9/1/07 - Classical Literature - Introduction to Greek Tragedy Continued

1. What is Greek/Attic Tragedy?

- a story taken from heroic myth (the only exception among the extant plays is Persians by Aeschylus)
- to be performed at the Theatre of Dionysus in Athens
- orchestra
- skênê
- eisodoi (parodoi)
- by 2-3 (male) actors and a chorus; Sophocles is said to have introduced the third actor
- during the Great Dionysia: the festival of the god Dionysus annually observed in Athens in March (from 440 BC tragedy was also performed at another festival, the Lenaia)
- performance as competition: each year three tragic poets and five comic poets are given a chorus; each tragic chorus performs three tragedies and one satyr-play; each comic chorus performs one comedy
- 533 BC: the traditional date for the first tragic performance at the Great Dionysia
- 472 BC: production of the first complete tragedy that survives: Persians by Aeschylus
- 486 BC: comedy is introduced into the Great Dionysia

Actors in Greek tragedies would wear masks. This made it difficult for them to project their voices, so they spoke facing the audience at all times. Also, it made expressions impossible, so emotions had to be articulated through speech and the use of hands.

2. Key terms

prologos: prologue, the first spoken scene
parodos: the first choral song ('arrival')
stasimon: 'standing songs'
epeisodion: spoken scenes between choral songs
exodus: part of the play that follows the last full choral song ('exit')

kommos: any (mainly) lyric passage in which both chorus and actors participate ('lament')
rhesis: a long set speech by a single character
agon: debate between two characters
stichomythia: a stylised form of dialogue in which each speech consists exactly of one single line

3. Tragedy, the polis, and civic ideology

Actors were uneducated but they trained by watching Greek tragedies.

Because tragedies had to be based on myth, sometimes the same myth was used multiple times, for example, the story of Oedipus. But the audience would not necessarily know what was about to happen because they would be encouraged to watch out for what the poet had changed about the original story in his play.

According to statistics, many citizens in Athens would participate in the chorus at some point. It was often argued whether the chorus was good or bad during any given year.

Three plays were performed on each day of the festival, of which there were five. There were certain events preceding the performances. There would be a parade and libations of sacrificial wine. Two days after the festival there would be an assembly in the Theatre to debate whether the performances were well conducted.

It is maintained by British, American and French scholars that Greek tragedy was a political event. However, while the performance was organised by officials, it was not entirely political. Vernant disputed the scholars' method of scouring each play for political messages. Besides, the plays were set in mythological settings so they do not discuss politics at all. Greek tragedies do not have political meanings. See P.J. Rhodes' "Nothing to do with democracy: Athenian drama and the polis." Greek tragedy did not enact Greek successes. Epic was the paradigm for tragedy.