English 1027F/G Lecture Notes - Lecture 16: Hubris, Laius, Hamartia

• School: Western University
• Department: English
• Course: English 1027F/G
• Professor: Christopher Keep

Document Summary

Characters speak directly to audience in a way characters in prose text do not. Dionysus: god of green vegetation, grapes, wine: greeks associated him with violent behaviour (because of wine) Theatre: performative, false, ancient ritual way of venerating the gods: tied to seasons, tied to gods who grant one life. Festival of dionysus: three days long: a show every day, judges decided who won the competition, sophocles won this competition 18 times, dithyrambs (choral hymns), comedies at the end of the day, tragedies at the beginning. Tragedies: highest form: heart of the festival. Tragedy: refers to stories that result in a disastrous conclusion for the protagonist. Imitation of a noble and complete action, having the proper magnitude. Employs language that has been artistically enhanced (meter and song) Achieves, through the representation of pitiable and fearful incidents, the catharsis of such pitiable and fearful incidents.