Roman & Greek Theatre History Flashcards
Theatre evolved from….
Ritual
Aristotle believed that humans are naturally…
Storytellers
What year was the Trojan War?
1200 BCE
What year did Homer write about/around the year he wrote about the Trojan War?
850 BCE
Which century was known as the “Golden age” to the greeks?
The fifth Century (500 - 400 BCE)
In Which year did theatre go from exclusively choral to both individual and choral?
534 BCE
Who stepped out of the greek chorus to forever change theatre?
Thespis
What was a regular thing performed at “Dionysia” festivals for 2 days of the 5-7 they took place in?
Dithyrambs, two choruses - one men - one boys. Doing a narrative song.
the “Dionysia” festivals also had plays that performed back to back to back to back, 3 were ___ and one was a____
the 3 were tragedies and the singular one was a satyr play at the end (comic relief plays)
first comedy competition was after which year?
486 BCE
as opposed to other religions or cultures the greek ____ their gods.
humanized
a play about the fall of a hero or greek myth was and is commonly known as a…
tragedy
a play that included a chorus of satyrs wherein they did scenes from myth farcically…
satyr plays
___ comedy (aristophanes) satirized current important people. (broad ribald)
old
______ comedy (Menander) broad social criticism
new
Aristotle affirmed the need for ___ in theatre “give the audience a ____” Aristotle : purging, purifying of emotions in pity and fear.
Catharisis
the central character (of noble birth) is known as the….
Protagonist, pro = for, agon = struggle, essentially the protaganist is “for struggle”
a greek chorus is usually made up of __-__ men, they represent the “citizenry” sung in unison. occasionally had a chorus leader.
12-15
greek plays had three forms:
tragedies, comedies, satyr plays
Satyr plays: Actors as goat men, wearing leather penises and slapstick comedy. Only one play remains “the _______”
cyclops
Chorus usually entered after the prologue (known as _______) and stayed, in a tragedy they enter in a “stately march” in comedy they entere with an energetic dance
parados
Instruments for the plays are assigned by a wealthy producer known as a _______
choregoi
Comic chorus were not necessairly _____ characters
human, ex. the birds, frogs, clouds and wasps
little of the music from greek theatre survived and we don’t know what it sounded like but it most likely resembled traditional ______ _______ music
middle eastern
costumes in a tragedy were often ______, the evidence for this can be seen on ____ paintings
- Chitons (greek sleeved tunics)
- Vase
foriegners and gods however often don’t wear that garb, they are more often in _______
Chlayms, short cloaks, or long ones known as a himation
in the play “Eumenides” the furies were apparently so frightening that women __________
miscarried
In tragedies they wore soft shoes and later on switched to ______ which were a kind of platform shoe
katharnos
typical clothing for comedies was: everydays dress except for slaves and old men who had too short and tight over flesh colored tights they also often had artificial…
phalluses
along with, in a way, inventing theatre, ______ experimented with make up - wine dregs, dangling leaves and also began the trend of performing in a mask
Thespis
Masks in comedies showed variation and also extenuated features (ex. wrinkles, baldness) but when representing a real person they used ________ mask
portrait
the oldest known “theatre area” Minoan place at Phaistos dates _ _ _ _ BCE
2000
First theatre in Greece was ___________ (circa 550 BCE)
rectangular
Athens had a popular theatre called the “theatre of ________” in athens it was a _________ “dancing palace”
Dionysus, Orchestra
Parts of the greek theatre include a table or _____ (thymele), a scene building _____ which means tent or hut.
altar, skene
_______ (458 BCE) first play that required a building in the background.
Oresteia
During the time of Pericles, there was a change to theatre of dionysus, the _________ built nearby (probably 440 BCE)
Oresteia
What had: one or more doors, an upper level, changed scenery, mostly used for plays set in front of a temple or a synonymous setting
Skene!
two major pieces of greek theatre and theatre in general the flats or _______ and the _________, three sided flats in a rotating triangle
Pinakes, periaktoi
in “Prometheus bound” a ________ falls, unknown how it happened
mountain
Auditorium and skene _______ architectural entities
seperate
the first _______ (seeing place) was on a hillside sloping down from the acropolis
theatron
Aritophanes was one of the best known _____ playwrights, he wrote about the struggle between democracy and ________
comic, oligarchy
Rome was “founded” in _ _ _ BCE
753
the roman republic lasted from ___ - __ BCE
509, 27
The romans fought in 3 punic wars with ______
Carthage
Famed carthaginian general:
Hannibal
Roman Empire’s religion…
Pagan
Byzantine Empire’s religion
Christian
________ the great dies in 323 BCE
Alexander
Ptolemys rule in Egypt until 31 BCE and he took it from….
Cleopatra
who was the roman historian who dates theatre performances from 364 BCE
Livy
from the word histriones we get ______
histrionic
the roman historian ______ dates theatre before 364 BCE
Horace
Etruscan king, Tarquin (616 -579) establishes “____ ______” roman games, in honor of jupiter
Ludi Romani
stock characters are called “____ _____” they use fixed costumes and masks and perform short improvised sketches
Atellan Farce
Beginnings of Roman theatre noted as ___ BCE
240
the number of festival days continued to increase
200 BCE - 4-11
190 BCE - 7-17
150 BCE - aprox. 25
0 - aprox. 40
354 CE - ___
100
one of the two most important dramatists writing comedies was named Titus Macius ______ (254 BCE - 184 BCE)
Plautus
the most noted plays of titus were ______ _______, ___ of _____
Braggart Warrior, Pot of Gold
Terentius was known for plays: the brothers, eunuch, mother-in-law, he had ______ plots
complex
the second half of the two most important dramatists writing comedies was named Publius Terentius Afer (195 BCE - 159 BCE) better known as ________
Terence
unlike greek comedy roman comedy had no ______
Chorus
Senecas plays used _______ and ______
soliloquies and confidate,
the tutor to nero was named Lucius Anneaus _______ (5 BCE- 65 BCE), also a playwright was ordered to kill himself by Nero
Seneca
action in roman theatre often took place in the _______
street
Senecan plays were also preoccupied with magic, _____, and the human/spirit world
death
roman stage house ____
scaena
Senecan tragedy follows that characters singular _____ drive them to their ____
obessions, doom
Atellan farce is suspected to be the roots of ______ dell’ arte
Comedia
roman entrance corridors - ______ (over them were vip seats for the emperor and magistrates)
Vormitora
the roman rear stage wall had _ to _ doors and at least one in the wings
3 - 5
the stage of the roman theatre was covered with a
roof
Roman theatre had an awning called a ____ for sun screen
vela
roman theatre also used the ______ to change scenes
periakoi
in roman society actors belonged to a ______
guild
!____! were on stage! started in small “singing” parts….and grew, often played sex workers
women
Roman entertainment also included chariot races, one particular chariot stadium was the Circus maximus, 2000 feet long = 650 feet wide, 12 chariots abreast max with __,___ spectators
60,000
roman stadiums also hosted mock battles, foot races, prize fights and they could flood the stadium and have ______ ________ naumachiae, it was competition for the theatre
naval battles
______ in ___ CE made christianity legal
Constantine, 313
______ _ on 393 CE made any other practice than christianity _____
Theodosius I, illegal
during the switch from paganism to christanity the capital moved to ________ / _______ 330 CE
Byzantium, Constantinople
Barbarians sack Rome in ___ CE
476
