Classical Theatre: Sophocles to Aristophanes

Classical Theatre

Sophocles and Euripides

• Sophocles won more victories than Euripides due to his well-developed characters.

Structure of Old Comedy

• The structure of old comedy is similar to Greek tragedy, using the chorus to translate the action and engage the audience.

Deus Ex Machina

• The poet's use of deus ex machina helps to tighten the loose ends of the plot to enable a proper resolution.

Old Comedy

• Old Comedy is also referred to as Aristophanic Comedy.
• The main purpose of the phallic procession, apart from making merry, was to pray for fertility and prosperity.

Greek Drama

• Stasima in Greek drama serve two functions: to provide commentary on the action and to give the actors a break.
• The skene served as a backdrop for the performance of ancient Greek plays.
• The choregos was important in the production of Greek plays, financing the production and providing costumes for the characters.

Peripetia and Anagnorisis

• Peripetia refers to a reversal of circumstances, while anagnorisis refers to a change from ignorance to knowledge.

Tragedy

• The convention of tragedy frowns upon the performance of historical themes.
• Aeschylus earned the title "father of Greek tragedy" by elevating the genre from its primitive state.

Attic Comic Poets

• Apart from Aristophanes, the other two poets usually regarded among the three great Attic comic poets are Cratinus and Eupolis.

Deus Ex Machina and Plot

• The use of deus ex machina serves to tighten the loose ends of the plot to enable a proper resolution.
• Aristotle distinguishes between the complication and the denouement of the plot of tragedy, with the complication referring to the building up of the plot and the denouement referring to the resolution.

Parodoi and Orchestra

• The Parodoi refers to the entrance and exit points of the chorus, while the Orchestra refers to the performance area of the chorus.

Primordial Deities

• Hemera is the goddess of day, while Nyx is the goddess of night.

Euripides

• Aristotle refers to Euripides as the most tragic of the three tragedians because he presents his characters as they are and not as they ought to be.

Prologos

• The prologos serves as an introduction to the play, providing background information and setting the tone.

Crates

• Crates brought novelty into the performance of Greek Old Comedy by dropping the comedy of invectives and framing stories of general and non-personal nature.

Complex Plots

• Aristotle prefers complex plots to simple plots because they provide more opportunities for suspense and surprise.

Aristophanes

• Two plays of Aristophanes that parodied the tragic art of Euripides are "The Acharnians" and "The Thesmophoriazusae".
• The understanding of Greek Old Comedy should be traced to Aristophanes because he is the only poet whose works have survived in their entirety.

Satyr Play

• The satyr play served to provide a humorous and lighthearted conclusion to the trilogy of tragedies.

Sophocles

• A novelty of Sophocles still in use in contemporary theaters is the use of scene changes.