Theatre scholarship Flashcards
Carey - festivals
drama festivals were an exercise in propaganda
Higgins - attending theatre
to attend the theatre was a religious duty and responsibility of all pious citizens
Dover - frogs unique
Frogs is unique among extant plays in providing us with the spectacle of a moving vehicle, Charons boat, which arrives to take Dionysus
Steiner - tragedy
there is no place for tragedy in the modern world, governed by belief in rationality/mankind’s power to drive progress
Higgins - tragedy (comfort)
maybe we want tragedy because it’s actually comforting to be told individual human actions have a meaning and grandeur
Higgins - tragedy (gods)
greek tragedy is deeply interested in playing with the limits of human agency against a backdrop in which the gods are all powerful
Taplin - tragedy
There is nothing intrinsically Dionysiac about Greek tragedy
Seaford - tragedy
tragedy is a fairly good indication of what meant something to the Athenian audience
Godhill - tragedy
tragedy is a very sobering and frightening story
Henn - tragedy
tragedy offers not just redemption, but the assertion that man is splendid in his ashes
Garland - euripides
it is possible Euripides was an atheist since he consistently presents hods in an extremely negative light and seems to call into question their entitlement to worship
Taplin - masks
it looks as though the ‘neutrality’ of the mask was ready to take its expression from the tragedy rather than imposing a certain tone on it
swift - hero
the hero’s character traits are not inherently bad but become problematic when pushed to an extreme
swift - Achilles
Achilles is in many ways the prototype for the tragic hero
Knox - hero
we find heros attractive
Knox - hero decisions
the tragic hero makes a decision rooted in his personal nature and maintains it to the point of self destruction
Cartledge - Aristophanes
the contribution of Aristophanes to comedy was overwhelming and unique.
Seaford - Aristophanes
fairly idealogical