Greek Drama Vocabulary

Question 1

Dionysus

Answer 1

god of wine, agriculture, and fertility; god of theatre

Question 2

dithyramb

Answer 2

choral lyric to honor Dionysus

Question 3

Thespis

Answer 3

uses first actor in 534 BC

Question 4

Dionysus Festival

Answer 4

five days
3 days of play performances
2 days dithyramb preformances

Question 5

Theatron

Answer 5

horse-shoe shaped seating

Question 6

Orchestra

Answer 6

circular area for chorus

Question 7

Thymele

Answer 7

altar ro Dionysus; center of orchestra

Question 8

Parados

Answer 8

right and left entrance passage

Question 9

Skene

Answer 9

large backdrop, three doors, props and dressing areas (palace or temple)

Question 10

Paraskene

Answer 10

acting platform/stage

Question 11

Eccyclema

Answer 11

Wagon that could be wheeled onstage; used to reveal action that took place off-stage, usually violent

Question 12

Kranes

Answer 12

cranes that picked up items and put them onstage

Question 13

Deus ex Machina

Answer 13

“a god from a machine” krane that would lowere a god, usually Zeus, from skene to resolve dilemmas of human character

Question 14

Tragic Hero

Answer 14

capable of suffering
neither good or bad
hubris, free will
committed to cause
protests injustice/fate
trasfiguration-becomes a better person
tragedy-cause for reflection about life

Question 15

Harmatia in Tragic Hero

Answer 15

“error of judgment” or tragic flaw

responsible for own fate

Question 16

Pity in Tragic Hero

Answer 16

his misfortune is greater than diserves

Question 17

Fear in Tragic Hero

Answer 17

see ourselves, similar possibilites

Question 18

Prologue

Answer 18

opening scene, background established (exposition), 1 or 2 actors

Question 19

Parados

Answer 19

entrance of chorus, chanting, dancing

Question 20

Ode

Answer 20

long, serious, elevated, sung poem

Question 21

Stasimon

Answer 21

choral ode, end each episode

Question 22

Exodus

Answer 22

exit after last stasimon

Question 23

Catharsis

Answer 23

a purging or cleansing of these emotions

Question 24

Anagnorisis

Answer 24

recognition or discovery; ignorance to knowledge; awareness of his/her own role in downfall; too late, so

Question 25

Peripeteia

Answer 25

reversal of fortune, happiness to misery