Greek + Asian Theatre Flashcards
Aristotle
Greek Philosopher, wrote the poetics, identified the tragic form in theatre
The Poetics
Written by Aristotle, analyzed the form of Greek tragedies
Thespis
Supposedly first “actor” in dithyramb, inspo for the term thespian
Aeschylus
First to develop drama into a form separate from singing, dancing, or storytelling, resized chorus to twelve
Sophocles
Introduced a third actor into dramas, Noted for his superb plot construction,
Known for writing “Oedipus The King”
Euripides
Considered more “modern” due to his
sympathetic portrayal of women, realism, and mixture of comedy and tragedy
Aristophanes
Best known comic playwright of ancient Greek Golden Age
Menander
Best-known representative of Athenian New Comedy, Works by Plautus and Terence were supposedly inspired by him
Plautus
Roman playwright of the Old Latin period. His comedies are the earliest Latin literary works to have survived in their entirety. He wrote Palliata Comoedi
Terence
Wrote plays with simple conversational Latin, pleasant and direct, while less visually humorous to watch
Seneca
Developed Senecan tragedy, a division into five acts with Choruses—and in the English imitations often a dumb show expressive of the action
Horace
Horace is known for detailed self-portraits in genres such as epodes, satires and epistles, and lyrics
The Art of Poetry
Horace’s written piece on poetry. He claims poetry should both “instruct and delight
Bharata Muni
Bharata was a muni sage of ancient India. He is traditionally attributed authorship of the influential performing arts treatise Natya Shastra
Natyasastra
A Sanskrit treatise on the performing arts. The text is attributed to sage Bharata
Sudraka
An Indian playwright, to whom three Sanskrit plays are attributed: Mrichchhakatika, Vinavasavadatta, and a bhana, Padmaprabhritaka
Shankuntala
Sanskrit: Śakuntalāa, is the wife of Dushyanta and the mother of Emperor Bharata. Her story is told in the Adi Parva, the first of eighteen parts of the ancient Indian epic Mahabharata
Kalidasa
Kālidāsa was a Gupta era, Classical Sanskrit author and playwright. His plays and poetry are primarily based on Hindu Puranas and philosophy
Guan Hanqing
Guan Hanqing, sobriquet “the Oldman of the Studio”, was a Chinese dramatist, playwright, and poet during the Yuan Dynasty
Li Yu
A Chinese playwright, novelist and publisher
The Orphan of Zhao
A Chinese play from the Yuan era, attributed to the 13th-century dramatist Ji Junxiang
City Dionysia
An ancient dramatic festival in which tragedy, comedy, and satyric drama originated; it was held in Athens in March in honour of Dionysus, the god of wine
