Oedipus the King
and
Greek Tragedy
The origins of Greek tragedy are unclear. The most common theory suggests that
they evolved from a form of play called the dithyramb, performed at four set times of the
year in honour of Dionysius (a.k.a. Bacchus) the God of wine, vegetation, moisture and
pleasure. Dionysius roamed the world with a retinue of his randy friends, the Satyrs,
bringing the world the vine (wine), erotic joy, and sometimes — trouble. The dithyrambic
festivals were called orgia, and guess what word somes from that!
Clearly a hard-living party
animal, Dionysius got around in
unusual ways. Here he’s riding a
leopard.
These celebrations, loud and
drunken, were held outside of
town and involved, among other
things, dancing around a 16
foot stone phallus, which more or
less gives us an idea of what
everyone was really thinking about.
Note that the men participating
in the dance are dressed as satyrs.
Hmmm. What’s a phallus, you ask?
The phallus usually refers to the male penis or sex organ. The word
may also refer to a type of mushroom having the cap hanging free
around the stem. Any object that visually resembles a penis may be
referred to as a "phallus", however, such objects are more correctly
refered to as being "phallic.“
No, I am not making this up.
No, I will not provide a picture for this slide.
Dionysius hung around with satyrs, creatures described as half ram and half
man. Below you will find a “polite” picture of a satyr.
The Greeks, however, were
not overly concerned with
polite art. This is a satyr as
pictured on Greek pottery.
As the song goes, “We ain’t
nothing but mammals”.
Satyrs, it seems, were very
… mammalian!
This detail from the Pronomos vase
shows a group of people involved in
a “play”. We see four easily
identified satyrs, and two men in
costume, each carrying a mask.
The dithyramb, however, would have
only included the satyrs, and they
would perform a dance-chant. After
all, it was a religious occasion!
Aristotle speculated that one of
the lead figures in the dithyramb might
have separated himself from the
group. Instead of chanting the myth
- all dithyrambs presented tales from
the myths - he began to actually
act it out.
The first individual to achieve fame
doing this was Thespis, and from his
name comes the word, “thespian”.
If this is true, then this represents the birth of the play in something close
to its modern form. For instead of just a chorus, a group performing a
dance-chant together, we now had a single actor and a chorus. However, the
actor, of necessity, interacted only with the chorus, answering their
questions or relating a narrative to them. The great Greek playwright,
Aeschylus, added a second actor. Our hero, Sophocles, the greatest of
them all, added a third actor! Unheard of! Absurd! But theatre as we
know it was born.
Aeschylus
Sophocles
The presence of three actors on the stage freed dramatists to expand
the scope of drama considerably. However, there were a few realities
complicating their lives. If, for example, there were more than three
characters, as is the case in Oedipus, then one actor would play several
parts. As well, no women were part of the process, so the role of
Jocasta, for example, would be played by a man. In fact, the role of
Antigone, a young woman in the play that bears her name, was played by
a quite elderly man. Children did indeed appear on the stage, but never
with speaking roles.
Hmmm. Is she, or
isn’t he?
(Jocasta in a
modern production
of Oedipus the King)
While the scope of drama grew far beyond the dithyrambs, tragedy remained
linked to Dionysius. In Athens, plays were presented at the Theatre of Dionysius,
a large structure capable of holding audiences of 15,000. While the plays were
not themselves religious ritual, they were performed as part of great events
honoring the divinities. And like the Olympic Games, the presentation of plays
was a competition.
The Theatre of Dionysius
Grand as the Theatre of Dionysius was, most consider the Theatre of
Epidaurus the greatest of the age, in part because of its near perfect natural
setting.
It is, of course, still in use.
During the great competitions, each playwright would present a series
of three tragedies and a satyr play. A Satyr play was a burlesque
comedy performed as comic relief after a classical Greek tragic trilogy.
“Burlesque" was originally a form of art that mocked by imitation. It was
often ridiculous in that it imitated several styles and combined imitations
of authors and artists with absurd descriptions.
Burlesque is a term covering a host of
fairly raunchy musical comedy shows, often
incorporating social satire. Popular in the
20’s and 30’s, it is once again staging a
comeback.
Sophocles won many of these competitions. But before looking at him
specifically, let’s examine what became of the chorus after the
evolution of tragedy from dithyramb to the works of Sophocles.
Chorus (defined):
1. A group of masked dancers who performed ceremonial songs at
religious festivals in early Greek times.
2. The group in a classical Greek drama whose songs and dances
present an exposition of or, in later tradition, a disengaged
commentary on the action.
3. The portion of a classical Greek drama consisting of choric dance
and song.
http://www.theatrehistory.com/ancient/chorus001.html
The Chorus in a production
of Oedipus the King
In classical tragedy, the chorus represented a kind of “everyman”.
In the play we are studying, they are the citizens of Corinth, the
common people. By watching and listening to them, we gain a clearer
understanding of Oedipus. This is achieved via contrast. The chorus
is a kind of “foil” to Oedipus.
Foil
A character in a play who sets off the main character or other
characters by comparison. In Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet"
Benvolio and Mercutio are young men who behave very differently to
Romeo
The chorus sings and “dances”. We are not entirely sure what form
the dances took. However, certain terms do provide clues.
Choral songs in tragedy are often divided into three sections:
strophe ("turning, circling"), antistrophe ("counter-turning, countercircling") and epode ("after-song"). So perhaps the chorus would
dance one way around the orchestra ("dancing-floor") while
singing the strophe, turn another way during the antistrophe, and
then stand still during the epode.
Other key terms:
Prologue: spoken by one (or two) characters at the beginning
of the play.
Episode: the dramatic segments in the play when the chorus
and characters talk.
Stasimon: a choral ode performed by the chorus after each
episode.
The chorus usually numbered twelve. Sophocles increased this to
fifteen. When they sang and danced, they were accompanied by an
auletes – a flute player.
The chorus stayed on the
orchestra. “The orchestra (literally,
"dancing space") was normally
circular. It was a level space
where the chorus would dance,
sing, and interact with the actors
who were on the stage near the
skene. The earliest orchestras
were simply made of hard earth,
but in the Classical period some
orchestras began to be paved with
marble and other materials. In the
center of the orchestra there was
often a thymele, or altar. The
orchestra of the theater of
Dionysus in Athens was about 60
feet in diameter”.
http://academic.reed.edu/humanities/110Tech/Theater.html
The End