"Chorus in Greek Theater." Encyclopedia of Ancient Literature, Second Edition. Facts On File, 2014. Ancient and Medieval History Online. Web. 16 Nov. 2015. A typical chorus is a group of singers usually performing with an orchestra, and is refer to by most people in modern day time as a choir. In Ancient Greek a chorus is usually consist of a group of men who would sang and danced. According to Facts On File “s Greek theater had its origins in religious liturgy, the chorus also sprang from associated ritual occasions and participated in both tragic and comic performances.” Greek theater can be compared the most to opera because of the characteristic that it holds. The choral parts were chanted then followed by danced with either half or the …show more content…
"Drama and Theater in the Ancient World." Encyclopedia of Society and Culture in the Ancient World. Facts On File, 2007. Ancient and Medieval History Online. Web. 10 Nov. 2015. In the early ancient time people preformed without scripts or line. Bogucki states “The nature of these performances was often dictated by geography.” They were very spontaneous. Their performances occurred to celebrate victory in battle, births marriages, and also as well to mourn the dead, or fertility. When it comes to theater it was based off religious elements. The performance where made to honor or appease a God. In India the earliest performances where based off sacred texts. Dramatic presentations became common in Ancient India, Japan, and China. They often used makeup, mask, costumes, and other conventions. Most performances where done outside. The theaters resembled modern time. According to Bogucki “The development of theater as the word is understood in modern times began with the ancient Greeks and Roman.” A lot of the plays performed by the ancient Greeks where Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides. The Greeks distinguish tragedies and comedies with comic play. The Ancient Romans continued the Greeks tradition. The Romans as well performed the Greeks play, but produced their own …show more content…
"Theater in Ancient Greece." Encyclopedia of the Ancient Greek World, Third Edition. Facts On File, 2015. Ancient and Medieval History Online. Web. 10 Nov. 2015. Although many cultures in the modern day have their own preferences in way to perform theater, tragedy and comedy was started by the Greek. The Greek mainly perform stories considered to be myth. The most common plays were comedies and tragedies. According to Sacks “Shakespeare (ca. 1600 CE) wrote tragedies and comedies because those were playwriting 's two principal forms, inherited from the Greeks.” Tragedies were portrayed as the problems that occurred with the heroes. Tragedy theater was known as the symbol of hubris or arrogant. Most times the hero would be facing his death due to the disappointment of the Gods, because of his own actions. Comedy was to be taken as a joke at all times. Mimics and Art were also use as comedy. These performances didn’t require as many characters unlike tragedy theater. Sakes stated “Ancient Greek theater was a form of poetry, with all dialogue being spoken or sung in verse. Theater was also mass culture, intended for an audience that included several social classes, and it thrived in democracies such as Athens (although it is unclear whether women, even female citizens, were allowed to attend).” With both types of theater women parts were played by men. It is said and undetermined whether females were able to view the theater performances. Both tragedy and comedy
The theater of Dionysus stands at the foot of the acropolis and its date originates back to the 6th Century, B.C.. Its originally wood seats rise in tiers above one another against the slope of the acropolis, creating a natural setting for the plays (D'ooge, 231). The Greek Theater was built to house a drama which, during the festivals of Dionysus, had evolved from the long tradition of choral hymns which were presented each year. As Greek culture changed and flourished, entertainment transformed from being a series of choral chanting and dancing to placing an emphasis on the actor. As the actors' importance grew, there became a need for a stage from which they could be seen by each of the fourteen thousand spectators the theater housed. The chorus was still a very active part of the entertainment and they resided in the orchestra (Norwich, 64). The orchestra was the oldest part of the Greek theater and thus, when the actor was given
It was not just sculptures and architecture that showed Greek pride in the individual. Greek drama showed a huge appreciation for humans in all their glory. The Greeks valued human emotions; their plays covered a wide array of subjects, all the way from the tragedies of war to the comedic side of a society in the perils of war. These subjects made it possible to reveal the Greek appreciation for real life situations, showing the value they placed on human actions, but most of all on human nature.
First I will discuss the various aspects of ancient Greek theatre then compare to today’s modern version of theatre. Today it is widely believed that theatre first began in ancient Greece, the evidence. people used to come to this conclusion from ancient Greek plays. Greek art and architecture. Orchestra [ IMAGE] The diagram on the right shows the layout of a typical Greek theatre.
of the family. This fact not only holds true for The Odyssey but in the ancient Greek way of life, too. For example, women did not have such a meaningful role in Greek drama as the men did. The parts of women would be played by men in the majority of the plays. The reason this took place was because all of the playwrights were men. There were cases in which women were used in plays but they were used solely as models. Nonetheless, all of the types of women that lived in ancient Greece were depicted in all of the playwrights. The women in these plays were depicted by the role of a sinner, saint, poetess, coward, heroine, and
To be a vocalist in the musical theatre industry you must be in peak fitness so your instruments (vocal chords) are healthy and sounding as good as possible.
The Chorus is a character in the ancient Greek theater. It was a group of performers which originally consisted of fifty seven members and later reduced to twelve members. The Chorus represents the conscience of society and their purposes were to break up the plot line, give commentary, and repeat a point that the author wanted to wave throughout the play. Moreover, they provide time to change the scenes. In the play, Chorus represents the goddesses who make up the clouds.
Greece’s Golden Age was when drama developed into a form that is similar to modern day drama. Evidence of this is the Comedy and Tragedy Masks, an international symbol for drama today. These masks were originally worn by the actors in ancient Greek plays. It was not uncommon for the actors to play multiple parts, so the masks were used to show when an actor was portraying one character or another. These plays were written for festivals in honor of the god Dionysus, the Wine God. The playwrights that everyone looked for at these festivals were Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Aristophanes (Ancient).
In the 6th century BC, Greek comedy was one of the most popular and influential form of theatre that was performed in ancient Greece. The most famous playwrights of the genre were Aristophanes and Menander. Their works included their contemporaries, poking fun at politicians, philosophers, and fellow artists. In addition to maintaining their comic touch, the plays gave an indirect and invaluable insight into the Greek society. This was by providing details on the workings of the political institutions, legal systems, religious practices, education and warfare in the Hellenic world. These plays also revealed something about the audience's identity and showed what the Greeks' sense of humour was
In Athens, during the final thirty years of sixth century B.C. playwrights began creating the earliest drama in all of Europe, Greek tragedy (Sifakis, “Greek Tragedy”). Though now the products of the movement are seen as pieces of literature to be read, they originated as theatrical pieces meant to be performed on the stage. The tragedies were mostly derived from stories about their gods, such as Hades, Zeus and Nyx. In that time period, tales of these immortals were passed down from generation to generation as history, not fairy tales. The Greeks believed the stories were those of their ancestors and revered them much as people today revere the Bible or some other religious text. However, Dionysus is the god whose cult dominated the Greek Tragic Era (Sifakis, “Greek Tragedy”). Dionysus was not only the god of wine but of theatre, so indeed the Greeks sought to give him special honor. The honor didn’t last long through the era, however, and the plays quickly lost their Dionysiac qualities shortly after the movement’s birth (Sifakis, “Greek Tragedy”). Thespis was the first poet credited with writing a Greek tragedy, but the first performances of tragedies in the City Dionysia weren’t recorded until some twenty-five years later (Sifakis, “Greek Tragedy”). The people’s strong connection to their multitude of gods stoked a fire for the popularity of the tragedies to grow upon. The Greek caste system was set in stone and their moral ethics were mostly universal in nature, as well as their views on the different sexes. The tragedies took these things and highlighted them in their plays, creating themes from contemporary ideas that pushed against the normal social and political opinions of the Greeks. ...
In classical Greek drama and tragedy, the chorus reacts, responds, and comments on the actions and plot of the play. The purpose of the chorus is to represent the customary attitude of what is occurring, to clarify the actions as well as assess the feelings of certain characters, and to overall unify the play. Traditionally, choruses consisted of males, specifically the older men of whatever territory or city-state the play takes place in. The chorus plays a vital role in the four Greek tragedies “Antigone”, “Agamemnon”, “Medea”, and “Oedipus”.
Actors were expected to memorize hundreds of lines at a time. While one play could be performing, actors would be practicing lines for their next show. Play writers also began to make roles for the actors in the theatrical pieces. The theaters that actors performed in were roofless so that the sun could be used as lighting. Theatrical shows were held in the afternoon because it provided the best amount of light for the show. When the people gathered into the theater, the different classes of people were separated by where they could afford to sit and watch the show. The lower classmen were situated on the bare earth where it was dirty and smelly because it was never cleaned. The owners’ of the theaters found it less expensive if they did not keep high maintenance of their establishments. Higher classmen sat under a roof and for a penny more, they could buy cushions for their seats.
In ancient Greece, plays were more then simply a form of entertainment. "Athenian drama was supported and financed by the state. (...)Greek theater was directed at the moral and political education of the community." (Kennedy and Gioia, pgs 1357-1363) Sophocles understood this, and dissipated any pollyanic view of society by presenting us with plays that were intended to teach. Sophocles's Oedipus the King issued a warning for those who foolishly believed that they could challenge the forces of nature. Sophocles was known for presenting characters that are fluid not static. So it should come as no surprise that the Oedipus the reader encounters at the outset of the play, an extraordinary leader, but one who's pride has lead him to challenge his fate, has changed by the end of the play. He comes to realize that all his efforts to change the outcome of his life were acts of futility. We are shown a man who has finally accepted divine will and though now fallen from high estate is uplifted in moral dignity. (Kennedy and Gioia Pg 1364-1365)
In the Greek theatre they take on a significant role of emphasising the storyline by groups speaking in unison rather than one single actor trying to reach the ears of around 17,000 listeners. They were after all a very natural part of Greek theatre and their absence would certainly reflect an unorthodox presentation. They also keep the emotion running as any scene changes can be done during their narrative sections. In a 20th Century production, the chorus performs a seemingly less essential role. As there would be ample amplification of sound, the chorus could be projected to the role of town folk who would fit into the structure of the play neatly.
Fifth century Athens created the institutionalisation of tragedy as an art form throughout the polis. Originating as Dionysian celebrations through masks, dithyrambs and dance, tragedy developed into an architectural form for playwrights, namely Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides, to encapsulate the struggle of the human condition in its attempts to reconcile good and evil existence.
Greek and Elizabethan theatre, while similar in some respects, had a few large differences. The Greeks believed in a certain unity of theme, which was prevalent throughout the production. Greek plays were often drawn from myth or of historical significance, so it seems that only ki...