week 4

Question 1

Ekyklema

Answer 1

wheel cart of death

Question 2

Mechane

Answer 2

deus ex machina
(god of the machine)

squeaky = embarrassing

Question 3

Aulos (single or double)

Answer 3

Instrument

Question 5

Thespis

Answer 5

first to step away from the dithyramb = made an actor
“first actor” that stepped out from the chorus - 6th century “stepping out”

said to have toured with a small cart

Question 6

Aeschylus

Answer 6

(died by turtle)
fought at marathon
had been a soldier somewhat aristocratic bg

(7 plays out of 80 known)
Oldest playwright we have
Pioneering the use of the second actor
Often acted in his own stuff
Won first place at the city dionysia 13 times
Death: eagle dropped turtle on his bald head

Orestria (only complete trilogy)
persians

Question 7

Sophocles

Answer 7

Sophocles: (7 plays out of 120+)
Added a third actor
Increased the role of the actors (less chorus more actors)

Lived until he was 90
Had like a 50 year popularity reign

would perform naked greased with olive oil

• Oedipus and antigone
• Inachus (mummified crocodile)
• most of one satyr play (the Trackers)

Question 8

Stray Tragedy “Rhesus”

Answer 8

perhaps an early work or Euripides but it doesn’t really sound like him

Question 9

Euripides

Answer 9

• ended up getting banished from Athens (corrupting influence)
• got made fun of in other plays
• show women as improper

Euripides: (18 plays)
Won 4 or 5 times
Was made fun of a lot (in comedies)

Cyclops
Medea
the Bacchae (the last one her produces)
ABOUT THE WOMEN AND DIONYSUS

we have so many of his plays because an entire volume survived

Question 10

Greek Chorus

Answer 10

sometimes unison / singing and dancing

word of the play: social / ethical framework (tool of assimilation, propaganda, colonization)

either the average citizen but also for pushing dramatic irony / foreshadowing?

or an “ideal spectator”
- they establish the mood
- spectacle - them dancing in unison
(whats drawn on the vases)
- Rhythm (chorus scene chorus scene)
- information (what happened offstage)

Question 11

theory of ephebes
(who was in the chorus)

Answer 11

(not payed) but extensive training
young men 18-20 years old
had to do 2 years of military service
training to become citizens
one of the things in the training was to dance and sing

teaches discipline and working as a unit

Question 12

Old Comedy

Answer 12

only example is aristophanes
1 playwright, 11 plays
The birds, the frogs

Highly particular
Made fun of known politicians and figures in athens
Referencing current events
Its giving SNL
Certain passages aren’t translatable because they’re so specific
Flourishes with democracy

Question 13

New Comedy

Question 14

Menander

Answer 14

only one play
Dyskolos (The Grouch)

(plus other fragments)

Question 15

Theory

Answer 15

Plato
Alfred north said western philosophy = footnotes of Plato?

and Aristotle

“every philosopher can be traced back to either Plato or Aristotle”

one was inductive one was deductive

Question 16

Plato

Answer 16

428-348 BCE (overlaps with Sophocles and Euripides)
- student of socrates (thinks deductively)
- suspicious of art / poetry cuz think they false sense of reality = dangerous

• he almost writes entirely in dialogue (WHICH MIGHT AS WELL BE A PLAY)

in republic:
ideal city where every man does one thing
“what use is there for theatre make that imitates others”
- therefore we exclude all artists and poets from the ideal city

Question 17

Allegory of the cave (plato)

Answer 17

A parable?

we are like ppl stuck in a cave and all were seeing is shadows, which is a rendering of reality

Question 18

Theory of the cave (plato)

Answer 18

there are ideal forms and we are spending all of our lives trying to imitate the ideal version
(chair example??)

Question 19

Aristotle

Answer 19

Plato’s student
(and tutor to alexander the great)

moves inductively always
mimeis is natural and fun and we can use it for good.

people just need to realize that it isnt reality

wrote the poetics (only tragedy portion retained)

Question 20

aristotle’s poetics

Answer 20

we only have the tragedy parts

look back at a previous works= and decide whats great about it

treats oedipus as a perfect example of a tragedy

Question 21

TWO WORDS FROM ARISTOTLE

Answer 21

catharsis: tragedy through pity and fear effects the proper purgation of these emotions
(takes you through the emotions so u don’t have to do it yourself)

Hamartia: tragic flaw
misfortune is brought about by error or frailty (not vice)