Dionysia

Euripedes would have been considered by many greeks of the time to be very progressive. His views on society would not raise an eyebrow in today’s times, but in the time of ancient Greece, many of his works were unseemly, and on the very edge of politics of the time. Perhaps no other play of his shows his sympathy towards those that society has victimized than Medea. Often hailed as the first work of feminist literature, very few plays have nenjoyed the popularity today that Medea holds. This is…

Sophia Vietti Ms. Hickey Latin II May 18th 2018 The oresteia and the Athenian legal system The Oresteia, an Ancient Greek manuscript, is a follow up of the book The Iphigenia and follows Agamemnon’s wife, Queen Clytemnestra, murder of Agamemnon after the Trojan war. The story of the Oresteia is a long Greek play made to explain the new Athenian legal system supposedly made by the goddess Athena in the third act of the play. The main idea of the Oresteia is that injustice and…

Just as art has been a major part of human history, so has theatre and performing arts. It takes shape in storytelling, dance, and acting. According to the History of Theatre, ‘studies of wall paintings in Africa, France, and Spain reveal that humans were engaged in sophisticated forms of artistic expression as early as 20,000 years ago.’ This was apparently before the development of some skills and habits that helped advance civilization. Through this paper, we will discuss what sorts of…

Research Essay Sophocles is known as the Father of Tragedy. Although he wrote over one hundred and twenty plays in his lifetime, only seven survive today. Sophocles was quite famous at the religious festivals of the Dionysia and the Lenaea, and won twenty four of the thirty competition he competed in never scoring lower than second place. Some of his most important contributions to tragedy are introducing the third character element, his work Oedipus the king, and Antigone. Greek tragedies…

Ancient Greek history must be one of the many important things that I say must be taught in any general school. I feel that the classics must at least be brought up in a middle and high school history class so that when these students reach their college career level they know more than who was president and who won what war. Many may say that the classics that may have been a fraud, but how does that explain all the proof of these wonderful hand painted vases, the wonderful architecture, the…

Originally performed in the festival of Dionysia in 431 BC, Euripides' tragedy Medea may have been controversial to the predominantly male audience of the time. Subverting Athenian cultural norms of the era by presenting a female perspective, Medea exposes not only the flaws in individuals but also within society. In this play there is an imbalance of passion and logic, which has dire consequences for an individual and an even “greater ruin” for humanity and society at large. Medea is…

Oedipus The Tragic Hero Oedipus, Sophocles’ most well-known tragic heroes in the history of playwright set the standard for writing Greek tragedies. According to Aristotle, who defined tragedy as a story that begins with the protagonist being someone who is extraordinary compared to the typical heroes that audience are used to or a great hero’s reversal of fortune. The character’s personality leads to his or her own downfall at the end resulting in a more terrifying ending. Aristotle admired…

Every child seems to have their own memories of theater class, all with their own interpretations. Everyone seems to remember the days of acne-ridden teenagers, all worrying about their next performance in front of the class. While everyone remembers the tacky costumes and cheesy lines, almost no one can recollect the valuable information shared that filled their heads at the time. The teacher shared more with their students than just how to recite lines. They taught them how to be comfortable…

culture of theatricality and performance in classical Greece that included festivals, religious rituals, politics, law, athletics and gymnastics, music, poetry, weddings, and funerals. Participation in the many festivals—and attendance at the City Dionysia as an audience member or a participant in one of the theatrical productions was an important part of citizenship. Along with the creation of theatre itself, The Greeks are also attributed to the creation of the concepts of dramatic criticism…

It is believed that first evidence of artistic activity is a diagonal itching on a stone with a shark tooth, associated to Homo erectus around 500 000 years ago. However the oldest undisputed form of figurative art is a sculptured Venus figurine around 40 000 years ago. A time where human behavior hadn’t yet developed behavioral modernity which consists of abstract thinking and symbolic behavior among other things, yet art found its way. These first forms of art were not pure creation of the…