Elements of the Plays
The Stage
Tragedies
Tragic Hero
TRUE or FALSE
100
This type of play dealt with mythological subjects in a comic, irreverent manner.
What is a satyr play?
100
This Greek god of fertility, wine, and art was honored at the spring festival where the plays were performed.
Who is Dionysus?
100
The tragedies almost exclusively dealt with stories from the ________ (past or present)
What is the past?
100
The mistake or weakness that brings the character down (English word AND the Greek term)
What is tragic flaw / hamartia?
100
The best tragic heroes are totally wicked
What is FALSE
200
This type of play included a lampoon character and a "reducto ad absurdum," or a "reduction to absurdity"
What is a comedy play?
200
Literally: "viewing place" - where spectators sat to watch the plays
What is the theatron?
200
The Greek term that refers to the suffering the character(s) endures
What is pathos?
200
Many tragic heroes are brought down due to excessive pride, or ____________ (Greek term).
What is hubris?
200
Many tragic heroes get into trouble because of their pride
What is TRUE
300
Comprised of all male amateur performers, this group represented one entity and was the moral compass of the play
What is the chorus?
300
Literally: "tent" - the building directly behind the stage that was decorated to represent part of the scenery
What is the skene?
300
The term that refers to the purification and purge of emotions that audience feels after watching a tragedy
What is catharsis?
300
Literally: "reversal" - the change in fortune that brings the tragic hero down (Greek term)
What is the peripeteia?
300
Tragic heroes experience a change in luck.
What is TRUE (peripeteia)
400
This person would try to win over the audience with flattery and small gifts
Who is the playwright?
400
Literally: "passageways" - where the chorus and some actors made their entrances and exits
What is the parados?
400
Literally: "god of the machine" - an unexpected power or event saving a seemingly hopeless situation
What is deus ex machina?
400
Literally: "reversal" - The moment in a play when the character realizes he is doomed and why (Greek term)
What is anagnorisis?
400
The audience should feel totally depressed at the end of a tragedy.
What is FALSE
500
The Greeks were clever in the use of _______, constructing the theatres in a way that even the smallest sound could reach any seat
What is acoustics?
500
Literally: "dancing space" - circular area where the chorus would perform and interact with the audience
What is the orchestra?
500
The term used to refer to dialogue in which two characters speak alternate lines of verse (especially in a tragedy when the characters are in a violent dispute)
What is stichomythia?
500
The tragic hero represents a perfect person, and that's why their downfall is so cathartic, or emotionally disturbing. (TRUE or FALSE)
What is FALSE? The tragic hero is great but not perfect, because we would be unable to identify with the tragic hero if he/she were perfect, and we have to identify with the hero to experience catharsis.
500
For a hero to be truly tragic he needs to see what he has done wrong.
What is TRUE (anagnorisis)