Study Guide
If theatre is to be defined as the art of acting a part on stage, or, the dramatic impersonation of a character other than yourself, then we begin a discussion of theatre with a Greek man named Thespis. A figure of whom we know very little, he won a play competition in honor of the greek god Dionysus, in 534 B.C. While it is uncertain whether Thespis was a playwright, an actor or a priest, it is his name that is the basis for the word ÒThespianÓ. Greek theatre took place in large hillside ampitheatres--the largest ultimately held twenty thousand people. The players included a chorus and their leader, and the ÒlinesÓ were more chanted than spoken. The chorus performed in the ÒorchestraÓ, not on a raised stage. The use of masks to represent characters and high-soled boots worn to add height to the players limited the movement of the actors. Indeed, the concept of ÒactorsÓ themselves was not originally a part of Greek theatre, but was developed as a consequence of certain playwrights of particular genius. Greek drama was dominated by the works and innovations of five playwrights over the 200 years following Thespis. The first three of these were tragedians. Aeschylus (525-456 B.C.), who is most famous for his tragic trilogy the Oresteia, introduced the concept of a second actor, expanding the possibilities for plot and histrionics through the interaction of two characters in his dramas. While Aeschylus ultimately used a third actor, it was Sophocles (496-406 B.C.) who actually initiated this innovation. Sophocles is most famous for his trilogy Oedipus Rex. In his works the role of the chorus in Greek drama diminishes in favor of the interplay between characters and the development of character itself. It was Euripides (480-406 B.C.), however, while winning less competitions than Aeschylus or Sophocles, who foreshadowed the ultimate form of drama as we know it Ñ employing a far more naturalistic or human approach in his works, in contrast to the remote scale and formalized conventions used by his contemporaries. The last two Greek playwrights were the authors of comedies: Aristophanes (448-380 B.C.) and Menander (342-292 B.C.). There was a separate competition for comedy which, while also dedicated to the god Dionysus, took place at the smaller winter festival rather than the major spring festival where the tragedies were presented. As has been true throughout the history of theatre, the comedies--dependent on topical humor and satire for much of their content--have not survived the ages as well as tragedy, which deals with more universal themes. The universal popularity accorded these playwrights during their lifetimes attests to the significance which this dramatic form can have. The popularity of their work, and the diminishing appeal of tragedy to the audiences of the time, can also be interpreted as a comment on the role which theatre plays in society at large. Tragedy was at its height in Greek society when that society was at its height, while comedy Ñ an outlet for the frustrations of society as well as a diversion for the masses Ñ was most popular during the decline of Greek government.
Genre
As was noted in the discussion of the Iliad, the word ÒtragedyÓ refers primarily to tragic drama: a literary composition written to be performed by actors in which a central character called a tragic protagonist or hero suffers some serious misfortune which is not accidental and therefore meaningless, but is significant in that the misfortune is logically connected with the heroÕs actions. Tragedy stresses the vulnerability of human beings whose suffering is brought on by a combination of human and divine actions, but is generally undeserved with regard to its harshness. This genre, however, is not totally pessimistic in its outlook. Although many tragedies end in misery for the characters, there are also tragedies in which a satisfactory solution of the tragic situation is attained. Tragic Festival The Athenian theater was not a business enterprise like our theater but was financed by the Athenian state as an integral part of an Athenian religious festival: the City Dionysia. Three tragic poets were chosen to present their plays by a magistrate called an archon who had charge of the City Dionysia. Each one of the tragedians presented a tetralogy (a group of four plays), three tragedies and a satyr play, one during each morning of the festival. In the first half of the fifth century the three tragedies often formed a connected trilogy, which told a continuous story. One connected trilogy survives, The Oresteia of Aeschylus, consisting of three plays: Agamemnon, Libation Bearers and Eumenides. This trilogy traces the story of the House of Atreus from AgamemnonÕs murder by his wife after his return from Troy to the acquittal of his son, Orestes, who killed his mother in revenge. Three other surviving plays of Aeschylus belong to trilogies of which two plays have been lost. All the extant tragedies of Sophocles and Euripides do not belong to connected trilogies, but are self-contained dramas. Although there is evidence that Sophocles wrote one connected trilogy, the normal practice of the second half of the fifth century was to write three unconnected tragedies. The satyr play is so called because of its chorus which consists of satyrs, grotesque woodland spirits having human form with a horseÕs ears and tail. Only one satyr play survives, the Cyclops of Euripides, which parodies the story of Odysseus and Polyphemus in the Odyssey. The tragic poets competed with one another and their efforts were ranked by a panel of judges. Aeschylus won thirteen first place victories, Sophocles, twenty four, and Euripides, five. EuripidesÕs relatively small number of victories is due more to his unpopularity among the Athenians because of certain radical themes in his plays than any lack of ability as a tragedian.
Actors
The actors in tragedy were hired and paid by the state and assigned to the tragic poets probably by lot. By the middle of the fifth century three actors were required for the performance of a tragedy. In descending order of importance of the roles they assumed they were called the protagonist2 Ôfirst actorÕ, (a term also applied in modern literary criticism to the central character of a play), deuteragonist Ôsecond actorÕ and tritagonist Ôthird actorÕ. The protagonist took the role of the most important character in the play while the other two actors played the lesser roles. Since most plays have more than two or three characters (although never more than three speaking actors in the same scene), all three actors played multiple roles. Since women were not allowed to take part in dramatic productions, male actors had to play female roles. The playing of multiple roles, both male and female, was made possible by the use of masks, which prevented the audience from identifying the face of any actor with one specific character in the play and helped eliminate the physical incongruity of men impersonating women. The masks with subtle variations also helped the audience identify the sex, age, and social rank of the characters. The fact that the chorus remained in the orchestra throughout the play and sang and danced choral songs between the episodes allowed the actors to exit after an episode in order to change mask and costume and assume a new role in the next episode without any illusion-destroying interruption in the play. The main duty of an actor was, of course, to speak the dialogue assigned to his characters. This, however, was not the only responsibility of the actor. He occasionally had to sing songs solo or with the chorus or with other actors (e.g., a song of lament called a kommos). The combination of acting and singing ability must have been as rare in the ancient world as it is today. Chorus The first function of a tragic chorus was to chant an entrance song called a parodos as they marched into the orchestra. The entrance song took its name from the two ramps (parodoi) on either side of the orchestra which the chorus used as it made its way into the orchestra. Once the chorus had taken its position in the orchestra, its duties were twofold. It engaged in dialogue with characters through its leader, the Coryphaeus, who alone spoke the lines of dialogue assigned to the chorus. The tragic chorusÕs most important function was to sing and dance choral songs called stasima (singular =stasimon). The modern reader of Greek Tragedy, whether in English or even in the original Greek, finds it very difficult to appreciate the effect of these choral songs which are devoid of their music and dance.
Structure of the Greek Theatre
The Greek theater is the ancestor of European theaters. Many theaters in Greece have been discovered. There are three types of greek theaters: Athenian, Hellenistic, and Graeco-Roman. Athenian theatre was in the 5th century BC. Hellenistic theatre was from the 4th century onward. It covers roughly the same time period as the conquests of Alexander the Great. When Greek civilization was coming to an end, Roman ideas were spreading through Greece and therefore Graeco-Roman theatre soon evolved. The three types of theatre are distinctly different from each other. The Athenian theatre had a religious focus. The plays also had a chorus of up to 50 people. The chorus performed the plays in verse with music. So we can guess that the theaters had to have large spaces to incorporate the large number of people on stage. For projection of voice, so the audience could hear the actors clearly, the acting spaces were erected at the bottom of hills and the audience sat up on the hillside. First there were wooden seats on the hillside and then eventually stone seats starting about 499 BC. The seats were in a semi-circle and on the performing area was an altar. The performing place, or orchestra, was a circle with on average about 78 feet in diameter. In 465 BC the playwrights began using a backdrop or scenic wall. It hung or stood behind the orchestra. It was called the skene, the area behind it was also used as a costume changing area. In 425 BC a stone scene wall was built. It was called a paraskenia. It was a long wall with projecting sides, it may have had doorways for entrances and exits. Just behind the paraskenia was the proskenion. The proskenion was columned and was similar to the modern day proscenium. (The proscenium is the what separates the audience from the stage. It is the frame around the stage that makes it look like the action is taking place in a picture frame.) They also had entrances for the audience called paradoi. The paradoi (plural of parados) came out from the side of the stage and were tall arches through which the audience entered. By the end of the 5th century BC the skene,the back wall, was two stories high. The upper story was called the episkenion. The Greeks also had a raised speaking place on the orchestra called the logeion. The Hellenistic theatre also contained the orchestra, parados, and the skene. Most of the theaters of this time share a similar layout. They aimed for symmetry. Columns were used next to the skene ranging from 13 to 8 feet in height. They were typically enclosed by the paraskene. There were painted boards located behind the columns called pinakes. So overall the Hellenistic style included a circular orchestra, an auditorium slightly larger than a semi-circle, a skene divided into rooms, pillars, and a proskene with three doors. The Graeco- Roman theaters incorporated the ideas of Romans into the Greek theatre. They had a larger audience area. The lower level of seats were the same level as the orchestra. The background and front edge of the orchestra became elaborate and decorative. The plays consisted mostly of comedy. They disposed of the columns and presented a plain stage area. They had the three doors and a skene. The elaborate scene work calls for architectural decoration, more so than the decoration of the set. So the structure itself was very decorative but the set for each play was not. The Graeco-Roman time also had some machines that were put to use. In plays where gods had to arrive they were flown in on a crane. Therefore it was easier to show the gods and they could arrive in many different ways just by using a crane. They also had rolling platforms, most commonly used for bringing in dead bodies onto the stage. It was called the ekkuklema. There were also a lot of simple things such as trap doors for that actors to enter and exit from.
ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT, SOPHOCLES
Sophocles was born in 497 BC in Colonos, Athens. Although according to some sources he was the son of an aristocratic family, others say he was the son of a knife-maker. He was very handsome and great athlete who during his military service, attained the rank of General. Sophocles was AtticaÕs (an area in ancient Greece) most distinguished tragedian. He began writing poems and hymns of his own and, at an early age, decided to make the writing of tragedies his lifeÕs work. He is credited with three major innovations in classical Greek drama: introducing a third actor, the painting of scenery, and the enlargement of chorus from 12 to 15. His language was so harmonic and beautiful that Aristoteles said that Òhoney was dropping of his mouthÓ. Near the end of his life he was dragged before the Court by his son Iofon, charged with dementia. In court he recited a part of his latest work, ÒOedipus in ColonosÓ. The judges admired his spirit and found him innocent. SophoclesÕ themes concentrate on the individualÕs confrontation with and acceptance of suffering. His characters epitomize the depths of sorrow, the extremes of folly, and the bitter pangs of regret. Sophocles once wrote: ÒThe world is full of wonders but nothing is more wonderful than manÓ. He died in Athens in 405 BC, after having written 123 dramas, of which only 7 are saved. His plays include Oedipus Rex, Oedipus at Colonus, Antigone, Ajax, Electra, The Trachiniae, and Philoctetes. Thousands of years after his death the tragedies of Sophocles are still read and studies, for knowledge of them is essential to all literate people. Recent motion pictures versions of his work from Canada and Greece have successfully demonstrated their power to move modern audiences. Despite the antiquity of these plays, they bring up questions that remain relevant in our society, and their exciting, colorful stories have a universal appeal that still captivates readers. These tragedies are the products of a world very different from ours, although our civilization was born in that world. He died just before the final defeat of Athens by Sparta in the Peloponnesian War. Although his plays were performed side by side with those of Euripides they reveal a serenity which his younger contemporary lacked- a serenity that comes from triumph over suffering, not avoidance of it. His technique is often to isolate powerful, resourceful individuals against background of crisis- ÒOedipus the KingÓ is set in a city ravaged by plague, ÒAntigoneÓ in the same city decimated by war; the chief character in ÒPhiloctetesÓ is a desperate castaway on a desert island- and to show their response to the various demands upon them. His final play exemplifies his serenity. Oedipus, after a life of torment, goes at last to a tranquil rest. Although great sprits such as Oedipus may continue to live in legend and tradition, the living world is left to lesser men.