1.2 the nature of tragedy

507 BCE

Athenian leader Cleisthenes introduced democracy

535 BC

Thespis said to have been the first actors

472 BC

-Earliest surviving play

-Aeschylus’ Persians

-City Dionysia

490 BCE

Battle of Marathon (Athens defeats Persia)

481-79 BCE

Xerxes invades Greece
Athens is sacked by Persians
Eventual athenian victory

477 BCE

Delian League formed
(to defend against Persia)

461-46 BCE

First Pelopunesian war

440 BCE

Drama contest introduced to Lenaea

430-29 BCE

Plague in Athens
Oedipus Rex Sophocles won 2nd prize at CD

406 BCE

Death of Euripides

405 BCE

Aristophanes' Frogs won 1st prize at Lenaea
Posthumous production of The Bacchae

404 BCE

Defeat of Athens by Sparta in Peloponnesian War
Athenian democracy replaced by oligarchy (Thirty Tyrants)

Why were plays held

Performed in religious festivals
Associated with the worship of Dionysus
(He was only featured in 4% of the plays)

Polis

A city-state in ancient Greece.

Lenaea

A drama festival (contest) held in Athens from 440 BC
Late January- too dangerous for sea travel, only Athenians, more colloquial humour
Comedy took precedence (some tragedy)

Attica

Area around Athens

Delian League

military alliance led by Athens

Rural Dionysia

Drama festival held in the rural communities of Attica
In midwinter

Deme

Village or district of Attica

City Dionysia (purpose)

-Most important dramatic festival in late March

-First actor said to be Thespis 535 BC

-Earliest surviving Play Aeschylus’ Persians 472 BC

-Held in the Theatre of Dionysus (southern slopes of the Acropolis)

-Organised by eponymous archon:

Prep began a year in advance, trag writers present 4 synopsis and com present 1 > 3 trag were selected 5 com

Selected choregos (from elite)

-Entry was a days wage for an unskilled worker (2 obols) > excluded > state established a Theoric fund to pay for the poorest (democratic contest)

>only seems to have been introduced in 350

-Front row seats reserved for 500ish state officials

-4th cen divided to allow tribes to sit together (there are 13 sections but 10 tribes, women slaves foreigners?)

>slaves would have been brought by their masters, if at all, likely to supervise a masters son

-Unclear if women were allowed

>appears to be referenced in Lysistrata, but in Women at the Thesmophoria no one claims to have seen a play by Euripides

PURPOSE

-Was created by Peisistratos to unite Athens with Attica

-Marks coming of spring (D associated with regrowth + theatre)

-Reopening of sea lanes > chance to show off city to foreigners

Choregos

-Backer of a playwright
-Responsible for financing the production
(records of spending 3,000 in 410 and 1,600 drachmas in 401)
-Gained prestige

-Had to select members for the chorus, feed them, find rehearsal accomodations
-If the playwright wasn't skilled he would hire a trainer

-If the playwright won his choregos would finance a victory monument (his name would be inscribed too!)

Proagon

Preview event where plays were announced and synopses delivered

Dithyramb

Choral dance in honor of Dionysus

Tribe

Political division in Athens
All citizens were members
There were ten

Kômos

Loosely organized revel through the streets with song and dance

Theorie Fund

Established by the Athenian state
Paid for the poorest citizens to attend the theatre

Pompé

Grand religious procession

Eponymous archon

Leading politician of Athens
Responsible for running the City Dionysia
Would select 5 comics and 3 tragic writers (who wrote 3 tragedies and a satyr)

DETAIL

-Every year a new group of magistrates were elected

>among them were 10 men- archons- senior magistrates

>the leading archon- the eponymous archon- was in charge of the City Dionysia

>upon election the EA would begin organising, and over the summer playwrights would present synopsises and 3 tragedians and 5 comedians would be chosen

>selected choregoi

>selected the primary, secondary, and tertiary actors (who were paid by the state)

City Dionysia summary

BEFORE

- Proagon (previews in Odeian)

>choregos announced his company

>playwright announced his key themes

>only opportunity to see the actors without masks

»aimed to create excitement

-torchlight processions with wooden D statue from shrine on Elutherean mysteries

>eve of day 1

>reenacted his journey

>would stay in theatre to symbolise his presence

1- Pompe, bull sacrifice, dithyrambic contests, komos

>libations were poured by the important state officials, sacrifices were made by the public

>dithyramb was a contest between the 10 tribes, each group with a choregos

>evening ended with a drunken revel (kommos)

2-Opening ceremony (piglet sacrifice

>parade of tributes (money from allies brought to theatre)

>orphans (state paid for their education to thank for their fathers sacrifice)

>proclamation of honours (herald would announce exceptional people and they would be awarded a crown)

>5 comedies

3 + 4-3 tragedies and 1 satyr play

5-3 tragedies, 1 satyr-play,
Judging and prize-giving

AFTER- The reviews
-Athenian assembly would meet
-Citizens could pose a complaint > eponymous archon could by fined
-If it was voted a success he could be voted to receive a crown

JUDGING THE CITY DIONYSIA

Judging the plays was democratic
They would have sat in one of the 10 tribal areas in the theatre

1. Before the festival each tribe put 10 names of citizens into a sealed urn
2. At the beginning of the festival one name was chosen from each of the 10 urns at random and they were the judges
3. On the 5th day each judge wrote down the name of the playwrights in order or merit and the 10 tablets were put in an urn
4. the Archon drew out 5 of the tablets and the playwright with the most votes was declared winner.

Importance of masks

ADVANTAGES

-Characters easily identifiable (even from great distances)

-Facilitates multi rolling

-Men could play women

-Helped with project UoB

-Allowed two actors to play one character

DISADVANTAGES

-Facial expresses obscured and monotonous

-Overly exaggerated

-Fixed

Chorus

A group of characters in Greek tragedy (and in later forms of drama), who comment on the action of a play without participation in it
Initially 12 but became 15 possibly divided into formations of five or three
Ordinary citizens
>Choregos would audition them and reuse them for all their performances
Would be spared from military service (highly esteemed) displayed democratic spirit
Each chorus had a leader who would directly interact with other actors
Highly stylised

>seen in Basel dancers vase (movement is synchronised)

Structurally important, separating episodes with their odes

>Pelike showing actors demonstrating shows their costumes (mask, lacing kothornoi) and evidence of men dressing as women

Accompanied by an auletes

ROLES
-Actors (townsfolk's, elderly citizens) COMMUNAL

>eg elderly citizens in Oedipus (townsfolk), Bacchae Asian followers

-PERSPECTIVE, voice of the people (rep a democratic commentary, it is more than gods and heroes)
-Commentator (provide moral opinions and shape audience reaction)

>eg Oedipus they compare Oed’s downfall to the fragility of happiness
-Scene setting

>choral songs provide details eg in Agamemnon they describe his sacrifice of Iphigenia
-Wider context (link it to myth and explain ramifications)
Set the mood

>eg Oedipus they sing an optimistic ode before his identity is revealed, increasing irony
-Provide a scene break (like a curtain)
>allowed the characters to change

FUN trying to get the audience invested

Theatre of Dionysus (short)

Main theatre in Athens
Situated on the south-east side of the Acropolis
Near a Dionysus sanctuary initially built in 320s and called the Lycurgus theatre
Remodelled by Romans

Why are we unsure of what theatres were used in 5th?

The surviving theatres are made of stone and date to 4 BC Before they were made of wood
We are unsure what they were like later

Theatron

The seating area in a Greek theatre
Often built by a hill to be steeped
Divided into 13 sections (10 tribes and possibly foreigners, women, slaves)

Low estimate pf 6,000 capacity
Wooden benches

prohedria

The front row seating in the theatron
Reserved for officials and dignitaries

Orchestra

Means 'dancing area'
The area at the front of the theatron where the chorus performed
An alter for D was there or near it
Used to be circular, scholars argue it was either rectangular or trapezial in the 5th

eisodos

The entryway into the orchestra from each side of the stage.

skene

The building at the back of the stage
A backdrop

Flatroofed so (typically Gods) could perform in it

Had double doors were the ekkyklema could be wheeled out
(eg 431 Euripides Medea royal palace)
Contained storage/a dressing room

ekkyklema

A wheel platform used to portray indoor scenes or present dead bodies
Explained in a scholia to Aristophanes

crane

A device used to lift actors above the stage
First used in Euripides' Medea
Used to show divinity (deus ex machina)

Liturgy

(n.) a religious service or rite; the form of a ritual or other act of public worship

Black figure

a style in Greek pottery decoration composed of black figures against a red background

Red figure

Classical era (5th 4th)
Greek pottery in which the decoration is red on a black background.

Slip applied to background + with brush for details
Preferred > smooth flow, greater control of curves (toes)

Black figure

Common 7th 5th
Greek pottery in which the decoration is black on a red background

Slip painted on areas to be black
Details etched
Good for sharp + distinctive features]
But for details and curves

alabastron:
holding oil, especially perfume or massage oils.
narrow body with a rounded end, a narrow neck and a broad, splayed mouth.

amphora:
two handles and a long neck narrower than the body
They were used to transport and store various products, both liquid and dry.

krater:
A large vase used to mix wine and water.

hydria:
A water jar with 2 horizontal handles attached to the shoulder for lifting, and one on the back for pouring, or carrying when empty.

cantharos:
high swung handles which extend above the lip of the pot
drinking cup

lekythos:
storing oil, especially olive oil used for anointing the bodies of the dead.
narrow body and one handle attached to the neck of the vessel.

oinochoe:
A wine jug characterized by an S-shaped profile from head to foot.

psycter:
wine cooler
broad bulbous body, a tall cylindrical stem, a short neck, sometimes with handles for carrying and a lid that fit over the mouth.
stood in a krater of ice or snow or cool water

kylix:
wine-drinking cup
broad relatively shallow body raised on a stem with a foot and usually two horizontal handles.

stamnos:
A lidded storage jar for liquids.
short, stout neck, a wide, flat rim, and a straight body that tapers to a base. Horizontal handles are attached to the widest part of the jar.

Skyphos:
drinking bowl

Theatre of Dionysus

Located in Athens- situated on the south-east side of the acropolis (protected from cold north wind) (above a sanctuary for D) (between religious heart if the city- Acropolis- and a sancturay)
Street led from theatre to agora- showed popularity (street of tripods because of monuments to festival victors)
Remains are dated to the 5th- first built in stone in 320s under supervision kf Lycurgus (lead Athenian statesman) but was remoddled over time and todays remains are thus in a Roman style
The largest ancient Greek theatre

The seat acapcaity is unclear in the 5th century, 6000 as a conservative estimate

split into 13 sections (10 tribes, slaves, foreigners, women?)

Throne as the front for priest of D and seats for distinguished visitors In the prohedria

>Frogs ‘Priest save me’

In Lycurgus' theatre:
The theatron on was more circular than semi circular (for acoustics)

It could seat as many as 17,000 people (100,000 population)

Theatre of Thorikos

a regional theatre of Attica which has a different layout from the circular acting area of the Theatre of Dionysus
Built 525-480 (classical age)
Used late 6th early 5th
Rural D held here
Holds 3000 people
Trapezoidal orchestra
Three sections (different social divisions)

The Perseus Dance Vase

Damaged attic red figure chous (jug)
Dates to 420 BC (when the plays were happening PRIMARY SOURCE)
It depicts Perseus (made to seem naked with a phallic suit, indicated in the art by marking the end of the costume > comedy) holds a scythe and a bag (holding Medusa's head, very thin to comedically indicate no head)
Only attic vase to depict a stage (wooden stage evidence) AND only Greek painting to depict an audience
Audience a man and a boy (sex worker, lover?), the seats have backs > prohedria > high status fellows, rest of the audience is absent
No orchestra? What is on the other side? No chorus, theatron or skene

Wurzburg Telephs Vase

Mixing bowl
Red figure
Dates 318-70 BC
Produced in Apulia (411)
Shows a seven from Aristophanes' comedy 'Women at the Thesmophoria'
Doesn't show the the storm, the stage, the other actors
The relative is clean shaven (the masks are usually bearded)
Used alter as a part of staging
Comedy comes from baby being repped by a wine bag (ha ha women drunk)
Is this accurate? Not made in Athens. Probably based on a rerun

Medea's Escape (the vase)

Red figure crater (mix wine) can tell by low handles
Dates a few decades after Medea's performance (431)
The children are on the wheeled platform and her floating is evidence of the mechane
In the play she takes her sons with her and doesn't fly with dragons (just elevates) (inaccurate)

Basal Dancers vase

Red figure column
Tragic chorus in action in front of a stepped altar
500-490 BC (early in tragedy)
The statue on top of the alter appears to be a ghost or a representation of Dionysus
3 pairs of two dancing in a choreographed rectangular formation
They are shown moving as one utilising their full body
Their same face suggests a mask
Costumes appear to be heavy armour
Bare foot

The Promos Vase

410 BC
Named after a famous aulosplayer pictured
They are costumed for a satyr
Depicts an ancient theatrical scene
Used as evidence for neutral masks
Costumes highly decorated

-Calyx Krater fragment by Capodarso
-Ft messenger, Jocasta (painted white to indicate woman), Oedipus, his two daughters
-Jocasta's moment of recognition
-Oedipus' ignorance is highlighted physically with him being surrounded by people in the know

-Evidence of the skene depicting a palace
-Evidence for a stage
-No masks > artistic choice but expressions are legible
-Jocasta is dabbing face to indicate sadness

Why is this moment depicted?
-It is a dramatic hinge moment
-Main characters are present
-Shows this was a recognisable image + play in The Canon

Red Figures 'maenad' stamnos

-Late 5th
-Maenad's (thyrsus, vine leaves, tamberine, dappled fawn skin, hair loose (signifies wildness))
-Dancing (movement, head flung back)
-Shrine to D, surrounded by wine stamnos on a stamnos (suggests user is partaking in Bacchic women)

-Gives us information on the connotations of Dionysian worship

Death of Pentheus

-480 BC- 70 years before, not helpful in displaying dramatic techniques, but shows it to be persistently well known
-Red figure kylix- used in symposiums>P is sexualised, beardless (youth) emphasis on physique

(idealised youthful male beauty, homoerotic, reveals male fear of women)
-Especially upsetting as it represents the destruction of Cadmus' family tree (which Athenians were paranoid about)

-They wear animal, panther skins (renound for hunting)
-The depiction of gore shows a cultural fascination for violence (not expected as violence occurs off stage- the same violent impulse shown in detailed messenger speeches)
Protruding bone, organs, dismembered foot

-Satyr astonished by D power
-Eyecontact + head patting suggests a relationship and the tenderness highlights the perverse cruelty

NOT A PLAY
-No boots, masks, stage or any evidence of dramatic techniques
-Women

507 BCE

Athenian leader Cleisthenes introduced democracy

490 BCE

Battle of Marathon (Athens defeats Persia)

481-79 BCE

Xerxes invades Greece
Athens is sacked by Persians
Eventual athenian victory

477 BCE

Delian League formed
(to defend against Persia)

461-46 BCE

First Pelopunesian war

440 BCE

Drama contest introduced to Lenea

430-29 BCE

Plague in Athens
Oedipus Rex Sophocles won 2nd prize at CD

406 BCE

Death of Euripides

405 BCE

Aristophanes' Frogs won 1st prize at Lenaea
Posthumous production of The Bacchae

404 BCE

Defeat of Athens by Sparta in Peloponnesian War
Athenian democracy replaced by oligarchy (Thirty Tyrants)

Hetairai

highly sophisticated courtesans in ancient Athens who offered intellectual and musical entertainment as well as sex.
Fancy prostitutes

Paideia

Education, culturalness

panegyric

elaborate praise
formal hymn of praise

Peripeteia

reversal of fortune
Aristotle notes it as an element of a tragedy

Anagnorisis

recognition or discovery
on the part of the hero
change from ignorance to knowledge

Bird vase

480BC

It shows an old comedic chorus, costuming, vine branches represent Dionysus, depicts competition between tragedy and comedy

Krater Cheiron

380BC

Comedic evidence, door represents entry to the temple of Apollo at Delphi, masks, costuming, props

-It shows figures wearing costumes in a performance of comedy.

COSTUME
-The tunics are short.

-They are padded.

-It shows that the actors wore a phallus.

-figures wearing masks- faces have grotesque expressions.

>shows that the characters have different ages.

-Two of the figures have walking sticks. (props)

BUT

-It is not from Athens.
>It was made in Southern Italy.
-It is later than most of Aristophanes' plays.

>400 - 380 BC.

-There is no distinction between actors and Chorus.

>The two outside actors appear to be chorus members, while the one in the middle is a named character.

-The scene does not correspond to any known play. (A01)

Redfigure by pelike

The Origins of Tragedy

>Brockett argues trag and comedy have origins in countryside worship of D

- first survival text is 'Persae' by Aeschylus - happening since C7th BC

> birth of drama in Athens = second half of C6th

>praising of D involved at least a dithyramb from which Thespis established the tragic formulae- typical of the ancients to prefer a creator

»he dressed in costumes and impersonated different characters

> happened after Athens included Eleutherae into Attica - home to a cult of Dionysus

>City Dionysia 534 first recorded (Thespis as winner)- awarded a goat, hence tragedy

The Dithyramb

> choral dance to Dionysus

> Herodotus = invented in Corinth in C7th

> singing and dancing

> they became central to the City Dionysia

> in C5th there were dithyrambic competitions at which each of the 10 tribes entered a chorus of 50 men and 50 boys

> In the second half of the C5th - Thespis set himself apart from the chorus in mask and costume, giving dialogues with the chorus on the subject matter 535

Satyr-plays

-a play in which parodied tragedy and was presented along with three tragedies by a playwright

> only one surviving is Cyclops

-added to CD post reorganisation in 501 BC

-Named as such because the chorus was satyrs

>large phalluses

>established parodic tone

>half human animal creatures that represented lust for food, drink, and sex- followers of D (plays seem to often contain him)

The Contributions of Aeschylus

525 - 456 BC

> Aristotle tells us he added a second actor onto the stage - allowed dialogue

- might not be true

> wrote about 80 plays - only 6 survive, all dating to the last 14 years of his life

> 458 = the Oresteia, most famous work

> he used trilogies and tetralogies - not known if this was uncommon or not

> he makes greater use of the chorus than the other 2 (55% of the lines in 'Suppliant Women' compared to 17% in Sophocles and 15% in Euripides)

> Aristophanes in Frogs mocks him for tedious and verbose writing

> He fought at Marathon in 490 BC

The Contributions of Sophocles

496-406 BC

> introduced the third actor

> increased chorus from 12 to 15

> reduced role of chorus

> added scenery

> only 7/120 of his plays survive

> He was a prominent political figure - was general alongside Pericles in 441

> conveys the information subtly through his structure

The Contributions of Euripides

480-406 BC

> 18/92 plays survive

> In Frogs he is presented as unconventional who liked to shock audiences

> enjoyed innovating the myths - eg. Medea

> he wrote very diversely in the genre of tragedy - pro-Athenian / romanic / mistaken identity / reunions

> more self-conscious in his writing style

> uses the gods as characters much more

> his characters challenge their behaviour

> reference to contemporary and philosophical themes

Use of Actors

> no more than 3 actors with speaking parts were allowed on stage at any one time

> plays usually had 8-10 parts, so the actors would have to play 4-5 characters

- eg. in Oedipus the same actor plays: priest / Jocasta / Shepherd / Messenger

> had to be good singers too

Use of the Chorus

> actor - could be part of the action (Oed. = citizens / Bacchae = Maenads)

> scene-setting - give background information

> commentator to the action

> wider context - bridges the gap between the play and real world

> background mood - Chorus in Oed. - 1st Ode and optimism (ironic)

> scene-break - change of costume / break up action

Use of Music

> both the chorus and main actors sung on stage

> Agave sings in Bacchae at end

> Aristoxenus - speech sounds like song when "when we become emotional"

> two types of song = monody and kommos

What is a monody?

a solo sung by an actor, often sung at moments of great distress.

What is a kommos?

a formal song at moments of heightened emotion involving dialogue between an actor and the chorus

- Bacchae - Agave and the Chorus

- Oedipus - when he comes on stage blinded

Use of Costume

> would make the character instantly recognisable by what they wear

> two main items = chitōn and himation

> in contrast to everyday clothing, the evidence from vases suggest that tragic costumes were much more fitting, had sleeves, and were colourful and ornate

> black = mourners

> armour = soldier

> trousers = barbarian

> plain robes = pauper

> all wore kothornoi

What is a chitōn and a himation?

chitōn: a full-length robe, often ornately decorated

himation: a cloak reaching down to the knees

What are kothornoi?

soft leather boots which reached up the thigh.

Use of Props

> couldn't be used a lot because of how far away the audience might have been

> larger props could be used eg. Agave using the mask of Pentheus