english

Demonstrate an understanding of the role of fate in the literature of the ancient world by discussing all of the following questions/points in your answer:
How is fate used as a force which drives the plot in at least two of the works from this unit?
Discuss the attitude towards fate held by at least three characters in any works from this unit.
Consider whether or not you believe in fate to some degree, then relate or contrast your perspective to at least one character in the works from this unit.
OR
Demonstrate an understanding of the role of Honor (Time) and Glory (Kleos) in the literature of the ancient world by discussing all of the following questions/points in your answer:
How are honor and glory used as forces which drive the plot in at least two of the works from this unit?
Discuss the attitude towards honor and glory held by at least three characters in any works from this unit.
Consider whether or not you believe that honor and glory (in the Ancient Greek sense) still motivate modern human action to some degree, or if these concepts are buried with the Ancient Greeks.

Greek Drama &
Aristotle on Drama
An Introduction

The Theater of Dionysus, Athens (Saskia, Ltd.)

Historical Context
The Greeks produced the first great era of theater during 800 BC to 600BC

Historical Context
776 sees the first Olympic Games

Historical Context
Homer writes the epics the Iliad and the Odyssey sometime around 750 BC.

Historical Context
The Greeks learned to write sometime around Homer’s birth—they borrowed the alphabet from their Phoenician Neighbors to the Near East

The Big 3 Ancient Greek Dramatists
Aeschylus—founder of Tragedy
Euripides
Sophocles—developed the form and for almost 50 years won all the tragedy contests of ancient Athens

The Greeks’ view of the Gods
The Greeks conceived of their gods in human terms.
Zeus presided over a number of other unpredictable deities
Gods were as easily won over by mortal prayers as they were offended
Greeks believed that a single human could be blessed by one god while being cursed by another
Human happiness depended upon human and supernatural forces

Greek Drama Emphasizes:
Human struggles in the face of conniving, scheming, jealous gods.
Greek Goddess Hera, wife and
sister of Zeus. (pictured right)

Incest was taboo for the Greeks, but
Greek gods were above man’s laws
and taboos.

The Gods and Fate
Interestingly, for the Greeks, the gods were subject to Fate as well!

Bust of Zeus, British Museum

The Story of Tiresias
(also spelled Teiresias)

The Roman poet Ovid retells the Greek’s tale of Tiresias. While the names of the gods are changed to Roman names, the capriciousness of the Gods remains intact.
See page 779 through 780 in your text.

Intellectual Curiosity like none before…
Perhaps the most important aspect of the Ancient Greek mind was its concern with humanity!
The Greeks asked questions of everything:
the nature of the gods, the nature of the universe, & the power of fate

A Paradox of thought
Despite their urgent quest for knowledge the Greeks believed there were limits upon what humans could know
Despite establishing a democracy these same peoples kept slaves and restricted the role of women in society

The Tale of Icarus

Original illustration by Brian Warchesik
The Roman poet Ovid retells the Greek’s tale of Icarus. While the names of the gods are changed to Roman names, the tale contains the Greek cautiousness against aiming too high in life.
See page 789 through 791 in your text.

Origins of Greek Tragedy?
From Aristotle’s Poetics we know that tragedy grew from an improvisational hymn call the dithyramb, a hymn and dance dedicated to Dionysus the God of wine and fertility.

Alternate theories abound…
But we know that in 534 B.C. Tragedy was recognized officially by the state.

How was Greek Drama performed?
The actor(s) wore masks…

The masks were essential because:
Only men could act, so the masks allowed the audience to suspend disbelief when men played female roles.
Actors could play multiple parts simply by changing masks, which was good because there were usually only 2 or 3 actors.

The Chorus

The Chorus
Ranged from 50 to 15 citizens (not professional actors) who stood around the stage (see slide 19):
Provided commentary and background information to the audience
Allowed time for scene changes
Responded to the play itself, modeling the expected response in the audience

Aristotle’s Influence
Aristotle writes Poetics—a treatise on drama.
Aristotle admired Sophocles & considered Oedipus the perfect Tragedy
He considered tragedy to be more important than the study of history!

Aristotle’s principles in Poetics
(simplified to the extreme with modern lingo)
Plot comes first! He had some rules for plot (more in a moment…)
Character: the star of the tragedy will mistakenly bring about his or her own destruction simply because he or she cannot see the big picture that the audience can see!
Theme: Beyond entertainment, the tragedy ought to prove some maxim or moral.

Aristotle’s principles in Poetics
(continued)
Diction—the dialogue needs to contain metaphors.
Chorus—Greek plays should have a group of singers whose lyrics advance the plot and theme of the play. This was not elevator music—it contributed to the play.
Spectacle—just what it sounds like—stage effects. Or in modern day terms, special effects at the movies.

THE BIG FINISH!!!!
Finally you gotta have this:
Catharsis
(sometimes spelled Katharsis)
Literally, the word means purging! But metaphorically, Aristotle is saying that watching a play engages your emotions and you get to experience a whole range of human emotions for 2 hours, then you release all of that energy at the end.

Back to PLOT!!!
Plot was so important that we need to break it down and see what Aristotle said about it!
(Note: later scholars interpreted Aristotle’s rules to include 3 unities: time, action and place)

Gotta Have ‘em Details for PLOT
Whole! The play needs a beginning, middle and an end (if this seems obvious, remember that drama was new at this point.).
Chain of events—cause and effect was important for the Greeks—remember, the Greeks are worried about fate, about the machinations of the gods, so they need to see how one event sets a chain of events into motion. Basically, the playwright needs to make each action and event a product of other elements in the story.

More Gotta Have ‘em Details for PLOT
The plot should be “of a certain magnitude.” Huh? This means that you needed a bunch of interwoven stories, fates, characters, events, subplots and so on. For Aristotle, the more events that you can have coming together in an organic way, the better the tragedy.

Whew…that concludes Aristotle’s breakdown of Tragedy.

Irony
A literary device in which there is a gap between what the speaker says and what the audience knows…
Tragic Irony is at work in Oedipus—we the audience know Oedipus’s fate before he does.