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Attic Tragedy

Tragedy in the Polis

- central activity in democratic life-- Festival context- State involvement in organisation- Liturgies and khoregia- Theoric fiund

Running the theatre

- eponymous archon (top man in the polis)- chooses three playrights whosetragedies will be performed

- chooses khoregoi- competition between tragedians judged by the jury of ten one from each tribe chosen by lot

Funding the performance

- polis pays for professional actors- state pays for,- chorus: two- three actors- 15 people- trained and paid for by the khoregoi-

those who do the chorus- they do this as a liturgy ( semi- voluntary-

benefaction- tax on wealthy citizens, a service to the police (officially

compulsory)) other main liturgy: fitting out a naval trireme (allies, empire,

Gillian league- Athenians did not think it absurd to do one instead of the

other- the same)

Funding the Audience

- grant to enable the poor to pay entry to dramatic festivals- compare payment to jury for service and assembly attendance- often attributed to perikles- important enough that a wide variance should attend- not just a playground for

the rich, everyone should be able to attend.

Why so important?

- teaching the city- constructed as a means of teaching amd educating the polis- instilling social

and moral values

- not just entertainment and broadening the cultural level of the peoples Tragedy in the Festival of Dionysos

- nothing to do with Dionysos??? Plutarch- what doeas tragedy have to do with Dionysos- why do these plays serve as

part of the festival to the god of wine

- procession- bringing image of dionysis to the theatre- god of transformation and transgression- liminality or boundaries being crossed and explored- god of liberation- polis being freed from the constraints of the royal and aristocratic households

What else happened at the Dionysia?

- god considered to be present at the festival- sacrifice by the ten generals strategoi- tribute from the Athenian empire- Delian league paraded before the audience-

multiple audiences- non- Athenian as well

- list of those who have benefited the polis read out and honours bestowed uponthem

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- war- orphans paraded in polis- funded hoplite- panoplyWhat do these rituals signify?

- celebration of Athenian power and wealth- reinforcement of how great Athens is- reaffirmation of civic ideology, devotion to the polis- all about the polis, community, not the individual- reciprocal assertion of how the polis looks after and shows gratitude to

citizens

- celebration of those who have laid down their lives ( and wealth) for the polis- in this context, with all the attitudes and emotions built up by this, that the

audience would watch tragedy

Tragedy in the fifth- century thought- world or The message(s) of tragedy

- how was it perceived in its democratic context- meant many things to many people- rapidly expanded and spread to the Greek world and beyond- tragedians being commissioned by other Greek states to write tragedies- steeped in democratic ideology- aesthetic qualities

exquisite poetry, music, dance engaging and satisfying plots jaw dropping spectacle (sometimes)

- universal (or at least Panhellenic issues) man and the gods as seen in Antigone relationship beween- extremely important in the overall plot and dimensions

of the play

how to live gender issues

Political issues

- celebration of democratic ideology?- critique of non- democratic systems setting in Thebes, Argos, etc. kings and royal families tend to come to sticky ends, e.g. Antigone, Oedipus, etc explicit praise of democracy

Theseus the Democratic king

Questioning democracyHow would Antigone fit into this?

- upholder of divine law- but obsessed with the rights of her household (oikos)- oikos over the polis- incestuous house of Oedipus emblematic of aristocratic endogamy and

exclusives

- right thing for the wrong reasons- Creon- upholder of the poi=lis and community- But increasingly tyrannical- identifies the polis and its interests with himself- Clearly condemned and destroyed by his own actions- Does this make Antigone right?

Tragic Politics

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- smug self- celebration and condemnation of others?- anxious critique of democratic values?- Careful exploration of tensions in democratic societies- Pressure valve- release of tensions within safe environment ( festival time/

performance)

Tragic Performance- Aristotles poetics and the contempt for opsis- Not a play- but a script- 3D vocation within space- spectacle as part of the tragic experience- theatricality as part of the meaning of the tragedy- the way things are staged contribute to understanding of tragedy

Some Theatrical Effects

- ekkyklema- rolling out platform- mekhane (crane)- - deus ex machina- medea as goddess- visual reinforcement of the difference between polis and divine- through

elevation

Significant Props- Aias sword

- masks and costumes- furies- Eumenides- smile of Dionysos- Bacchae- One actor- multiple roles- only three actors- mirror scenes- Greek theatre-- skene- stage- and the oikos- represents the royal house- royal house and all it stands for- House of Laios- Antigone

Women- outside

- Athenian women secluded- Under control of kourios- male relation- in charge- not getting enough- the wandering womb (hysteria)- out of control when shes outside- and not getting enough- cultural conations conveyed to Athenian audience-

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Women and Children in Classical Athens