CLA-2110 Lecture Notes - Lecture 12: Dithyramb, Aeschylus, Euripides
Document Summary
Performance of poetry existed for centuries: homer; lyric poetry. 534 bce at festival to dionysus by thespis: added one actor/speaker in addition to the chorus, thespians. Phrynicus (510s-480s?: almost nothing survived, includes female characters (but not actors) for the first time, wrote ad tragedy (cid:862) the fall of miletus(cid:863) Introduced historical elements into tragedy: made the(cid:373) (cid:373)ad a(cid:374)d the tragedy is(cid:374)"t allo(cid:449)ed to (cid:271)e sho(cid:449)(cid:374) Aeschylus (525-455: earliest surviving plays, introduced a 2nd actor--- dialogue, conflict, etc, introduce the trilogy, 3 tragedies back-to-back, oresteia ( agamemnon, the libation bearers, eumenides) only surviving trilogy, wrote 70-90 plays but we only have 7. Sophocles (497-406: introduced a 3rd actor, more complex plots, character interaction and development, diminishing role of the chorus, wrote 123 plays, we have 7. Euripides (480-406: more (cid:862)hu(cid:373)a(cid:374)(cid:863) represe(cid:374)tatio(cid:374) of (cid:272)hara(cid:272)ters, controversial: new music, new ideas, critical of contemporary athens and religion, wrote ~90 plays, we have 19. Introduced to the festival of dionysus in 487.
