The Evolution of Greek Tragedy

Today, a trip to the theater is still a special event, but in Ancient  Athens, it wasnt just a time for cultural enrichment or entertainment. It was a religious, competitive, and civic festival event, part of the annual City (or Greater) Dionysia: We might want to imagine the atmosphere of the ancient drama festivals as a combination of Mardi Gras, the gathering of the faithful in St Peters Square on Easter Day, the crowds that throng the Mall on the Fourth of July, and the hype of Oscars night.—Ian C. Storey When Cleisthenes reformed Athens to make it more democratic, it is thought that he included competition between the groups of citizens in the form of dramatic, performing dithyrambic choruses. Be that as it may, Tragedy—as also Comedy—was at first mere improvisation. The one originated with the authors of the  Dithyramb, the other with those of the phallic songs, which are still in use in many of our cities. Tragedy advanced by slow degrees; each new element that showed itself was in turn developed. Having passed through many changes, it found its natural form, and there it stopped.—Aristotle Poetics Taxes,  A Civic Obligation Well in advance of the Elaphebolion (an Athenian month that ran from late March to early April) event, the city magistrate selected 3 patrons of the arts (choregoi) to finance the performances. It was an onerous form of taxation (liturgy) the wealthy were required to perform—but not every year. And the wealthy had a choice: they could supply Athens with a performance or a battleship. This  obligation included: Housing and feeding the chorus and actors.Selecting chorus members (young men about to enter the military).Hiring a chorus director (didaskalos) who trained the 12-15 non-professional dancers (choreuts), for a year, to perform, sing, and dance in the chorus.Providing a place to train.Paying for a dedication to Dionysus if he won. Professionals and Amateur Actors While the chorus was composed of (well-trained) non-professionals, the playwright and actors had, as Didaskalia puts it, leisure with a passion for the theater. Some of the actors became such polished celebrities their participation would give an unfair advantage, so the lead actor, protagonist, was assigned by lot to a playwright who was expected to compose a tetralogy, direct, choreograph, and act in his own plays. A tetralogy consisted of three tragedies and a satyr play—like a dessert at the end of the heavy, serious drama. Partly humorous or farcical, satyr-plays featured the half human, half animal creatures known as satyrs. Visual Aids for the Audience By convention, the actors in tragedy appeared larger than life. Since there were about 17,000 open-air seats in the theater of Dionysus (on the south slope of the Acropolis), going more than halfway around the circular dance floor (orchestra), this exaggeration must have made the actors more recognizable. They wore long, colorful robes, high headdresses, cothurnoi (shoes), and masks with largemouth holes to facilitate ease of speech. Men played all the parts. One actor might play more than one role, since there were only 3 actors, even by Euripides (c. 484-407/406) day. A century earlier, in the 6th century, when the first dramatic competition was held, there was only one  actor whose role was to interact with the chorus. The semi-legendary playwright of the first play with an actor was Thespis (from whose name comes the word thespian). Stage Effects In addition to the actors accouterments, there were elaborate devices for special effects. For instance, cranes could whisk gods or people on and off stage. These cranes were called mechane or machina in Latin; hence, our term deus ex machina. The skene (from which, scene) a building or tent at the back of the stage that was used from the time of Aeschylus (c. 525-456), could be painted to provide scenery. The skene was at the edge of the circular orchestra (dance floor of the chorus). The skene also provided a flat roof for action, a backstage for the actors preparation, and a door. The ekkyklema was a contraption for rolling scenes or people onto the stage. Dionysia and the Theater At the City Dionysia, the tragedians each presented a tetralogy—four plays, consisting of three tragedies and a satyr play. The theater was in the temenos (sacred precinct) of Dionysus Eleuthereus. The priest was seated in the center of the first row of the theatron. It may be that there were originally 10 wedges (kekrides) of seats to correspond with the 10 tribes of Attica, but the number was 13 by the 4th century B.C. Tragedy Terms Tragic Irony  happens when the audience knows what is going to happen but the actor is still ignorant. Hamartia:  The downfall of the tragic hero is caused by hamartia. This isnt a willful act in violation of the laws of the gods, but a mistake or excess.Hubris:  Excessive pride can lead to the downfall of the tragic hero.Peripeteia:  A  sudden reversal of fortune.Catharsis:  Ritual cleansing and emotional cleansing by the end of the tragedy. Sources Roger Dunkles Introduction to Tragedy The Entrances and Exits of Actors and Chorus in Greek Plays, by Margarete Bieber.  American Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 58, No. 4. (Oct. , 1954), pp. 277-284.

The Cuban Missile Crisis Background - 1620 Words

The Cuban Missile Crisis Background The Cuban missile Crisis was an intense Time for the U.S, Cuba and Russia at this time of the period. The cold War was fought into two groups the Western Bloc (The united states and NATO the allies and other countries.) The Nato also known as North Atlantic Alliance. NATO was intergovernmental military alliance compacted based by the North Atlantic Treaty signed on 4, 1949. The NATO a system of defense and if a country that was being attack by another country or external party and who ever was part of the NATO would have to send soldiers to the April country and help them fight of the invade. The NATO was also used during the Korean War when North Korea invaded South Korea on Saturday, 24 June 1950. NATO is going till this day and has increased over the past year. The NATO did not really voted for a leader because it would look like a dictatorship but it was made up of the representative of the allies, including ambassador, minister and head of state and government and there was no voting and decision by majority. Well Russia seen that the United States making allies with countries across The Atlantic Ocean. So, the Russians created the Warsaw Pact to get alliance from other countries. The Soviets and the seven satellite states signed a mutual defense organization Treaty (Warsaw Pact) that allowed The Soviet Union to control their army. The seven countries that were part of the Warsaw Pact were , Albania, Poland, Romania, Hungary, EastShow MoreRelatedThe Cuban Missile Crisis During The Cold War1378 Words   |  6 PagesThe Cuban Missile Crisis occurred in 1963 in a setting that was the high point of tension in the Cold War. 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None_provided Essay Paper Example For Students

None_provided Essay Paper The use and rapid growth of technology has often be seen to many of the working class as a bad omen, like a cancer it spreads and gradually, one surcum to the inevitable. One occasion which arose and was met with resilience occured in England in 1811 when the revolutionary crop machine became the center of attention. A group of disgruntled workers from various textiles industries, called the Luddites formed a secret community of machine breakers. They used their primitive weapons to try and destroy the textile mills and machines that were believed to be the root of their problem. The Luddites believed their skill and pride in their work made them a unique commodity and was one of the differences between them and the machines. Their skills have been passed from generation, to generation; in essence it is a direct trait of their identity. The craftsmen felt the machines were not as skilled as they were, therefore if they were to operate these machines they would probably lose their val uable skill and identity to become slaves to the machine. Work they once did in the house would now have to be done in textiles, which the luddites opposed because it housed poor working conditions. Work breaks that were left up to their discretion was to be timed, and the amount of work was based on a machine that could last longer than workers. Hence, it is easy to get the impression why the luddiets wanted to destroy the machines. In his book Society and Technological Change Rudi Volti expressed the belief that the luddites feared loosing their jobs to the dreadful revolutionary crop machine is not necessarily the main or only reason behind the attacks. That is not to say that fear of the new machines did not exist or contribute to the Luddite attacks, only that there were many other contributing factors. For example the Luddite attacks began in the hosiery trades, because of the long held opposition to the use of wide stocking frames that allowed employment of cheaper unskilled workers. Volti surmised this could have been handle peacefully had it not been for the dire economic conditions that existed at the time. Mainly due to the Napoleonic Wars which resulted in a general trade depression. A series of bad harvest caused a supply and demand, the amount of good harvest was scarce but the demand was high therefore raising the price for food dramatically. Due to theses conditions the Luddites sadly realized their wages were not enough to met their families basic needs. These events were followed by the shearers and handloom weavers in the weaving industry, who feared the advancement of the steam powered weaving machinery. In the crop ping trade the attacks were done to express the prevention of technological advances. The attack was simply based on the fear of unemployment based on technological changes. Although the film expressed the reason for the Luddite attacks were solely based on the so-called techno-fear is simply not true. The fear of low wages and unemployment due to the revolutionary technology did exist, however that is by far the only factor. Fear of possible unemployment and low wages were only contributing factors to the Luddite revolution, the economic conditions of the time were the main reasons for these attacks and fears. Volti stated that if the economic conditions were not so bad these attacks could have been avoided trough collective bargaining. Sociology Essays