The History of Greek Tragedy

The Athenian fifth century B.C. was one of the most culturally productive periods in the history of humankind. The unsurpassed Athenian achievements began with the defeat of the Persians in 479 B.C. and ended with the fall of Athens to Sparta in 404 B.C. Classical Greek civilization was crucial to the development of Western civilization. The Greeks of antiquity developed a rich and vibrant culture, reflected in preeminent works of sculpture, architecture, poetry, and drama. The classical Greeks invented democracy and passed it down as a legacy to Western Europe. Political freedom was part of Greek culture's belief in individual expression and achievement. In the arts, as in athletics, competition was encouraged, with the victor of drama competitions, for instance, crowned as a kind of hero. The annual competition of dramatists led to the creation of Sophocles' plays, including Oedipus the King and Antigone. Against the background of warring mainland Greece in the fifth century B.C., Greek culture nevertheless flourished in a Golden Age; the Greeks still provide us a sense of unique values, balance, and harmony in not just politics and the arts, but in daily life as well.

Greek drama developed from celebrations honoring Dionysus, the Greek god of wine and fertility. These celebrations included the dancing of a chorus as part of the religious ritual. It is possible that the leader of the chorus (the choragus) may have engaged the rest of the chorus in responsive chanting. Legend suggests that the poet Thespis introduced a speaker who, detached from the chorus, engaged in dialogue with it. at that point drama was born. A second actor was added by Aeschylus (524-456 B.C.) and a third by Sophocles (496?-406 B.C.). in Greek drama no more than three characters appeared onstage together at one time, although it was common for actors to double and triple parts, changing masks for their multiple roles.

Greek plays were performed in huge outdoor amphitheaters capable of seating upwards of fourteen thousand people. Members of the audience were seated in tiers that wards of fourteen thousand people. Members of the audience were seated in tiers that sloped up hillsides where the theaters were built; the hills echoed the sound of the actors' voices. The actors wore masks that amplified their voices in the manner of megaphones. The masks were large, and with the elevated shoes sometimes worn by actors, they projected the characters as larger-than-life figures. The masks and elevated shoes restricted what the actors could do and what the dramatist could expect of them. Subtle nuances of voice, of facial expression, and of gesture were impossible. The playwright's language rather than his stage business conveyed nuances of meaning and feeling.

The plays were performed on an elevated platform. Behind the acting area was a scene building that functioned both as dressing room and as scenic background, and below the stage was the orchestra or dancing place for the chorus. Standing between the actors and the audience, the chorus represented the common or communal viewpoint.

An important function of the chorus was to mark the divisions between the scenes of a play, when the chorus would dance and chant poetry. Lyric rather than dramatic in form, these choral interludes sometimes commented on the action, sometimes generalized from it. They remained in Greek drama as vestiges of its origins in religious ritual. For modern readers these choric interludes pace the play, affording respite from the gradually intensifying action, and allowing time to ponder its implications.

The scenes of Greek plays usually consist of two, sometimes three characters with the third usually acting as an observer who occasionally comments on the debate occurring between the other two characters. Sometimes most of a scene is given over to a debate between two characters, as, for example, in Scene III of Antigone with Haimon challenging Creon, his father, or Scene I of Oedipus Rex in which Oedipus argues with Teiresias. Some scenes, such as Scene II of Antigone, include debates between Creon-Antigone, Antigone-Ismene, Ismene-Creon, and Creon-Choragos. The debates typically begin with leisurely speeches in which each character sets forth a position. The speeches are followed by rapid-fire dialogue that brings the characters' antagonisms to a climax. This pattern is repeated throughout the play in something like a theme with variations, each scene usually developing a conflict. The accumulation of conflicts advances the action, leading to the inevitable tragic catastrophe.

Brevity is a characteristic of Greek tragedy: the plays are short with most having a playing time of roughly ninety minutes. Greek dramatists based their plays on myths that were familiar to the audience, which reduced the amount of time needed for exposition. The plays also have a musical dimension, which, combined with the dancing and chanting of the chorus, increased the emotional impact of the ancient performances.

"The Ancient Greek Drama and Theatre History." Tripod.com

"Tragedy: The Basics." GVSU.edu.

"Greek Theatre." Reed.edu.