2.
Background <ul><li>Greek Theatre was born in Athens, Greece , dating from the sixth century BCE. The ancient Athenians created a theatre culture whose forms still last today. </li></ul><ul><li>The Athenians theatre mainly focused on the God Dionysus, who is the God of fertility, wine, agriculture and sexuality. </li></ul><ul><li>There are two main types of plays - tragedy and comedy . </li></ul><ul><li>Athens then became the first in history to represent speech both systematically and consistently by developing an alphabet that included both vowels and consonants . </li></ul><ul><li>Sponsored many public festivals per year to celebrate their accomplishments and cultures. </li></ul>

3.
Theories of the Origins <ul><li>Aristotle and the Poetics </li></ul><ul><li>The Ritual Theory </li></ul><ul><li>The Great Man Theory </li></ul><ul><li>The Storytelling Theory </li></ul><ul><li>The Dance Theory </li></ul>

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Aristotle and the Poetics <ul><li>Written about two hundred years after the first recorded theatre performance </li></ul><ul><li>Claims that “ tragedy came from the dithyrambs, and comedy from phallic songs ”. </li></ul>

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The Ritual Theory <ul><li>Proposes that Greek drama evolved from the early religious rituals devoted to the God Dionysus . </li></ul>Dionysus, Greek God Drama.

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The Great Man Theory <ul><li>Scholars propose that tragedy and comedy acts arose due to the creativity of human genius. </li></ul><ul><li>They believe art neither evolves biologically nor happens by chance. </li></ul>

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The Storytelling Theory <ul><li>Storytellers would naturally tend to elaborate parts of the telling by impersonating various characters. </li></ul><ul><li>And thus it is believed that drama and theatre arose from it. </li></ul>

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The Dance Theory <ul><li>Movement was the core of drama, rather than speech. </li></ul><ul><li>When several dancers costumed themselves in appropriate clothing and impersonate different animals and humans, drama was born. </li></ul>

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Traits of Greek Theatre <ul><li>Closely associated with Greek religion. </li></ul><ul><li>Performed only on special occasions such as Festivals. </li></ul><ul><li>Required a chorus. </li></ul><ul><li>Competitive. </li></ul><ul><li>Subsidized. </li></ul>

10.
Staging a Greek Play <ul><li>Performed in an outdoor theatre . </li></ul><ul><li>Used masks . </li></ul><ul><li>Almost always performed by a chorus and three actors. </li></ul><ul><li>Performed as part of religious festivals in honor of the god Dionysus, and unless later revived, were performed only once. </li></ul><ul><li>Plays were funded by the polis, and always presented in competition with other plays, and were voted either the first, second, or third (last) place. </li></ul>

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Types of Plays <ul><li>Tragedies entailed the presentation of four successive plays (three tragedies, one comedy) . It depicts the downfall of a noble hero or heroine, usually through some combination of hubris, fate, and the will of the gods. </li></ul><ul><li>Comedies depicted the story of the rise in fortune of a sympathetic central character. </li></ul><ul><li>Satyr plays were ancient Greek burlesques with a chorus of satyrs. </li></ul>Satyrs

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Structure <ul><li>Prologue : Spoken by one or two characters before the chorus appears. It usually gives the mythological background necessary for understanding the events of the play. </li></ul><ul><li>Parodos : The song sung by the chorus as it first enters the orchestra and dances. </li></ul><ul><li>First Episode : This is the first of many &quot;episodes&quot; , when the characters and chorus talk. </li></ul><ul><li>First Stasimon : At the end of each episode, the other characters usually leave the stage and the chorus dances and sings a stasimon, or choral ode. The ode usually reflects on the things said and done in the episodes, and puts it into some kind of larger mythological framework. </li></ul><ul><li>For the rest of the play, there is alternation between episodes and stasima , until the final scene , called the... </li></ul><ul><li>Exodos : At the end of play, the chorus exits singing a processional song which usually offers words of wisdom related to the actions and outcome of the play. </li></ul>

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Notable Playwrights <ul><li>Euripides  He wrote 72 works, 19 of which are saved 18 tragedies (eg : “Medea”), and 1 satiric drama: &quot;The Cyclops” . </li></ul><ul><li>Sophocles  He wrote 123 dramas of which only 7 were saved (eg: “Antigone”) </li></ul>

14.
Masks <ul><li>The members of the chorus wore masks, usually similar to each other but completely different from the leading actors. </li></ul><ul><li>As the number of actors varied from one to three, they had to put on different masks, in order to play more roles . </li></ul><ul><li>The actors were all men . The mask was therefore necessary to let them play the female roles. </li></ul><ul><li>Masks give the characters some sort of universality , creating an average figure, so that the audience would judge him on his actions and not his appearance. </li></ul><ul><li>Usually made of wood, cloth or leather, there was only a small hole drilled where the pupil of the eye would be for the actor to see through. </li></ul>

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Masks

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Greek Theatres <ul><li>Ancient Greek theaters were very large, open-air structures that took advantage of sloping hillsides for their terraced seating. </li></ul>Theatre of Epidaurus

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Greek Theatres <ul><li>Orchestra : The orchestra was normally circular. It was a level space where the chorus would dance, sing, and interact with the actors who were on the stage near the skene. </li></ul><ul><li>Theatron : The theatron is where the spectators sat. </li></ul><ul><li>Skene : The skene was the building directly behind the stage. was usually decorated as a palace, temple, etc., depending on the needs of the play. It had at least one set of doors, and actors could make entrances and exits through them. There was also access to the roof of the skene from behind, so that actors playing gods and other characters could appear on the roof, if needed. </li></ul><ul><li>Parodos : The parodoi are the paths by which the chorus and some actors made their entrances and exits. The audience also used them to enter and exit the theater before and after the performance. </li></ul>

19.
Final Notes <ul><li>Ancient Greek theatre was very sophisticated for its time with complex plots and staging. </li></ul><ul><li>Theatre would not be what it is today if it was not for the progress made by the Greeks with their use of creative staging and pushing the boundaries of story telling. </li></ul>

20.
Bibliography <ul><li>http://faculty.gvsu.edu/websterm/Tragedy.htm#trlinks </li></ul><ul><li>http://faculty.gvsu.edu/websterm/Tragedy.htm </li></ul><ul><li>http://ablemedia.com/ctcweb/netshots/tragedy.htm </li></ul><ul><li>http://condor.depaul.edu/dsimpson/tlove/comic-tragic.html </li></ul><ul><li>http://academic.reed.edu/humanities/110tech/theater.html#staging </li></ul><ul><li>http://www.greektheatre.gr/sophocles.html </li></ul><ul><li>Course reader  </li></ul>