Introduction to Greek Theatre, Images of Greek Theatre, Parts of the Greek Theatre, Greek Tragedy, most representative three great Greek tragedians, Chorus in Greek dramas

1. Greek Theatre
&
Greek Tragedy
by
Dr T Jeevan Kumar
Assistant Professor of English
Government College (UG & PG)
Ananthapuramu
Email: dr.tjeevan@live.com
http://drtjeevankumar.blogspot.com/ 1

2. GREEK THEATRE
 The word ‘theatre’ has come from ‘theatron’ which means
‘A place of seeing’ or ‘viewing place’
 The theatre flourished in ancient Greece between c. 550 and c.
220 BC in Athens.
 It developed from a state of festival in Athens, honoring the
god Dionysus, the God of poetry and drama.
 Early Greek theatres were probably little more than open
areas in city centres or next to hill sides where the audience,
standing or sitting, could watch and listen to Chorus singing
about the exploits of a god or hero.
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3. GREEK THEATRE
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4. GREEK THEATRE
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5. GREEK THEATRE
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6. PARTS OF THE THEATRE
 It was covered with three tiers of galleries surrounding the
play area orchestra or stage for dancing.
 In the first tier were seats of honour for the city officials and
the priest of Dionysus. The second was for the male citizens
and the boys enrolled in military training. In the two sections
above, at the top, was for common folk and the slaves.
 The skene was the building or a wooden structure directly
behind the stage. It was usually decorated as a palace, temple,
or other building, depending on the needs of the play.
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7. PARTS OF THE THEATRE
 Parodos were the paths by which the chorus and the actors
made their entrances and exits. The audience also used them
to enter and exit the theatre before and after the performance.
 The Greek theatres were originally built on a very large scale
to accommodate the audience up to fourteen thousand.
 Mathematics played a large role in the construction of these
theatres, as their designers had to create acoustics in them so
that the actors’ voices could be heard throughout the theatre,
including the very top row of seats.
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8. ANCIENT GREEK THEATRE
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9. GREEK TRAGEDY
 The word ‘tragedy’ has come from ‘tragos’ which means
‘A goat-men sacrificing song’
 Greek Tragedy as we know today was created in Athens some
years before 534 BC, when Thespis was the earliest recorded
author.
 Born in Attica, he wrote plays and is the first recorded winner
of a prize for tragedy at the Great Dyonysia. Because of this, he
is often called the ‘Father of Tragedy.’ Though Thespis is the
inventor of tragedy, the term gained its popularity with the
solid contribution of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, the
three great Greek tragedians. 9

10. GREEK TRAGEDY
 Usually the tragedies of these writers stress the vulnerability
of human beings whose suffering are brought on by the divine
actions, but are generally underserved with regard to its
harshness.
 The following are some of the chief characteristic features of a
Greek tragedy.
 The play has a tragic ending that evokes pity and fear in its
viewers making them to experience a feeling of ‘katharsis’
(purification)
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11. GREEK TRAGEDY
 The plot is composed of three parts such as good beginning,
middle, and an ending.
 The themes are largely based on myths or stories central to
the belief structures of a culture to heighten the religious
mood, but varied interpretations of events.
 The protagonist hails from a noble family but meets with
death because of the irony of Fate or ‘hamartia.’
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12. GREEK TRAGEDY
 Nemesis, sometimes called the daughter of Night in Greek
mythology, represented the righteous anger of the gods
against the proud and haughty and against breakers of the law
and distributed good or bad fortune to all mortals at the end of
the play.
 In Greek tragedies we see the frequent use of messengers to
relate information.
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13. CHORUS
 The term ‘chorus’ is derived from the Greek word
‘khoros’ which means ‘a group of singers and dancers.’
 The term was used originally by the ancient Greeks in
Attic drama of the 6th and 5th centuries BC and referred to
the group of actors who described and commented on the
action of the play in the form of song, dance, and
recitation.
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14. CHORUS
 The chorus, unlike the actors, was non-professionals who
had a talent for singing and dancing and were trained by
the poet in the preparation for the performance. The
standard number of members of a chorus in a tragedy
was fifteen. The chorus, like the actors, wore costumes
and masks.
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15. ANCIENT GREEK THEATRE
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16. CHORUS
 In the earliest Greek tragedies the first function of a tragic
chorus was to describe the Prologus or the Prologue, the
theme of the play.
 The next function of a tragic chorus was to chant an entrance
song called a parodos as they marched into the orchestra. #
 Once the chorus had taken its position in the orchestra, its
duties were twofold – dramatic and choral. It engaged in
dialogue with characters through its leader, who alone spoke
the lines of dialogue assigned to the chorus.
 The tragic chorus’ most important function was to sing and
dance choral songs called stasima (singular = stasimon).
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