Summary Greek theatre - the nature of tragedy

The nature of tragedy

The origins of tragedy

- Origins of tragedy are shrouded in mystery
- Most influential surviving ancient text on the development of drama is a treatise – poetics by Aristotle
 Dates to about 330
 First surviving work of literary criticism – focuses on analysing the genres of epic and tragedy
 Hard to know how reliable Aristotle is
o Scholars unsure if it was meant to be published or is just a set of lecture notes
- Ancient sources – birth of drama at Athens took place during second half of 16 th century
 Ruled by a tyrant and his sons – credited with instigating a number of artistic architectural and
engineering inventions
o City Dionysia

The dithyramb

- Choral dance central to the worship of Dionysus
- Invented in Corinth in late 7th century and performed in honour of Dionysus
- Choral dance – event where people sang and danced at the same time
- 6th century Athens – dithyrambic performances becomes a central feature of the city Dionysia
- 5th century – dithyrambic competitions
 Each of city’s 10 tribes entered two choruses – one of 50 men and one of 50 boys
 Each chorus had a choregos
- Drama developed out of the dithyramb
- Second half of 6th century – Athenian called Thespis set himself apart from his chorus
 Dressed in a mask and costume, impersonated different characters from the dithyramb’s subject-
matter and took part in dialogues with the chorus
- New genre of ‘drama’ soon had its own competition at the city Dionysia
 First recorded contest in 534 – Thespis was the winner
o Awarded the prize of a goat – might explain origin of word tragedy

Satyr plays

- City Dionysia reorganised in 500 – different type of play first presented
 Satyr play – play which parodied tragedy and was presented along with three tragedies by a
playwright
- Unclear how they related to tragedy – only one satyr play exists in its entirety
 May have offered the audience a release after they had sat through three intense tragic dramas
- Take name from chorus being made up of actors playing satyrs
- Satyr – mythological creature who was a follower of Dionysus, depicted as half-human and half-animal
 Seemed to represent the basic human appetite for food, drink and sex
 Might be thought to symbolise the release Dionysus can offer his followers through pleasure
- Remained closely related to Dionysus

Playwrights

- Wrote every line in verse, composed music
- Some playwrights also trained and choreographed the chorus as well as acting in the play themselves
 Such as Aeschylus
- 5th century Athens – flourishing of tragedy
- Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides – marked out as classics
 Texts were preserved and plays re-performed

, Aeschylus – c. 525-456

- Athenian tragic playwright
- Known as ‘father of tragedy’
- May have written up to 90 plays – only 6 have survived
- Introduced a 2nd actor on stage – radical development from one-actor tradition
 Ancient critics liked to find an inventor for every important change – may not have been
Aeschylus
 Was crucial to the development of drama as we understand it – opened possibility for dialogue
between two individuals
- Introduced a 3rd actor later in his career
 Innovation ancient attributed to Sophocles
- All surviving plays date to the last 14 years of his career
- Most famous works are 3 plays that belong to the Oresteia – trilogy presented in 458
- Use of connected groups of ¾ plays sems to have been speciality of his style – no evidence it was
common in his day
 Allowed him to develop themes and imagery to a greater level of sophistication
 Complexity comes at a price – mocked by Aristophanes in frogs for having tedious dramas full of
long silences and verbose speeches
- Role of chorus is fundamental – makes greater use of it than other two playwrights
- Aristophanes presents him as an anti-intellectual
- Lived through a time of great change
 Persian war4s – probably fought in the battle himself

Sophocles – c. 496-406

- Credited with introducing many inventions to tragedy
 Told he introduced a 3rd actor, increased number of chorus members from 2 to 15, made set more
atmospheric through enhancing the look of the skene
- Preferred to offer a series of unconnected plays
- Reduced roe of chorus
- Very successful – won at least 18 contests and never cam third
- Believed to have written more than 120 plays – only 7 survive
 Concerned with the same myth – did not form a trilogy and were performed years apart
o Antigone Oedipus rex, Oedipus at colonos
- Pre-eminent political figure in Athens
- Said to have played an important role in welcoming the new religious cult of the healing good
Asclepius into Athens
- Master of stagecraft
 Skilled handling of structure and plot make his plays particularly appealing to modern tastes
- Oedipus rex – backstory introduced at different parts of the story

Euripides – c. 480-406

- More popular after is death than during his lifetime
- Won 5 victories – one after his death
- Said to have written 92 plays – 18 of his plays have survived
- Frogs presentation – unconventional playwright who liked to shock his audiences
 Enjoyed innovating with myths and characters
- Distinctive style – plays are more self-conscious
 Gods appear more on stage than other playwrights – characters challenge their behaviours
 References to contemporary and philosophical themes