lesson 9- introduction to the plays and Aristotle Flashcards
most surviving Greek tragedies have…
A war context and are either set during or after the Trojan war or Persian war- for example like Aeschylus’ ‘Persians’ from 472 BC
which two plays do not have a war context?
Oedipus and Bacchae- instead they have a palace setting in which the central king character makes a tragic mistake
where are Oedipus and Bacchae both set?
In Thebes, which is the antithesis (opposite) of Athens
What is Thebes presented like in Oedipus and Bacchae?
- presented as an archaic civilisation ruled by an oligarchy or Monarchy
- presented as a ‘radical’ place where no solution could be found - To the Athenians it must have seemed a world apart from their progressive city state
what happened during the persian wars?
Thebes wanted to submit to the Persian’s rule, the enemy of the Athenians. The Athenians had burned Sardis down during the ionian revolt and killed the Persian messenger sent to ask for Athen’s submission to the Persians
what did Scullion estimate in 2002 and how do frogs and Bacchae go against this?
Scullion in 2002 estimated that only 4% of Greek plays featured Dionysus as a character in the play- this is why many scholars argue that theatre was ‘not intrinsically dionysiac’ . However, Bacchae and frogs go against this statistic and feature Dionysus as a main character
when were Bacchae and frogs produced?
in 405 BC- the year before the peloponnesian war ended in 404 BC. According to Hall, ‘this was Athens darkest hour’ and the Athenians likely already knew that they were losing the war. With Dionysus as the protagonist in both plays, both plays contain lengthy prayers to Dionysus which could be connected to how desperate the Athenians were feeling during this time
what are Aristotle’s 5 definitions of tragedy in his work ‘the poetics’?
- Tragedies should not be episodic
- complex plots are better than simple plots
- suffering
- the pity and fear which tragedy evokes should come from the events and actions of the play rather than the mere sight of something on stage
- catharsis
what does Aristotle mean by ‘tragedies should be episodic’?
That the episodes in the plot must have a connection to one another and form a unified final play- the best kind of plot includes surprises for the audience, but they still fit logically into the sequence of events
what does Aristotle mean by ‘complex plots are better than simple plots?’
complex tragedy plots must include peripeteia (reversal) and Aganoresis (recognition) and suffering. Recognition is change from ignorance to knowledge when a character makes a critical discovery in the plot of the play- this makes the plot more complex and much more interesting for the audience. However, Reversal is the idea that a situation is going one way and then it does the opposite. In simple terms, a complex plot includes a plot twist where things seem to be going one way but then go in the opposite direction- (just like in Oedipus, when the main character Oedipus discovers that he is the murdered of the previous king)
what does Aristotle mean by suffering is key to tragedy?
In tragedy, suffering should be included into the tragic plot and should preferably end unhappily
what does Aristotle mean by ‘the pity and fear which tragedy evokes should come from the events and the action, rather than the mere sight of something on stage’?
The audience should not just feel the fear and suffering of the character based on the mere sight of what is happening on the stage, but the plot itself should evoke fear and pity for the characters.
What does Aristotle mean by Catharsis?
Catharsis means ‘purification’ or ‘purgation’- Aristotle claims that the true aim of tragedy is to bring about catharsis, meaning that the audience purge all their emotions out at the end of the play. Catharsis is the evidence of a successful construction of a tragic play. Aristotle argues that people find pleasure in viewing distressing imitations of human suffering and Catharsis through tragedy allows audiences to view a distressing image and experience the same suffering as the characters in the play
what does Aristotle define as an archetypal tragic hero?
For a tragedy to arouse pity or fear, we must observe a hero who is relatively noble and transitions from happiness to misery as a result of their actions and a flaw (hamartia) on the part of the hero. The character must be neither virtuous or righteous- if the character was completely perfect then the audience would feel outrage, but if the character was completely evil we would feel outrage and the audience would be seeking justice
what could a hamartia be for a tragic hero?
- a simple intellectual mistake or an error of judgement
2 a hamartia could be a moral weakness such as having excessive hubris (excessive pride or self confidence), for example if a character is moral in every other way but will insult a god
