Greek Theater Webquest: City Of Dionysia

Olina Philippoussis
Mr. Grazier
English 2H
09/16/14

Greek Theater Webquest

1. Greek theater began when one of the earliest performers of Greek Tragedy complained that the city of Dionysia did not live out its name and had nothing to do with the god Dionysus. It made sense to dedicate performances to the God Dionysis because he was a big part in the peoples early lives, being the god of agriculture and wine. While Apollo represented qualities that were fundamental to the Greeks, Dionysis represented the two sides of humans. For every beautiful song, there was a beautiful and unformed song. From then on, Athenians began writing hymns, called dithyrambs dedicated to Dionysus. The hymns were later adapted for choral processions in which participants
At the beginning the playwrights would choose their actors. Later professional actors were chosen by the state. Actors who played higher parts were usually persons of high respect. Actors wore helmet-like masks, covering their face and head, with holes for the eyes and a small opening for the mouth, as well as an integrated wig. The classical masks were able to bring the characters’ face closer to the audience, especially since they had intensely over-exaggerated facial features and expressions. Actors who played tragic roles wore boots called cothurneses that elevated them above other actors. Costumes were wore in order to determine the characters by gender or social status.

3. Sophocles was one of the three Ancient Greek tragedy writers whose plays still exist today. Sophocles, an athenian citizen was also a politician, priest, and military leader.
He competed in around 30 competitions and was never judged lower than second place. Sophocles was born in a wealthy family and was highly educated. Sophocles is best known for his two tragedies, Oedipus and Antigone. Sophocles wrote more than 100 plays, and today seven complete tragedies and fragments of 80 or 90 others are preserved. He was the first to add a third actor In his plays and abolished the trilogic
A Greek Tragedy is a literary composition performed by actors in which a main character called a tragic hero suffers some disaster which is significant in that the misfortune is connected with the hero's actions. Every greek tragedy starts off with a prologue. A prologue gives a background on the play and explains important events in the play. Then the chorus sings a Parados, and begins to dance. The characters begin to talk in the first Episode. The first Stasimon comes after a dialogue and is an ode sung by the chorus. The Stasimon reflects things done in past episodes.

Works Cited

"Ancient Greek Actors Wearing Masks and Dressing as Old Men, In Camei Written on Image, Copper..." Arts and Humanities Through the Eras. Ed. Edward I. Bleiberg, James Allan Evans, Kristen Mossler Figg, Philip M. Soergel, and John Block Friedman. Vol. 2: Ancient Greece and Rome 1200 B.C.E.-476 C.E. Detroit: Gale, 2005. N. pag. Student Resources in Context. Web. 22 Sept. 2014.

"Origins of Greek Theater." Arts and Humanities Through the Eras. Ed. Edward I. Bleiberg, James Allan Evans, Kristen Mossler Figg, Philip M. Soergel, and John Block Friedman. Vol. 2: Ancient Greece and Rome 1200 B.C.E.-476 C.E. Detroit: Gale, 2005. 351-52. Student Resources in Context. Web. 16 Sept. 2014.

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