Greek Tragedy and Antigone · Greek tragedy Tragedy is a drama that recounts an important and...

Greek TragedyGreek Tragedy

The LandThe Land

Located in Europe in the Aegean

Sea

The LandThe Land

•Greece has

thousands of

inhabited islands and inhabited islands and

dramatic mountain

ranges

The LandThe Land

The HistoryThe History

• Democracy was founded

in Greece

• It had a patriarchal (male

dominated) society

The PhilosophyThe Philosophy

•Philosophy, the art

of thinking, began of thinking, began

in Greece

(Socrates, Plato,

Aristotle)

Aristotle (342Aristotle (342--322 BC)322 BC)

author of author of PoeticsPoetics, which defined , which defined

Greek tragedyGreek tragedy

Tragedy is a drama that recounts an important and unhappy event in the life of a significant personlife of a significant person

A tragic hero must be a person capable of great suffering

Tragedy explores humankind’s questions of the ways of god or fate

Tragedy shows how a person is brought to disaster by a single character flaw

Tragedy arouses the emotions of pity, fear, wonder, awe, and ends with a

catharsis of emotions.

Aristotle’s Tragic HeroAristotle’s Tragic Hero

�Must come from nobility

�Must have a tragic flaw

�Undergoes a reversal of fortune(fall �Undergoes a reversal of fortune(fall

from high place)

�Finally recognizes his/her mistakes

The UnitiesThe Unities

• A. Unity of Time (play is limited to a 24 hour period)

• B. Unity of Place (scenes/locations did not • B. Unity of Place (scenes/locations did not change)

• C. Unity of Action (one storyline without subplots or diversions

Purpose of the PlaysPurpose of the Plays

• Everyone was expected to attend based on civic duty

• Plays were a form of religious worship

• They taught moral lessons such as • They taught moral lessons such as moderation, duty, etc.

• Violent acts were not permitted on stage but were simply reported to the audience by a character

Dramatic StructureDramatic Structure

Terms to KnowTerms to Know

• Catharsis- the release of pent up emotions or tension, sometimes through art or music and sometimes through behavior

• Hubris- having excessive pride or arrogance

TheThe MythsMyths–– a key a key

factor in Greek Tragedyfactor in Greek Tragedyfactor in Greek Tragedyfactor in Greek Tragedy

The Myths The Myths –– Why they were writtenWhy they were written

1. Explained the unexplainable

2. Justified religious practices

3. Gave credibility to leaders

4. Gave hope4. Gave hope

5. Polytheistic (more than one god)

6. Centered around the twelve Olympians (primary Greek gods)

To give credibility to leadersTo give credibility to leaders

The Greeks 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.

Mount OlympusMount Olympus

…Where the

Olympians

lived.lived.

Who are the Olympians?

The Olympians Are the 12 Main The Olympians Are the 12 Main GodsGods

Temperaments o

f the

Olympians

Temperaments o

f the

Olympians

ZeusZeus

• King of gods

• Heaven

• Storms

• Thunder• Thunder

• Lightning

PoseidonPoseidon

• Zeus’s brother

• King of the sea

• Earthquakes

• Horses• Horses

HadesHades

• Brother to Zeus and

Poseidon

• King of the

Underworld (Tartarus)Underworld (Tartarus)

• Husband of

Persephone

AresAres

• God of war

HephaestusHephaestus

• God of fire

• Craftspeople

• Metalworkers

• Artisans• Artisans

ApolloApollo

• God of the sun

• Music

• Poetry

• Fine arts• Fine arts

• Medicine

HermesHermes

• Messenger to the

gods

• Trade

• Commerce• Commerce

• Travelers

• Thieves & scoundrels

HeraHera

• Queen of gods

• Married to Zeus

• Women

• Marriage• Marriage

• Childbirth

DemeterDemeter

• Goddess of Harvest

• Agriculture

• Fertility

• Fruitfulness• Fruitfulness

• Mom to Persephone

HestiaHestia

• Goddess of Hearth

• Home

• Community

AthenaAthena

• Goddess of wisdom

• Practical arts

• War

AphroditeAphrodite

• Goddess of love and

beauty

ArtemisArtemis

• Goddess of hunting

and the moon.

DionysusDionysus-- a minor goda minor god

•God of

Wine Wine

and

Partying

(Revelry)DionysusDionysus

Dionysian FestivalDionysian Festival

• Greek plays were performed

during religious ceremonies

held in honor of Dionysus held in honor of Dionysus

and sacrifices were made

(generally on stage )

The TheaterThe Theater

• Business would shut down

for days, people would

travel from all around to see travel from all around to see

the drama competitions—

even prisoners were

temporarily released to see

the plays


•Tragedy means

“goat song” “goat song”

(related to

Dionysian rituals)

The TheaterThe TheaterSix Main Portions of

Greek Theater:

Theatron – Seating

for audience

The TheaterThe TheaterSix Main Portions of Greek Theater:

Orchestra –“Dancing

Place” where where

chorus sang to the

audience


Thymele –altar to

Dionysus in center of center of orchestra

where sacrifices were made


Skene –wooden scene

building building used as a dressing

room.


Parados –entrance

to the to the theater used by

the Chorus

Where and how were the dramas Where and how were the dramas

performed?performed?

…In an amphitheatre



…With a chorus who described most of the action.



……With masks

The StageThe Stage

TheThe PlaywrightsPlaywrights

• Thespis was the first playwright to tell a story. He had one chorus one chorus member step away from the others to play the part of a hero or god.

How were the dramas developed?How were the dramas developed?

Aeschylus added a second individual

actor to the performance, thus performance, thus

creating the possibility of

conflict.

How were the dramas developed?How were the dramas developed?

•Sophocles

adds a third

actor; now actor; now

we have full-

blown drama.

Sophocles’ Sophocles’ AntigoneAntigone

•Set in Thebes (a

city in ancient city in ancient

Greece)

Is based on the myth of

Oedipus, which all Greek

audiences would have known

well

This allowed the audience to

focus on the message being

delivered rather than the events

The Story of OedipusThe Story of Oedipus

• Oedipus is given away by

his parents, Laios and

Jocasta when they learn Jocasta when they learn

from an oracle that their son

would kill his father and

marry his mother.

• The ancient citizens of

Greece would sacrifice and

pray to an ORACLE.

• An oracle was a priest or

priestess who would send priestess who would send

a message from the gods

to mortals who brought

their requests.

The Oracle at DelphiThe Oracle at Delphi

Most famous oracle in Greek

mythology.


• Oedipus learns of the oracle

and believing the king and

queen of Corinth are his queen of Corinth are his

parents, he leaves to avoid

the oracle.


• Oedipus travels to Thebes, killing Laios on the way. He saves the city He saves the city

from a terrible monster, the

Sphinx.


•Thebes rewards him

by making him king by making him king

and giving him the

queen to marry.


• A plague hits the city and

the oracle warns that it

won’t go away until the won’t go away until the

killer of King Laios is

punished.


•Oedipus

investigates and investigates and

finds out he killed

his father and

married his mother.


•Oedipus

blinds

himself and himself and

Jocasta kills

herself.


•Antigone is the

daughter of daughter of

Oedipus and

Jocasta.


•Antigone’s brothers,

Eteokles and Eteokles and

Polyneces, were to

rule in alternate years.


•Eteokles refused to

give up the throne give up the throne

for Polyneces at the

end of his year.


•Polyneces went to

Argos and raised Argos and raised

an army to gain

the throne.


•Eteokles and

Polyneces killed Polyneces killed

each other in

battle.


•Antigone’s uncle,

Creon, became Creon, became

king of Thebes.


• Creon, gives Eteokles,

his ally, a hero’s burial

and issues a decree and issues a decree

against burying

Polyneces.


•Antigone believes that

he is wrong and that he is wrong and that

both of her brothers

should be buried with

honor.

Ancient Greek Burial TraditionsAncient Greek Burial Traditions• 1. Bury or burn the body to keep the soul from wandering the earth

• 2. Dead are washed and dressed in fine clothing.

• 3. The mouth and eyes of the dead are shut to prevent the soul from leaving the body.

• 4. Mourners wear black and/or cut their hair.

• 5. The body is followed by a procession.

• 6. Wine was poured over the gravesite and there was a sacrifice of • 6. Wine was poured over the gravesite and there was a sacrifice of food and drink.

• 7. Flowers were laid on the gravesite.

• 8. A funeral feast was prepared.

• 9. Dead were buried in a special place called a necropolis “city of the dead”.

• 10. A coin was placed inside the dead’s mouth to pay the ferryman for a ride across the River Styx into the underworld.

• http://video.pbs.org/video/1082075672/


The play is based on three

major conflicts

• Human law vs. God’s law• Human law vs. God’s law

• Civic Duty vs. Family Duty

• Man’s role vs. Woman’s role

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