Why is Greek tragedy still relevant in today's world? Find out from Jasper Griffin, emeritus professor of classical languages and literature at Oxford University, in this exploration of the power, artistry, and continuing resonance of this art form. Tragedy came into existence in Athens about B. In England, for example, Shakespeare's tragedies became and have remained among the most popular plays. Like Shakespeare, Athenian tragic playwrights set the action of their plays in the past, often situating them in exotic locales such as Thebes, Persia, and Egypt.
These plays were presented entirely in poetry in the "high style," and they excluded many aspects of ordinary human life, such as working, shopping, eating, and—above all—happy family life. How can we know how to pronounce a long-dead language? How can the ancient world inform our understanding of the modern world? What is at stake when Greek tragedy is staged in the theatre today, and how are its most difficult problems to be faced?
It is this final question that has been of particular interest to me — how audiences might see ancient Greek theatre accurately realised on stage again, years after it was born in Athens. That first astounding show in heralded one of the most surprising developments in modern western theatre. Since the turn of the 20th century, ancient Greek plays have become part of the repertoire of all modern theatres and, since the s, there has been the most remarkable explosion of performances of Greek tragedy across the world — not just in Europe and the USA, but also in Japan and Africa and Russia.
In London, Paris and New York, almost no year goes by without a revival of one of these classics. There is no sign of this growth slowing, on campus or in the professional theatre. Greek tragedy seems once again to speak urgently and authoritatively to a modern audience.
Why does Greek tragedy speak to us today? As with the 5th century BC, our age is an era of great confidence in the progress of science and knowledge: Greek tragedy ruthlessly exposes the pretensions in human claims to control and certainty.
As with the 5th century BC, our age is obsessed with the tension between the brutal realities of war and the rhetoric of politicians: Greek tragedy anatomises this tension with painful insight. It is far from clear how these great masterpieces of theatre should be translated from the page into the theatre. When the genre first flourished between and BC, the convention was for actors to wear specially crafted masks.
All the actors were male, with a limit on how many could appear on stage at one time, and the chorus had to be composed of Athenian citizens.
How can the old conventions of the chorus work without looking like a Hollywood musical? The book How to Stage Greek Tragedy Today stems first from my research into ancient theatre and the history of theatre performance: I have been engaged for many years with exploring the political and social impact of theatre in ancient Athens, as well as with how these old plays became so important in the cultural life of Europe, especially around the turn of the.
But my concerns in this book also come from a more direct set of experiences. I have been deeply moved by some great performances in the theatre; I have also been annoyed, bored, outraged by others. I wanted to explore why so many productions failed, and why the truly great productions were great. But the immediate stimulus to write my book was when I was asked to provide some suggestions for Vanessa Redgrave to read about tragedy — she was rehearsing a production of Hecuba at the time.
I found to my chagrin and to the detriment of my dignity as a Cambridge professor that there was nothing I could really recommend to an intelligent modern actor or director to help them when daunted by the task of performing Greek tragedy. So I sat down and wrote what I hope will answer that need.
I look at what we can learn from the ancient world about these issues, how the most successful modern productions have dealt with them, and how a company can negotiate a way through some of the most difficult problems these texts provide.
In Antigone B. Electra B. Oedipus the King B. Sophocles dramatizes the story of the death of Hercules in The Trachinae B. Sophocles' last work, Oedipus at Colonus , presents the death of Oedipus; it was produced in B. Of all the surviving plays, the tragedies of the Oedipus Trilogy — Oedipus the King , Oedipus at Colonus , and Antigone — are the best known and most often produced. Although all three plays are part of the same story, Sophocles did not create them to be performed as a single theatrical production.
Instead, the three tragedies represent separate dramas on related subjects. Many people choose to read the plays of the Oedipus Trilogy in the chronological order of the story — Oedipus the King , Oedipus at Colonus , Antigone — while others prefer the order in which Sophocles wrote them — Antigone , Oedipus the King , Oedipus at Colonus. In any order, readers will note the unique qualities in each drama, especially the important differences in character and tone.
In his Poetics , Aristotle writes that the purpose of tragedy is to arouse pity and fear in the audience, and so create a catharsis — or cleansing of emotions — that will enlighten people about life and fate. Each of the plays of the Oedipus Trilogy achieves this catharsis that Aristotle defined as the hallmark of all tragedy.
Athens held a dramatic competition every year, at the Festival of Dionysus. At this time, three playwrights would each present a tetralogy — four tragedies as well as a "satyr play," a kind of short, rough comedy — on three successive days.
At the end of the festival, ten judges would award first, second, and third prizes for the best drama. The prize itself is not known, although it was probably money and a symbol of some sort; but the true glory of winning first place was the approval of the Athenian public. Sophocles won first prize at the Festival of Dionysus 18 times, frequently over such competitors as Aeschylus and Euripides. Some of Sophocles' plays won second prize — Oedipus the King , for example — but none ever came in third.
Year after year, Sophocles' tragedies gained recognition as among the best dramas written at a time when competition was at its highest.
Perhaps Sophocles' greatest achievement is his enduring popularity as a dramatist.
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