Greek Theater; Aristotle's Poetics; Sophocles' Antigone

Please turn in your play analysis sheets for either Picasso at the Lapin Agile or The Lion in Winter.

Greek Theater
Crash Course Theater: Thespis, Athens, & the Origin of Theater #2

Aristotle’s Poetics (circa 330 B.C.E.)

Here's a 20 point summary of the first established literary critic's masterpiece "The Poetics" by Aristotle.

1. People like to imitate and learn.
2. Arts (Epic poetry, tragedy, comedy, dithyrambic poetry, flute-playing, lyre playing) are all modes of imitation. Just as color and form are used by artists, the voice, language, and harmony are used singularly or in combination. IE. Theatrical arts are REPRESENTATIVE of reality, not reality in and of themselves.
3. Objects of imitation should be above our common ilk; characters in a play/subject matter should be of high quality (and scope).
4. Poetry soon broke into two parts: tragedy/comedy. Serious poets would write about serious subjects; Humorous poets would write about frivolous and happy subjects.
5. Tragedy originated out of the dithyramb (choral ode); Comedy out of phallic songs.
6. Aeschylus limited his chorus, introduced the “second” actor, and made the dialogue take the leading part of the play.
7. Sophocles introduced the third actor.
8. As tragedy deals with noble subjects, comedy imitates men worse than average.
9. Tragedy is different from epic (although both are serious) in length, in one kind of verse (narrative form); epic includes tragedy, but tragedy does not necessarily include epic.
10. Aristotle’s six parts of a play:

a. Plot
b. Character
c. Theme (Idea)
d. Spectacle
e. Melody
f. Language (diction)

11. Plays should have a beginning, middle, end
12. Plays should not include so much as to bore, or too little
13. It is better in a tragedy for a good person to come to ruin, rather than a bad person
14. It is better to create catharsis from language and plot, rather than spectacle
15. Characters should have a discovery (anagnorisis) that leads to a turning point or crisis/climax (peripety) (plural peripeties)
16. The chorus should act together as a “character” and integral to the whole
17. Characters should act according to verisimilitude (appearance of reality).
18. Diction should be clear, correct, poetic, but not inessential.
19. Plot should be made up of probable events
20. The poet, being an imitator (like a painter) must represent things either as they are, or as they are said to be, or as they ought to be – which is accomplished by skillful use of language to create a catharsis (emotional purging) in the viewer of a play.

Key Words to Know:

• Hamartia (fatal or tragic flaw)
• Catharsis
• Peripety
• Deus Ex Machina
• Comedy
• Tragedy
• Dithyramb

Play Reading: Begin reading Antigone by Sophocles. Sign up for a role on the role sheet. As we read, please take notes/analyze the play using Aristotle's 20 points. Note keywords/concepts.

HOMEWORK: Complete Antigone on your own if we don't finish today in class. Work on completing a draft of your historical play project draft. See previous posts for details.

Have a happy Thanksgiving!