11/21/19 Dominick Villamor PD 7

2019-11-21

Dominick Villamor Pd. 7

Aim: What are the attributes of Greek Drama? 

After a vocabulary quiz, we discussed our decisions, based in either emotion or reason,

in four unfortunate scenarios:

1

A leader for whom you have the utmost respect is making a terrible decision.

Telling him/her would cast you out of his/her graces; not telling him/her would

lead to the failure and destruction of this leader. 

Allen and Billy gave similar reasons as to why telling the leader of the mistake at the

cost of their approval was the right course of action. Both mentioned the consequences

outside of the relationship between them and the leader.

Important decisions such as those during war were more important than the

relationship. With lives potentially at stake, it is only pragmatic to bring the leader's

mistake to their attention.

2

You are a great leader, but your people are suffering through a plague. You can

save your people, but it would cost you the reputation of your husband/wife

and children; they would not be banished, but forced to walk with shame for

the remainder of their lives. 

Kelly begins the discussion on Scenario 2 by arguing shame coming to the family

was inevitable: if it got out that you could have stopped the plague, the family would

live in shame anyways. Neglecting to act would only end in the same way as Greek

mythological figures as they tried to cheat the Fates. Steven brought a different

perspective centered around the comparative value of family and subject. Either

choice would harm a group of people, but saving the people he cares about most is

the lesser of two evils. 

3 

Someone has murdered your parent. To learn who would be at a even greater

shock and devastation than what you are facing, but you have the power to

learn that truth. 

Iandra first brings up the emotional burden of identifying the murderer and the little

return that would result from it. The murderer could be brought to justice, but that

would not change the fact her parents were dead. Salma reasons learning the

murderer's identity is important because of the risk that they could go on to kill

herself and others. Jeffrey rounds out the discussion with his point on how this

question would be nagging at the back of his head and prevent him from coming to

peace with the reality.

4 

Previously imperceptible, you recently learned that your spouse of many years,

with whom you've had children, is a direct kin relation. Your spouse is oblivious

to this fact. 

Scenario 4 was the highlight of the discussion today. The initial reaction to the news

was largely agreed on: you couldn't look at your spouse the same way knowing they

were your uncle, aunt, brother, all of the above, etc. The class was split on what actions

they would take afterwards, however. Catherine mentions divorce, arguing the marriage

was completely ruined in her eyes. Andrew and Dejon were not in support of a

divorce because of its effects on the family, instead electing to isolate any suffering

to themselves. Divorce is a life-changing event and if the children were happy and

healthy, it would be unfair to uproot their lives. 

Next Mrs. Fusaro gave us a primer on attributes of Greek tragedies as described in

Aristotle's Poetics and exemplified in what he believed to be the greatest tragedy ever

written: Sophocles' Oedipus Rex, a play which follows the rise and fall of the King

(hence 'Rex') of Thebes, Oedipus. 

The Greeks watched dramas to see how a plot unfolded rather than uncover the plot.

Because of this, the characters were emphasized in their development and how they thought.

Component Parts (most important to least important)

Plot - A perfect tragedy follows a perfect line.

Characters - Characters that the audience could care about were the reason the Greeks watched dramas.

Thought - Relating to the thought process of the characters.

Diction - Relating to the way in which characters thought. It is important to note

narration did not exist in Greek theater. Instead, every thought was communicated by the actors.

Melody - Every Greek drama had musical language featuring poetic metre and

structure. Memory is tied to the poetic attributes of language. Knowing the words

to a song, for example, is much easier than reciting plain speech. It is important to note the distinction between poetic language and pure poetry. Tragedies such as Oedipus Rex were not composed of a haiku here and a sonnet there but still incorporated a melodious style.

Spectacle - Spectacle involves how a play was developed and illustrated. The Greeks used exclusively men in dramas. Coupled with the extreme distances some members of the audience were viewing the play from, masks were important in showing characters and their emotions.

Characteristics 

Mimetic - Tragedies were meant to be related to so they were written and

performed as imitations of the real world.

Serious - Unlike contemporary tragedies such as from the likes of Shakespeare, Greek tragedy was always serious and had not moments of comic relief.

Full Story of an Appropriate Length - each play of Oedipus Rex follows a perfect plot line and can be watched without knowledge of the others. Comparing this to Marvel and the decade of movies needed to understand Endgame, it is clear Greek drama was focused

on the art and was not as commercialized.

Rhythm and Harmony - Rhythm and harmony were utilized to correspond with different parts of the play, similar to how musicals today use numbers to play into an

expectation.

Performed rather than narrated - Every action and thought in Greek tragedies

were performed since there were no narrators.

Most importantly, Greek tragedies were meant to arouse feelings of pity and fear then

purge them through catharsis. Catharsis, from the Greek kathairein, meaning "to

cleanse, purge" was in many respects a form of mental exercise. The Greeks believed

tragedies were an outlet they could release their own pity and fear into so they could

leave intellectually, morally, and socially better people.

We finished with some information on amphitheaters, notable for their acoustically

advantageous design which was revolutionized by the Greeks.

Reflection

Today I learned how Greek drama appealed to and was molded by Greek culture

through its defining characteristics and some examples both ancient and contemporary.

Theater extended past entertainment in ancient Greece. Instead, it was a tool to harden

the mind like exercise would the body. The concept of catharsis helps explain why

Greek drama is relevant millennia after they were written and why we see movies, plays,

and musicals today. I imagine the Greeks would walk out of the amphitheater after a

performance of Oedipus Rex like I would after a good movie: standing a little bit taller

and ready to face the next day with a little more vigor. To me, the most interesting and

valuable aspects of history is seeing how the world today is shaped by the past. This

lesson helps bridge the gap between today's media and previous discussions of

ancient Greek literature, increasing my appreciation for both and ability to

understand both with respect to the other. The characteristics of Greek drama should also

prepare me for the reading now that I have an general idea of what to expect.