1 - Theatre History Midterm Study Guide

Athenian Hegemony

Athens' dominance over the other Greek city-states in the 5th century BCE, after the Persian Wars. Its wealth and power funded the arts and theatre.

Dithyramb

A choral hymn sung and danced in honor of Dionysus. It is seen as a possible forerunner of tragedy.

Thespis

Traditionally the first actor, who stepped out of the chorus to speak as a character (c. 534 BCE). The word "thespian" comes from his name.

Myth

Traditional stories about gods and heroes. They supplied most Greek tragic plots.

City Dionysia

The annual Athenian festival honoring Dionysus, with processions and competitions in dithyramb, tragedy, comedy, and satyr play.

Tragedy, Comedy, Satyr Play

The three dramatic genres of the festival. Tragedy is serious and mythic, comedy is humorous, and satyr plays are bawdy burlesques with a chorus of satyrs. A tragic playwright presented three tragedies plus a satyr play.

Archon

The chief Athenian magistrate who selected the playwrights and assigned a choregos to each.

Choregos

A wealthy citizen who financed the chorus (training and costumes) as a civic duty.

a form of live performance in which performers present a story, character, or event to an audience, usually in a designated time and space. Definitions vary, which is part of why the first unit asks what counts.

Theatre

a set of actions repeated in a prescribed way, often tied to a belief system or community purpose (a harvest rite, a coming-of-age ceremony). Participants usually matter more than spectators.

Ritual

the broadest term. Any action presented or framed for others, from a religious rite to a sports game to everyday behavior. Theatre is one kind of performance.

Performance

the theory that theatre grew out of ritual, as ceremonies gradually shifted from serving a spiritual purpose to being watched for their own sake. Associated with early anthropologists and Aristotle-era speculation about Greek drama, and now widely questioned because there is little direct evidence.

Ritual Origin Hypothesis

intended to produce a real effect, such as healing, bringing rain, or securing divine favor. Ritual is typically efficacious. Theatre is often seen as more entertaining.

Efficacious

sacred means connected to the divine or religious. Secular means non-religious or worldly. Many scholars see theatre's history as a movement between the two, with the line often blurry.

Sacred vs. Secular

participation or sharing in an action, as opposed to watching it. Ritual often involves methexis, where everyone takes part. It is usually contrasted with mimesis.

Methexis

performance aimed at general audiences for enjoyment, such as street shows, acrobatics, and variety acts, as distinct from "high art" or religious performance.

Popular Entertainment

Imitation / Mimesis

Imitation / Mimesisrepresenting or imitating reality, actions, or people. Aristotle treated it as central to drama, and it marks a performer showing something to an audience rather than doing it directly.

Storytelling

narrating events, usually by one teller to listeners. It overlaps with theatre but may lack full enactment by multiple actors.

Archive

material records of the past, like texts, scripts, images, and artifacts. Scholars have traditionally favored archives because they last.

Repertoire

embodied knowledge passed through live practice, like gestures, songs, dances, and techniques. This pairing comes from Diana Taylor's work and highlights that much performance history survives through bodies rather than documents.

Passion Play

a medieval religious drama depicting the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus. It is an example of sacred theatre.

Aeschylus

The earliest of the three great tragedians (c. 525-456 BCE), credited with adding a second actor. Works include Oresteia and Persians.

Sophocles

Credited with adding a third actor (c. 496-406 BCE). Works include Oedipus Rex and Antigone.

Euripides

Known for psychologically complex characters and questioning the gods (c. 480-406 BCE). Works include Medea and The Bacchae.

Chorus

A group who sang, danced, and commented on the action, often representing the community.

Ode, Episode

An ode is a choral song. An episode is a scene of dialogue between actors, set between odes.

Protagonist

Literally the "first actor," and by extension the main character.

Climactic Drama Structure

A tightly plotted structure that starts late in the story, builds through cause and effect to a climax, then resolves.

Aristotle, The Poetics

The earliest surviving work of dramatic theory (c. 335 BCE). It names six elements of tragedy (plot, character, thought, diction, music, spectacle) and ranks plot as most important.

Catharsis

The purging of pity and fear that tragedy produces in the audience.

Hamartia

An error in judgment or flaw that leads to the hero's downfall, often called the "tragic flaw."

Anagnorisis / Recognition

The moment a character moves from ignorance to knowledge, such as Oedipus learning who he is.

Theatron

The "seeing place," the audience seating area built into a hillside.

Orchestra

The "dancing place," the circular area where the chorus performed.

Skene

The building behind the orchestra, used for costume changes, entrances, and as a backdrop. It is the origin of the word "scene."

Parodos

The side passageways used by the chorus and audience to enter. It also names the chorus's entrance song.

Periaktoi

Rotating triangular prisms with a different scene painted on each side, used to change settings.

Mechane

A crane that lifted actors, such as gods, into the air. It gives us deus ex machina.

Ekkyklema

A wheeled platform rolled out from the skene to reveal interior scenes or the aftermath of offstage violence.