How do greek tragedies and comedies differ

Classical Definitions of Comedy and Tragedy : With a comedy , an audience member or reader is learning what to do to achieve a positive outcome for himself or herself. Secondly, what is Greek comedy and tragedy? Greek tragedy was a popular and influential form of drama performed in theatres across ancient Greece from the late 6th century BCE.

Greek tragedy led to Greek comedy and, together, these genres formed the foundation upon which all modern theatre is based.

Comedy is the genre which has a happy and a vibrant ending, whereas tragedy is the genre which has a depressed or sorrowful ending. The literature possessing both, the tragedy and comedy are called tragicomedy. The protagonist of a comedy is called comic hero, whereas the protagonist of a tragedy is called tragic hero. In the syllabus it states that the major themes and concerns of Greek drama were the impact of war, the state versus the individual, the state versus family, nature of "barbarism", pride and the polis, role of the gods in human affairs, gender roles and relationships.

The three genres of drama were comedy , satyr plays, and most important of all, tragedy. Much later Menander wrote comedies about ordinary people and made his plays more like sit-coms. Tragedy : Tragedy dealt with the big themes of love, loss, pride, the abuse of power and the fraught relationships between men and gods.

What was the purpose of the Greek comedies? Greek comedies purpose was to make people laugh about important ideas. What are 3 rules that Greek tragedy must follow?

These three rules suggest that a tragedy have unity of place, time and action: Place. The setting of the play should be one location Oedipus Rex takes place on the steps outside the palace. Who created tragedy? Is Greek tragedy relevant today? The orchestra of the theater of Dionysus in Athens was about 60 feet in diameter. Theatron : The theatron literally, "viewing-place" is where the spectators sat.

The theatron was usually part of hillside overlooking the orchestra, and often wrapped around a large portion of the orchestra see the diagram above. Spectators in the fifth century BC probably sat on cushions or boards, but by the fourth century the theatron of many Greek theaters had marble seats. Skene : The skene literally, "tent" was the building directly behind the stage. During the 5th century, the stage of the theater of Dionysus in Athens was probably raised only two or three steps above the level of the orchestra, and was perhaps 25 feet wide and 10 feet deep.

The skene was directly in back of the stage, and was usually decorated as a palace, temple, or other building, depending on the needs of the play. It had at least one set of doors, and actors could make entrances and exits through them. There was also access to the roof of the skene from behind, so that actors playing gods and other characters such as the Watchman at the beginning of Aeschylus' Agamemnon could appear on the roof, if needed.

Parodos : The parodoi literally, "passageways" are the paths by which the chorus and some actors such as those representing messengers or people returning from abroad made their entrances and exits. The audience also used them to enter and exit the theater before and after the performance.

Greek Theaters Click here to explore more about Greek theaters in Perseus, with descriptions, plans, and images of eleven ancient theaters, including the Theater of Dionysus in Athens, and the theater at Epidaurus.

The basic structure of a Greek tragedy is fairly simple. After a prologue spoken by one or more characters, the chorus enters, singing and dancing.

Scenes then alternate between spoken sections dialogue between characters, and between characters and chorus and sung sections during which the chorus danced. Here are the basic parts of a Greek Tragedy:. Prologue : Spoken by one or two characters before the chorus appears. The prologue usually gives the mythological background necessary for understanding the events of the play. Parodos : This is the song sung by the chorus as it first enters the orchestra and dances.

First Episode : This is the first of many "episodes", when the characters and chorus talk. First Stasimon : At the end of each episode, the other characters usually leave the stage and the chorus dances and sings a stasimon, or choral ode. The ode usually reflects on the things said and done in the episodes, and puts it into some kind of larger mythological framework. For the rest of the play, there is alternation between episodes and stasima, until the final scene, called the Exodos : At the end of play, the chorus exits singing a processional song which usually offers words of wisdom related to the actions and outcome of the play.

Click here to see an analysis of the structure of the plays read in Humanities This page allows you to find passages in the any of the plays in either Greek or English. In sections H and I there are links which allow you to search for particular English or Greek words in the text of any of the plays.

English text Greek text. English text Greek text H. Search for English word in any of the plays. To search for the occurance s an English word in one of the plays, click on the above, and type in the English word in the box marked "Look for:"; then type in the name of the author of the play Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, or Aristophanes in the box marked "Show results for". The search will turn up the occurance of the word you have requested in all of the plays of the author you have typed in.

Search for Greek word in any of the plays. You do not have to know ancient Greek to use this helpful resource. The Greek word search program allows you to type in an English word, and then gives you all of the Greek words that have that English word as part of the definition. You can then search for those Greek words in the Greek texts you are interested in.

This is very helpful, because it allows you to be less dependent on the English translation when you are searching for a word or concept in the Greek text. For example, if you are exploring the issue of "justice" in one of the plays, you can find out what the Greek words are that have "justice" as part of their definition, and then search for those words directly in the Greek text of the play.

Goldhill, S. Reading Greek Tragedy Heath, M. Word and Action Lesky, A. Greek Tragic Poetry Rehm, R. Greek Tragic Theatre Segal, C. Greek Tragedy in Action Vernant, J. Towards Greek Tragedy Winkler, J. Nothing to Do with Dionysus? Burkert, W. Lesky, A. Greek Tragic Poetry Chapter 1: "Problems of Origin. The Art of Aeschylus Taplin, O. Studies in Aeschylus Blundell, M.

The Sophoclean Chorus Gellie, G. Sophocles: A Reading Knox, B. The Heroic Temper Knox, B. He wrote over plays and was one of the three famous Greek tragedians along with Aeschylus and Euripides. He is credited with diverging from the typical format of a tragedy: he increased the number of speaking actors, increased the number of chorus members, and used painted scenery.

Masks served several important purposes in Ancient Greek theater: their exaggerated expressions helped define the characters the actors were playing; they allowed actors to play more than one role or gender ; they helped audience members in the distant seats see and, by projecting sound somewhat like a small megaphone …. The tragic tale of Niobe is one of the most poignant in Greek mythology. Her father was Tantalus, king of a town above Mount Sipylus in Anatolia, but we do not know exactly who her mother was.

Niobe had two brothers, Broteas and Pelops, who would later be a legendary hero and would give his name to Peloponnese. There were no actresses on the Greek stage. All the female roles were played by men. The maximum number of actors required for any Greek tragedy is three.