Test 1 Theater History 101 Montevallo

Chorus

An organized group of performers who may either sing, dance, and/or speak dialogue

Comedy

A term covering an extremely wide variety of humorous plays. The earliest extant written comedies were written in ancient Greece during the fifth century BCE, and usually involved topical satire

Dithyramb

Choral songs and dances in honor of Dionysus performed at Athens' major theatre festival (the City Dionysia) and elsewhere in ancient Greece.

Iambic Meter

The pattern of a poetic line made up of iambs. An iamb is a metrical foot of poetry consisting of two syllables—an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable, pronounced duh-DUH. An iamb can be made up of one word with two syllables or two different words.

Satyr Plays

Farcical renditions of Greek myth performed at ancient Athens' major theatre festival after a day's program of tragedies.

Tragedy

Developed around 535 BCE, TRAGEDY is the imitation of an action that is serious and also, as having magnitude, complete in itself; in language with pleasurable accessories, each kind brought in separately in the parts of the work; in a dramatic, not in a narrative form; with incidents arousing pity and fear, wherewith to accomplish its catharsis of such emotions.

Ekkyklema

Used to bring props and dead bodies onto stage. It could be either a wagon or revolve.

Logeion

Stage in front of skene. Where main actors would perform.

Mechané

A large crane used to lower in props or people representing a god. The convention became known as the 'Deus ex Machina' (literally god from the machine). Eventually, this was considered a trite and easy way to end a play.

Odeion

Small, roofed, Ancient Greek theatre for musical performances or recitations.

Orchestra

Circular area in front of Proskenion where chorus and musicians would perform.

Parados

Entrance for chorus between theatron and Skene.

Paraskenion

Wing on either side of the stage of an ancient Greek or Roman theatre where props would be stored and actors could prepare.

Periaktoi

Three sided scenic piece in Greek theatre where each side represented a different location. Multiple periaktoi were placed in line to create full image so that location could be changed rapidly.

Skene

Building behind the playing area that was originally a hut for the changing of masks and costumes but eventually became the background before which the drama was enacted.

Theatron

Seating area for audience in a Greek, Roman, or Byzantine theatre. This is the origin of the word 'theatre.'

Aeschylus

Greek Tragedian. Added a second actor to the tragedy and reduced the role of the chorus. Famous plays include The Oresteia Trilogy, The Persians, Seven Against Thebes.

Sophocles

Greek Tragedian. Added a third actor to the tragedy, further reducing chorus role. Famous plays include Oedipus Rex, Antigone, and Oedipus at Colonus.

Euripedes

Greek Tragedian. Wrote plays that challenged societal norms and presented the Gods as petty and selfish. Famous plays include The Trojan Women, The Bacchae, and Medea.

Aristophanes

Greek Old Comedy playwright. Most famous of the Greek comedic writers. Plays satirized politics, philosophy and theatre. Plot usually centered on a contest of logic. Aristophanes most famous plays include Lysistrata, The Frogs, The Birds.

Menander

Greek New Comedy playwright. Wrote later than Aristophanes. Menander's plays were situational comedies about domestic family issues.

Anagnorisis (Discovery)

A discovery is, as the very word implies, a change from ignorance to knowledge.

Antistrophe

The 2nd part of a stasimon in Greek Tragedy where the chorus moves from west to east.

Catharsis

A purging of negative emotions through pity of fear.

Commos

Commas, a lamentation sung by chorus and actor in concert.

Episode

All that comes in between two whole choral songs.

Episodic Plot

There is neither probability nor necessity in the sequence of its episodes. Aristotle considered this the worst of all plots.

Epode

A third part of the choral ode in Greek tragedies delivered by the chorus while standing still.

Exodus

All that follows after the last choral song

Hamartia

A protagonist's fatal error

Peripeteia (Reversal)

The change of the kind described from one state of things within the play to its opposite

Plot

The plot, in our present sense of the term, is simply this, the combination of the 5 incidents

Prologue

The prologue is all that precedes the parade of the chorus

Stasimon

A song of the chorus sung while the primary actors are off stage.

Strophe

The first part of a stasimon in Greek tragedies where the chorus moves from east to west. Usually delivered in Iambic meter of varying lengths.

Agon

Competition or contest in old comedy play

Attic Old Comedy

Attic is the part of Ancient Greece containing Athens. Old comedy was known for its logical and satirical qualities.

Parabasis

The part of a Greek old comedy where the chorus speaks directly to the audience.

New Comedy

Greek comedy from 350 BCE onward reflected a shift from concerns about politics and society to a focus on family or domestic issues.

Roman Performance Forms

Various forms of entertainment in ancient Rome.

Circenses

Chariot races in the ancient Roman Circuses such as Circus Maximus

Naumachia

An ancient form of Roman entertainment that recreated famous naval battles, mostly of the Greeks either on a lake or in a flooded coliseum.

Orthia Pale

An ancient form of Roman wrestling performed from a standing position and in the nude

Pugilatus

An ancient form of Roman boxing using leather wrapped fists.

Horace

Roman philosopher and poet who wrote the Ars Poetica describing the characteristics that made for good tragedy

Maxims for Drama from the Ars Poetica

Guidelines for writing drama including simplicity, genre consistency, and truthfulness.

Atellan Farce

An earlier form of Roman comedy dating to 300 BCE, originally improvised and involved a heavy reliance on stock characters.

Fabula Palliata

A form of Roman comedy that blended the situational scripting and domestic subject matter of Greek new comedy with the farcical stock character driven Atellan Farce comedy.

Plautus

Roman playwright who wrote in the Fabula Palliata style, known for the musicality of his dialogue and reliance on farcical situations.

Terrence

Roman comedic playwright whose work came later than Plautus's, known for more complex characters and logical plots.