Tragedy Names and Words

tragos    tragoidia    tragoidos    drama
komos    komoidia
Dorians    Corinth    Sicily    Athens

Dionysus    satyr    maenad    thyrsos
Pisistratus    6th c BCE
dithyramb

534 BCE     Thespis
514-10        expulsion of tyrants
508/7          competitive dithyramb begins (see Context p. 120#45)
503             democratic reforms
499             Aeschylus' debut
494             Phrynichus' Capture of Miletus
490             Darius     Marathon
486             Death of Darius, rise of Xerxes
484             Aeschylus' first victory
480             Xerxes    Salamis
476             Phrynichus' Phoenician Women (see Context, p. 25#43)
472             Aeschylus' Persians - Pericles choregos
465             Xerxes dies

Aristotle    330s BCE

prologue    parodos    episode    stasimon(chorus - strophe,antistrophe)     kommos    exodos
stichomythia

proagon (Odeon)  Dionysia    Lenaia

choregos    choregia    liturgy    archon eponymous    judges

Persians       Atossa    Darius    Xerxes
        Ahuramazda    Zarathustra/Zoroaster
        Medes    Phoenicians
Hellespont    Bosporus       Themistocles    Salamis    Plataea
Hellas    Hellenes    Dorians    Ionians  = Greeks
Phoebus Apollo    Zeus

458 BCE  Aeschylus' Oresteia trilogy takes 1st at Dionysia
456          Aeschylus dies in Gela, Sicily

Family Tree of the Royal House of Argos/Mycenae
                                                                                            Zeus
                                                                  |
                                                            Tantalus
                                                                  |
                                                              Pelops
                                                                   |__________________
                                                                   |                                   |    
Zeus = Leda = Tyndareus                      Atreus                      Thyestes
______|        |                                            | (Atreides)                |                       Peleus = Thetis
|          |          |             |                              |                 |        Aegisthus                            |
Helen Castor Pollux  Clytemnestra = Agamemnon  Menelaus = Helen      Achilles/Akhilleos
                     _________________|________                            |                                |
|                           |                            |                        |         Hermione = Neoptolemus/Pyrrhus
Chrysothemis Iphigenia                  Electra              Orestes

onkos    kothornos/cothurnus = buskin

Theater History - Actors and Acting
hypokrites    prot-agonistes    deuter-    trit-        technites        skenikos
Polos    Hermon    Hegelochos
didaskolos        chorodidaskolos
Theoric Fund

theatron    orchestra    eisodos/parodos    skene    logeion    theologeion
proskenion (proscaenium)

mechane (machina)     ekkyklema        Charonian steps? for ghost appearances?
 
 

Aristotle
catharsis     6 parts of tragedy: plot, character, diction, thought, spectacle, song
Reversal of situation, Recognition, Pathos/suffering

Libation Bearers = Choëphori
Cilissa    Pylades

Furies = Erinyes (Eris) = Eumenides
Pythia    Delphi    Parnassus    Apollo Pythius    omphalos
 
 

Note spelling differences in Sophokles
 

FOR EXAM 2

Royal Family of Thebes
                      (Kadmos)Cadmus = Harmonia
                                                        |                        -------------------------
                       |                       |                               |                                |
                  Autonoe          Semele = Zeus              Agave                    Polydorus
                       |                            |                           |                               |
                 Actaeon                 Dionysus               Pentheus                 Labdakos
                                                                               |                               |
                                                                         Menoikeus                   Laios
                                                                               |________                 |______
                                                           |                                  |                 |          |
                                       Eurydike=Kreon                (Jocasta)Iokaste =====---Oedipus
                                               |________         ________________        |________________
                                   |                         |            |                |                    |                         |
                            Haimon   Herakles=Megara   Antigone    Ismene       Eteokles            Polyneikes

For FINAL

Roman tragedy - adapted from Greek tragedy in 3rd cent. BC, Livius Andronicus (freed slave) first writer of Latin literature, including first tragedy
and comedy written for ludi Romani (Roman festival games) of 240 BC - plays adapted from Greek models contracted for entertainment at festivals,

fabula crepidata - tragedy in Latin based on Greek mythological stories; fabula praetexta - tragedy in Latin based on native Roman legendary topics

       Ennius - 239-169 BCE - Italian, knew Greek, Latin, teacher, writer - epic, tragedy, bad comedy; sponsored by famous Romans, named Roman citizen late in life, loved Greek culture, his nephew was the tragedian Pacuvius - fragments on handout from ""Alexander" esp. note the use of Cassandra in a kind of traditional way (prophetess who is not believed) story of Paris being brought back into Troy as a child, despite the impending doom
       Pacuvius - 220-132/30 - Italian, 'student' of Ennius, painter, a few tragedies late in life, produced play at same time as Accius (140 BCE) met with Accius, who modified his tragedies at request of Pacuvius (135 BC) - fragments on handout from "Dulorestes" - Pacuvius known for interesting word choices -see fragments 135  and 138-140 on his relationship with Clytemnestra, also lots of nastiness between Clyt and Electra
       Accius (170-after 86 BC) - north Italy, freedmen parents, to Asia in 135 after Pacuvius meeting, wrote on theater history and practice, example of fabula praetexta - Brutus - dream of Tarquin similar to Atossa in Persians

In Roman world, need for trained actors (histrio is the most common name for them) at festivals arise, but they are much stingier with extending rights to actors than in Greek world, in fact quite the opposite - they withhold rights from actors, most of whom are slaves or freedmen, stars had earning potential more and more spectacle as Rome gets richer -see Cicero on Context p. 283 at dedication of Pompey's theater - mime and pantomime are the big theatrical shows in the empire, basically sketch comedy and balletic interpretive dance showing mythological stories
    Audiences - originally mingled all together, Augustus esp. wants class and gender divisions, front seats and first 14 rows for upper classes, women sit separately - compare earlier picture of rowdy audience Context p. 313, but the excitement of Cicero's statement about Pacuvius' tragedy - p. 312 #191, hard to keep the crowd's attention with all the festival activities = Context p. 313 #199, professional fans, p. 314

played on temporary stages in Rome and Italy - scaenae frons = stage building, proscaenium = stage "in front of scaena" + the surface of the stage = pulpitum (Greek. logeion), cavea = seats, aulaeum = curtain LOWERED into ground at beginning of show and end, orchestra unnecessary in temporary stands, but when permanent theaters built, designed as freestanding semicircle for acoustics, easy access for audience to seats, orchestraused for VIP seating