Greek Tragedy

1. Greek Tragedy Aim is catharsis of spectators, to arouse in them fear and pity and then purge them of these emotions

2. Structure • Prologue – opening • Parodos – first ode or choral song chanted by chorus as they enter • Ode – dignified, lyrical verse • Strophe – chorus moves right to left • Antistrophe – chorus moves left to right. • Episode – acts • Stasimon – choral ode at end of each epsiode • Exodos – final action

3. Origin • Festival for Dionysus – 3 Days, 3 poets, 4 plays each, 3 tragedies and 1 satire, winner • Thespis – father of drama, preformed first tragedy • Story lines – from mythology, a collective social, political, and religious history; therefore, the audience was already familiar with them.

4. Actors • All male • Wore masks – detailed enough so character was identified, generic enough to represent every man • Chiton – robe in symbolic colors • Cothurni – platform shoes • Dramatis Personae – list of characters • Hero – hamartia, hubris, reversal/perepetia, recognition/anagnorisis

5. Chorus • Create psychological and emotional background • Introduce and question new characters • Point out significant events • Establish facts • Voice outlook of citizens • Cover passage of time • Separate episodes • Do not wear masks • Used megaphones

6. Theatron – seeing placeSkene – generic background, change costumes Orchestra – dancing placeProskenion – stageParodos – where chorus enters

7. Sophocles • Colonus – 496-406 BC • Replaced trilogy with individual tragedies • Electra, Antigone, Oedipus at Colonus • Man’s external pursuit of knowledge Audience • Knew the story so kept involved using irony and allusions • Expected to learn about motives and forces that moved characters

8. Aristotelian tragic hero: Aristotle once said that "A man doesn't become a hero until he can see the root of his own downfall." An Aristotelian tragic hero must have four characteristics. • Nobility (of a noble birth) or wisdom (by virtue of birth). • Hamartia (translated as flaw, mistake, or error, a flaw of character). • A reversal of fortune (and being stupid) (peripetia) brought about because of the hero's Hamartia. • The discovery or recognition that the reversal was brought about by the hero's own actions (anagnorisis).Flaw is recognized too late to save the hero from his fall.

9. Some other common traits characteristic of a tragic hero: • Hero must suffer more than he deserves. The punishment exceeds the crime. • The tragic hero is a character of noble stature and has greatness.  This should be readily evident in the play.  The character must occupy a "high" status position but must ALSO embody nobility and virtue as part of his/her innate character. • Though the tragic hero is pre-eminently great, he/she is not perfect.  Otherwise, the rest of us--mere mortals--would be unable to identify with the tragic hero.  We should see in him or her someone who is essentially like us, although perhaps elevated to a higher position in society.

10. Hero must be noble in nature, but imperfect so that the audience can see themselves in him. • Hero must have discovered his fate by his own actions, not by things happening to him. • Hero must see and understand his doom, as well as the fact that his fate was discovered by his own actions. In other words, the fall is not pure loss. There is some increase in awareness, some gain in self-knowledge, some discovery on the part of the tragic hero. • He suffers both outwardly (isolation, alienation, attacks) and inwardly (tortured conscience). • Hero's story should arouse fear and empathy.

11. Because of his position, his actions usually have far-reaching effects. • Frequently, he makes serious errors in judgment which lead him to committing the deed which begins his downfall. • Often he has a distorted perception of, or is blind to, reality. • Hero must be physically or spiritually wounded by his experiences, often resulting in his death. • Ideally, the hero should be a king or leader of men, so that his people experience his fall with him. • The hero must be intelligent so he may learn from his mistakes. • The hero usually has an unusual birth, was spirited away and raised somewhere else, does not know his background, returns home and saves the day, but has a tragic, unusual death. • A tragic hero usually has the following sequence of " Great, Good, Flaw, Recognition, Downfall."

12. Things to look for • Light vs. Darkness • The Scapegoat • The Outcast • The Hero • The Quest • Delphic Morality – Know thyself, Nothing in Excess, Punishment is Near

13. The Story • Oedipus Rex (swollen foot) born to King Laius, kills dad, answers riddle of the sphinx, married mom, lived happily with four kids, plague comes to city, action begins • Oedipus at Colonus – Thebes, Oedipus’s death • Antigone – You’ll have to wait to find out.