ancient greek theatre

Greek Theatre

Genres

Effect on the People

Choruses in Plays

Origins of greek theatre:Video

Origins of Greek Theatre: Drama, Comedy, and Tragedy

The theatre at Epidarus in the Pelloponese, created 4th century BC, can still be used today.

(Poster created circa 2009 by Garrett, Mizan, Nick and Sonya)

Masks were used not only as costumes, but were fitted with a mouthpiece that worked as an early megaphone.

The generes of greek theatre include comedy,tradegy and satyr. Comedy's origin can be found in Phallic processions, dedicated to the the god Phales in which people would parade throught villages singing comic songs, sometimes accompanied a flute and making vile jokes about politicans they did not like. This was welcomed in Athens and eventually evolved into a form of theatre. The evolution of comedy is broken into three era old,middle, and new. When comedy was first recognizd as being a type of theatre it was used to make fun of commonly disliked politicans. Later it generalized it's objects of humilation so that it could cater to a larger audience. Tragedy was the first form of theatre, orginating from songs sung praising Dionysus at the City Dionysus festival each year. Tragedies were more serious than satyrs and comedies and therefore were geared toward the more serious plaugoers. Satyrs were viewed as a cross between comedies and tradegies. While making fun of a commmonly disliked person or idea they were still fairly dramatic.

Overview Unlike today, ancient greek theatre was viewed seasonally and only in festivals. The main festivals were Dionysus and the City Dionysus ( one was performed in the Athens and the other in it's rural suburbs). The festivials usually lasted from dawn untiil dusk for days at a time. Not only was going to the theatre entaining but it was also a religious cermony and a contest. The festivals were competitions to see who could put on the best play for the god Dionysus, to whom the festivals were dedicated.

Theatre was the highlight of an Athenians' year. Not only was it one of their only forms of entertainment ( most greeks could not read) but they were guaranteed to view the plays being showcased because the festivals were funded by the government. In addition, the festivals lasted from dawn until dusk for days at a time so everyone could see as many performances as possible.

-In Greek tradegies, the chorus helped tell the stories and told of the dramatist's intentions. - Provided commentary on the action, guided moral/religious thoughts/emotions of the audience. - was extremely powerful in the story -you might say that the chorus was the play.

Sonya's citations: “theater.” Compton's by Britannica. 2009. Encyclopdia Britannica Online School Edition. 8 Nov. 2009 <http://school.eb.com/comptons/article-208876>. “dramatic literature.” Encyclopdia Britannica. 2009. Encyclopdia Britannica Online School Edition. 7 Nov. 2009 <http://school.eb.com/eb/article-51065>. "Dionysus." Online Photograph. Encyclopdia Britannica Online School Edition. 8 Nov. 2009 <http://school.eb.com/ebi/art-5228>.

-- Greek theatre began around 5th century B.C. with the followers of Dionysus. Dionysus was the god of wine but later bacame the god of vegetation, warm moisture, and eventually the god of pleasures and civilization, which is probably why he is associated with theatre. -- Tragedy plays were created in 534 B.C. during a four day festival in honor of Dionysus. A tragedy was a fiction play that was not believable. many people belive, now, that a tragedy always had a tragic ending but many of the tragedies ended with happily. Tragedies were usually a play about the transition of a noble from good to bad circumstances. -- Comedy plays were created in 486 B.C. during a three day festival in Athens called the Lanea. A comedy was a fiction play that was believable. Many people believe that a comedy was funny, but they were not always funny. Comedies were usually about average people going from bad to good circumstances.

-Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Aristophanes= all great playwrights of Athens. -Two types of play: tragedy and comedy -Tragedy based on hero w/ character flaw that brings him to his death in the end -Comedies based on making fun of officials & nobles of higher rank -Aristophanes only comedy writer out of these four -Aristophanes: popular because of being the only comedy writer to be remembered and to have plays found from him. Much less comedy plays then tragedy plays. He Wrote 40 plays. He was known as father of comedy or prince of ancient comedy. He feared for his making fun of the high ranked people, and many said he should be executed for his rudeness, and he was persecuted multiple times. -Aeschylus: Father of tragedy. He wrote 70-90 plays. He was famous because of making more characters in his plays, which allowed for more things to happen and for more dramatic things to occur. He also famous because he made a play about the Persian invasion of Greece. This allowed us to be clearer on what had happened since the play nearly reenacted the invasion. -Sophocles: 123 plays. He was the most awarded playwright for 50 years. Always won play competitions or came in second place at the worst. Invented the development of drama and included three people so that there was no need of a chorus, and he also developed the characters and the plot more than the other playwrights of Athens. -Euripides: wrote 95 plays. He was known mainly for portraying women and slaves as strong and intelligent, which had never been done before.

Citations: Sonya's citations: “theater.” Compton's by Britannica. 2009. Encyclopdia Britannica Online School Edition. 8 Nov. 2009 <http://school.eb.com/comptons/article-208876>. “dramatic literature.” Encyclopdia Britannica. 2009. Encyclopdia Britannica Online School Edition. 7 Nov. 2009 <http://school.eb.com/eb/article-51065>. "Dionysus." Online Photograph. Encyclopdia Britannica Online School Edition. 8 Nov. 2009 <http://school.eb.com/ebi/art-5228>. "mask." Compton's by Britannica. 2009. Encyclopdia Britannica Online School Edition. 8 Nov. 2009 <http://school.eb.com/comptons/article-204321>. Bates, Alfred and Charles, Anthon. “Ancient Theatre:Greek.” TheatreHistory.com. TheatreHistory.com, 2002. Web. 9 Nov. 2009. Nick's Citations: “Ancient Greek Theatre.” Academic.reed.edu. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Nov. 2009. <http://academic.reed.edu/humanities/110tech/Theater.html>. “Ancient Greek Theatre.” crystalinks.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Nov. 2009. <http://www.crystalinks.com/greektheater.html>. Rivera, Eileen, and Eileen Rivera. “Greek Theatre History.” Ehow.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Nov. 2009. <http://www.ehow.com/about_5380387_greek-theater-history.html>.