Skip to main content

How Are Greek Comedies Different From Greek Tragedies?


Having a solid understanding of the difference between a Greek comedy and tragedy allows you to enjoy the drama with greater understanding and context. The two art forms exist on separate sides of the spectrum, with comedies ending with happy and resolved endings, while tragedies end more catastrophically. Both types of drama were valued in Greek society and they served to entertain and inform the audience. There are two main ways to think about Greek drama: Aristotelian and Rhetorical traditions.

Aristotelian Tragedy

Aristotelian tragedy dealt with people in a higher social class that spoke well and came from good backgrounds. In the tragedy, these people have a fall from grace and are completely destroyed by the end of the drama. According to Aristotle, these tragedies were intended to purge the audience of “fear and pity.” The goal was to move the audience towards a feeling of catharsis and release from their daily troubles.

Aristotelian Comedy

In contrast to Aristotelian tragedy, the players in an Aristotelian comedy come from average to poor backgrounds or circumstances and ascend to a higher position in life. Unlike the main characters of a tragedy their language is average and they deal with everyday issues. Comedies always have acceptable to favorable resolutions and end with the main characters finding themselves with a better lot in life. Comedies do not have to be funny or humorous to be considered a comedy.

Rhetorical Tragedy

Rhetorical tragedies were defined through a fictional story in which the main characters were presented in a fictional light that was fantastical and not believable. An example would be Orpheus going to Hades for the sole purpose of rescuing his wife. It is not possible to return from the underworld, but in a rhetorical tragedy, the suspension of disbelief made this an acceptable method of presenting a tragedy. The tragedies usually dealt with a commonly known myth to make it easier to present the drama to the audience.

Rhetorical Comedy

The rhetorical tradition of viewing a Greek comedy involves taking a drama that consists entirely of fiction, but could reasonably appear to be based on real events. The characters in these comedies would have everyday events happen to them in a way in which the audience could relate and sympathize with. The ending of a rhetorical comedy always allowed the main characters to maintain or improve their situation in life. This was the method of viewing the world that was accepted by Plato.

“Tragedy and Philosophy”; Walter A. Kaufmann; 1992

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