Skip to main content

Greek Rules of Drama


In Greek drama, there are two types of plays: tragic and comic. In a tragedy, a well-known, respected, and influential figure suffers a tragic blow that destroys his social standing and financial well-being and often takes his life. In contrast, a comedy deals with a peasant’s advancement through the class system to a better social standing. Tragedy and comedy are polar opposites, with tragedy encompassing a fall from grace, and comedy allowing individuals to rise and prosper. The basic rules for dramas were laid out by Aristotle in his “Poetics.”

Action and Plot

Greek dramas, regardless of whether they are tragedies or comedies, follow a single plotline in a clear way that makes it easy for the audience to follow. Avoiding subplots was an essential rule for Greek dramas. The “unity of action” takes the audience from a single action to the ultimate consequence and conclusion of that action. A complete plot uses a fairly rigid form containing a beginning, middle, and end. The action and plot are the most important rules in a Greek drama and can be viewed as a single rule.

Character

Character comes second to the rules of action and plot. The audience’s emotions should be directly affected by the main character. Fear, empathy, pity, resonance, and identification with the character must be intimately linked to the plot of the play. If the actions of the character do not directly affect the outcomes of the “unity of action,” then the play has failed to address the character. In a tragedy, the subject unwittingly brings about his own demise due to a lack of knowledge. Similarly, in a comedy, the subject succeeds for the same reason.

Diction and Thought

The third rule of a Greek drama deals with a concept called thought that reinforces the action through monologues. By understanding the character’s thoughts, we better understand the motivations and intentions of the subject. In turn, this allows us to feel pity for the character, an essential emotion in dramas. Diction constitutes the fourth most important rule in a tragedy. Diction can be seen as the theme of the drama and the manipulation of words to present and reinforce that theme. Whereas most of the drama’s content presents itself through actions, diction allows for reinforcement of those actions through words.

Song and Spectacle

The fifth rule involves the song or music portion of the drama and serves as an interlude between acts, but music also must reinforce the previous act or foreshadow events to come. The music portion consists of a chorus with rudimentary percussion instruments including bells and drums. Spectacle deals with theatrics that intends to reinforce the acting in the play with sound effects, lighting, and scene changes. By far, the sixth rule of spectacle is the least impressive and artistic of the rules since it relies upon mechanical means to invoke emotions.

Catharsis

Catharsis deals with the conclusion of the drama. Catharsis purges the audience of negative emotions and releases excessive rage, pity, and fear. In comedy, the goal is to invoke catharsis through laughter and hope. With tragedy, the audience deals with the hero’s loss and devastation, and, in turn, feels better about life. Catharsis lets the audience identify with the characters to feel better about their own plights.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Why Claude Debussy Never Cared About Music Theory

  Claude Debussy was born on August 22, 1862. So, I felt writing a blog post to celebrate would be appropriate. Debussy was a revolutionary composer who challenged the conventions of Western music. He was influenced by the impressionist painters, the exotic sounds of gamelan music, and the symbolist poets. He created a musical language that was expressive, colorful, and atmospheric. One of the most remarkable aspects of Debussy's music is his use of harmony. He did not follow the rules of tonality and functional harmony that dominated the music of his time. Instead, he used modes, scales, chords, and parallel movements that created a sense of ambiguity and fluidity. He also experimented with timbre, texture, rhythm, and form to create musical images that evoked moods and emotions. Debussy's music can inspire us to think outside the box and explore new possibilities in our own compositions. We can learn from his innovative techniques and his artistic vision. We can also apprecia...
Post a Comment
Read more

List of Musical Techniques and Their Meanings

Musical techniques are the building blocks of any basic music training. These techniques allow performers to improve their coordination and develop accuracy through repetitive daily exercises. Musical techniques progressively build upon previously learned techniques. Scales Scales form the basis for other musical techniques. Student may study major and minor scales as well as modern scales, such as the whole-tone and octatonic scales. A scale consists of patterns of half steps and whole steps. These whole steps and half-step arrangements will be different for each scale. Scales are musical techniques that can help a performer to play faster and more accurately, and make learning new pieces easier. Chords Chords require knowledge of major and minor scales. Chords come in several different forms that affect the sound. Triads consist of three notes spaced a third apart and classified as major, minor, augmented and diminished chords. Seventh chords build on triads and have an additional no...
Post a Comment
Read more

Similarities of Classical and Baroque Music

Music has evolved through the centuries and undergone drastic changes. One of the most significant transitions was from the Baroque to the Classical period of music. In this paragraph, I will compare and contrast some of the main features of these two styles, such as ensembles, instrumentation, and counterpoint study. The Baroque and Classical periods of music have many similarities. While the style of music changed drastically, certain key elements remained the same between the two styles. Composers in the Classical period sought to simplify music and create clearly audible musical lines. In contrast, composers from the Baroque period were interested in creating complex and highly ornamented musical lines. The Baroque period occurs from approximately 1600 to 1750, and the Classical period extends from 1750 to 1820. Ensembles Ensembles are groups of musicians that perform together. Both the Baroque and the Classical period had similar types of ensembles, such as operas, orchestras, str...
Post a Comment
Read more