1. Wes tern C ivilization
Greek
TheaTer

2. The Greek Theater
5th Century B. C.
Golden Age of Greek Drama
Dramatic festivals were popular
People witnessed tragic and
comic plays
Athens is named for the Greek
goddess, Athena

3. The land
Overview of Greek Theatre
The myths
The stage

4. The Land
Greece has thousands of inhabited islands and
dramatic mountain ranges
Greece has a rich culture and history
Birthplace of Democracy and Commerce
Literature and Architecture founded in
Greece
Patriarchal (male dominated) society
Philosophy, as a practice, began in Greece
(Socrates, Plato, Aristotle)

5. The Land
Located in Europe in the Aegean Sea

7. The Land

8. Overview of Greek Theatre
The land
The myths
The stage

9. The Stage
Ancient Greeks invented the art of
Drama, beginning in Athens

10. Three Main
Portions of Greek The Stage
Theatre:
Skene – Portion of
stage where actors
performed
(included 1-3 doors
in and out)
Orchestra –
“Dancing Place”
where chorus sang
to the audience
Theatron – Seating
for audience

11. The Stage

12. The Stage
Greek plays were performed during religious
ceremonies held in honor of Dionysus, the
Greek god of wine and revelry (altars generally
on stage)
Banks would shut down for days, people would
travel from all around to see the drama
competitions—even prisoners were temporarily
released to see the plays
Tragedy means “goat song” (relates to
Dionysian rituals)

13. The Stage

14. Where and how were the dramas performed?
…In an amphitheatre
…With a chorus who
described most of the
action.
…With masks
…With all the fighting
and movement going
on off stage.
….With tragedy first,
then comedy later.

15. Masks of Greek
TheaTer

16. The masks were worn for many
reason including:
1. Visibility
2. Acoustic Assistance
3. Few Actors, Many Roles
4. Characterization

17. Some general categories of masks
1. OLD MEN
Smooth-Faced, White, Grizzled, Black-Haired, Flaxen and
More Flaxen
2. YOUNG MEN
Common, Curled, More Curled, Graceful, Horrid, Pale
and Less Pale
3. SLAVES
Leathern, Peaked-Beard, Flat Nose
4. WOMEN
Freed Old Woman, Old Domestic, Middle Aged, Leathern,
Pale-Disheveled, Pale Middle Aged, Whorish-Disheveled,
Virgin, Girl
5. SPECIALIST MASKS
Some made for specific characters, others for: Mourning,
Blindness, Deceit, Drunkenness...etc. (The comic masks,
those especially of old comedy, were as like as possible to
true persons they represented, or made to appear more
ridiculous)

19. Masks of Greek

21. Masks
of
Greek
TheaTe
r

22. Modern-day replicas
Hero-King
Comedy
(Servant or Herald )
Tragedy
(Weeping Chorus)

23. TheaTer aT epidaurus

24. TheaTer aT epidaurus

25. Major Greek Dramatists
Aeschylus 524 B.C. Seven Against
Thebes
Sophocles 496 B.C. Antigone
Oedipus
Euripides 480 B.C. Medea
Dramatist Born Wrote

26. Sophocles’ Antigone
Set in Thebes (a city in ancient Greece)
Antigone is the daughter of Oedipus and
Jocasta
Antigone’s brothers, Eteokles and
Polyneces, took opposite sides in a war
Eteokles and Polyneces killed each other
in battle
Antigone’s uncle, Kreon, became king of
Thebes

27. sophocles

29. Greek coMedy and

31. Euripides’ Medea
Medea is a princess from Colchis
Medea marries Jason, who is in Colchis
on a quest for the Golden Fleece
Medea betrays her father and murders
her brother for her love of Jason
Medea has magical powers
Jason takes Medea back to his homeland,
Corinth, where they have children
Jason takes another wife, the king of
Corinth’s daughter

32. Jason’s Voyage on the Argo
Jason and
Medea meet
Corinth: Where Jason
and Medea settle down

33. Overview of Greek Theatre
The land
The myths
The stage

34. Myths played a key role
in Greek drama

35. The Myths – Why they were written
1. Explained the unexplainable
2. Justified religious practices
3. Gave credibility to leaders
4. Gave hope
5. Polytheistic (more than one god)
6. Centered around the twelve
Olympians (primary Greek gods)

36. Explained the Unexplainable
When Echo tried to get
Narcissus to love her, she was
denied.
Saddened, she shriveled to
nothing, her existence melting
into a rock.
Only her voice remained.
Hence, the echo!

37. To justify religious practices
Drama and plays were founded to
worship Dionysus, god of grapes,
vegetation, and wine at his festival.

38. rooTs in Worship of
dionysus
God of Wine and revelry

39. Theater of Dionysus
Dionysia was an annual festival
in honor of the god Dionysus
Theater of Dionysus was an
open-air Theater with room
for fifteen thousand spectators

40. Theater of Dionysus
carved out of a stone hillside
looked like a semicircle with
steeply rising tiers of seats

41. Theater of Dionysus

42. Theater of Dionysus
At the bottom was the
rounded orchestra or
performance area where
the chorus sang and danced

43. dionysus TheaTer in
aThens

44. Theater of Dionysus
Behind the orchestra was an
open, almost bare, stage
where actors spoke their
lines from behind huge
masks

45. dionysus TheaTer in
aThens

46. dionysus TheaTer in
aThens

47. Theater of Dionysus
Male actors performed all the
roles
Actors switched masks to play a
number of roles – both female
and male

48. dionysus and

49. To give credibility to leaders
Used myths to create
family trees for their
leaders, enforcing
the made-up idea
that the emperors
were related to the
gods and were, then,
demigods.

50. To give hope
The ancient citizens of
Greece would sacrifice and
pray to an ORACLE.
An oracle was a priest or
priestess who would send a
message to the gods from
mortals who brought their Where DID hope come from?
requests.
After unleashing suffering, famine, disease,
and many other evils, the last thing Pandora let
out was HOPE.

51. oracle of

52. oracle of delphi

53. delphi

54. delphi

55. Mount Olympus…
…Where the
Olympians
lived.
Who are the Olympians?

56. The
Olympians
Are the 12
Main Gods

57. The Olympians

58. Zeus
King of gods
Heaven
Storms
Thunder
lightning

59. Poseidon
Zeus’s brother
King of the sea
Earthquakes
Horses

60. Hades
Brother to Zeus and
Poseidon
King of the Underworld
(Tartarus)
Husband of Persphone

61. Ares
God of war

62. Hephaestus
God of fire
Craftspeople
Metalworkers
Artisans

63. Apollo
God of the sun
Music
Poetry
Fine arts
Medicine

64. Hermes
Messenger to the gods
Trade
Commerce
Travelers
Thieves & scoundrels

65. Dionysus
God of Wine
Partying (Revelry)

66. Hera
Queen of gods
Women
Marriage
Childbirth

67. Demeter
Goddess of Harvest
Agriculture
Fertility
Fruitfulness
Mom to Persephone

68. Hestia
Goddess of Hearth
Home
Community

69. Athena
Goddess of wisdom
Practical arts
War

70. Aphrodite
Goddess of love and beauty

71. Artemis
Goddess of hunting
and the moon.

72. The
Storyline

73. cenTral
characTer is
of The eliTe
class

74. cenTral
characTer
suffers a
doWnfall

75. cenTral
characTer
is neiTher
Wholly
Good nor
Wholly
evil

76. doWnfall is
The resulT
of a faTal
flaW

77. MisforTune
s involve
characTers
Who are
relaTed or
Who are
friends

78. TraGic
acTions
Take place
offsTaGe

79. cenTral
characTer
has a
MoMenT of
recoGniTio
n

80. audience
experiences
piTy and
fear

81. piTy and
fear leads
To a
caTharsis

82. The End