1. HOMER
The Illiad
and
The Odyssey
7th century
B.C.
2. What was needed to create
theater in Greece:
A middle class to create/attend the
plays.
A sense of partiotism.
Spare time.
Relative peace and relative prosperity.
A stable economy.
A public sponsor and public
encouragement.
Appreciation for learning.
15. PERICLES
495 B.C.E. to
429 B.C.E.
Ruled from
460 B.C.E. to
429 B.C.E.
'All kinds of enterprises
should be created which
will provide an inspiration
for every art, find
employment for every
hand... we must devote
ourselves to acquiring
things that will be the
source of everlasting
fame.'
16. Parthenon at the Acropolis
paid for, in part, by the Delian League
38. STRUCTURAL CONCEITS OF
GREEK TRAGEDY
•! Prologue (exposition)
•! Parados (entrance of the chorus)
•! Episode (two person scene)
•! Staisma (comment on the episode)
–! Episode and Staisma continue.
•! Exodos (resolution and exit)
41. GENRES INVENTED BY THE
GREEKS
•! TRAGEDY
–! Character based, ends with the death or destruction
of a single main character. Based on mythology.
•! SATYR
–! Plot based, bawdy parody of serious stories from
mythology.
•! OLD COMEDY
–! Character based critiques of the social norms. New
story ideas.
•! NEW COMEDY
–! Plot based, formulaic plays about young lovers being
kept apart by their parents – aka domestic comedies.
42. THE POETICS BY ARISTOTLE
•! Written after the fact (circa 330 B.C.E.)
•! Praises Sophocles over Euripides
•! Three Unities
–! Space
–! Time
–! Action
•! One character – single action
•! No subplots
83. Differences between Old and New Comedy
•! OLD COMEDY •! NEW COMEDY
–! New stories based on –! Formulaic stories based on
pursuit of a “Happy Idea” love interest and flawed
character
–! Political in nature –! Domestic in nature
–! Episodic –! Five acts
–! Chorus is integral –! Chorus is incidental
–! Mystical and varied –! Street setting, likely on the
settings (likely on the skena, with three
orchestra) doorways.
–! Polite
–! Crass and sexual –! Pedestrian dialogue
–! High verse
99. This Roman statue may
depict a Greek tragic actor.
There is scant evidence that
Kothurnae were worn in
5th Century B.C.E., but
possibly they were used in
4th Century B.C.E.