Greek Drama

Greek Drama

1. Origin: developed during celebrations of Dionysus

   • These plays resembled today's operas
   • Dionysus: god of wine; produced grapes for wine
     • wine was associated with ressurectiona and suffering
     • Festival of Dionysus: The festival took place in Athens. It lasted 5 days and was celebrated in either March of April
       • Day 1: A procession took place in honor of the god, Dionysus
       • Day 2: Choral Songs
       • Days 3-5: Actors performed 3 tragedies, 1 satyr, and 1 comedy

2. Greek Theatre: included a theatron, orchestra, thymele, parados, pro-scenium, skene

   • similar to an outdoor stadium, and could hold about 15,000 to 20,000 people
   • Special Effects: The greek theatres did not have any curtains, microphones, lights, or intermission. As a result, all the plays took place during the day
   • The Actors
     • Greek Name: Hypocrite
     • All actors were men, because women were not allowed to act
     • Needed the ability to speek in a clear loud voice; wore mask, costumes, padded costumes,and high heeled boots. They also needed the ability to speak in a poetic voice.
   • The Chorus
     • led by conductor, made up of singers and dancers, acted together as one character
     • The chorus was originally made up of 50 people. Sophocles then changed it to 12
     • The chorus was used to add beauty and dance, set the mood of the play, create a bridge between the actors and audience, converse with the actors, tell about past events, fore tell the future

3. The Stories: were orginally created as hyms and prayers to honrs gods, in paticular Dionysus. However, overtime they changed to stories and legends about greek leaders and heros