THAR 281 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Know Thyself
5 Sep 2016
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The impulse toward theatre is universal to all societies whether it takes the form of rituals, religious ceremonies, celebrations, or more conventional theatrical presentations. Biggest festivals were competitions between playwrights for tragedies not comedies. Ancient greek theater: telos: purpose or goal. Something inside that it is trying to be : element of tragedy. Actors wore robes, masks, high heel sandals to cause an imposing presence. The chorus acted as the conscience of the protagonist. Cumulative effect on the audience such as purgation or clarification. Allows one to experience emotions and then balances one out. For the greek the telos of tragedy is catharsis. Deus ex machina: the god of the machine . It was a crane to lift actors used to resolve tragedies. Something almost impossible used to solve an unsolvable problem. Gnothi sauton: know thyself and thou shall know the gods . Ancient roman theater: comedy & popular entertainment central, festivals included more than plays.
