Antigone+tragedy+notes

Classical Age of Greece – 5th C. BCE (the 400s)
 * Dionysius – Greek god of revelry, wine, chaos. Festival tragedies were written in his honor.
 * Apollo – Greek god of music, math, order, reason, truth, sun
 * fate – every person has a destiny that is determined before birth by the Fates: three women who spin the thread of your life, measure it, and cut it
 * hubris – excessive pride, implies stepping beyond the role set for the person by the gods.
 * chorus – a group of 8 to 40 men (originally priests who told the stories of the gods) who comment in unison on the action of the tragedy
 * skene – building at the back of the stage to hold costumes. Has big pretty doors to look like a palace.
 * orchestra – the “dancing ground” in front of the stage where the chorus chanted
 * dramatic irony – when the audience knows something a character doesn’t know
 * vicarious – second hand, in the sense of an experience that we see someone else have but don’t have ourselves (book, play, movie)
 * ode – a set piece the chorus speaks in unison
 * episode – (epi = around) the pieces between the odes that are the action of the play.
 * Characters:
 * Antigone – Oedipus’ headstrong daughter; engaged to marry Haemon, Creon’s son, her cousin
 * Ismene – Antigone’s more timid sister
 * Polyneices – Antigone’s brother who fought **against** Thebes
 * Eteocles – Antigone’s brother who fought **for** Thebes
 * Creon – Antigone’s uncle, current king, father of Haemon
 * Haemon – Antigone’s cousin, engaged to her
 * Teiresias – blind wise man of Thebes
 * Eurydice – Creon’s wife
 * Thespis – c. 534 BCE. He was the first man to stand apart from the chorus to speak the words of a god. The first actor
 * thespian – actor
 * Aeschylus – Greek playwright who added a second actor
 * Sophocles – (495 -406) playwright who added a third actor and a little bit of scenery. Wrote the Oedipus trilogy and others.

5 Requirements for a Classic Greek Tragedy
 * 1) a serious work about an important person (king, great warrior, etc.)
 * 2) who, as the result of fate or a character flaw (usually hubris)
 * 3) experiences a catastrophe, such as losing his entire family or kingdom.
 * 4) This person then realizes it was all his fault, and tries to reverse his fortune, but it’s too late.
 * 5) Viewing the play evokes a feeling of pity for the tragic hero and terror at the power of the gods. This is a catharsis, an emotional purge.

Civil Disobedience - refusal to obey laws **and accepting the consequences** as a way of forcing the government to do or change something.
 * Refusing to pay taxes, and therefore going to jail, is a form of civil disobedience.
 * Running a red light at two o’clock in the morning, when no one can see you, is not civil disobedience.