Medea/Greek Tragedy Review

Study basic vocab on Greek tragedies and basics of Medea.

Tragedy

Tragedy

A type of drama or literature that shows the downfall or destruction of a character with once noble characteristics

Greek tragedy did not require?

A change in scene.

**There were no acts or shifts of scene.

How does time pass?

In an unnatural fashion, unlike the 24-hour period of Aristotelian tragedy.

Tragic Hero

A character born of noble status who embodies a tragic flaw and is destined to suffer.

Tragic Flaw

Disastrous weakness that is so intense it brings about the downfall of the character.

Hamartia

(“missing the mark”)— mistake, flaw, failure, sin.

Hubris

Excessive self- pride or confidence.

**Crucial to this definition is the Ancient Greek’s concepts of honor and shame.

Catharsis

Greek word meaning “cleansing” or “purification.”

**Necessary for moral order to be restored.

Anti-Hero

Main character in a story who may lack conventional heroic qualities and attributes, such as idealism, courage, and morality

Prologue

Introduction, a dialogue which informed the audience of the circumstances of the play.

Parados

A song sung by the Chorus as it first enters the theater.

Stassima

Chorus sings this between dialogue.

In media res

Latin for “in the middle of things”; literary technique where narrative starts in the middle. **Characters, settings, and conflicts are often introduced in a series of flashbacks or through characters relating past events to each other.

Episode

An incident in a course of events. (There are no acts or scenes in Ancient Greek plays. This is the method used to break down a play as in our modern “acts”.

Exodus

The end of the play.

**The final scene or departure.

Monologue

A lengthy speech by a single person.

**person → audience

Soliloquy

Lengthy speech by a person who is talking to himself or herself.

**often used as a device in drama to disclose a character's innermost thoughts

**person → self

Chorus/Chorodia

Function was to chant (marching) an entrance song called a parados as they entered. The Chorus leader engaged in  dialogue with the characters and the entire Chorus sang and danced at certain times.

**The Chorus of Medea is composed of the women of Corinth. They poetically deliver much of the exposition and expounds on theme (admire and fear Medea)

Deus ex Machina

“God out of the machine”

An unexpected power or event saving a seemingly hopeless situation, especially as a contrived plot device in a play or novel.

Rhetoric

Rhetoric (n) - the art of speaking or writing effectively

**Aristotle: “the ability, in each particular case, to see the available means of persuasion.”

**examples: ethos, pathos, logos

Ethos (character, word ethics made from it)

Appeal credible to listen to, be unbiased, and intelligent.

• When:

  • Describes first-hand experience

  • Knows someone who has experienced the topic

  • Is able to cite experts

  • Sounds well-informed

  • Knows the latest facts and information

  • Is able to predict new approaches, ways of thinking, or trends

• (the appeal of the author’s character or ethics)

  • Authority/Credibility/Trustworthiness/

  • Likeable/Respectable

Pathos (suffering/experience, word empathy made from it)

Appeal to audiences’ emotions, make them feel how you want them to feel.

• Used when:

  • meaningful language, emotion evoking examples, stories of emotional events, and implied meanings.

• (the appeal of evoking audience’s emotions)

  • Psychology

  • Emotion/Feeling

  • Denotation versus connotation

Logos (word, logic made from it)

Convincing through logic and reason.

• How:

  • Use advanced or theoretical language

  • Cite facts, statistics, and certain authorities on a subject

  • Use historical and literal analogies

  • Construct logical arguments

• (the appeal to reason)

  • Organization

  • Fact/Statistic/Evidence

Medea’s motivation to kill her kids:

Her excessive pride in herself and her passion to make Jason suffer.

Medea’s tragic flaw:

excessive passion/determination (to the point where she becomes dangerous)

Why is Medea mad?

Jason wants a new wife.

What has Medea sacrificed?

Her home, her country, her father and brother (her old life).

What has Jason given to Medea?

New life in Greece, fame, a family.

Extra thing to think about:

Is Medea a tragic hero or an anti-hero?