ORIGIN OF THEATER

DRAMATIC & THEATRICAL

- Present in every society, no matter how complex or how unsophisticated the culture may
be.
- Elements are evident in our holiday celebrations, sports events, religious ceremonies, and
children ’ s make- believe, just as they are in the dances and rituals of primitive peoples

NORTH AFRICA & THE NEAR EAST (STUDIES OF WALL PAINTINGS ON CAVES IN
AFRICA, FRANCE, AND SPAIN, 20,000 YEARS AGO)

- DRAMA (DURING 2800 TO 2400 B.C.E.)

- enacted by priests at regular intervals to ensure the well-being of the dead pharaoh and to
show the continuity of life and power
- Despite the achievements of the Egyptians and the empires of the Near East, it appears
that Greece took the decisive step toward an autonomous theatre

GREEK THEATER

Type of Drama

 Tragedy
 Origin
- Stories the ended in tragedy, sorrow and that had a tragic moral
- Thespis with the invention of tragedy, the first form of drama, in 534 B.C.E.
- The earliest still-extant account of how Greek drama originated states that tragedy
emerged out of improvisations by the leaders of dithyrambs.
- During the fifth, it was known to have the playwright to also perform his own play
- Other actor/dramatist of the fifth/sixth century who also made certain innovations.
- Choerilus (Unspecified innovations in costumes and masks)
- Pratinas (Invented bawdy farce form "Satyr Plays ")
- Phrynichus (Introducing female characters)
 Greek Tragedy Playwrights
 AESCHYLUS
 - Known to be the founder of Greek Tragedy
- The oldest surviving Greek plays are by Aeschylus
- The Persians (472), Seven Against Thebes (467), the Oresteia, a trilogy
of plays made up of Agamemnon, Libation Bearers, and Eumenides
(458), The Suppliants, and Prometheus Bound (exact dates unknown but
probably after 468).
- The major innovation attributed to Aeschylus is the introduction of the
second actor.
 SOPHOCLES
- Introduced the 3rd actor
- Ajax (between 450 and 440), Antigone (c. 441), Oedipus the King (c.
430–425), Electra (c. 418–410), Trachiniae (c. 413), Philoctetes (409),
and Oedipus at Colonus (406).
- Sophocles is the most skillful of Greek dramatists in mastery of
dramatic structure: his Oedipus the King is often called the most perfect
of Greek tragedies.
- Increased emphasis on individual characters and reduced the role of the
chorus (from fifty - Aeschylus).
 EURIPIDES
- Excerted great influence in Roman Drama, as well as French and
German Drama.
- Alcestis (438), Medea (431), Hippolytus (428), The Trojan Women
(415), Electra, Helen (412), Orestes (408), and Cyclops, a satyr play
(date un- known).
- Euripides ’ characters often questioned the gods ’ sense of justice, since
they seemed sources of misery as often as of happiness.
- Represented the new moral, social and political movements that were
taking place in Athens towards the end of the 5th Century BCE
- The structure includes the following: Prologue, Parados, Paradio, and Exodos
 Comedy
 Origin
 - Represent daily lives and the absurdities that could happen to them
- Consists of characters that the audience could laugh at
- Comedy (komoidia) was accepted into the City Dionysia in 487–486 B.C.E.
- A Dorian influence on Athenian comedy is the “ mime, ” short satirical treatments
of everyday domestic situations.
- Aristophanic comedy is its commentary on contemporary society, politics, theatre,
and above all the war with Sparta known as the Peloponnesian War
 Structure
- Prologue establishes the mood and sets forth the “happy idea ”.
- A parabasis, divides the play into two parts. Social or political problem is often
discussed and a line of action advocated. Second part, a series of loosely connected
scenes, the results of adopting the happy idea.
- The final scene (or komos), concludes with the reconciliation of all the characters.
 Satyr
- Mixture of Tragedy and Comedy (Tragicomedy)
- Most of the evidence credits Pratinas with having invented this form sometime before
501 B.C.E.
- Out of the hundreds of satyr plays written, the only complete example to survive is
Euripides ’ Cyclops.
- Essentially a burlesque treatment of mythology (often ridiculing gods or heroes and their
adventures), the rowdy action occurred in a rural setting and included vigorous dancing,
as well as indecent language and gestures

DIONYSUS (GREEK GOD OF WINE, GRAPE, AND THEATER)

- Believed to be a blessing of crops in Athens, so farmers would have a fruitful harvest.

- The Greeks honored each of their gods through one or more annual festivals.
 Rural Dionysia
 Lenaia
 Anthesteria
 City Dionysia
GreekTheater

 ACTORS & ACTING

- Ancient Greek actors had to gesture grandly so that the (18,000) audience could see and
hear the play/story.
- Cleverly, the Greek Theaters were constructed to transmit even the smallest sound to
each seat.
- Originally the actor and the dramatist were one.
- Aeschylus introduced a second actor.
- Playwrights continued to act in their own plays, until Sophocles stopped acting in about
468 BCE, and added a third actor.
- All actors were men.
- All actors wore masks, all actors played more than one role.

THE CHORUS

 SEVERAL FUNCTIONS TO DRAMA:

- Adds dynamic energy to a play.
- Sets the overall mood of the play.
- Important rhythmical function, creating intervals or slowing the action.
- Serve as a character, giving advice, exepressing opinions, asking questions, and
sometimes takes an active part in the action.
- Establish the ethical or social framework of the events.
- Serve as an ideal spectator, reacting to the events and characters.

MUSIC

- Accompanied by a Flute or a Lute, Lyre, and various forms of percussion.

- Different modes of music associated with tragedy or comedy.

DANCE

 DEFINED DANCE AS ANY EXPRESSIVE RHYTHMICAL MOVEMENT

 Mimetic
- Expressive of a particular kind of character or situation
  Comedy
- Less Dignified (Jumping and Spinning)
 Satyr
- Lewd Pantomime

THE CHORUS

 COSTUMES AND MASKS IN THE GOLDEN AGES

- Overall visual style of a Greek theatrical production.
- Standard costume for all tragic actors was a sleeved, highly decorated tunic, usually full-
length, although sometimes shorter.
- The identity of both actors and chorus might be established in part by symbolic
properties:
 The king by his scepter.
 The warrior by his spear.
 The suppliant by his branch.
 The herald by his wreath, and so on.