| chorus | In Greek drama, a group of performers who sang and danced in both tragedies and comedies, often commenting on the action; in later times, a group of singers who performed with or without instrumental accompaniment.
|
 |
|
|
| Classic, or Classical | Having the forms, values, or standards embodied in the art and literature of Greek and Roman civilization; in music, an eighteenth-century style characterized by simplicity, proportion, and an emphasis on structure.
|
|
|
|
| Classicism | A set of aesthetic principles found in Greek and Roman art and literature emphasizing the search for perfection or ideal forms.
|
|
|
|
| contrapposto | [kon-truh-POH-stoh] In sculpture and painting, the placement of the human figure so the weight is more on one leg than the other and the shoulders and chest are turned in the opposite direction from the hips and legs.
|
|
|
|
| Dionysia | [DYE-uh-NYSH-ee-ah] Any of the religious festivals held in ancient Athens honoring Dionysus, the god of wine; especially the Great Dionysia, celebrated in late winter and early spring in which tragedy is thought to have originated.
|
|
|
|
| Fourth Century style | The sculptural style characteristic of the last phase of the Hellenic period, when new interpretations of beauty and movement were adopted.
|
|
|
|
| Hellenic | [hell-LENN-ik] Relating to the time period in Greek civilization from 480 to 323 b.c., when the most influential Greek artists, playwrights, and philosophers, such as Praxiteles, Sophocles, and Plato, created their greatest works; associated with the Classical style.
|
|
|
|
| High Classical style | The style in Greek sculpture associated with the ideal physical form and perfected during the zenith of the Athenian Empire, about 450-400 b.c.
|
|
|
|
| humanism | An attitude that is concerned with humanity, its achievements, and its potential; the study of the humanities; in the Renaissance, identified with studia humanitatis.
|
|
|
|
| idealism | in Plato's philosophy, the theory that reality and ultimate truth are to be found not in the material world but in the spiritual realm.
|
|
|
|
| Ionic | The Greek architectural order, developed in Ionia, in which columns are slender, sit on a base, and have capitals decorated with scrolls.
|
|
|
|
| maenad | [MEE-nad] A woman who worshiped Dionysus, often in a state of frenzy.
|
|
|
|
| modes | A series of musical scales devised by the Greeks and believed by them to create certain emotional or ethical effects on the listener.
|
|
|
|
| Old Comedy | The style of comedy established by Aristophanes in the fifth century b.c., distinguished by a strong element of political and social satire.
|
|
|
|
| orchestra | In Greek theaters, the circular area where the chorus performed in front of the audience; in music, a group of instrumentalists, including string players, who play together.
|
|
|
|
| Platonism | The collective beliefs and arguments presented in Plato's writings stressing especially that actual things are copies of ideas.
|
|
|
|
| Praxitelean curve | [prak-sit-i-LEE-an] The graceful line of the sculptured body in the contrapposto stance, perfected by the Fourth Century style sculptor Praxiteles.
|
|
|
|
| satyr-play | [SAT-uhr] A comic play, often featuring sexual themes, performed at the Greek drama festivals along with the tragedies.
|
|
|
|
| Severe style | The first sculptural style of the Classical period in Greece, which retained stylistic elements from the Archaic style.
|
|
|
|
| skene | [SKEE-nee] A small building behind the orchestra in a Greek theater, used as a prop and as a storehouse for theatrical materials.
|
|
|
|
| tragedy | A serious and deeply moral drama, typically involving a noble protagonist brought down by excessive pride (hubris) and describing a conflict between seemingly irreconcilable values or forces; in Greece, tragedies were performed at the festivals associated with the worship of Dionysus.
|