Greek Theatre:

- 30 written tragedies/12-14 written comedies

- Ancient sources – tell about drama, sources, funding, organization of theatre
- Archaeological sources: remains of theatres themselves
- Greek Pots: painted theatrical scenes from plays and famous myths
Festival of Dionysus:

- March/April: Sailing season starts

- Everyone comes to Athens for this festival
- 3 tragic playwrights – competing against each other
o Rich man would pay for playwrights
 Glory of the state
o Jury would judge for the best play
 Winning team would get their name inscribed on a wall in the theater – it was
done not for money but for glory
The Plays

- 3 types of plays
o Tragedy
 Characters are beautiful and usually of higher class
 Masks are exquisite and beautiful
o Comedy
 Masks are rather ugly
 Characters are low class and very funny
o Satyr:
 Satyr: mythical half goat/half man
 Rude comedy plays
Playwrights

- 3 tragedians + 1 comedic poet

o Comedic: Aristophanes
o Tragedians:
 Aeschylus
 Sophocles
 Euripides
 Wrote their great plays in the 5th century B.C.
Theatre

- Side of a hill, going up

o Semicircle
 Flat area – orchestra - chorus sang, danced and talked
 Behind that – raised stage for actors
- Modern theaters were built in order to imitate the ancient Greek ones
o Olivier Theatre
  Modeled on Epidaurus
 Best and earliest surviving stone theater
Masks
Religious ritual

- African dancing & Greek theatre – very closely related

- Worshipping Dionysus – wear the mask if the Revelator/celebration of the theater
- Enabled to change character – limit 3-4 actors on stage, these actors were only men
o Masks had different faces, different hair
 ** Symbol of theatre is the mask of comedy and tragedy after the muses Thalia,
muse of comedy and Melpomene, muse of chorus but most known as muse of
tragedy
Chorus
Greek drama comes from a long tradition of choral song and dance
2 fundamental roles:
a) Fun
a. 12-15 young men dressed up – singing, dancing
i. Really well trained
b. Highlights of the play
b) Provide perspective of the community
a. Citizens of Thebes represented by 12 citizens
Choral Ode
Ode: song/lamentation
Popular part of the play
Leader – directly interacts with main characters
Link: audience to play
Show viewpoint
o What can we infer about Ancient Greeks/Athens

**Greek tragedy is fundamentally political

- Constant interaction between audience and actors

Greek Tragedy
- Does one particular thing
o Stares suffering directly in the face
- Reason why GT transcends cultural and temporal boundaries
o Themes are universal
 Ex. Difficulty in relationships
 Painful decisions
 Unfairness of the universe
Tragic structure: What makes Greek Tragedy effective
Aristotle: came up with a formula

- Heroes of tragedy need to be good but not so good that you couldn’t relate to them
o Creon, king of Thebes: he is a good king, but he makes a lot of mistakes
- Key things: Hamartia – error of judgement
o Tragedies: real people making bad decisions that equal terrible results but for good
reason
- Tragedy: About the idea that we live in
o A flaw world with
 Injustice
 Misery
o Those things are caused by our actions and remediable by our actions

Death

- Almost all plays: death in the course of the play

- Strongest metaphors for death: addressing the sun
o I’m going to leave the light/I will never look upon the sun again
 Belief: after death, they journey to the Underworld
Structure

- Prologue
- Chorus
o Ode
o Time: Time passed in story
 Stretch their plots
 Everything happens in less than the time between a sunrise and sunset –
skillful writing
Impact

- Modern writers try to often re-create the classical Greek tragedy play structure
o Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman
Audience

- Catharsis – cleansing/purification
- Tragedy: confronting suffering, death, loss
o Feelings and ideas are shared

BBC Documentary Greek theatre:

- Most charged aspect of tragedy plays
o Love, war, sacrifice, fear and death
 Utterly gripping today
- Euripides: Trojan Woman
BBC Documentary – Delphi:
Oedipus the King questions
Prologue (lines 1-159)
- What is the purpose of a prologue in a play? How does the prologue create interest?
The prologue is in the play to set the scene so that the audience knows what the story is about,
who the main characters are and what happened before the play starts to understand the
meaning of the events to follow that are in the play

- Why is Thebes in such great turmoil?

A plague has struck the city of Thebes. The cattle get sick and die, women die in child labour,
children are stillborn, there is a plague and also they didn’t bring the murderer of King Laius
to justice because they were too busy dealing with the Sphinx.

- Explain how Oedipus became the King of Thebes (e.g., describe the riddle of the
Sphinx).
He answered the riddle of the Sphinx and he killed the Sphinx afterwards.

Choral Ode 1 (lines 168-244)

- Summarize the information provided in this first chorus.
The chorus is praying to the gods, particularly Zeus, Apollo because he is the god of prophecy
as well as healing and diseases, Athena and Artemis and Dionysus.

Scene One (lines 245-525)

- Make note of Oedipus’ vow at the beginning of the scene for further reference.
Next, if anyone knows the murderer is a stranger, A man from alien soil, come, speak up. I
will give him a handsome reward, and lay up, Gratitude in my heart for him besides

Define a clairvoyant with reference to the character of Teiresais.

Teiresais is a blind prophet. A clairvoyant is someone who can see the future. Teiresais says
that “I’d rather not cause pain for you or me” because he knows who killed Laius. He hints
that the killer is someone Oedipus does not wish to find. Oedipus calls him a fraud basically
Brainstorm ideas as to why Teiresais refuses to answer Oedipus’ questions, looking
for clues within the dialogue.
- Dramatic irony
-
Teiresais says that “You bear your burdens, I’ll bear mine. It’s better that way, please believe
me.” (lines 364-366) and he says, “I’d rather not cause pain for you or me” (line 388). It
because he knows who killed Laius. He hints that the killer is someone Oedipus does not wish
to find. Oedipus calls him a fraud and says that he had a hand in murdering the previous king
(lines 393-397) and then Teiresais reveals that it was Oedipus that had unknowingly killed
Laius. He says, line 413, ‘I say you are the murderer you hunt” and Oedipus does not believe
him at all. He also talks about Oedipus’ marriage. He later says at the end, line 510-519.
(Odes)
- Based on previous knowledge of odes, analyse the structure and content of the four
odes in the play.

Ode 2 (lines 526-572)

- The chorus is confused on how Oedipus could be at fault/could be the murderer of
Laius
- The chorus says that only Zeus and Apollo would know what the truth is
- Zeus, being the king of the gods and Apollo being the god of prophecy
- The chorus says that they could never convict the king because he is a truly good one,
not a tyrant
Scene Two (lines 573-953)
- Briefly explain the oracle which the former King Laios was trying to avoid.
The oracle said that King Laius would be killed by the hand of his own son but he was killed by
a thief on the road and to avoid that prophecy, he took his son when he was born tied him by the
ankles to a horse and had a henchman fling him away into the mountains.
- Give the background information provided on Oedipus’ family history.
 His father was Polybus, king of Corinth and his mother was a Dorian, Merope. At a
banquet/party, some stranger said that Oedipus is not their son. His parents were outraged and
reassured Oedipus that he was their son but he still had an anxious feeling about it. He went to
the Oracle and the Oracle said that he is destined to marry his mother and have children with her
and kill his father.
- Although the characters still appear to be in the dark, the audience/reader is not -
discuss briefly how both King Laios’ and Oedipus’ oracles did come true.
By giving away Oedipus, he did not know his true identity and therefore fulfilled the prophecy
by running away from Corinth because he thought the King and Queen of Corinth were his real
parents. The oracles came true because Oedipus did not know that the man he killed was
ultimately his real father nor did he know that Jocasta was his real mother when he had married
her. Ultimately, by trying to avoid fate, King Lauis helped the events that were meant to happen
to get put in place.
- To what extent are the events in the controlled by fate or destiny?

The events are more or less controlled by fate. The Oracle’s ambiguity makes it seem like if the
characters do all they can to avoid their fate, it will not happen but in truth, it really does happen
in a way they never expect it to. 

Ode 3 (lines 954-997)

In this Ode, the Chorus glorifies the gods and destiny, rejecting human pride. The Ode
foreshadows what will happen if Oedipus lets his pride get ahead of him. They then talk about
not going against the gods even if what the gods have said would happen has not happened. In
the last stanza, they ask the gods to demonstrate their power by following through with their
prophecies. Fate is the core of the Ancient Greek religion, the fact that the all-mighty gods
have the power to write the destinies of mere mortals and that no one can escape the
predetermined fates. Chorus is telling the audience that no one should be feeling calm because
this is an essential part in the play, when the truth is revealed.

Scene Three (lines 998-1194)

- Describe how Oedipus is first comforted, then disheartened by the news of the
Messenger from Corinth.
Oedipus is first comforted by the news from the messenger of Corinth because his father,
Polybus also the King of Corinth who he was meant to kill, according to the prophecy he
heard, had died of old age and not by Oedipus’ hand. Unfortunately, his mother, Merope, who
he was supposed to marry is still alive but that isn’t why he is disheartened. He is
disheartened because it turns out that Polybus was not truly his father and Merope is not his
mother and he is confused about how this has happened because his parents truly loved him
despite him not being theirs by blood.

- In what ways do the characters inspire both fear and pity, as defined by Aristotle ?
The characters inspire pity because the audience feels bad for Oedipus. He is a good, smart
king who tries to help his people but in trying to pursue the truth about him, he realizes that he
did exactly what the prophecy said he would do all while avoiding it all. He unknowingly kills
his father and marries his mother and has kids with her. Oedipus also inspires fear because
humans don’t like to be in bad or, in Oedipus’ life, unthinkable situation such as killing their
father and marrying their mother as well as having kids with her.

- Jocasta, Oedipus’ wife, obviously realizes the horrible truth of their situation before
Oedipus. Quote two or three key lines which demonstrate Jocasta’s fear showing
through.
Jocasta says “Oh no, listen to me, I beg you, don’t do this” because she has realized that the
prophecy has come true despite both her’s, Laius’ and Oedipus’ attempts to avoid it at all
costs. She also says “No please – for your sake – I want the best for you!” meaning that she
does not want Oedipus to find out the truth because he will be shocked and it’s not exactly
something you want someone you love to find out.

-Note and explain at least three specific images and quotations that relate to the theme
of appearance and reality in the play so far.

Oedipus, throughout the play, is truly metaphorically blind. He does not trust Teiresias when he
tells him that Oedipus is the reason that Thebes has been struck by a plague. He is convinced that
Teiresias is plotting to overthrow him alongside Creon, his wife’s brother. In this scene, Jocasta
dismisses the prophecy and the whole belief of an oracle and that is basically her dismissing one
of the biggest components of Ancient Greece: their religion and firm beliefs that the gods control
their destinies and that there is no way one can escape it. She says “Fear? / What should a man
fear? It’s all chance / chance rules our lives […]/ Many a man before you, / in his dreams, has
shared his mother’s bed/ Take such things for shadows, nothing at all – / Live, Oedipus / as if
there’s no tomorrow!” and Jocasta, blinded by the news they’ve received, rejoices in the fact that
not only did Oedipus not marry his mother but she didn’t marry her own son. Unfortunately, just
as Teiresias said earlier, Oedipus is blind and does not see the truth and in his pursuit of the truth,
he realizes that his efforts for avoiding the prophecy has made it come true.

Ode 4 (lines 1195-1214)

Scene Four (lines 1215-1310)

- In this scene, Oedipus finally realizes the full impact of his oracle. How is 
suspense created?
- How is Oedipus a tragic hero in the Aristotelian sense? What is his tragic flaw?

Exodus (lines 1351-end)

Plot details which conclude the story:

- Iocastê kills herself;

- Oedipus gouges out his eyeballs with brooches, blinding himself;

- Oedipus asks his brother-in-law, Creon to drive him out of the country;

- Oedipus leaves Creon in charge of Thebes and makes him guardian of his
daughter.

*****Paraphrase the Oedipus’ final speech in the play.