Transcript Greek Theatre, Sophocles, Greek Tragedy, Oedipus

Oedipus the King
•Greek Theatre
•Sophocles
•Greek Tragedy
•Oedipus the
King
• Greek Theatre
Theatre developed from two
sources
• 1. The need to imitate
• Fun to pretend to be someone or
something else
• As a means of communication - to
demonstrate a situation/storytelling
through words and actions
• 2. The need to worship the gods in order to
please them
•In Greece, plays were presented out of doors
on a flat place, or orchestra, at the base of a hill.
•At first, they just used open space, no walls or ceiling
(little scenery or set). The orchestra was usually
circular.
•The orchestra was the main performing place for
actors.
•The auditorium, or theatron, was the hillside itself
where the audience stood and watched plays. Seats
were gradually added; eventually permanent sets were
constructed of stone.
• An alter to the god Dionysus (son of
Zeus, god of wine & revelry), called the
themele, was always located in the
middle of each site.
• Later, in the 5th century B.C., a skene
building, or scene house was added.
• Provided a place where the actors might dress
& wait before going on stage
• Eventually, they used it to add background &
scenery to the stage, as well as a prop
• Attending plays was considered a civic duty.
• The price of a ticket was two obols, which
was equal to the wages an unskilled man
might earn for a day's work.
• There was a special fund that citizens could
apply for to receive money if they could not
afford the ticket on their own.
Sophocles
Born in Colonus, a small
town outside Athens, Greece
in 495 B.C.
•As a young boy, Sophocles was prized for his exceptional abilities
in poetry, music, and dancing.
•Sophocles began as a performer at age 15, as he was chosen to
perform at a celebration in Athens.
•He went on to become an established playwright in Athens. He was
first recognized as a playwright for winning 1st prize at an annual
theatrical competition when he was 28 years old. This was
significant because he won the prize over Athens’ predominant
playwright.
•Over 62 years, Sophocles wrote over 120 plays, 24 of
which won first prize; the others placed in second at the
competition !
•Only seven exist in their entirety today.
They are …
Ajax
*Antigone
Electra
*Oedipus Rex
The Trachiniae
Philoctetes
*Oedipus at Colonus
445 B.C.
440 B.C.
440 B.C.
430 B.C.
413 B.C.
410 B.C.
401 B.C.
Sophocles greatly influenced the technical
aspects of Greek theatre.
Sophocles’ changes in Greek
tragedies …
1. Originally, drama was performed on an
open-air theatre with few props or sets.
Sophocles expanded using stage
machinery (utilized technological advances)
and sets. He was the first to use a crane to
“miraculously” lower and take away actors!
He also used painted scenery.
2. Variations in the types of music sung by the
chorus
Sophocles’ changes continued
3. Changed cast size (Introduced a third actor and
reduced the chorus from 50 people to 12)
4. Used more elaborate costumes, including masks
How do you think Sophocles’ new ideas
and changes impacted drama?
Sophocles’ impact
• More complex plot development due to
added actors, and costumes (allowed
them to portray more characters)
• Easier to distinguish sets, more
developed sets, doesn’t leave quite as
much up to the imagination
• Easier to distinguish characters, due to
costuming and elaborate masks
• Interesting, unexpected events by using
machinery
• Sophocles was said to have been especially
blessed by the Greek gods because he was
attractive and had exceptional abilities.
• Society had much admiration and deep respect
for him because of the impact he made on their
lives.
• All of Athens mourned upon Sophocles death in
406 B.C.
• They established a shrine called Dexion (The
Entertainer) for him. Members of society paid
respect to him annually by offering sacrifices in
his memory.
• Greek Tragedy
• Sophocles, playwright of Oedipus the King, is
known as one of the most famous tragedians
of all time.
• Greek tragedies are considered the theatrical
works produced mainly in Greece during the 5th
century.
• Greek tragedies deal with universal issues and
with contemporary politics/topics (themes such
as war, incest, and murder).
• Often times, tragedies involved the hero
changing between states of fortune &
misfortune. The hero’s flaws and errors were
pointed out followed by the hero’s recognition
of their actions. Ex. Oedipus the King
• Most tragedies were written as
connected trilogies that carried a similar
storyline.
• In ancient Greek times (5th century),
tragedies were intended to be
performed in a theatre before a live
audience.
• Tragedies were produced and
performed during the religious festival in
honor of the god Dionysus (god of
fertility). The playwrights competed
against one another for first prize.
Greek Tragedy
A Greek tragedy is structures as follows:
(each genre has a different structure)
I. Prologue: Spoken by one or two characters
before the chorus appears. The
• prologue usually gives the background
information needed to understand the events
of the play.
II. Parodos: the song sung by the chorus as
it makes its entrance
III. Episodes/Scenes: the main action of the
play
Greek Tragedy Con’t
IV. Odes: a song (and often dance) that
reflects on the events of the episodes, and
weaves the plot into a cohesive whole
A. Choragos: the leader of the chorus who
often interacts with the characters in the
scenes
B. Chorus: the singers/dancers who
remark on the action; react as the
playwright hopes the audience will
1. strophe: the movement of the
chorus from right to left across the
stage
2. antistrophe: the reaction to the
strophe, which moves across the
stage from left to right.
• The chorus was made
up of amateur actors.
• In Oedipus Rex, the
chorus acts like a
character as well as a
group of citizens.
• They are used to set
the mood and heighten
the dramatic effects.
The chorus adds
movement, song, &
dance.
The Chorus
Chorus Con’t
• They usually entered just after the
opening of the play and remained on
stage until the end.
• During their part, they periodically
stopped moving to allow the audience
to consider what they are saying.
The Actors
• The chorus usually wore similar masks to unify
them as a “group,” but actors wore them to
distinguish between various characters. Since all
Greek actors were men, it was necessary to wear
masks in order to portray female characters.
• Since there were only three parts,
masks allowed for more characters
to be portrayed.
• Each character had a different
mask, so the three actors had to be
highly skilled individuals to portray
each role appropriately.
• All performers were men, however,
anyone could attend theatre
productions.
Greek Tragedy Con’t
V. Exodos: sung by the chorus as it
makes its final exit, which usually
offers words of wisdom related to the
actions and outcome of the play
Dramatic Irony
• An occasion where the audience knows
more than the characters in the story do
• Dramatic irony makes an audience feel
privileged and engaged in the play
• Dramatic irony is used for the first time
in Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex
• Oedipus the King
• Playwright: Sophocles
60 second recap teaser
The Sphinx
• There was a single Sphinx in Greek
mythology, a unique demon of destruction
and bad luck
• a winged lion with a woman's head
The name 'sphinx' is
derived from the
Greek sphingo,
which means "to
strangle".
The Riddle
• The God Hera sent the Sphinx from her
Ethiopian homeland to Thebes where she
asks all passersby history's most famous
riddle:
"Which creature in the morning goes on four
feet, at noon on two, and in the evening upon
three?"
She strangled anyone unable to answer to
death. If anyone answered correctly, she
killed herself.
Oedipus the King
• Oedipus solved the riddle:
Man — he crawls on all fours as a baby, then
walks on two feet as an adult, and walks with
a cane in old age. Bested at last, the Sphinx
then threw herself from her high rock and
died.
• As a reward for his victory, Oedipus is
crowned the new king of Thebes
Other Mystical Figures
The Oracle
• The Oracle at Delphi
was able to tell the
future. A woman
priestess would go
into a trance and
reveal the words of
the god Apollo.
• Video clip
Sacrifice
• The oracle warned Oedipus' parents that he
would grow up to kill the father and sleep with
the mother. This so shocked them that the
baby was taken away to be killed from
exposure on the mountainside.
• The baby's ankles were pierced and tied to
keep him from moving. "Oedipus" means
"swollen ankles" in Greek