Question

Greek Theatre Worksheet

Answer 1

Greek dramas were performed during what years in Greece? (approximately)

Answer: Greek theatre began in the 6th century BCE in Athens

Theatre originated from Greek religious festivals honoring who?

Answer: Greek theatre began with festivals honoring their gods.

Who wrote Greek Tragedies:

Answer: Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides

Who wrote Greek Comedies:

Answer: Aristophanes

What type of play made fun of Greek Legends(ex comedy/tragedy…):

Answer: comedy

Where did greek plays usually come from?

Answer: They were an extension of the ancient rites carried out in honor of Dionysus, and it heavily influenced the theatre of Ancient Rome and the Renaissance.

Greek plays usually centered around what 3 things?

Answer: Comedy, satyr plays, and most important of all, tragedy

Where were Greek plays typically performed?

Answer: Theatre of Dionysus

Who is Aristotle and what did he contribute to Greek Theatre?

Answer:

Who: Aristotle is a towering figure in ancient Greek philosophy,

What: Aristotle set the “rules” of the tragic theatre presentations

What are Aristotle’s 6 Elements of Drama

Answers:

1. plot

2. character

3. thought

4. diction

5. music

6. spectacle

Explain what raked seating means:

Answer: Raked seating refers to seating that is positioned on an upwards slope away from the stage.

List 3 characteristics of a Greek chorus.

Answer:

a. interact with the audience

b. try to get the audience to take sides with the characters in the play

c. expressed to the audience what the main characters could not say

List 7 functions of the Greek chorus.

Answers:

a. to offer a sense of rich spectacle to the drama

b. to provide time for scene changes and give the principle actors a break

c. to offer important background and summary information that facilitates an audience's ability to follow the live performance

d. to offer commentary about and underline main themes animating the action

e. to model an ideal audiences response to the unfolding drama

f.  to represent the point of view of the spectator and interpreted and commented upon the characters, their words, and actions.

What information did the Chorus give the audience?

Answer: The chorus tells the audience hints and clues as to what will occur later in the play.

When did the Chorus usually sing and dance?

Answer: Song and dance numbers began to stem more naturally from the plot, and the chorus danced more than it sang

The Chorus often acted the “ideal spectator.” What does this mean?

Answer: Responding to the events as the playwright felt were important to show

Why were masks used to perform plays in this time period?

Answer: They made it easier for the actors used in plays to play more than one part each.

Give 3 characteristics of masks.

Answer:

a. The masks were lightweight

b.  Made from organic materials like stiffened linen, leather, wood, or cork, with the wig consisting of human or animal hair.

c. Hard to see through

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Hope this helps! :)