Greek Drama PDF

## Greek Drama - **Main Idea:** Greek drama still shapes entertainment today. - **Reading Focus:** Think about your favorite movie. How would you describe it? Is it a tragedy? Is it a comedy? ### What is Drama? Drama is a story told by actors who pretend to be characters. In drama, actors speak,...

## Greek Drama - **Main Idea:** Greek drama still shapes entertainment today. - **Reading Focus:** Think about your favorite movie. How would you describe it? Is it a tragedy? Is it a comedy? ### What is Drama? Drama is a story told by actors who pretend to be characters. In drama, actors speak, show emotion, and imitate the actions of the characters they represent. ### Linking Past and Present - **THEN:** Tragedies and comedies were staged at the theater on the slopes of the Acropolis in Athens. The plays included music and dance. Greek actors wore costumes and held large masks. The masks told the audience who the actor was supposed to be (a king, a soldier, or a god). All the actors were men, even those playing female parts. A modern-day play - **NOW:** Actors today include both men and women, even children and animals. Special effects and makeup have replaced handheld masks. Music in modern theater is sometimes just as important as the actors' words. If you watched a Greek play, what might it tell you about life in ancient Greece? ### Tragedies and Comedies The Greeks performed plays in outdoor theaters as part of their religious festivals. They developed two kinds of dramas: comedies and tragedies. - **Tragedy:** A person struggles to overcome difficulties but fails. As a result, the story has an unhappy ending. Early Greek tragedies presented people in a struggle against their fate. Later Greek tragedies showed how a person's character flaws caused him or her to fail. - **Comedy:** The story ends happily. The word comedy actually means any drama that has a happy ending. ### Greek Stories Greek stories dealt with big questions, such as: - What is the nature of good and evil? - What rights should people have? - What role do gods play in our lives? ### The Writers of Greek Drama - **Tragedies:** Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides - **Comedies:** Aristophanes #### Early Greek Tragedies - There was only one actor who gave speeches and a chorus that sang songs describing the events. - Aeschylus introduced the idea of having two actors, allowing conflict between the two people. - Aeschylus also introduced costumes, props, and stage decorations. #### Sophocles - Developed drama further. - Used more actors in his stories instead of one. - Placed painted scenes behind the stage. - Two of Sophocles' most famous plays are Oedipus Rex and Antigone. #### Euripides - Tried to take Greek drama beyond heroes and gods. - His characters were more down-to-earth. - Euripides' plots show a great interest in real-life situations. - He questioned traditional thinking, especially about war. - He showed war as cruel and women and children as its victims. #### Aristophanes - Wrote comedies that make fun of leading politicians and scholars. - His plays encourage the audience to think as well as to laugh, just like popular television comedies do today. #### Reading Check Summarize: What two types of drama did the Greeks create? - Tragedies - Comedies ## Greek Art and Architecture - **Main Idea:** Greek art and architecture expressed Greek ideas of beauty and harmony. - **Reading Focus:** Do you consider any building in your neighborhood a work of art? Read on to find out about buildings that people have admired as art for centuries. ### Artists in Ancient Greece Artists in ancient Greece believed in certain ideas and tried to show those ideas in their work. Greek artists wanted people to see reason, moderation, balance, and harmony in their work, hoping to inspire people to base their lives on these same ideas. ### The Parthenon - Standing at almost 230 feet long and 100 feet wide, the Parthenon was built between 447 and 432 B.C. - It was the glory of Ancient Athens. - It's purpose is unclear. ### Greek Pottery - We know that the Greeks painted murals, but none of them have survived. - However, we can still see examples of Greek painting on Greek pottery. - The pictures on most Greek pottery are either red on a black background or black on a red background. - Large vases often had scenes from Greek myths. - Small drinking cups showed scenes from everyday life. ### Greek Columns - The Greeks used three different styles of columns in their buildings: Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian. ### Greek Architecture - In addition to making pottery, the Greeks were skilled architects. - Architecture is the art of designing and building structures. - In Greece, the most important architecture was the temple dedicated to a god or goddess. - The best-known example is the Parthenon. - Temples had a walled room in their centers. - Statues of gods and goddesses and the gifts offered to them were kept in these central rooms. - Large columns supported many Greek buildings. - The first Greek columns were carved from wood. - Then, in 500 B.C., the Greeks began to use marble. - Marble columns were built in sections. - Large blocks of marble were chiseled from stone quarries and brought by oxen-drawn wagon to the building site. - The sections were stacked on top of each other. - To keep them from toppling, the column's sections were joined with wooden pegs. - Today marble columns are common features of churches and government buildings. - Some of the best-known buildings in our nation's capital, such as the White House and the Capitol, have columns similar to Greek columns. ### Greek Sculpture - Many Greek temples were decorated with sculpture. - Greek sculpture, like Greek architecture, was used to express Greek ideas. - The favorite subject of Greek artists was the human body. - Greek sculptors did not copy their subjects exactly (flaws and all). - Instead, they tried to show their ideal version of perfection and beauty. #### Reading Check Identify: What was the most important type of building in ancient Greece? - Temples. ## Section 1 Review: * **Reading Summary:** Review the main ideas. - The Greeks believed gods and goddesses influenced their lives. - They believed oracles spoke for the gods and goddesses. - The Greeks wrote long poems, called epics, and short tales, called fables, to pass on Greek values. - The Greeks created the ideas of tragedy and comedy that are still used in drama today. - Greek art forms, such as painting, architecture, and sculpture, expressed Greek ideas of beauty, harmony, and moderation. * **What Did You Learn?:** - How and why did the Greeks honor their gods? - What values did the epic poems of Homer teach Greeks? * **Critical Thinking:** - Contrast. How do Greek tragedies and comedies differ? - Summarizing Information. Draw a table to describe the characteristics of Greek architecture and pottery. * **Greek Architecture and Pottery:** - Evaluate. Do you think the themes of Euripides's plays would be popular today? * **Make Generalizations:** - Why did Greek artists include the ideas of reason, moderation, balance and harmony in their works? * **Expository Writing:** - Greek literature tells us what the Greeks thought was important. Choose a modern book, movie, or television show. Write a paragraph to explain what it would tell others about our society. * **Reading Context Clues:** - Explain how the words in the following sentence would help you find the meaning of the word moral. 'The moral of the story is 'slow and steady wins the race.'"