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Similarities between greek and modern theatre
Modern greek theatre
Greek Tragedy Plays
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Over sixty percent of the English words have originated from the Greek language. Many of these words came into the English language through the poetry and theater plays done in ancient Greece. The Greek plays have been shaped by historical events and their tragic past and put into one story. The ancient Greek theater demonstrated historical events and poems in the form of plays like in The Cyclops and performed them for the audience’s entertainment and awareness.
Greek history has shown many tragic events over the course of time. One of the most tragic and important time periods in Greek History was known as the Dark Ages. During the Dark Ages the tribe of Mycenaeans took over Greece (“Origins”). Under the rule of the Mycenaeans almost all the Greek’s written language was lost along with other cultural values (“Archaic”). Over the course of the Mycenaeans rule many wars were fought and many people fled Greece to get away from the tragedies occurring (“Origins”). Several poets and writers during the Dark Ages began writing about the tragic events and wars going on (“Origins”). These poems and writings were what helped bring back the Greek culture back in during the Archaic Period. When the Mycenaeans were overthrown the ancient Greek civilizations regained power and were able to bring back Greece's culture and enhance it to make it better than before (“Origins”). The Dark Ages brought many tragedies but at the end it strengthened Greek history, religion, and mythology (“Archaic”).
After the Mycenaeans left many Greek citizens began living in tribes instead of cities (“Archaic”). Through these small tribes they began forming city-states known as “polis” (“Archaic”). City-states allowed them to govern themselves instead of a “basil...
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...dysseus realized that this was the chance for them to escape (Ferguson 525). The remaining men and Odysseus each hung under a sheep and escaped from the cave (Ferguson 525). After this Odysseus continues his journey back home from the Trojan War.
Greek history, culture, and theater have come a long way and have added to our culture as well. Some of our English language words have originated from the greek language. For example, the English word, politics came from the Greek word, polis, which meant city-state. Along with Greek words added to our English language, Greek arts have also contributed to our art culture. In Greek plays a chorus was present, who sang and performed during plays. Today, a chorus is a group of people that sing and perform together. Overall, Greek theater has originated from a very strong history and has contributed to many things even today.
Odysseus departure from Troy is the beginning of his long heroic adventure. "What of those years of rough adventure, weathered under Zeus?"(895) This quote depicts the rough times Odysseus will have on his journey, but also reveals that Zeus will watch over him. "The call to Adventure signifies that destiny has summoned the hero and transferred his spiritual center of gravity from within the pale of his society to a zone unknown∦"(58) Odysseus will cross the threshold and go places no one has returned from before. On the island of the Cyclops Odysseus exhibits his abilities, as he developed a plan to escape the Cyclops' cave. "∦I deemed it would be the best plan to do as follows. The Cyclops had a great club which was lying near one of the sheep pens;∦ I went up to this club and cut off about six feet of it;∦ lastly I brought it to a point myself, charring the end in the fire to make it harder. When I had done this I hid it under dung, which was lying about all over the cave∦"(book IX) Odysseus has this plan and utilizes it. He and most of his men escape the cave unharmed. This symbolized the escape from the "belly of the whale".
Odysseus finds himself in many strange and difficult situations. One of the strange and difficult situations Odysseus finds himself at is the land of the Cyclops. Odysseus had taken twelve of his men to explore the island. They found a cave and decide to stay there until the Cyclops who lived there returned. The Cyclops returned and "Picked up a huge great stone and placed it in the doorway," so the men couldn?t escape (104). "The cruel monster? reached out toward my men, grabbed two like a pair of puppies and dashed them on the ground?. Then h...
The first place Odysseus goes after the war is the land of the Ciconians. He and his men raid the island and destroy the village. However the next day, more Ciconians arrive and defeat Odysseus and his men. Several men are killed, and Odysseus experiences his first of many sorrows and tribulations. Next, the hero goes to the land of the lotus-eaters. Some of his men eat the lotus plant and instantly want to stay there and never leave. Odysseus manages to get his men away from the island, and they leave.
Odysseus returns from a great victory in the Trojan War and the enormous amount of pride he gains gets him into a lot of trouble. As he returns home, he lands on the island of the Kyklopes. He insists that they meet with the unknown host, with the prospect of receiving gifts. His pride and craving for more treasure leads him and his men into trouble. They get trapped in the cave of the Kyklops and use his wit to escape.
He tells of how him and his men came upon the cave of the cyclops Polyphemus. Odysseus convinces his men to not steal the vast provisions in the cave, and instead wait to see if it’ owner would be hospitable. Polyphemus denounced Zeus’s laws of hospitality, and proceeded to eat two of Odysseus’s men. When Polyphemus passes out after eating the men, Odysseus prepares to kill the cyclops in his sleep. However, he realized that a great boulder blocks the entrance to the cave: If he killed Polyphemus, he would be unable to leave the cave. So, he devised a plan to escape. As the cyclops left to tend to his flock of sheep, he fashioned a great spear out of wood. Then he offered some of his wine, given to him by a priest of Apollo to Polyphemus, and tells him that his name is Noman. Polyphemus then passes out drunk. While the cyclops is unconscious, Odysseus stabs the wooden spear into Polyphemus’s eye. When the cyclops finally passes out, Odysseus and his remaining men tie themselves underneath Polyphemus’s sheep. When the sheep are herded outside the cave, Odysseus and his men untie themselves escape the island. This part of the story shows how clever Odysseus truly is. If Odysseus had been thinking as a warrior, him and his men most likely would have tried to overpower the cyclops or kill him in his sleep and try to use
Odysseus and his men arrive on the land of the Cyclops. Odysseus then chooses his twelve best men and travel through the mainland and come across a cave. Odysseus and his men make themselves at ...
In Euripides’ play The Bacchae, the ideals that were the foundation of Greek culture were called into question. Until early 400B.C.E. Athens was a society founded upon rational thinking, individuals acting for the good of the populace, and the “ideal” society. This is what scholars commonly refer to as the Hellenic age of Greek culture. As Athens is besieged by Sparta, however, the citizens find themselves questioning the ideals that they had previously lived their lives by. Euripides’ play The Bacchae shows the underlying shift in ideology of the Greek people from Hellenic (or classical), to Hellenistic; the god character Dionysus will be the example that points to the shifting Greek ideology.
Sometime around 750-600 B.C.E., the Greek poet Hesiod produced what is generally thought to be the oldest surviving Greek poetic works. During this time, Greece was near the middle of its Archaic period, a period of technological, social, political, and cultural innovations. This was the period in which the first true alphabet system arose, the system which allowed Hesiod and other poets like him to record permanently the oral stories and lyrics so important to Greek culture. This was also the time in which the Greek polis emerged – what is today translated as “city-state” – as a result of increases in population size. Hand in hand with the increase in population and formation of political bodies like the polis comes the colonization of foreign land which marked this period. Colonies arose all around the Aegean Sea and onto the coast of North Africa, spreading the Greek culture well beyond its homeland (Earth 128-131).
“With the Polis, the Greeks established a new type of political structure” (McKay 119) where poleis with it’s own distinctive system of government. While the Poleis were not the first forms of city-states to emerge, they were more than a political institution. Communities of citizens with their own customs and laws and after 800
"Thomas R. Martin, An Overview of Classical Greek History from Mycenae to Alexander, The Development of Athenian Tragedy." Perseus Digital Library. 14 May 2009 .
With the lack of written language at the time, art and speech was the best way to communicate and share ideas in ancient Rome and Greece. Mosaics, fresco, wall and vase paintings, especially in the house of nobles, was a regularity in homes. The constant purchase of art could be accredited to the people love of the gods. This is a perfect example of how language was so important to the growth of ancient civilizations such as Greece. Do to the lasting poverty in this culture; intrinsic pictorial art wasn’t something seen everyday by all. Many of those less fortune relied on language to pass traditions, educating the young. In regards to entertainment, style played an important role in attracting the eyes of
"Different Types of Greek Drama and their importance." PBS. Public Broadcasting Station, n.d. Web. 23 Nov. 2014.
The ancient Greece was divided among several hundreds of city-states called “Poleis”. Within this poleis, Athens and Sparta were the most powerful, significant, largest and significant states.
This week’s written assignment is to compare and contrast monarchy, aristocracy, tyranny, oligarchy, and democracy as forms of government in Ancient Greek city-states. I will address each form of government, providing examples of each and will include applicable comparisons and/or contrasts.
Greek and Elizabethan theatre, while similar in some respects, had a few large differences. The Greeks believed in a certain unity of theme, which was prevalent throughout the production. Greek plays were often drawn from myth or of historical significance, so it seems that only ki...