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Volute krater depicting Pronomos; Southern Italy; 'Pronomos' painter [c. 410 BC]
- depicts tragic actors and chorus members off-stage in costume for a satyr play
- names inscribed next to actors indicate Pronomos, famous Theban aulos-player; and Demetrios, playwright, holding scroll and lyre (also composed)
- piper and lyre players are interestingly given more prominence than the playwright himself
- Dionysus featured with consort Ariadne
- female figure carrying female mask: personification of satyr-play genre
- some of the chorus members are dressed as satyrs
- these fifth century costumes have plain masks but intricate costumes with tight-fitting sleeves to conceal gender and age
- cast are holding victory wreaths, suggesting they were the winning production and the vase was possibly commisioned to celebrate this
Pronomos Vase
volute krater
Oliver Taplin
argues that the masks are left neutral as not to impose a certain tone on the tragedy but take its expression from it
Red-figure column krater depicting tragic chorus, unknown artist [c.500-490 BC]
- the 'mannerist' style of this vase depicts elongated figures with small heads, with decoration typical of earlier black-figure vases
- young men have similar details on faces, indicating that they are wearing masks
- fact they are barefoot and letters are inscribed next to their mouths suggesting singing: implies they are a chorus
- seem to be dancing; identical pose suggests that tragic choruses were carefully choreographed in formation
- identical tops which resemble soldiers' breastplates means they could be carrying out the pyrrichē - an energetic war-dance
- the object they are approaching could be a reprisentation of the thymele - the altar in the orchestra
- also been suggested that they are approaching a tomb
- some have suggested that the figure on top of the altar is Dionysus
- because the image is static it provides no evidence of how choral dances moved, or evolved
- it is most useful in providing information on choral formation , costume and choreography
Basel dancer
column krater
Pyrriche
an energetic war-dance
Red-figure pelike depicting tragic actors dressing; Phiale painter [c. 450 BC]
- could be compared to the Pronomos Vase' depiction of actors preparing
- depicts two actors or chorus members getting into costume
- both are male dressing as women
- the actor on the left is fully dressed, wearing a mask - indicated by gapong mouth
- the actor on the right is putting on high boots, known as kothornoi, which had thin, soft soles and turned up toes for easy movement
- his life-like mask lies on the floor beside him
tragic actors dressing
pelike
Krater depicting choregoi with tragic and comic actors; Southern Italy; Choregos painter [c. 400-380 BC]
- seems to be a scene from a comedy
- the figure emerging from the door of the skene is labeled 'Aegisthus'
- he is dressed as a tragic actor: with ornate clothing, laced kothornoi (boots) and a serious expression
- the three other figures are comic actors - suggested through their grotesque masks
- the middle figure is labelled 'Pyrrhias' and the other two are both labelled 'chorēgos'
- one of the choregos is clearly older than the other, depicted with white hair
- it has been suggested that this represents a comic competition between the tragic and comic genres
- the older chorus member might be supporting tragedy, with the younger supporting comedy
- this interpretation only works if the scene is metaphorical - tragic and comic choruses wouldn't be onstage at the same time
- the vase is most useful in demonstrating the difference between tragic and comic costume
Bell krater depicting 'Cheiron parody'; Southern Italy; Mc Daniel painter [c. 410 BC]
- scene from an unknown comedy thought to show a parody of the myth where cheiron the centaur is healed by Apollo
- indicates the important role of slapstick and farce in comedy
- the staging has supposedly been set up to represent the temple of Apollo at Delphi
- the comic actor at the top of the stairs is labelled 'Xanthias' - a common name for slave characters in comedy
- he wears a short tunic over a padded one-piece suit with a groteque mask and visible phallus
- the actor walking up the stairs is labelled 'Cheiron'
- the actor behind him represents the rear of the centaur in similar fashion to a modern pantomime horse
- both are depicted with grotesque masks with shaggy white hair and eyes closed due to blindness
- the front actor also uses a walking stick to present age
- the two women at the top are comic reprisentations of the nymphs of the sacred stream Cheiron bathed in in the myth
- the young man behind is thought to reprisent Achilles, who was tutored by Cheiron in mythology
Choregos vase
bell krater
Cheiron Vase
bell krater
Red-figure chous depicting Perseus and two audience members; unknown painter; [c. 420 BC]
- the only vase depicting the stage and the audience
- the comic actor on stage is thought to be Perseus as he carries a sickle and the head of Medusa in a bag
- he is either dancing or pretending to fly
- he is wearing a body suit and a stage phallus, though doesn't appear to be wearing a mask
- the artist has ignored the orchestra and brought to audience to the forefront
- the chairs they sit in could indicate they are sitting in the prohedria - front row
- sitting on a klismoi - chair with curved backrest this indicates it id a lycurgan theatre
- both wear wreaths and one is older, indicated by the beard - the one next to him could be a young man or a woman
- it has been suggested that they present Dionysus and Ariadne; judges; priests; or even the choregos and the playwright
the Perseus dance vase
chous
Red-figure calyx krater depicting Medea's escape; Policoro painter [c. 400 BC]
- seems to be inspired by the final scene of Medea - she is the focal point of this piece
- the hideous winged female characters on either side could reprisent furies
- the murdered sons are slumped on what seems to be a wheel platform decked out like an altar
- to the far right the nurse and the tutor raise their arms in mourning - the tutor is identifiable as an old man due to his white hair
- jason is depicted on the left as a bare-chested hero, contradicting normal tragic costume
- the artist has heightened the intensity of the scene by having jason and medea lock eyes with one another
- the scene differs from the end of the euripides play, suggesting this is either a reprisentation of a later play or the artists' own version
- the vase indicates that we should not assume the scenes depicted on pots are accurate reprisentatons of Athenian theatre
Black-figure chous depicting bird chorus; Gela Painter [c. 480 BC]
- shows a musician playing an aulos, a motif used by painters to indicate a theatrical scene
- the dancers are dressed as birds
- the vine branches in the back are suggestive of Dionysus
- the vase pre-dates Aristophanes, who was known for including animal-choruses in his comedies
- the vase therefore suggests that animal choruses were used at least decades before Aristophanes used them
Medea's escape
calyx krater
Red-figure bell krater depicting Thesmophoria; Schiller painter [c. 380-70 BC]
- produced in the greek city of Apulia in Southern Italy, the vase depicts a scene from Aristophanes' comedy 'Women at the Thesmophoria'
- the vase is therefore evidence that Athenian comedy was reperformed in other cities, and, because the play mocks Euripides, his plays must also have been well known
- the comic actor on the left is clean shaven with a mirror, depicting a scene in which Euripides' relative shaves to disguise himself as a woman
- clearly a man dressed as a woman
- the actor on the right is holding a wineskin disguised as a baby, depicting a scene in the play where the relative snatches one of the women's 'baby' to sacrifice it
women at thesmophoria
bell krater
Calyx krater depicting Oedipus and Jocasta; Capodarso Painter [c. 330 BC]
- depicts the moment in oedipus the king where jocasta realises the truth but oedipus is still ignorant
- Jocasta's gesture is one often used in greek art to indicate worry or grief
- oedipus has a puzzled expression as he is stroking his beard
- the columns in the background suggesting the skene and the artificial positioning of the characters both imply this is a scene from a play
- the children in the front represent antigone and ismene, though they are not implicitly mentioned as present in this scene of the play
- this, again, suggests that painted pots are not necessarily literal depictions of tragic performance
- the artist seems to have used his artistic license to make the scene more moving
chorus of birds
oinochoe
Red-figure stammos depicting Maenads; Dinos painter; [late fifth century BC]
- shows an impression of Dionysiac worship similar to that described in the Bacchae
- the women dance around a statue of Dionysus carrying the thrysus, tambourines or ladelling wine into a cup
- the bacchants are tossing their heads in religious ecstasy
- the depiction of free falling hair implies the relaxation of normal gender boundaries
- the presence of the drinking vessel indicates the function of wine in ritual
- though the bacchant rituals described in Thebes do not draw much attention to drinking, the choral odes in the bacchae demonstrate the importance of wine in their rites
The Theatre of Dionysus
- situated between the acropolis and the sanctuary of Dionysus, with a road leading the the Agora known as the street of the tripods
Jocasta and oedipus
bell krater
maenad vase
stamnos
Theatron
Seating area; the seating area of the Lycurgian theatre is shaped for excellent acoustics; had 13 sections to house 10 tribes and non-Athenian visitors
Red-figure kylix depicting the death of Pentheus; Douris painter [c. 480 BC]
- this depiction of the death of Pentheus predates the Bacchae to suggest that Euripides is not the only creative inspired by the myth
- the image depicts pentheus being torn apart by his mother and aunt in grisly detail
- bone and organs can be seen
- a satyr oversees the event to remind the viewer that this is occuring under Dionysus' watch
- the central women wear panther skins
- this suggests both Dionysus' influence and also the power of the maenad's over wild animals
Death of Pentheus
kylix
Prohedria
Seats on the front row for important audience members
Orchēstra
Space for the chorus with an altar for dionysus
Eisos/parados
Path for the chorus to enter the orchestra
Skēnē
Wooden hut used for backdrop, changing room and props
Ekkyklēma
Wheel platform brought onstage to show bodies or scenes that have occurred offstage
Mēchanē
Crane to hoist characters above the roof
Note 
Flashcard (54)