2. Aristotle
Aristotle was a
philosopher and critic;
wrote nearly 100
years after the golden
age of Greek theatre
The Poetics, dramatic
criticism written in 335
BCE, were a series of
notes that we still use
today to define theatre
3. The Three Unities
The most famous of the Aristotelian
rules were those relating to the unities:
Time - the supposed action of the play is
limited in the duration to, roughly, that of a
single day
Place – limits to location to one general
locality
Action - limits the plot to a single set of
incidents which are related as cause and
effect
4. On the Unity of Place:
Perhaps tacitly he assumed that the
observance of the unity of place would
be the practice of good playwrights,
since the chorus was present during the
whole performance, and it would indeed
be awkward always to devise an excuse
for moving fifteen persons about from
place to place.
Martha Fletcher Bellinger, A Short History of the
Drama
5. The Six Elements of Drama
Plot: the arrangement of dramatic
incidents
Characters: the people represented in
the play
Thought or theme: the ideas explored
Language: the dialogue and poetry
Music
Spectacle: scenery and other visual
elements
6. Oedipus – the Ultimate Greek
Tragedy
Aristotle felt that
Sophocle’s play
Oedipus was the best
example of tragedy
because of:
the excellent
management of plot and
chorus
the beauty of the
language
the irony of the
situations
the general nobility of
conception
7. Satyr Plays
Comical play involving a chorus of
satyrs (mythological creatures who were
half goat, half man)
Parodied the myths presented in dramas
Posed fun at honored Greek
institutions, such as religion and heroes
Often included vulgarity
8. Old Comedy
Do not follow the rules
of climactic drama
Comedies make fun of
society, politics or
culture
Frequently, the
characters of
comedies were
recognizable
contemporary
personalities
9. Aristophanes
The only Old
Comedies that survive
today are by
Aristophanes
Used fantastical and
improbable plots to
underline its satire
Employs a chorus with
two unique elements:
Agon: a scene with a
debate between two
opposing forces
Parabasis: where
chorus speaks directly
to audience
Lysistrata
10. Playwrights
Aeschylus
The Father of Tragedy
Introduced the
Second Actor
Wrote over ninety
plays, only seven
have survived
Most famous plays
include Prometheus
Bound and the
Oresteian Trilogy
11. Sophocles
Took first prize in his
first City of Dionysia
competetion
Accomplished actor;
performed in many
of his shows
Added the third
actor
Famous works
include Oedipus the
King and Antigone
12. Euripedes
Considered a
misunderstood poet
Although he wrote 92
plays, was ignored by
the judges of the
Greek festival
because he did not
cater to Athenian
crowd
The forerunner of the
modern psychological
dramatist
13. Euripedes (cont.)
Forced his characters to confront
personal issues
Most famous plays include:
The Bacchae
Medea
Trojan Women
14. Aristophanes
Famous for his
comedies
His first surviving
play, The
Acharnians,is the
world's first anti-war
comedy
In he play The
Clouds, he skewers
famous philosopher
Socrates
15. Aristophanes (Cont.)
Favorite target was Euripedes
Wrote Lysistrata twenty-one years into
the Peloponnesian War
Although the play is light-hearted, it was
written out of the poet's grief over the
thousands of Athenians who had
recently lost their lives in the terrible
defeat at Syracuse