Format:

1. 4 ID on a diagram of a typical Greek theater (know diagram from aerial view & from audience perspective. See web site links, refer to notes) + 1 short thought question about the theater
2. 16 matching - names of dramatic and historical characters, Greek theater terminology, theater history names and events.
(sections 1 and 2 should take you only 5-7 minutes; each question will be worth 1 pt)
3. 12 line ID (2 pts each; c.15 minutes) - You will read two separate lines from each of the 4 Aeschylus plays we've studied and Sophokles' Elektra, and based on the contents of the line supply the name of the play it comes from and the person who speaks that line in the play. Only 2 of these 12 passages will be from the chorus of the play, the other 10 will be lines delivered by principal/lead characters.
4. 3 character ID short answer (5 pts each; 5-8 minutes) - I'll provide you a short description of a character from one of the plays we've studied. You will identify the character by name and the play in which he/she appears, then offer a short but complete description of that character's contribution to the plot and ideas of his/her respective play.
5. 8 Short Answer (5 pts each; about 20 minutes) - Assorted questions on Aristotle, individual plays, comparing between plays, putting events in chronological order, etc. Some may require a few words to answer completely, others may need 1-3 sentences, but never more than that.

Material to know:
Theater history
tragoidia = song of the he-goat, animal sacred to Dionysus - god worshipped by theatrical performance, sacrificial animal
Dionysus - vegetation (wine), fertility, delusion and illusion, theater
drama = action, from Doric Greek dran "to do" - Aristotle pp.53-54, Dorians claim to be originators of tragedy and comedy
origins in religious choral dance ritual (note Poetics pp. 36-41), from the dithyramb - choral song to Dionysus performed by 50 older men, 50 young boys from each of the tribes of Athens (see Arist. p. 57 - also innovations in tragedy contributed by Aeschylus and Sophocles)
Festivals - Lenaia (January/Feb), Dionysia (March) - state funding, competitive entry of tragedies begun in 534 BC, victory by tragic writer Thespis (cf. modern derivative term for actor, "thespian") Dionysia five days long; One suggestion of order -  day 1 - dithyramb, ceremonies, 2 - 5 comedies, 3, 4, 5 - individual writers offer a trilogy of tragedies and one satyr play Review Oresteia pp. xi-xvii
Proagon - preview when playwright announces his lead actors and title of play
assigned chorus by archon eponymous (Athenian official in charge of religious calendar and public events, and the chorus and set are funded by choregos, a wealthy private citizen (Pericles, famous Athenian, did this for Aeschylus' Persians) - obligation of choregos to fund plays called choregia or a liturgy
10 judges, 12 (later 15) chorus members, dignitaries in front rows, foreigners attended, low-class higher seats (women possibly in audience) - Theoric fund by Pericles started paying for low-class tickets
Audience - note size, members, seating arrangement and especially behavior and sensibilities referred to when discussing recognition of certain appropriate acting styles and gestures
Theater Building - theatron, orchestra, skene, eisodos (or parodos), logeion = high stage of Hellenistic theater, theologeion = place above where gods can be seen, 1 central entrance in 5th c., extra doors later, possibly no raised stage (proskenion) in 5th century but added later - consider logical reasons from tragedy why no raised stage is necessary for these plays; tech machinery - mechane, ekkyklema
Actors - hypokrites, agonistes -protagonistes, deuteragonistes, tritagonistes, technites - Universal Guild of Dionysiac Artists, skenikos (know meaning of each); didaskolos - director, chorodidaskolos -choreographer, 3 actors for all main roles - in Aeschylus' time, writer still directing most things and even performing, e.g. possible that Aeschylus played Clytemnestra; all actors men (only in unmasked mime "imitation of real life" scenes did women play themselves); masks - amplification, expression for large audiences (10,000-30,000 depending on theater), gestures, lots of movement; song and dance
Good actor with long successful career, Polos - strong example of realistic style of acting (context, p. 264); Hegelochos butchered Euripides' Orestes in 408 BC, Hermon (Context p. 119#40) - missed cue, resulting change in actors competition
Recognize major differences between Grand and Realistic style of acting

Costume and Masks -
See 5th-4th century tragic actor on the cover of your Context
Note the later tragic actor represented on context pp. 72-73 and plate 100 Be aware of the "Oedipus" vase (context, pp. 63-64 and plate 4a) and the importance of it as a definite depiction of masked characters onstage; Identify 2-3 costume pieces, props or especially mask types
distinctively attached to tragic drama - see context pp. 395-6, 398-400, You must know what the onkos, AND cothurnus(kothornos) are.

Calendar of Athenian events around Aeschylus' and Sophocles' early career
534 BC - Thespis wins for tragedy at Dionysia, see passage in Context
525 - Aeschlyus probably born close to this year
514-510 - tyrants expelled from city, democracy developed
508/7 - competitive dithyramb begins (see Context p. 120#45)
503       democratic reforms
499 - Aeschylus' first tragedies submitted for competition
494 - Phrynichus' presents and is fined for Capture of Miletus(Why?), see Context a current-events tragedy of city sacked by Persians for revolt
490 - Persian forces of King Darius beaten back by Athenians at Marathon - Aeschylus a veteran of this battle (his death epitaph mentions this service but not his career in tragedy
486 - Darius dies
484 - Aeschylus' first of 13 victories in tragic competition
481 - Persians cross the Hellespont between Asia and Europe on a pontoon bridge
480 - Xerxes, new Persian king, defeated by Athenians at naval battle of Salamis - Aeschylus possibly veteran of this battle, Sophocles said to have been a
    chorus boy in victory celebration
476 - Phrynichus' Phoenician Women (see Context, p. 25#43)
472 - Aeschylus' Persians
471 - Sophocles' first tragedy submitted for competition, first victory in 468 against Aeschylus
465 - Xerxes dies
458 - Aeschylus' Oresteia trilogy wins first prize at Dionysia
456/5 - Aeschylus dies in Gela, Sicily where he was commissioned to write tragedy for local king

Structure - Poetics p. 74, prologue, parodos, episodes, stasimon (choral song - strophe, antistrophe), possibly a kommos - choral + actor lament added in text, exodos
recognize stichomythia

Aristotle on tragedy - know six parts and how Aristotle explains and uses those parts, definition of tragedy, representation of man in comedy and tragedy (p. 52), distinctions between comedy and tragedy, for the clarification of Aristotle's ideas on plot, character, thought, etc. consider notes from class
catharsis     6 parts of tragedy: plot, character, diction, thought, spectacle, song
Reversal of situation, Recognition, scene of Pathos/suffering - note the simple and complex plot, and the 4 types of recognition scene, Libation Bearers has one of those Aristotle considers the best.

Aeschylus' tragedies
For each play know all characters with speaking parts (including those unnamed), know the major things they say and do in the plot, and their significance to the drama of the play, know names of significant characters who do not appear onstage but are very important to the plot of the play (e.g. Iphigenia in the Oresteia, Helen in Agamemnon, Libation), Be able to explain or put in order the events and most important ideas expressed in each episode between the choruses, be able to identify the makeup of the members of the chorus (e.g Persians = old Persian noblemen), consider scenes which need specific props or set pieces. Be able to discuss differences in the early Aeschylus play Persians and the late Aeschylus plays of the Oresteia -  differences in thought, structure, presentation, writing, characters.
On Persians  be able to discuss the importance of the chorus, the roles of Atossa, Darius and Xerxes and how they interact with each other and do not interact with each other, enough historical background to make sense of the speeches and events described, the function of lists of names in the choruses, battle of Salamis, bridging of Hellespont, disasters on way back to Persia, even predictions of Persian defeat at Plataea in 479, the ironic presentation of a tragedy from the enemy's perspective, ways that Persians are presented as foreigners to the Athenian audience, ways the Persians are seen to be just human beings with standard good and bad points, Hellas    Hellenes    Dorians    Ionians  = Greeks
other points raised in discussion.
NOTE Persiansstill has only 2 main actors playing roles, while Oresteia shows that 3 actors being used quite well by a very mature Aeschylus
See family tree on Tragedy Words Link
On Agamemnon, Libation Bearers and Furies be able to explain how these plays work together as a unit, but also clearly distinguish between the 3 plays. Ag - watchman, Clytemnestra's various speeches at different times in the course of the play, comments about her status as a woman, her double-edged words intended for different audiences, appearance of Agamemnon late in play, carpet and chariot, Cassandra's status now and previously, her gift of mixed blessing but dramatic importance, imagery of sacrifice, Aegisthus' appearance and confrontation with chorus, nature of deaths in the play, and other ideas discussed in class
Libation - roles of Orestes and Electra, balance and differences between them and their relationships with parents, chorus' role, encouragement, recognition, hope, violence, reluctance and excitement in Orestes and Electra, Aegisthus' appearance and murder, Clytemnestra's appearance and murder, Orestes' madness chased by Furies, Pylades' contribution, numerous comparisons and contrasts with events, ideas and characters in Agamemnon
Furies - explaining role of Delphi and god Apollo, oracles, the Pythia, center of the world (omphalos), Athena and justice in Athens, the Areopagus, arguments of justice on both sides, trial and results, ghost appears, appeasement of Furies, Orestes' character, reflections on this as an ending for the entire trilogy             Furies = Erinyes (Eris) = Eumenides (the actual Greek title of the play is this last name)
 

Sophocles
Elektra - (set in Mycenae, Agamemnon's city) contrast with Libation Bearers,role of the tutor, opinions and dramatic role of Chrysothemis - esp. change in
her stance, effect on Electra, elaborate lie developed by Orestes and tutor, how is the play more focused on Electra's role, Electra's intense hatred of
Aegisthus and Clytemnestra and her sense of her wasted life, multiple relationship issues between Electra and Orestes, appearance and deaths of Clyt and
Aegisthus

These are only some of the ideas in these plays that we have discussed. Review the ideas of the plays and their order very carefully and look back through your notes for details from discussion in class.