Performed for special occasions Festivals

Competitive Prizes awarded to best actors and playwrights

Choral Singing involved

Religious Stories based on myths or history Greek gods invoked throughout plays

Festival of Dionysus Yearly festival Groups would

perform for prizes Semicircular theater

Seats on the hillside Stage located at the

bottom of hill Up to 14,000 people

in the audience

Actors wore masks Large

mouthpieces that amplified voice

Mask styles reflected character's status: king, servant, etc.

Actors were all men

Purpose of tragedy: “to arouse pity and fear in the audience so that we may be purged, or cleansed, of these unsettling emotions” (World Drama 8).

Tragic hero Rich, well-liked, admired Better than the audience yet still fails

Hero has Hubris = arrogant pride Hero has Harmantia = tragic flaw

Wrote 92 plays in his lifetime

Rarely won first place in play competitions

Became more popular after his death

Thus, his manuscripts were copied and preserved.

References to his work in medieval and Renaissance literature

Usually focused on controversial issues, challenging traditional views

Plays do not follow typical dramatic style Used minor myths or changed major

myths Less poetic language than other Greek

playwrights More realistic characterizations and dialogue

Medea: granddaughter of sun god Helios, has magic powers

Medea meets Jason Helps him obtain golden fleece in exchange for

his promise to marry her Uses her magic to help Jason obtain fleece and

take revenge on his father's half-brother Pelias After killing Pelias, Medea and Jason (now

married), go to Corinth, where this play is set.

World Drama. Austin: Holt, Rhinehart, and Winston.

http://novaonline.nvcc.edu/eli/spd130et/ancientgreek.htm