ANCIENT GREEK DRAMA The Cult of Dionysus Ancient

ANCIENT GREEK DRAMA

The Cult of Dionysus �Ancient Greek Theater evolved from religious rites dating back to at least 1200 BC �In 500 BC, in Northern Greece (Thrace) a cult arose that worshipped Dionysus (god of fertility and procreation) �An essential part of the rites of Dionysus was the dithyramb �Dithyramb means “choric hymn” �This chant or hymn was accompanied by mimic gestures and music �The dithyramb was performed by a chorus of about 50 men

Dithyramb �The performers wore costumes, danced, and played drums, lyres and flutes, �They described the adventures of Dionysus. �The dithyramb was given a regular form and raised to the rank of artistic poetry about 600 BC. �It became one of the competitive subjects at the various Athens festivals. �It attracted the most famous poets of the day.

From Dithyramb to Drama �As time went on, the dithyramb started to cease to concern itself exclusively with the adventures of Dionysus and began to choose its subjects from all periods of Greek mythology. �In this way, over time the dithyramb would evolve into stories in “play” form: DRAMA.

ATHENS �The most prominent city-state in Greece by 600 BC was Athens where at least 150, 000 people lived. �In Athens the rites of Dionysus evolved into what we know today as theater

Thespis �In about 600 BC Arion of Corinth wrote down formal lyrics for the dithyramb. �Some time in the next 75 years, Thespis of Attica added an actor who interacted with the chorus. �This one actor was called the protagonist. �Thespis walked around Athens pulling a handcart, setting up a kind of one man plays, where he showed the bad behavior of man. The word for actor, “thespian”, comes from his name.

Thespis �The "inventor of tragedy" was born in Attica, and was the first prize winner at the Great Dionysia in 534 BC. �Thespis was an important innovator for theater, since he introduced such things as the independent actor (as opposed to the chorus) as well as masks, make up and costumes.

Athenian Drama Competitions �In 534 BC, the ruler of Athens, Pisistratus, changed the Dionysian Festivals and instituted drama competitions. �In the next 50 years, the competitions became popular annual events. �During this time, major theatres were constructed , notably theater at Delphi, the Attic theater and the Theater of Dionysus in Athens.

Greek Amphitheatres �The Theater of Dionysus, built at the foot of the Acropolis in Athens, could seat 17, 000 people. �During their heyday, the competitions drew as many as 30, 000 spectators. � The words theater and amphitheater derive from the Greek word theatron, which referred to the wooden spectator stands erected on the hillsides.

Amphitheatres w. Artistic replica of the Theater at Dionysus w. Current day Theater at Dionysus w. Delphi Theater reconstruction and current day ruins

Layout of Greek theatres

How plays were performed �Plays were performed in � The masks prevented the audience from the daytime. identifying the face of �Since women were not any actor with one allowed to take part, character in the play. male actors had to play �The masks had female roles. exaggerated facial �The playing of multiple expressions, different lengths and color roles, both male and hair, and helped the female, was made audience identify the possible by the use of sex, age, and social masks. rank of the characters.

FAMOUS GREEK MASK MOZAIC FOUND IN THE RUINS OF POMPEII

The Skene? �The theater of Dionysus in the earliest days of tragedy must have consisted of only the most basic elements. �All that was required was a circular dancing area for the chorus at the base of a gently sloping hill, on which spectators could sit and watch the performance. � On the other side of the orchestra facing the spectators there probably stood a tent in which the actors could change their costumes (one actor would play more than one part). �This is suggested by the word skene which means 'tent', and was used to refer to a wooden wall having doors.

The Skene and Seating �The wall was painted to represent a palace, temple or whatever setting was required. The wall, which eventually became a full -fledged stage building, probably acquired this name because it replaced the original tent. �The construction of the wooden skene (cf. our theatrical terms "scene" and "scenery") and of a formal seating area consisting of wooden benches on the slope, which had been hollowed out, probably took place some time toward the middle of the fifth century.

Mechanical Stage Devices �One device is the ekkyklema “a wheeled-out thing”, a platform on wheels rolled out through one of the doors of the skene, on which a tableau was displayed representing the result of an action indoors (e. g. , a murder) and therefore was unseen by the audience. �The other device is called a mechane “theatrical machine”, a crane to which a cable with a harness for an actor was attached. This device allowed an actor portraying a god or goddess to arrive on scene in the most realistic way possible, from the sky.

The Greek Chorus � The Chorus began in numbers as large as 50, then smaller sizes as actors become more predominate. They provided time for scene changes, introduced background and summary information. Their dance and chanting provided the visionary experience that separated audience from the actor and the essence of tragedy. § Ideal spectator: reacts as the audience should. Asks questions, takes part in the play § Establishes framework, sets the standard by which action will be judged § Heightens dramatic effect through movement, song and dance § Rhythmical Function-pauses/paces the action so audience can reflect and actors can rest/prepare

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 5 th century 3 actors were required for the performance of a tragedy. In descending order of importance of the roles they assumed they were called the protagonist “first actor”, (a term also applied in modern literary criticism to the central character of a play), deuteragonist “second actor” and tritagonist “third actor”.

Actors �The protagonist took the role of the most important character in the play while the other 2 actors played the lesser roles. Since most plays have more than 2 or 3 characters (although never more than 3 speaking actors in the same scene), all 3 actors played multiple roles. �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.

Playwrights �Aeschylus – earliest Greek tragedy writer brought idea of second actor. Writer of The Persians � Sophocles – brought third actor – no more than three actors on stage ever in a Greek tragedy. �Euripedes – also used three actors after Sophocles. �Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripedes each wrote a version of the Oedipus tragedy, but Sophocles’ version is the most famous. �Aristophanes who wrote comediers , rather � Satires, one of the most famous was Lysistrata Modern cultural historians, think that plays are an excellent source of eviudence, sometimes even better than documents, for revealing what people thought. Read the story of Lysistrata and list statements about what it reveals about 5 th century Greece

Attire �The Chiton �Chotharnus- elevating shoes �Chalmys- short cloak �Himation- long cloak

Masks � The large size of theatre (in its final form it seated 20, 000 people) and the distance of even the nearest spectators from the performers (more than 10 meters) dictated a non-naturalistic approach to acting. � All gestures had to be large and definite so as to 'read' from the back rows. Facial expression would have been invisible to all but the closest members of the audience. � The masks worn by the actors looked more 'natural' than bare faces in the Theatre of Dionysus. The masks of tragedy were of an ordinary, face-fitting size, with wigs attached, and open mouths to allow clear speech. � Contrary to some later theories, there were no 'megaphones' in the masks, and their decoration and expression was quite subtle, as vase paintings from the 5 th and 4 th centuries attest. � USING THE TEMPLATE COLOUR YOUR MASK TO EMPHASISE THE DRAMATIC FEATURES.