Question

1. Answer the questions about Greek drama. Each correct response is worth 1 point: (a) What is considered Greek drama? Type your answer here. (b) What were the actors called in Greek theater? Type your answer here. (c) Explain where the name for actors originated. Type your answer here. (d) Who, other than the actors, participated in the plays? Type your answer here (e) Where were the plays performed? Type your answer here. (Score for Question 2: ___ of 8 points) 2. The Delian League was started as an association of Greek city-states. Each city-state contributed to the defense of all the members. Athens, as the wealthiest and strongest member, quickly took control. When the Persian threat diminished, some city-states wanted to leave the league, but Athens prevented them from withdrawing. Pericles praised Athens as an example for the entire world, but not everyone agreed. Thucydides criticized the Delian League and the way Athens controlled it. Read each quotation aloud. Then answer the questions. Pericles: “When our work is done, we are in a position to enjoy all kinds of recreation for our spirits. There are ceremonies and contests all year. In our homes we find a beauty and good taste which delight us every day and drive away our cares.” Thucydides: “…the Athenians were very severe and exacting, and made themselves offensive by applying the screw of necessity [applying economic pressure] to men who were not used to and in fact not disposed for any continuous labor.” Questions: (a) Which author describes Athens as a place with time for pleasant relaxation? Type your answer here. (b) Which author describes people being forced to do hard work? Type your answer here. Pericles: “Ours is a democracy because power is in the hands not of a minority, but of the whole people.” Thucydides: “In some other respects the Athenians were not the old popular rulers they had been at first; and … it was easy for them to reduce [defeat] any that tried to leave the confederacy.” (c) Pericles says that Athens is a democracy. What does he mean by democracy? Type your answer here. (d) Do you think Thucydides would see Athens’s role in the Delian League as democratic? Why or why not? Type your answer here. (Score for Question 3: ___ of 8 points) 3. You have just been challenged with the question "Was Alexander great or not?" Your position is that Alexander was great, but you will have to persuade everyone else. Explain what made Alexander the Great so great and how he spread Greek culture and brought ideas from other cultures to Greece. Type your answer here. (Score for Question 4: ___ of 8 points) 4. In a short essay, describe what is meant by “classical” and why Greece is an example of a classical civilization. Type your answer here.

Answer 1

I have answered parts 1 and 2, but I am not confident enough to answer parts 3 and 4, sorry.

1a.) A Greek drama is a is a play which was performed in ancient Greece, most notably the tragedies.

1b.) The actors in Greek theater were called hypocrites, I believe. The Greek spelling the was "hypokrites"

1c.) The Greek word "hypokrite" is a compound word which translates to "an interpreter from underneath." This is because they performed while their faces were hidden underneath giant masks so the ancient audiences could easily tell characters apart. More information can be found here: https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/hypocrite-meaning-origin

1d.) aside from the actors there was a chorus, which explained necessary information to the audience, usually in song form. Eventually this evolved to be a more active role in the plays.

1e.) The plays were performed in open air theaters (theatron), the most famous of which is at the acropolis in Athens. They were shaped like a bowl for acoustics.

2a.) Pericles descibes Athens as a place of beauty with time for relaxation, "When our work is done, we are in a position to enjoy all kinds of recreation for our spirits."

2b.) Thucydides describes Athens as a place which forces men into "continuous labor."

2c.) In Pericles opinion, Athens is a democracy because the power is in the hands of "the whole people," meaning it is not ruled by a king or small group, but rather by the public.

2d.) I do not think Thucydides would consider Athens' role in the Delian League as democratic because Athens kept the league together despite protests of those who wanted to leave. He also says, "at first" the rulers of Athens were different from the old rulers, implying they were no longer different from them at the time of the quote.