The following outline details the key learning objectives for each section of this chapter.
Chapter Introduction
After studying this section of the chapter you should be able to draw on examples from the plays of Aeshcylus, Euripides, and Sophocles in order to discuss how Athenian playwrights reworked ancient myth to suit the political issues of their day.
The City Dionysia and the Birth of Drama
After studying this section of the chapter you should be able to
- trace the origins of drama to the City Dionysia and the dithyramb.
- describe the atmosphere and events of the City Dionysia.
- identify the three dramatic categories established in the playwrights competition, and discuss the relevance of these categories to the larger festival.
- discuss the "dubious tradition" which credits Thespis with creating the first dramatic role for an actor.
- discuss the meaning and possible origins of the term tragedy.
- discuss the role of Dionysus in the early Greek tragedies, not only within the narrative of the plays themselves, but also in the "nature of tragedy."
- discuss "gender bending" (the blurring of conventional gender roles) in both the performance and narrative of Greek drama.
- contrast the Athenian experience of ancient Greek tragedy with contemporary approaches to these plays.
- discuss the cathartic nature of tragedy as defined by Aristotle.
- explain how the satyr play provided a counterbalance to the tragic drama.
- recount the origins of comedy as described by Aristotle.
- compare and contrast the social functions of comedy and tragedy.
The Tragic Vision After studying this section of the chapter you should be able to - discuss the role(s) of myth and tragedy in a newly democratic Athens.
- discuss the text's assertion that "between... [the] divergent paths of Dionysian freedom and Apollonian restraint, of instinct and taboo, of nature and civilization, of internal psychological needs and external social responsibilities—lies the uncharted territory that the protagonist (main character) of Greek tragedy must traverse."
Myth into Drama After studying this section of the chapter you should be able to - explain how Greek playwrights "took advantage of the multiple perspectives of the dramatic medium to question accepted views, to probe conventional responses, and to explore new approaches to experience."
- compare and contrast the tragic protagonist and mythic hero.
- explain how the tragic hero's best qualities often prove self-destructive.
- discuss why—and how—tragedy turns the hero's quest inward.
- discuss the relationship between gods and mortals in the tragic (as opposed to epic or mythic) universe.
- explain how peripeteia (reversal) defines the tragic experience.
- explain how tragedy "prepares the way for what follows: the release of tension in the satyr play, and the confirmation and reintegration in the comedy that concludes the dramatic festival."
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