Theatre Terms

 Three theories of theatre origin

o Ritual (Frazer)
 Rituals connected with spring and seasonal cycle
 Ritual influenced theatrical forms
 Primitive cultures with no written languages performed rituals to wi the
favor of natural forces, then it is formalized, then stories grew up to
explain the rituals- people impersonating gods, beings, or forces- resulted
developing dramatic sense
o Storytelling (Campbell)
 Pleasurable and natural, narrator elaborates by impersonating
 Theatre to tell stories and pass down from generations to explain
o Structuralism (Levi Straus)
 Argumentagainst the other 2 theories
 Attacking Cultural Darwinism
 Cultures are made up of binary elements and they’ll make things that seem
similar,
 Not everything will involve in the same
 Structure of human thought processes is the same in all cultures, and that
these mental processes exist in the form of binary oppositions
 Year King Myth
o Idea that ancient cultures marked the seasons with a story
o When the seasons changed, they marked the changing of the seasons with the
story of the YKM
o When winter came, it meant the gods were displeased so to please them, they had
to sacrifice
o An idea is that they had to sacrifice the best that they had, ie the King, but the
king would say they needed surrogates (ie young virgin women)
o Sufficient sacrifice meant warm seasons, and it continued every year
o Myth in terms of story and myth in terms of so pre-history that we dont know if it
really happened
 Abydos- Osiris
o Abydos passion play was the one that no one knows if it’s a play or a ritual
 Resurrection story
o Osiris was the character with parallels with Dionysus
o Abydos- important centre for this Egyptian theatre activity
o Murder of Osiris by Seth, dismemberment and resuscitation made for emotive
theatre and was frequently shown
 Dionysus
o God of wine, ritual madness, fertility, religious ecstasy, theatre, grape harvest
 Unrestrained consumption
o Patron god of theatre for Greeks
o Worshipped by Thespis
 Dithyramb
o Hymn to Dionysus
o God that comes back to life
 Thespis
o 6th century
o Existed, priest of Dionysus
o First person to ever appear on stage as an actor playing a character in a play
 Stepped away from the chorus and became a character
o Singer of Dithyrambs
 Goat Song
o ‘Tragedy’ has roots in greek word meaning ‘goat song’
o Speculation that dramas came out of harvest festivals whwere they would do them
in threshing circles (ox walking around a poll)
o Sacrifice of goats at the end of the play, intertwined with drama
 Minoan Culture (6000BC-1500BC: 2500BC was full flower)
o Matriarchal- no wars, traitors
o theatre but no knowledge of theatre productions
o origins of greek language
o bull worship- bull prominent in the culture, bull tossing/ “jumping”
o Crete- first evidence of physical theatre
 Mycenae culture (1500BC-1200BC)
o patriarchal
o after Minoan
o basis for the Agamemnon/Clytemnestra/Electra/Orestes plays
 Physical theatre (see Didaskalia site)
 Oval vs circular orchestra
 Wooden vs stone seating areas
o 5th century BCE, early theatre on slope of the acropolis built so that front seats
made of stone, the rest of wood
o 4th century BCE all seats made in stone, addition of stone ramps and stone
backdrop
 Thryomate
o
 Logeia
o An open balcony in a theatre?
o The platform on the greek stage
 Phiologia is the 2nd one
 Paraskeni
o The wings at the end of each side of the skene stage building
o Either side
 Skene
o The changing house, adjacent to actor space- first a tent or curtained area that
later became a permanent structure
o Gradually became a backdrop
 Paradoi
o Monumental passageways and gateway entrance on each side of auditorium
 Theologia
o The critical study of the nature of the divine
 Thymele
 o Platform in the orchestra, next to the altar of Dionysus
 Theatron
o Place where spectators were gathered to watch some kind of show or play
 Pinakes
o First scenery
o Images probably
 Periaktoi
o Spinning triangle, changing?
 Hypokrites
o An actor or a stage player
o “An interpreter from underneath”
 The masks actors wore
 Deus ex machina
o Plot device to resolve complicated or even seemingly hopeless situations in the
plot
 Ekkylema
o Wheeled platform rolled out through skene in theatre
o Used to bring interior scenes out into sight of audience
o Mainly used in tragedies to reveal dead bodies

Theatres
 Dionysia
o Plays first performed (plays we’re looking at)
o Acting space: rectilinear
o Audience circle wrapped around, wooden seats
o
 Thorikos
o Ancient greek city in southern Attica
o One of 12 original settlements united in synoikismos attributed to Theseus
 Epidaurus
o Theatre in the city of Epidaurus on the SE end of the sanctuary dedicated to the
god of medicine, Asclepius
o Considered to be the most perfect ancient greek theatre with regard to acoustics
and aesthetics
 Pompey
o Structure in Rome completed in 55BC
o Location where Julius Caesar was murdered
 Early Greek stages
o Simpler than people usually thing of
o Wooden benches
o Smaller
o 3 openings in skene

Dramatic terms
 Hubris
 o Excessive pride or self confidence
o (in greek tragedy) excessive pride toward or defiance of the gods, leading to
nemesis
 Hamartia
o a fatal flaw leading to the downfall of a tragic hero or heroine
 Catharsis
o Aristotle
o The purging of emotions or relieving of emotional tensions
o Fear it could happen to you and pity
 Protagonist
o The first actor in ancient greek drama, who played not only the main role, but also
other roles when the main character was offstage
 Antagonist
o Opponent, competitor, rival
o Character that had a certain belief, perspective, or desire that stayed from the
beginning to the end of the story
 Tritagonist
o Tertiary main character
o Third most important character of a narrative, after the protagonist and
deuteragonist
 Messenger speech
o Lengthy report of an offstage event, usually delivered by an anonymous character
of low status who has no other role in the play
 Strophe and Antestrophe
o The first and second sections of an ancient greek choral ode or of one division of
it
 Dramatic curve
o Aristotle- drama complete with beginning middle and end
o Exposition, inciting moment, rising action, climax, denouement
 Recognition scene
o The moment in a play when the principal character experiences a sudden
revelation or enlightenment through the recognition of another character’s true
identity
o Making fun of Aeschylus- Euripidean irony
 Stichomythia
o Dialogue in which two characters speak in alternate lines of verse
 Trilogy
o Set of three works that are connected
o The Oresteia
 Tetraology
o Compound work made up of four distinct works
o Three tragedies followed by a satyr play at the Dionysia
 Satyr play
o Greek form of tragiocomedy
o Choruses of satyrs, rife with drunkenness, sexuality, phallic props, pranks, gags,
and merriment
  Episodea
o Brief unit of action in dramatic or literary work
o The part of an ancient greek tragedy between two choric songs

Festivals
 City Dionysia
o At Theatre Dionysia
o Tragedy, comedy, and satyric drama originated
o Held in Athens in March in honor of Dionysus
 Lenaia
o Annual Athenian festival with dramatic competition
o Lesser festival
o Month Gamelion (roughly January)
o Maybe in honor of rebirth of Dionysus? Maybe Eleusinian Mysteries?
 Rural Dionysia
o Held during winter month of Poseidon (roughly December)
o Celebrated with staging of comedies and playing of lighthearted games
o Joyful festival
o Outside of athens

People
 Aeschylus (the Oresteia- Agamemnon, the Libation Bearers, the Eumenides)
o Wrote from perspective of loser
o Mythology as basis for plays
o ADDED the second actor
o Was a general, has seen death firsthand
o Themes of never-ending violence
o Use of imagery to explicate his ideas- play of ideas
o Created art form that is still going on after 2500+ years
o Writes about complexity of origins of democracy in western world
o Very little irony
o Positivity
 Likened to Lin Manuel Miranda
 Sophocles (Electra)
o Chorus is an active character
o Added Third actor
 Adds deception, complicated motives
 Introduces dimensionality
o Master of Dramatic irony
o Gods a little more disembodied
o Inventor of the earned ending- circumstances of the play lead into the ending
o A-political
 Likened to Kenneth Lonnergan
 Euripides (Electra, the Bacchae)
o Also wrote Trojan Women, Medea
o MUCH irony
 o Characters much more human
o Accused of corrupting youth 7 years prior to Socrates (who was forced to commit
suicide for the act)
 Corrupting belief in the gods
 Petty, small, human
o Invented Deus Ex Machina
o Not regarded well
 Cynical
 Not approving of greek values
o Considered a moralist bc he hates hypocrisy
o Most left-wing of the playwrights, most for proletariat
o Probably gay, very liberal
o Most beautiful writing of the three playwrights
o “FUCK YOU” to society, with complexities
 Likened to Louis CK
o Credit Euripides with the invention of comedy
 Pericles
o Greek statesman and general of Athens during the Golden Age
 Ephialtes
o Ancient Athenian politician and early leader of democratic movement
o Assassinated in 461 BC and leadership of Athens was passed down to his deputy,
Pericles

 Peloponnesian war (431-404 BC)

o Athens vs Sparta
o Likened to the Vietnam War in reference to how it affected the people
o Historical event during Backdrop of Sophocles, Euripides elctra, Bacchae, &
lysistrata


What are the themes of THE ORESTEIA?

 Revenge
 The mercy of the father can overcome
o If you have mercy on someone, you can stop that cycle of revenge
 The rule of law
 Proposing of democratic ideals

How do the 12th century BCE setting, 8th BCE century Homeric epics, and 5th century BCE
period of writing interact in the Oresteia?

How do the gods function in the plays of the three extant tragedians?


What were the changing historical circumstances in the times of the three extant tragedians?
How did that influence the ideas in the three Electra plays?

How do the various characters differ in the Electra plays?

How does the action differ in the Electra plays?

What is the vision of religion in the Bacchae?

What is Old Comedy?

 First period of ancient greek comedy
 Aristophanes (Lysistrata) is most important playwright

Old comedy terms

 Split chorus
o Chorus in comedy split in two equal groups, each with a leader
 Parabasis
o All actors leave and chorus direct addresses
o Choral ode addressing the audience, in which social or political problem is
discussed
 Happy idea
o Private peace with warring power or sex strike to stop war

Roman Theatre
 Republic vs Empire
 Atellan Farce
o Masked improvised farces
 Stock characters of Roman Comedy
o Senex iratus- old man
o Adulescens amator- young man in love
o Servus callidus- clever slave
o Servus stultus- stupid slave
o Parasitus- flatterer or parasite
o Meretrix- courtesean
o Leno- slave dealer or pimp
o Miles gloriosus- braggart soldier
 Plautus and Terence
 o Terence- slave from Carthage, first African playwright: take 2 Greek plays and
combine them- Romantic, plot central
o Plautus- thought to be an actor, clown character- writes funny
 Seneca and closet drama (closet tragedy)
o Closet drama- people just got together and read it out loud
o No history of Seneca’s plays being produced on stage
o Influential on
 End of Roman theatre
o Decline with Roman Empire around fourth century CE
 Bread and Circuses
o Superficial means of appeasement
o Generation of public approval but through diversion, distraction

 Vitruvius and his influence on physical classical theatres

o Architectura
 Wrote about greek theatre
 Don’t know if its accurate
 Wrote about periaktoi, etc
 Deisgners read this and tried to recreate

Roman Theatres and Spectacles

 Temporary Roman Stages
o Tenuous knowledge of scenery at this time
o Only gathered from paintings
 Half circle orchestra
o Space in front of the stage, audience may have sat there
o Actors would perform in this space
 Frons scaenae
o Elaborately decorated permanent architectural background of a roman theatre
stage
 Naumachae
o Mock sea battle
 Venationes
o Public spectacle featuring animal hunts, staged in ampitheatre
o Usually in connection with gladiator shows

Dithrambi = twice born

FORMAT OF TEST
 David in the process of writing