Transcript Oedipus at Colonus - Everett Public Schools

February 27, 2017
INSTRUCTIONS: Set up several pages for Cornell Notes on
Greek Theater.
STAR WARS DEBATE MAKE-UP / REDO
Wednesday, March 1
2:10 – Room C122 (Ms. Guffey’s)
Princess Leia v. Han Solo
Come Prepared To Join Either Side
The Greek Theatre
Introduction to Antigone
By Ms. Guffey
You will learn about:
• The Greek theatre within the culture
• The architecture of the Greek theatre
• The Greek performance elements
• Types of Greek plays
• Greek Playwrights
Your group work this week (Unit
Guess
Goal 1)
what
will might
be to implement
show up onthis
this
information
week’s
whilequiz…
preparing for
“Antigone.”
Greek Theatre in the Culture
• 6th century B.C. = Earliest evidence of
Greek theatre
• Started as ceremonies dedicated to
Dionysus
• Greek god of wine, festivities, theatre,
and other things
• Men dressed up as satyrs (man w/
horse’s tail and ears = lustful) and
chanted songs
• Processions, songs, recitations, rituals and
sacrifices
• Other various activities too “R” rated to
mention
Theatre was so important to the Greeks
that:
• The government paid the poor to
attend
• The government released prisoners
from prison in order to also attend
The Architecture of the Greek Theatre
• Greek theatre=theatron
• Large, open-air structures
• Built on the sides of hills and slopes
• The audience: open seating with
benches that radiated up
the hillside.
• Accommodated a large number
of people in the orchestra (50+)
and in the audience
(up to 40,000).
The Architecture of the Greek Theatre
• The orchestra: a large semi-circular
area at the center of the theatron.
• This where the dancing, religious
rites or acting took place.
• This is where the chorus performed.
The Architecture of the Greek Theatre
• proskenion : a long shallow area at
the back part of the orchestra.
• This the part of the orchestra that
the acting took place on.
• The proskenion eventually
became known as the
proscenium—most notably in
theatre, it is the proscenium arch
that frames the stage of tradition
theatres.
The Architecture of the Greek Theatre
• The skene: a large building situated
behind the orchestra.
• It was used as a backstage where
actors could change masks and
costumes.
• Sometimes it was painted like a
backdrop to provide a sense of
place.
The Architecture of the Greek Theatre
• The parodos (plural is parodoi),
is a side-entrance where the
chorus would enter from the
side wings of the theatron.
• Sometimes it referred to the
first song sung by the chorus
after its entrance from the side
wings.
The Greek performance elements
• Dithyramb: a
celebration
dedicated to the
Greek god Dionysus
where a chorus of
men— usually about
50 men, sang
organized stories.
The Greek performance elements
• Thespis of Athens:
• The first man noted to have stepped away from the
chorus and to present a story by himself with the chorus
backing him up.
• In 534 B.C. Thespis received an award for his
acting skills—the first to do so.
• “Thespian” is a synonym for “actor.” We get the
word from the name of Thespis of Athens.
The Greek performance elements
• The early Greek Theatre kept plays simple
• No scene changes
• No complicated subplots
• One setting in One day.
• Plays were spoken or sung in rhyme.
• Violence took place off stage
• messengers came in to describe what happened.
The Greek performance elements
Chorus: in Greek it was Khoros
• The chorus would move, sing, and speak together during a
play.
•
•
•
•
set the mood
summarized the action
represented a point of view
sided with characters, or warned of disaster.
• As the chorus became smaller (10-15 men) they sat in the
orchestra to perform.
Choral Odes: took place between scenes. They
were songs or group recitations that help
indicate the direction that the play was taking,
or gave incites.
The Greek performance elements
The Chorus
• Represented the populace and city elders
• Provided backgrounds and summaries
• Provided communal opinion meant to reflect the audience’s
opinion
• Provided commentary on action
• Provided “back up vocals”: repeats dialogue
• Interacted directly with the characters through chorus leader
• Allows for entrances and exits
• Marks the passage of time
Example Chorus 3
1
2
The Greek performance elements
Actors:
• Eventually the acceptable number of actors
performing outside of the chorus became three.
• The actors were always men—men played female
roles.
• The Greek word for “actor” is “hypocrite.”
• Because they had to play to large crowds who were
far away, the actors used large, bold, exaggerated
movements with hopes that all the audience members
might see them.
• They also wore tall platform shoes in order to appear
taller, larger.
The Greek performance elements
Masks:
• The actors wore large masks because:
• The size and distinctive features of the
masks made the character recognizable
from a distance.
• Wearing masks made it easier for three
actors to more than one part.
• Masks enable all-male casts to play both
male and female parts.
• Evidence suggests the masks either had
mouthpieces that acted like
megaphones, or had actual megaphones
in the mouthpiece.
• This would assist in projecting their
voices out over the audience to the
cheap seats in the far corners.
• Most significantly, the masks transformed
an ordinary man into something beyond
his real identity.
The Greek performance elements
• Because of their delicate
construction, no examples
of actual masks used
during ancient Greece
survived. We know what
they looked like by looking
at other artifacts from that
time—such as pottery, wall
decorations and mosaic
floors.
Types of Greek plays
There were three basic types of plays in ancient Greece:
1. Satyr
2. Comedy
3. Tragedy
Types of Greek Plays and Playwrights
Satyr plays: these were shows of general naughtiness, and
were part of those early festivals celebrating Dionysus.
• They involved:
•
•
•
•
•
Mock drunkenness
Pranks and sight gags
Burlesque
Phalluses
General merriment
• The general idea of the Satyr play was to liven up the
crowd. Make them laugh.
Types of Greek Plays and Playwrights
Greek Comedies: The comedies had the tendency to be
about current, everyday life.
• Actors wore bright colors to signify the brightness of the
mood.
• The Greek philosopher Aristotle wrote that comedy is a
representation of laughable people and involves some
kind of blunder or ugliness which does not cause pain or
disaster.
Types of Greek Plays and Playwrights
Aristophanes Born in 446 B.C
• He is considered the Father of Comedy and the Prince
of Ancient Comedy.
• He wrote what is called “Old Comedy”: Plays heavy
in political satire and sexual innuendo
• In Old Comedy the masks were often caricatures of
real people
• He made fun of the most important personalities and
institutions of his day
• He recreated the life of ancient Athens more
convincingly than any other author
• His powers of ridicule were feared and acknowledged
by influential contemporaries
• Of his 40 plays 11 survive in almost complete condition
• All that we know of his personal life comes from the
introduction written for his plays at the time of their
creation
Types of Greek Plays and Playwrights
Greek Tragedies: The tragedies were often about the past.
• Actors often wore dark colors to signify the somber spirit of
the play.
• In tragedy, the masks identified archetypal (stereotypical)
characters
• The tragedies served as a catharsis (an emotional
cleansing).
• The audience would view three tragedies (a trilogy) in one
day—from sunrise to sunset— and then watch a satyr play
to help lift their spirits back up.
Types of Greek Plays and Playwrights
The structure of a tragedy most often included
• A “prologue”—an introduction speech that introduced
the main character or characters.
• The play, which would unfold through 3 or more episodes
• Between the scenes the chorus would step in, and explain
or comment on the situation developing in the
play.(choral odes)
• The play would end with the “exodus” (final scene or
departure)
Types of Greek Plays and Playwrights
• The three most influential tragedian playwrights of ancient
Greece were Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides
Types of Greek Plays and Playwrights
Aeschylus: (Born around 525-524 BC)
• He wrote 70-90 plays, only 7 survived
• He is often described as the father of tragedy
• He establish the basic rules of tragic drama
• He is credited with inventing the trilogy, a series
of three tragedies that tell one long story
• He introduced using a second actor, making
the dramatization of a conflict possible
• It is said that because of losing a play
competition to a young new playwright named
Sophocles, Aeschylus retired to Sicily.
Types of Greek Plays and Playwrights
Sophocles: (Born in 496 BC—lived for 90 years)
• Sophocles wrote 120 plays—only seven remain
• Won his first play competition when he was 28
• Awarded first prize about 20 times, and second prize all
other times
• He introduced a third actor
• He introduced background scenery
• He introduce the concept of breaking down the plays
into scenes instead of episodes
• He increased the number of chorus members to fifteen
• He made the chorus less important in explaining the plot
and more involved in creating character development
and conflict.
• He wrote the “Oedipus Rex” trilogy which ends with the
story of “Antigone”
Types of Greek Plays and Playwrights
Euripides: (Born in 480 BC)
• Wrote 92-95 plays—of which 18-19 have survived
• He increased attention on revealing feelings, as a way
to present the tragic events
• He portrayed his characters' psychological make-up
• His heroes were not the resolute characters, but often
an insecure person, troubled by internal conflict
• He turned the prologue into a monologue informing the
spectators of the story's background
• He introduced the idea of “god in the machine”—
unexpected plot twists that created unpredicted
circumstances
• He diminished the choir's prominence even more so.
• He uses female protagonists of the plays to portray the
tormented sensitivity and irrational impulses that collide
with the world of reason
Oedipus Rex Trilogy
• Written by Sophocles
• Oedipus Rex (The King)
• Oedipus at Colonus
• Antigone
Oedipus Rex Trilogy:
Important Characters
Oedipus: King of Thebes. Intelligent. Solver of riddles.
Jocasta: Oedipus’s wife … Creon’s sister.
Antigone: Daughter of Oedipus & Jocasta. Self righteous.
Creon: King of Thebes after Oedipus. Authoritarian.
Polynices: Antigone’s brother. Son of Oedipus & Jocasta.
Eteocles: Antigone’s brother. Son of Oedipus & Jocasta.
Haemon: Creon’s son. In love with Antigone.
Ismene: Antigone’s overshadowed sister. Daughter of Oe__ &
Jo__.
Euridice: Creon’s wife.
Theseus: King of Athens (Oedipus at Colonus)
Chorus: Acts as the public of Thebes.
Summary of Notes:
Respond to the prompts, using complete sentences. Be
prepared to share your thoughts.
1. What did you learn that you didn’t know already? How
does it shape your understanding of the topic?
2. What was the most interesting thing that you learned?
What made it interesting?
3. What is something you are struggling to comprehend?
How can you ask a question that would help you clarify
this?
4. In what ways do you now understand our current culture
more thoroughly? How might this understanding change
your view of our current culture?
Unit Goal 1, Support Activity: Mini Theban Plays
Each group will receive a summary of
a chapter of the Oedipus Trilogy that
covers the events of Oedipus Rex and
Oedipus at Colonus, leading up to
Antigone. Your job is to create an
abbreviated version of that chapter
and perform it for the class. These
performances will provide the
information that your classmates
need when we start Antigone. Each
mini play will need to effectively use
all of the elements on the right.
4
The group’s cohesion
and collaboration lead
to immersive
involvement by all
members, who showed
substantial
understanding of the
knowledge and goals.
Choral Ode
See slide 13
Chorus
See slides 13—14
Actors
See slides 15—16
Lines
See slides 12—15
Action
See slides 12, 15, 16
Masks
See slides 16—17
Space Used Effectively
See slides 5—9
3
The group has shown
cohesiveness through
collaboration, leading
to a completion of the
goals with acceptable
understanding.
2
The group struggled
to work together
collaboratively,
leading to partial
completion of the
goals and some
misunderstandings.
1
The group did not work
together collaboratively,
leading to incomplete
or disjointed work that
struggles to support the
goals and shows
significant
misunderstanding.