Chapter 15 5th Century Drama

Question 1

Aeschylus

Answer 1

Athenian that wrote 7 tragedies of the 33 surviving plays (525 - 456 BC)

• Accredited with anatgonists in 480 BC
• All his work had at least two actors

Question 2

Sophocles

Answer 2

(490 - 404 BCE); wrote 7 tragedies,

• liked to show dignity of noble individuals caught in overwhelming crises with superior/divine forces.
• his heros were lonely and unbending, learning how to behave too late.

Question 3

Euripides

Answer 3

More survives of his work than Aeschylus’ and Sophocles’’ 18 works; 7 tragedies, 11 plays.

• MOST INFLUENTIAL TRAGEDIAN
• subjected traditional myths to rigorous scrutiny and severe criticism or ridicule.
• His characters are often deflated heros, mortals.
• His famous play is Medea about divorce in a monogamous society.

Question 4

dithyrambs

Answer 4

-tragedy evolved from this

hymns to Dionysus in the form of dance and song by choruses of fifteen or so members and a leader.

Question 5

protagonist

Answer 5

“first actor”; first 25 years of dithyrambs had one actor

Question 6

antagonist

Answer 6

-two different actors that switch personalities throughout the play
Aristotle says Aeschylus transformed the genre in the 470s BCE by adding a second actor and reducing the chorus’ role. This second actor is the _

Question 7

Oresteia

Answer 7

• group of three trilogies by Aeschylus
• “Story of Orestes” 458 BCE in which a third actor is used
• ultimate end point of tragedy

Question 8

City Dionysia

Answer 8

festival honoring the god of wine that Pisistratus reformed from an older ceremoney

• gigantic public symposium for the whole demos occurred in March after spring harvest
• government subsidized all of it.

Question 9

episodes

Answer 9

-actors would perform and then take breaks and chorus would sing
“side-songs” portions of dialogue interspersed with stasima

Question 10

Dramatic need

Answer 10

-certain situations requrie certain actions to take place

something the protagonist wants which drives the plot of drama’s

Question 11

peripeteia

Answer 11

• turning point of a tragedy is ___

- starts with a realization (anagnorisis)

Question 12

Anagnorisis

Answer 12

aristocratic characters in a tragedy experience “recognition” which is called ___
-like when Oedipus realized he was the one that killed his dad and slept with his mom

Question 13

katastrophe

Answer 13

-directly the result of what a person has done

aristocratic characters in a tragedy experience a “down-turning” called ____

Question 14

hamartia

Answer 14

what leads to katastrophe is the role of “missing the mark” or “mistake” which is called ____

Question 15

Aristophanes

Answer 15

Produced the first complete comedy, the Acharnians in 425 that attacked Cleon and was then sued for it
-eleven of his complete comedies survive

Question 16

Old comedy

Answer 16

5th century comedies are called this to distinguish them from New Comedy - late 4th century plays

• jokes about body fluid, vulgarity, politics and sex
• performed at city Dionysia

Question 17

tragoidia

Answer 17

“goat song”

• goats were associated with Dionysys, at whose spring festival in Athens these works were staged.
• the name is derived from songs performed while goats were sacrificed in his honor

Question 18

Thespis

Answer 18

An Athenian active in the 530s under the tyranny of Pisistratus who is given credit for using masks to switch characters in plays

Question 19

deus ex machina

Answer 19

Some plays ended when an actor playing a god was lowered to the earth to resolve a complicated plot.
- means “God from the machine” comes from this technique and refers to any abrupt or contrived ending to a story

Question 20

agon

Answer 20

“contest”; formal debate common in middle Greek tragedies

Question 21

mimesis

Answer 21

Aristotle’s concept of “representation” or “imitation”

-tragedies were artificial represetation of things happenign

Question 22

katharsis

Answer 22

• purifying the soul of negative motions by watching tragedies
• “relief” a cleansing that audiences feel after experiencing tension and release.