Name ______

Mr. Cecala

Eng. 10

Greek Theater Notes

History of Drama- Fill in the blanks.

I.Look to Greece – 6th Century BC

  1. Suggested reasons for the beginning of Drama

A.______re-enactment

B.______re-enactment

C.______

D.______

2.(Has anyone ever seen a play?)

3.(What are some reasons for drama?)

  1. Entertainment – expression
  2. Social expression/Social commentary
  3. Re-enactment

II.______is everyone pretending at the same time

  1. ______

1.How we learn – imitating others

2.Teaches code of behavior

  1. ______

1.Essence of early fiction

2.Helps man understand his world and escape his everyday life

III.In order for society to have ______, they must

  1. Recognize the artistic value of theater
  2. Be capable of organizing theatrical elements
  3. Has to understand imitation and fantasy

Suspension of disbelief – ______

______.

IV.Catharsis – cleansing through either laughing or crying

  1. ______= laugh
  2. ______= cry

Early Theater

  1. Celebration of fertility
  2. ______– god who taught how to plant grapes for wine

1.Offerings were made to ensure fertility

2.Early plays were celebrations of this

  1. By the _____ Century B.C., festivals were held for choruses and dances - (like the Olympics)

(What do you think they won? ______)

  1. By the 6th Century B.C., festivals for ______

(celebrations were free-festivals – by attending, you were doing your civic duty)

  1. ______ – First organized competitions for “The Best Tragedy” (drama was around long before – they did not need to define it)
  1. Thespis – ______– won the competition in 534 B.C.
  2. One actor

1.Plays were ______

2.Actor changes masks to change character (while chorus is singing)

  1. One chorus

1.Approximately ______people

2.Filled in roles while actor ______

3.______and ______hymns to the gods

  1. (Greek gods are human - Zeus – cheating on his wife
  2. Cupid – falls in love with his sister and has a baby)
  1. Aeschylus
  2. Major Invention = ______
  3. Invented ______

1.Dia = through, logue = speech

2.This decreased the importance of the chorus

3.Greeks ______his plays (Contrived endings = sudden, cheesy ending – ex: Alice in Wonderland)

  1. ______– 496-406 B.C.

1.Won the contest in 468, beating Aeschylus by ______

2.His plays were concerned with human ______and ______rather than gods

3.He lets the characters ______

4.He wrote hundreds of plays, but only ______are known

5.Further de-emphasized the chorus

  1. By 1600 – Shakespeare – the chorus was non-existent
  2. Ex: Shakespeare in Love

THE GREEK THEATER

(Theater handout, Chorus Handout)

  1. Costumes
  2. All actors wore ______
  3. All actors were ______

1.Young men / boys played women

2.Heavy embroidered clothes, high heels

  1. Masks

1.Needed all sorts – male & females

2.Made of ______, wood, ______

  1. Plays
  2. Followed a rational, logical and balanced structure
  3. Prologue – ______
  4. ______– chorus dances, sings, ect.
  5. Order

1.______

2.Pardos

3.______(actors)

4.Ode (hymn)

5.______

6.Ode

7.Scene

8.Ode

9.______

  1. Actors
  2. All actors were ______
  3. Were all professions and assigned to the playwright by lottery
  4. Each played in a number of roles
  5. All acted in each play
  6. Aristotle
  7. A ______
  8. Studied aesthetics – “Why is she beautiful?”
  9. Wrote a criticism
  10. Talked about drama intelligently
  11. ______

1.About drama

2.He was determined there was a formula to the tragic hero

A.Had to be of noble ______

B.Events appear to happen my “chance”

C.Hero brings about his own ______

  1. Definition of a Tragic Hero

1.A worthy ______- with a tragic ______that leads him to ______

2.In Greece, that tragic flaw is invariably hubris

3.Hubris = ______

  1. Vocabulary Sheets
  2. Hubris – excessive pride
  3. Hamartia = ______– Tragic flaw!

1.An error because you don’t ______

2.An error because you don’t ______– you have no morals

  1. Arete – doing something to the best of one’s ability – physically and mentally
  2. ______

1.Turning about

2.Events are twisted

3.Ex: Man separated from his birth mom. Invites her to his wedding. She says, “You can’t marry her. She’s your sister!”

  1. Ideas/Themes of Greek Theater
  2. Order

1.Greeks wanted order

2.Rejecting the ______or an oracle (wise person – gives divine answers) ______

  1. ______(or impurity)

1.Affected all people

2.Everyone in Thebes is dirty if one person is dirty

  1. Superstition

1.Very superstitious people

  1. The all knew the story of ______
  • Comparison to Macbeth – it was his decision
  • Oedipus = was not aware
  • Temptation – evil makes temptation look good
  • Tragic Flaw can be a ______(Macbeth – Ambition)