Dithyramb: a passionate song of praise for Dionysus.

Tetralogy: a group of four related works.

In medias res: beginning a play in the middle of a crucial situation.

Extant: still existing or surviving

Hubris: excessive pride of self-confidence.

Satyr (2 meanings): goat man and a bawdy play.

Trilogy: group of three related plays.

Charogos: leader of the chorus, usually a wealthy man who sponsored the play.

Deus ex machina (2 meanings): an unexpected power saves the seemingly hopeless situation and an abrupt, unfinished end.

Orchestra: circular space where the chorus would dance and perform.

The 3 unities: unity of action, place, and time.

Catharsis: emotional experience where a person is able to express, or purge emotions like pity and fear, leading to a sense of renewal.

Proscenium: part of the theater in front of the curtain, the stage of the theater.

Reversal: shift of the tragic hero's fortune from good to bad.

Ekkyklema: stage mechanism that spins and moves to reveal a scene.

Recognition: The moment the Tragic Hero sees what they have done wrong, but it’s too late.

Tragic dilemma: shortcoming of the hero of the tragedy.

Skene” building behind the stage that is used for changing and a background for the stage.

Strophe/antistrophe: part of the chorus that sings back and forth at each other.

Parados (2 meanings): place where chorus walk into the orchestra and also when they walk in.

Cosmic irony: the gods intervene to create a situation that only they could explain.

Thetron: where the spectators would sit.

Stichomythy: short dialogue back and forth

Dramatic irony: when the audience knows something that the characters don’t.

Spectacle: what a play looks like so costume, masks, and backdrops

Aulos: double barreled flute

Humors (4): just know what they were used to explain we don’t need to list them out or describe each one.

Artificiality: lack of sincerity, in modern times it has a negative connotation.

Humanism: the spirit of learning and a renewed confidence in the ability of human beings to determine for themselves truth and falsehood. The belief that moral values are discovered through experience alone.

Exposition (8): setting, past facts, character relationships, characterization, plot, attitudes, beliefs, mood, atmosphere, and language.

Iamb/iambic pentameter: a beat in which every other syllable is stressed or emphasized as you read it. Each line must begin with an unstressed syllable. Each line contains 10 syllables. Each set of two syllables (unstressed, stressed) is called an “iamb.”

Blank verse: there is no rhyme (blank), but a very particular rhythm (verse).

Diacritical marks: a mark over a word that adds a syllable to that word if there are too few syllables in a line.

Great chain of being: a structure of all matter and life that descends through angels, humans, animals, and plants to materials.

Explicate vs gloss: going into detail vs skimming over and giving the big idea.

End stopped vs open ended lines: end stopped have periods or grammatical items at the end.

Prose: a writing style that does not follow a structure of rhyming or meter.

Couplet: a pair of lines that end in a rhyme that usually signals the end of an act

Comic relief: relief from the emotional tension that is provided by a funny character or remark.

Bawdy: dealing with sexual matters in a comical way; humorously indecent.

Soliloquy, aside, monologue: a monologue that is delivered when the character is alone. Aside: A remark in a play that is intended to be heard by the audience but unheard by the other characters in the play. Monologue: A long speech by one actor in the play.

Foil: a character whose purpose is to accentuate or draw attention to the qualities of the protagonist usually by opposing them.

Universality: quality of involving or being shared by all people and not just one particular group.

Timelessness: eternal and is constantly relevant regardless of age.