Ancient Theatre Terms

Theatre – (theatro)

the seeing place (first a temple w/altar, then a theatre)

Drama – (dran)

to see or to do

Tragedy – (tragos)

“goat song” – story of the death of the sacrificial hero; linear

Comedy – (komos)

“revel” – celebration of continuum of life; revelation w/o pain; cyclical (Old Comedy, Middle, New; Low)

Satyr play

short, satirical performance with dancers in Dionysian goat skins

Aristotle

5^th c. BC Greek philosopher who wrote Poetics defining theatre

Dionysus

Greek demi-God of wine & fertility to whom early theatre was dedicated as a form of religious ritualistic worship (later Bacchus in Roman myth)

Unities

Aristotle’s directive that a play should take place in 24 hrs (time), focus on one significant event (action), in one setting (place) = TAP

Plot (mythos)

“the soul of the tragedy” and “the imitation (mimesis) of the action, not the action itself” (Aristotle) – theatre becomes more metaphorical and less literal

Tragic Hero

the aristocratic protagonist who is “sacrificed”

Tragic Flaw – (hamartia)

hero’s imperfection that brings about his downfall (in morals, simply the fact that they are not gods, mortal, and therefore they must die)

Hubris

the flaw or sin of human pride against the gods

Catharsis

the audience’s purging of emotion through pity and fear

Chorus

the original worshippers who sang and danced around the altar (12-15 citizens representing the community), question the narrator or explain to the audience; wore masks, Koturni shoes

Orchestra

the singing and dancing place of the chorus

Dithyramb

song-dance of the chorus

Stophe and anti-strophe

the dancing to the right and the left by the chorus

Skene

backstage where the actors awaited cues, changed masks & costumes

Spectacle

the set and props on stage (kept to minimum)

Thespis

first Greek playwright to introduce the first actor (thus, thespian) and use of masks

Trilogy

3 tragedies, followed by a satyr play in festivals held 3 times yearly (City Dionysia)

Aeschylus

Greek playwright who introduced 2^nd actor and wrote first tragedies (The Orestia - Agammemnon, The Libation Bearers, The Furies):  7/90=14. Traditionally religious.

Sophocles

Greek playwright who introduced 3^rd actor, increased chorus from 12 to 15; wrote second set of tragedies (Oedipus Rex, Antigone, Oedipus at Colonus); developed use of dialogue:  7/123=24.  More humanistic.

Euripedes

more rebellious Greek playwright who wrote tragedies (Medea, The Trojan Women, Electra, Alcestis, The Bacchae); expanded use of masks:  18/92=4.  Nearly agnostic.

Aristophanes

Greek playwright of (“old”) comedies and satyr plays (The Frogs, The Wasps,The Clouds, The Birds, Lysistrata)

In medias res

to begin in the middle of the story, the conflict

Reversal, recognition, pathos

ironic events, see error, pity & fear for hero

Deus –ex- machina

“the god in the machine”; an intervention

Burlesque

bawdy, low comedy; often risque (Roman – Terrance & Plautus)

Farce

broad, low comedy; slapstick humor; physical humor

Revenge Tragedy

Roman bloody tragedy by Seneca