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Theatre
Department |
The Greek Dramatists
The
tragic poets of the 5th century BCE, most notably Phrynicus and Aeschylus, not
only composed the plays but acted in them, directed them, and choreographed
them. Because they were said to have 'taught' (edidaksen)
the chorus, the inscriptions recording the winners of the dramatic contests were
called didaskaliai. At first
there was only one actor, then two, and finally three, to divide among them the
roles of the plays. Like the poets themselves, these actors were men of leisure
with a passion for theater. Although a substantial cash prize was offered to the
winning playwright, and later to the winning actor, playwrights and actors in
the 5th century did not earn their living in the theater. TRAGEDIANS AESCHYLUS Aeschylus fought the Persians at the Battles of Marathon and Salamis, but his first victory for drama came in 484, the year Euripides was born. The number of his prizes is listed as both 13 and 28. It is believed the smaller figure refers to prizes at the Great Dionysia and the larger includes prizes at smaller festivals. Even the smaller number represents 52 prize winning plays, since each award was given to a tetralogy -- three tragedies and a satyr play. Also, the plays were normally performed once so a prize couldn't be awarded the same play twice, although when Aeschylus died, a special exception was made to allow his plays to be restaged. Aeschylus may have been guilty of impiety by revealing some of the secret rites from his birthplace -- the center for worship of Demeter. A retaliatory attempt may have been made to murder him, onstage. Regardless of whether it's true, it indicates that in addition to writing, he may have acted. Before Aeschylus, there was only one actor in tragedy who was limited to conversing with the chorus. Aeschylus added a second actor. Now two actors could converse or have dialogue with the chorus, or change their masks to become two entirely different characters. The increase in cast size permitted substantial plot variation. According to Aristotle's Poetics Aeschylus "reduced the chorus' role and made the plot the leading actor." "Thus it was Aeschylus who first raised the number of the actors from one to two. He also curtailed the chorus and gave the dialogue the leading part. Three actors and scene-painting Sophocles introduced." Poetics 1449a
SOPHOCLES Sophocles lived from c. 496-406 B.C. He grew up in the town of Colonus, just outside Athens, which was the setting of his Oedipus at Colonus. His father Sophillus, thought to have been been a wealthy nobleman, sent Sophocles to Athens for his education. In 468, Sophocles defeated Aeschylus in a dramatic competition; then in 441 Euripides beat him. During his long life Sophocles earned many prizes, including about 20 for first place. Sophocles increased the number of actors to three (thereby reducing the importance of the chorus); he broke from Aeschylus' thematically unified trilogies; and he invented skenographia (scene painting), therefore defining the background. EURIPIDES A contemporary of Sophocles, Euripides was born around 484. His first competition was in 455 when he came in third. His initial first prize came in 442, but out of about 92 plays, he won only four more first prizes -- the last, posthumously. For generations after his death, however, he was the most popular of the three great tragedians. Where Aeschylus and Sophocles emphasized the plot by adding an actor each, Euripides added intrigue -- an element complicated by the omnipresent, know-it-all chorus. He also created the love-drama. New Comedy took over the more effective parts of Euripides' technique. In a modern performance of Eurpides tragedy, Helen, the director explained it was essential for the audience to see immediately that it's a comedy. During his lifetime, Euripides' innovations met with hostility. To him, traditional legends portrayed the moral standards of the gods unsuitably -- as lower than those of virtuous men. Although Euripides portrayed women sensitively, he had a reputation as a woman hater.* The comic poet Aristophanes criticized Euripides for the following:
Euripides died in 407/406 in Macedonia at the court of King Archelaus, either in self-imposed exile or at the king's invitation. An improbable explanation of his death shows how controversial he was: "He is said to have been killed by hunting dogs, either accidentally let loose on him or deliberately set on him by enemies or rivals, or torn apart by women." *Although
he had a reputation as a woman-hater, Euripides achieved fame for his sensitive
portrayal of female characters, especially in Medea and Phaedra.
He wrote 92 plays in fifty years of writing, and died in 406 BCE.
Eighteen of these plays survived. His plays reject simple answers,
express belief in the dignity of the individual, and speak of the oppression of
women and slaves. He faulted sexual
passion for causing great human sorrow. He
is probably the most tragic of the ancient tragic dramatists who appeals more to
human emotions than to religion. |