What are the Big Ideas? • The role of the poet was to teach and to entertain. • Attic Old Comedy was a vehicle for political comment. • “Just a little fable with a moral”. • Aristophanic characters were used to convey bigger messages. • Conflict between the ‘old’ and ‘new’ is at the heart of Aristophanic humour and serious socio-political comment. |
Why learn about Aristophanes?
• To understand how ancient Greek theatre has influenced modern theatre and entertainment. • To develop an appreciation of Aristophanic comedy as a literary genre. • Aristophanes’ comedies provide insight into the political and social climate of his time. • The themes and messages of Aristophanes’ comedies are still relevant today – war, generational conflict, leadership, government, wealth, justice and law, education. • To understand the complexity of family and political relationships. • To understand conflict – generational, political, social Key concepts: citizenship & society culture & identity conflict art & aesthetics |
The Peloponnesian War
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historic_background_of_aristophanes.pptx | |
File Size: | 222 kb |
File Type: | pptx |
Greek Theatre Architecture
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Athenians attended the theatre either in winter, for the Great Dionysia, or early Spring, for the Lenaea, when the days had begun to lengthen, Performances began at daybreak and continued for the whole day without a break. Audiences took their own food and a cushion. The theatron, or 'watching place' of the Theatre of Dionysus was built into a hollow on the south side of the Acropolis. In Aristophanes' time, seats were wooden and rose in tiers from the circular dancing floor, the diameter of which was about the length of a cricket pitch.
Looking down from a seat in the theatron across the dancing circle, or orchestra, one could see the low platform reserved for the main actors and beyond this the timber stage building or skene, with at its centre, a pair of double doors. Beyond that was a hall and the temple of Dionysus himself. Looking out above the temple, you could see the spectacular scenery of the countryside in Greece. The theatre could hold about 15,000 Athenians, a third of the city's voting population - all adult free males. Evidence for children and women attending the theatre of Dionysis is scant. The day began when the priest of Dionysus made a sacrifice on the altar in the middle of the dancing circle and then took his place in the special seat reserved for him in the front row. The name of the play was announced by a herald. Greek Theatre Masks ![]()
How does the ancient Greek theatre experience compare with the modern one? What is similar and what is different?
Machinery in the theatre |
Festivals and the link to theatre
Fertility Festival Origins
Outdoor dramatic festivals in honour of the fertility god Dionysus were, surprisingly, celebrated in winter, the time when the earth itself was preparing the new season's crops. Two main festivals: The Great (or City) Dionysia The Great or City Dionysia was a nation-wide festival, celebrated in the last week of March, or early April, marking the arrival of the wine-god in Athens and recreating in the procession that began the proceedings the journey of the god from his earliest centre of worship, Eleusis, to Athens, where his statue stood in his own theatre for the duration of the festival. * three days were probably devoted to tragedy. Each tragic poet produced three tragedies and one satyr play * a comic play was produced in the afternoons, after the tragedies and the satyr play * a fourth day may have been scheduled entirely for comedy. The Lenaea The Lenaea, celebrated in January, a time of year which discouraged sea travel, was local Athenian festival, probably also held in the theatre of Dionysus. * comic competitions introduced in 442 BC * less important than the Great or City Dionysus * with no allies and foreigners present, the poets could be more outspoken about what was wrong with the state * important for the production of new comedies * five comic poets chosen annually, though in time of war cut down to three. Dramatic festivals were competitive. The Greeks saw the power of the gods behind the winner of a competition. Choosing of the judges by lot from the audience was a way of giving gods a say in the outcome of the festival. What was it like to attend the theatre? |
Attic Old Comedy flourished in Greece in Attica, the area around Athens, in the fifth century BC. There was a vital connection between drama and Athenian democracy, as most of the audience watching plays would on other occasions help make crucial decisions in the Assembly. The playwright saw his job to instruct, and 'sow a crop of new ideas' as well as to entertain. Attic Old Comedy was highly political. In the background of these comedies celebrating peace, fertility, religion, the countryside and the 'old ways' was the Peloponnesian war between Athens and Sparta and her allies. The Peloponnesian war, from 431-404 BC adds power and pathos to cries for peace and sanity in each play. When Sparta defeated Athens and abolished democracy, the vital link between city and drama was broken. Comedy lost many of the features that made it distinctive, becoming more domestic in nature and limited in scope and force. Attic Old Comedy has many features we were consider unusual: * importance of chorus & masks & animal costumes * serious and educative purpose of the plays * festive nature of the plays * a structure centered upon the parados, agon and parabasis * satirical attacks on current trends and members of the community * emphasis on bawdiness deriving from fertility origins * the festivals and the element of competition. Only one theory accounts satisfactorily for all the above features. The origins of comedy in the worship of the god Dionysus, sometimes referred to as Bacchus or Iacchos. Dionysus was the god of wine, ecstatic release, fertility and theatre. This mix of characteristics is explained by the idea that both actor and drunkard have lost their normal personalities. (The Greeks explained being under the influence of strong passions as being temporarily possessed by a god). This is why actors wore masks and costumes that covered them from head to foot - actors' normal personalities were obscured, allowing the power of the god to shine through. The festive nature of the plays Attic Old Comedy includes much satire on unpopular individuals. In some respects, Aristophanes was trying to curry favour with the audience. Wasps includes more personal attacks than any other play of Aristophanes: * gender jokes, making fun of the feminine-looking Cleisthenes * vicious running jokes that turn a real person into a living legend in his own lifetime, such as jokes about Cleonymus, 'the great shield dropper' that went on for fourteen years. This despite Athenian laws on slander that specifically said that you could say a man threw away his shield in battle! * at the other end of the scale, instant one-liners such as the idea that the politician Cleon has humble origins and 'stinks of the tanner's yard.' Ancient writers saw such personal attacks as an important dimension of Attic Old Comedy. Nevertheless, we must not forget that Attic Old Comedy is basically festive. The attacks upon current trends like the new education and the emphasis upon fashion of the modern generation, and the attacks upon individuals are an attempt to purify and renew that community in time of war and desperation. The real emphasis is on getting back to the old ways, on peace and fertility and the proper worship of the gods. |
Types of Comedy
Find the powerpoint (from Thursday, Week 8) detailing different types of comedy here. ![]()
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Handouts to help you study
Practice essay questions (a backup copy to your handout) can be found here.
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Quotes & Conclusions digital copy (a backup copy to your handout) can be found here.
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Exam Prep Task Sheet (a backup copy to your handout) can be found here.
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Questions Sheet (one of the tasks on the Exam Prep Task Sheet)
(a backup copy to your handout) can be found here. ![]()
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Podcast lecture
The final lecture in the Forgotten Thinkers series presents the life and thought of Aristophanes. While we remember him rightly as one of the great comedic playwrights, we too often overlook the clarity of his analysis of the challenges of his world. Delivered by Wesley Cecil PhD. at Peninsula College, Washington, USA. Discussion of Cleon begins at 23.00 Discussion of Wasps begins at 36.00 - 39.00 Discussion of democracy in the Wasps begins at 39.00 - |