who had
served Athens.
• Orphaned children from
war paraded
Edinburgh Festival / Fringe
City Dionysus lasted several days
• Couple of days for
parades and sacrifices
• 5 days of Dithyrambs
and plays
– 2 of 5 – 10 choruses
– 1 day for men, 1 for boys
• 3 days of tragedy and
satyr plays by one
playwright = tetralogy
Aeschylus-525 – 456 B.C.E
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“founder of Greek drama”
“director” actor and playwright
– Possibly wrote 90 plays
only 7 exist
Credited with developing new
stage scenery, painted scenery
and elaborate costumes.
first to develop drama as an
art form separate from singing,
dancing and storytelling.
Reduced the size of the chorus
from 50 to 12.
Before Aeschylus – one actor
and chorus
– Aeschylus added second
actor; first true dialogue
• Roman mosaic of
Aeschylus directing
actors
Sophocles 496 – 406 BCE
• Added third actor (so
more characters on
stage at one time)
• had a chorus of 15
• Strong Plot
Construction
• More than 120
plays,7 survive
• First prize 18 times,
never less than 2nd;
• Wrote single dramas
instead of trilogies
Euripides c. 480 – 406 BCE
• 92 plays, 5 survive
• Believable female
characters (Medea)
• Considered most
modern
• Portrayed gods as
human; skeptical
treatment
Criticisms of Euripides
• Mixed tragedy and
comedy; model for
tragicomedy and
melodrama
• Weak plots
• Deus ex machina –”god of
the machine”
• Sensational subject
matter
• Very influential on latter
playwrights
Comedy added later
• Possibly five plays on
one day added to the
five days of the festival.
• Each play by a different
playwright
After the festival
• Awards for best plays,
tragic and comic and for
best tragic acting
• Choregus (producer) of
winning play could
erect a statue of
himself, at his expense.
• Those who misbehaved
were punished.
– Fighting over seats
– Drunken violence