Genre: Greek Theatre

GREEK THEATRE

Aristotle’s Model of Tragedy (335 BCE)

The Greek Philosopher recorded his ideas on the model of a tragic story in his text ‘Poetics’ which looked at how Dramas were put together


The story should centre around the rise and fall of the tragic hero:


Exposition – establishes the premise of the plot or the problem of story, Marlowe uses the Greek Tragedy method of a Chorus to give necessary plot details and introduction of the story to the audience. The tragic hero is a character of noble stature and has greatness. This should be clear in the play. The character must occupy a "high" status position but must ALSO embody nobility and virtue as part of his/her innate character.


Rising action - the basic internal conflict is complicated by the introduction of related secondary conflicts, including various obstacles that frustrate the protagonist's (main character) attempt to reach his goal. Though the tragic hero is pre-eminently great, he/she is not perfect. Otherwise, the rest of us--mere mortals--would be unable to identify with the tragic hero. We should see in him or her someone who is essentially like us, although perhaps elevated to a higher position in society.


Climax - turning point, which marks a change, for the better or the worse, in the protagonist’s affairs, this is to be the most dramatic part of the story. The hero's downfall, therefore, is partially her/his own fault, the result of free choice, not of accident or fate. In fact, the tragedy is usually triggered by some error of judgment or some character flaw that contributes to the hero's lack of perfection noted above. This error of judgment or character flaw is known as a "tragic flaw"


Falling Action – the conflict of the story unravels and we see the demise (destruction) of the tragic hero. The hero's misfortunate is not fully deserved. The punishment exceeds the crime. The fall is not pure loss. There is some increase in awareness, some gain in self-knowledge, some discovery on the part of the tragic hero.


Denouement – Conclusion of the story follows the falling action, conflicts are unravelled and the story comes to an end, seeing the Protagonist much worse off than he or she started.

THE GREEK CHORUS

The Greek chorus usually communicated in song form, but sometimes spoke their lines in unison. The chorus had to work in unison to help explain the play as there were only one to three actors on stage who were already playing several parts each. As the Greek Theatres were so large, the chorus' actions had to be exaggerated and their voices clear so that everyone could see and hear them. To do this, they used techniques such as synchronization, echo, ripple, physical theatre and the use of masks to aid them. A Greek chorus was often led by a coryphaeus. They also served as the ancient equivalent for a curtain, as their parodos (entering procession) signified the beginnings of a play and their exodos (exit procession) served as the curtains closing.