Midterm 2 Vocab and Concepts

Choregos

selects, houses, and provides for chorus; often wealthiest citizens

Didaskalos

* teacher and trainer of chorus
* often also playwright
* engaged with moral education of Athenians

Euripides, Aeschylus, Sophocles

3 most famous playwrights

Chorus

* 12-15 people who were voluntold to take on the role in a play at a festival
* function as proxies for audience

Prologue, Parodos, Choral Odes, Episodes

Parts of Greek Tragedy

Pre 8th cen. BCE

pre-Roman Italy

753 BCE

founding of Rome

753-509 BCE

Regal Period

509-27 BCE

Roman Republic

27 BCE- 476 CE

Imperial Period

Magna Graecia

Greek settlements along coast of S Italy

Rhea Silvia and Mars

Who were Romulus and Remus’ parents?

Vesta

Hestia = ?

Ceres

Demeter = ?

Vulcan

Hephaestus= ?

Titus Maccius Plautus

* author of the Amphitryon
* lived during Roman republic
* earliest Roman author from which complete works survive

Fabula praetexta, crepidata, Palliata, Togata, Atellana, Mime

types of Roman dramas

Fabula praetexta

tragedies about Roman history

crepidata

dramas about Greek mythology

Palliata

comedies that take place in Greece

Togata

comedies about Roman history

Atellana

obscene dancing, based on indigenous Italian traditions

Plautine Comedy

* based on Greek new comedy- no chorus
* about real world, regular people
* often about love affairs, mistaken identity

servus callidus

* clever slave
* protagonist
* performed trickery

meretrix

* prostitute
* often used in situation of mistaken identity

parasitus

* parasite
* yes-man

senex

* old man, grumpy

virgo

* high class young woman

adulescens

* young man

miles gloriosus

* egotistical soldier

leno

* pimp
* manipulative
* antagonist

matrona

* matron
* high class
* old fashioned

metatheatre

breaking 4th wall to address audience, reminding audience of fictionality

agricola

male gender role- farmer

miles

male gender role- soldierp

paterfamilias

head of entire household

Punic Wars

wars b/w Rome and Carthage, Rome won

* generational
* debt bondage
* kidnapping
* infant exposure
* self-sale

sources of slavery

27 BCE-180 CE

Pax Romana

Vergil

* author of the Aeneid

Aeneid

national epic that connected Augustus’ family to mythological figure from Trojan War

Lavinia, Alban kings

Aeneas marries __ __and they give birth__ to ____

palimpsest

manuscript on which an earlier text has been effaced, paper recycled for another book

Penates

spirits of the pantry, who protected the house

Lares

protectors of household and state

Dido/Elissa

* from Tyre, city in Phoenicia
* founds Carthage in ancient Libya
* kills herself on a Pyre when Aeneas leaves
* curses Aeneas and his descendants

clementia

clemency

iustitia

justice

pietas

piety

libertus

liberty

Elysian fields

dead heroes are found here in the underworld

Turnus

* king of the Rutulians, who wants to marry Lavinia
* his people, the latins, go to war with Trojans/Aneas

Evander

* Arcadian
* xenia bond through Atlas, met Anchises
* ally of Aeneas

Ovid

* earlier career included mostly love poetry
* author of Metamorphoses
* exiled by Augustus

Ars Amatoria

messages about how to seduce married women etc, went against Augustinian ideals

Deucalion and Pyrrha

first humans after flood

Pan and Syrinx

* story Hermes tells Argus to distract him when rescuing Io
* nymph to escape god

fas vs nefas

* socially acceptable vs unacceptable love

hunting, fire, madness

love is compared to:

Cadmus and the Snake

* foundation myth of Thebes
* cyclic metamorphoses

spartoi

sown men, men that come out of snakes and kill each other

sparagmos

tearing apart

omophagia

eating raw Flesh

myths are a product of culture’s unconscious mind

tells us about societal norms by using imagery

what does psychoanalysis say about myths:

Pyramus and Thisbe

Ovid’s Romeo and Juliet

aetiological origin of mulberries

paraklausithyron

love is separated by wall or door

Salmacis and Hermaphroditus

* nymph of fountain acts as sexual aggressor
* combines with man to form intersex

Nessus

* centaur who tries to rape Deianira
* his poisoned blood kills Hercules

Achelous

river god who tries to marry Deianira, but is defeated when transformed into a bull by Hercules

apotheosis

deification

Cacus

fire-breathing giant and son of Vulcan who ate human flesh

killed by Hercules after stealing his cows

Ixion

* origin of centaurs
* put in Tartarus after trying to rape Juno
* attached to flaming wheel

Centaurs

* ate raw meat
* uncivilized
* powerful and dangerous

Iphis and Ianthe

* woman raised as boy
* turned into man by Isis to marry woman

Caeneus

* nymph turned into male and made impenetrable after being raped by Neptune
* appears in centauromachy

oresteia

A trilogy of Greek tragedies written by Aeschylus, which tells the story of the House of Atreus and the cycle of violence that plagues it. The three plays are Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, and The Eumenides.

anagnorisis

A moment of critical discovery or realization that leads to a change in the character's understanding of themselves or the world around them.

Panathenaea

A major festival held in ancient Athens every four years in honor of the goddess Athena. It included athletic, musical, and cultural competitions.

Dionysia

large festival in ancient Athens in honor of the god Dionysus, the central figure of the city's cult of tragedy. It was held annually in late March to early April and featured theatrical performances, competitions, and religious processions. The festival was an important cultural event in Athens and attracted visitors from all over Greece.

satyr play

A comedic and irreverent theatrical genre performed in ancient Greece as part of a trilogy of plays. often mocked the serious themes of the other plays in the trilogy.

choregos

wealthy

theatron

refers to the seating area in ancient Greek theaters where the audience would sit to watch performances. It is also used to describe the entire theater building or the stage area where the actors would perform.

parodos

 side-entrance to the stage

skene

a 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\`

paraskeneion

Two small wings on either side of the skene in many theatres.

ekkyklema

A device used in Ancient Greek theatre to roll out a platform with actors or props onto the stage.

episodes

 the material contained between two songs or odes in a **Greek** tragedy

areopagus

a prominent rock outcropping located northwest of the Acropolis

chthonic

concerning, relating to underworld

saturnalia

Roman festival celebrated in December, honoring the god . Week-long festivities included gift-giving, feasting, and role reversals between masters and slaves.

ecologues

A type of poem that depicts rural life and nature, often featuring shepherds and their experiences.

georgics

poem by Vergil about agriculture

arma virumque

I sing about arms and the man- first line of Aeneid

Palatine/Capitoline Hill

A hill in Rome known for its ancient ruins and beautiful views of the city. It was once the home of wealthy Roman families and the location of the imperial palaces.

Aeschylus

author of the Agamemnon

Horace

author of Cleopatra Ode

Nunc est Bibdendum

* we must drink
* phrase taken from Horace’s odes

Aethiops

people of Ethiopia

battle of actium

 naval battle fought between a maritime fleet of Octavian led by Marcus Agrippa and the combined fleets of both Mark Antony and Cleopatra