| catharsis | Aristotle's term for the emotional effect of tragedy, the purging or cleansing of the emotions of pity and fear.
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| City (or Great) Dionysia | An annual festival in Athens honoring Dionysus during which tragedies, comedies, and other dramatic and musical performances were staged.
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| dithyramb | [DITH-ram] Ecstatic dance or choral song performed in honor of Dionysus, out of which tragedy is said to have evolved.
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| peripeteia | [per-ih-pe-TEE-uh] In tragedy, the sudden reversal or unexpected change of the hero's fortunes, as when the conquering hero Agamemnon was brought down by his wife.
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| Pisistratus | The Athenian tyrant during whose administration (560 –527 B.C.) were instituted the public recitations of Homer at the Panathenaea and the tragic competitions at the City Dionysia.
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| protagonist | In Greek drama, the "first actor," the major character.
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| satyr play | The ribald farce that followed the presentation of a tragic trilogy at the City Dionysia, it reaffirmed the comic and sexual aspects of human life.
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| Thespis | Although some scholars doubt his historicity, he was probably an Athenian playwright (c. 534 B.C.), known as the father of drama for having created the first role for an actor.
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| tragedy | In Greek literature, a serious play containing a pathos, or scene of suffering, that was performed at the City Dionysia.
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