Greek Tragedy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmBDfl9YJY4
Greek Comedy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxqqHr0-6Lo
- not admitted to Dionysus festival till 487-486 B.C. - late
- unknown origins or influences
- perhaps from improvisations of leaders of phallic songs
- or from mime - satirical treatment of domestic situations or burlesqued myths
- 6 comic dramatists besides Aristophanes (his is the only extant work)
- Called "Old Comedy" (Menander's plays are considered to be Greek "New Comedy")
- commentary on contemporary society, politics, literature, and Peloponnesian War.
- Based on a "happy idea" - a private peace with a warring power or a sex strike to stop war
- exaggerated, farcical, sensual pleasures
Structure of the Comedy:
Part One:
prolog - chorus gives debate or "agon" over merits of the ides
parabasis - a choral ode addressing the audience, in which a social or political problem in discussed
Part Two:
scenes show the result of the happy idea final scene: (komos) - all reconcile and exit to feast or revelryin 404 B.C., Athens was defeated in the Peloponnesian War; social and political satire declines.
Production / Finance:
Playwrights applied to the archon (religious leader) for a chorus.
Expense borne by a choregai, wealthy citizen chosen by the archon as part of civic / religious duty
Choregus paid for training, costuming, etc. (tho' term choregus also refers to leader of the chorus.
The State responsible for theatre buildings, prizes, payments to actors (and perhaps to playwrights). Prizes were awarded jointly to playwrights and choregus.
Dramatists themselves probably "directed" the tragic plays, but probably not the comedies.
Aeschylus and others in his time acted, trained chorus, wrote music, choreographed, etc.
Playwrights called didaskalas (teacher) -- [didactic = teaching].
Example: Lysistrata:
is one of the few surviving plays written by Aristophanes. Originally performed in classical Athens in 411 BC, it is a comic account of one woman's extraordinary mission to end The Peloponnesian War. Lysistrata convinces the women of Greece to withhold sexual privileges from their husbands and lovers as a means of forcing the men to negotiate peace, a strategy however that inflames the battle between the sexes. The play is notable for its exposé of sexual relations in a male-dominated society and for its use of both double entendre and explicit obscenities. The dramatic structure represents a shift away from the conventions of Old Comedy, a trend typical of the author's career. It was produced in the same year as Thesmophoriazusae, another play with a focus on gender-based issues, just two years after Athens' catastrophic defeat in the Sicilian Expedition.
Terms:
Phallus
Satyr
Chorus:
Supernumereries:
Theatron:
Orchestra:
Roles of Women in Greek theatre: Weren't allowed to perform in plays after they became a competition. Men wore female masks to play feminine roles.
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