Tragedies:
- Aeschylus - 525-456 B.C. - 80 plays, 7 extant
- Euripides - 480-406 B.C. - 90 plays, 18 or 19 extant
- Sophocles - 495-406 B.C.-100 plus plays, 7 extant
Comedies
- Aristophanes - 448-338 or 380 B.C. 50 plays, 11 extant. Lysistrata, 411 B.C.45 plays extant total 32 tragedies, 12 comedies, 1 satyr play (satirical parody-short)
From the 4th century B.C., there are some lengthy extant fragments of some of the 100 plus plays of :
- Menander - 342-291 B.C., the only one of some 64 writers known about - The Grouch is the longest play fragment - influenced Roman comedy
Sources of information for theatre origins and Greek theatre:
- Extant plays and fragments
- Records of dramas (scattered)
- Commentaries (such as Aristotle)
- Archeological remains of buildings
- Visual art - primarily from vase painting
- Therefore, the conclusions we make are highly conjectural, but we can discuss the standard accepted views of Greek theatre.
8th century B.C. -- the first drama in recorded history.
By 5th century B.C. The "polis" or city-state was the governing unit.
Athens was the strongest polis for art and literature - the first democracy -- all could participate (citizens -- no women, slaves, or foreigners)
Pericles (c. 460-430 B.C.) -- "first citizen" of Athens -- led Athens in the "Golden Age of Greece" -- "Age of Pericles" -- he emphasized culture --architecture, art, and drama
Had temples and public building built, including the Theatre of Dionysus (Dionysus) and the Parthenon
Athens was defeated in the Peloponnesian War in 404 B.C.
Greek society viewed gods in human terms - gods held grudges, etc., fought with each other - therefor their destiny (and those of humans) was uncertain
A strong concern for humanity - the founders of philosophy came from this period
Humans were elevated from animals, but harmony depended on a conjunction of human and divine forces. If disharmony, peace was endangered.
Drama therefore focused on human struggles, but with a "supernatural" element.
1. Performed for special occasions (festivals)
Athens had four festivals worshipping Dionysus -- (Bacchus in
Latin, Roman) god of wine, fertility, rebirth
The son of Zeus [a god] and Semele [a mortal], reared by satyrs, killed, dismembered, and resurrected (was actually reborn) --
- Competitive -- prizes awarded
Actors and playwrights competed --Oedipus apparently didn't win
(was 2nd) -- 430 B.C.
3. Choral -- singing seems to have been an important part
a chorus of men (varied in size form 3 to 50) -- many think the choral song -- dithyramb-- was the beginnings of Greek drama (but origins are unclear)
4. Closely associated with religion - stories based on myth or history
Some believe the chorus sang, moved, danced
Most believe the chorus underscored the ideas of the play, provided point-of-view, and focused on issues of the play and implications of the action, established the play's ethical system, and participated in the action
The Greek Tragedy
Structure of Greek Tragedy:
- Late point of attack
- Violence and death offstage (Sophocles's Ajax is an exception)
- Frequent use of messengers to relate information
- Usually continuous time of action (except Aeschylus's Eumenides)
- Usually single place (except Ajax)
- Stories based on myth or history, but varied interpretations of events
- Focus is on psychological and ethical attributes of characters, rather than physical and sociological.
"The Artists of Dionysus" seem to have been a sort of actors' union in the 3rd century B.C.
The Three Greek Tragedians:
The Three Greek Tragedians:
1. Aeschylus - his are the oldest surviving plays - began competing 449 B.C. at Dionysus Theatre. Most of his plays were part of trilogies; the only extant Greek trilogy is The Orestia.
He is Believed to have introduced the 2nd actor (Thespis was one, the 2nd added; after 468 B.C. Sophocles is believed to have introduced the 3rd actor, which Aeschylus then used.
Characteristics of Aeschylus's plays:
- characters have limited number of traits, but clear and direct
- emphasizes forces beyond human control
- evolution of justice, impersonal
- power of state eventually replacing personal revenge
- chain of private guilt and punishment - all reconciled at end
- 2. Sophocles: (496-406 B.C.) won 24 contests, never lower than 2nd; believed to have introduced the 3rd actor; fixed the chorus at 15 (had been 50)Characteristics of Sophocles' plays:
- emphasis on individual characters
- reduced role of chorus
- complex characters, psychologically well-motivated
- characters subjected to crisis leading to suffering and self-recognition - including a higher law above man
- exposition carefully motivated
- scenes suspensefully climactic
- action clear and logical
- poetry clear and beautiful
- few elaborate visual effects
- theme emphasized: the choices of people
3. Euripides (480-406 B.C.) very popular in later Greek times, little appreciated during his life sometimes known as "the father of melodrama"Characteristics of Euripides' plays:- dealt with subjects usually considered unsuited to the stage which questioned traditional values (Medea loving her stepson, Medea murdering her children)
- dramatic method often unclear -not always clearly causally related episodes, with many reversals, deus ex machina endings
- many practices were to become popular: using minor myths or severely altered major ones
- less poetic language, realistic characterizations and dialog
Tragedy was abandoned in favor of melodramatic treatment.Theme emphasized: sometimes chance rules world, people are more concerned with morals than gods are.
The Satyr Play, of unknown origin, had to be mastered by tragedians
- Chorus-half-man, half-beast - satyrs, companions of Dionysus
- sometimes the story is connected with the tragedy it accompanies, but not usually
- burlesque of mythology - ridiculing gods or heroes
- structure similar to tragedy
- everyday and colloquial language
- shorter afterpieces to tragedies
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