Greek tragedy is one of the oldest examples of literature. The article highlights the history of the theater in Greece, the specifics of the tragedy as a genre, the laws of construction of the work, and also lists the most famous authors and works.
The history of the development of the genre
The origins of the Greek tragedy should be sought in the ritual Dionysian holidays. The participants in these celebrations represented the most famous companions of the god of wine - satyrs. To achieve greater similarity, they wore masks that mimic goat heads. The festivities were accompanied by traditional songs - praises dedicated to Dionysus. It was these songs that formed the basis of the ancient Greek tragedy. The first works were created on the model of legends about Bacchus. Gradually, other mythological subjects began to be transferred to the scene.
The word "tragedy" itself is derived from tragos ("goat") and ode ("song"), that is, "song of the goat."
Greek tragedy and theater
The first theatrical performances were closely associated with the cult of Dionysus and were part of the ritual of praising this god. With the growing popularity of such representations, authors began to borrow more and more plots from other myths, and gradually the theater lost its religious significance, gaining more and more secular features. At the same time, propaganda ideas dictated by the current government began to sound more and more on the stage.
Regardless of what the play was based on - state events or legends about gods and heroes, theatrical performances remained significant events in the life of society, forever securing the title of a high genre and the dominant positions in the genre system of all literature as a whole.
For theatrical performances, special buildings were constructed. Their capacity and convenient location made it possible to organize not only performances by actors, but also public gatherings.
Comedy and tragedy
Ritual performances laid the foundation not only for tragedy, but also for comedy. And if the first comes from the praise, the second takes as a basis phallic songs, as a rule, obscene content.
Greek comedy and tragedy distinguished themselves by subjects and characters. Tragic performances told about the deeds of gods and heroes, and ordinary people became characters in comedies. Usually these were far-fetched villagers or greedy politicians. Thus, comedy could become a tool for expressing public opinion. And it is precisely with this that the belonging of this genre to the "low", that is, mundane and pragmatic, is connected. Tragedy, on the other hand, seemed to be something sublime, a work that spoke of gods, heroes, the irresistibility of rock, and man's place in this world.
According to the theory of the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle, while watching a tragic performance, the viewer experiences catharsis - purification. This is due to empathy with the fate of the hero, a deep emotional shock caused by the death of the central character. Aristotle attached great importance to this process, considering it a key feature of the tragedy genre.
Genre specifics
The genre of Greek tragedy is based on the principle of three unity: place, time, action.
The unity of the place limits the play in space. This means that throughout the entire performance the heroes do not leave one location: everything begins, happens and ends in one place. This requirement was dictated by the lack of scenery.
The unity of time implies that events occurring on the stage fit within 24 hours.
Unity of action - there can be only one key plot in the play, all minor branches are minimized.
This framework is due to the fact that the ancient Greek authors tried to maximally bring what is happening on stage to real life. Those events that violate the requirements of the trinity, but are necessary for the development of the action, were reported to the viewer in a recitation manner by the messengers. This concerned everything that happened off the stage. However, it is worth noting that with the development of the genre of tragedy, these principles began to lose their relevance.
Aeschylus
Aeschylus, who created about 100 works, of which only seven survived, is considered to be the father of Greek tragedy. He adhered to conservative views, considering the ideal of statehood a republic with a democratic slave system. This leaves an imprint on his work.
In his works, the playwright addressed the main problems of his time, such as the fate of the tribal system, the development of the family and marriage, the fate of man and the state. Being deeply religious, he sacredly believed in the power of the gods and the dependence of man’s fate on their will.
The distinguishing features of Aeschylus’s creativity are: the ideological eminence of content, the solemnity of presentation, the relevance of the problems, the majestic harmony of form.
Muse of tragedy
In ancient Greece, it was believed that nine muses patronize science and art. They were the daughters of Zeus and the goddess of memory of Mnemosyne.
The Greek muse of tragedy was Melpomene. Her canonical image is a woman in a wreath of ivy or grape leaves, and her invariable attributes were a tragic mask symbolizing regret and sorrow, and a sword (sometimes a club), reminiscent of the inevitability of punishment for those who violate the divine will.
The daughters of Melpomene possessed unusually beautiful voices, and their pride went so far as to challenge other muses. Of course, the contest was lost. For impudence and disobedience, the gods punished the daughters of Melpomene, turning them into sirens, and the grieving mother became the patroness of the tragedy and received her distinctive signs.
Structure of the tragedy
Theater performances in Greece took place three times a year and were built on the principle of competition (agon). Three authors of the tragedies participated in the competition, each of whom presented three tragedies and one drama, and three comedic poets to the audience. The actors of the theater were only men.
The Greek tragedy had a fixed structure. The action began with a prologue that served as a tie. Then followed the song of the choir - a parody. After this followed episodes (episodes), which later became known as acts. Episodes alternated with choir songs - stashim. Each episode ended with a comos - a song performed by the choir and the hero together. The whole play ended with an exodus, which all the actors and the choir sang.
The choir was a participant in all Greek tragedies, it was of great importance and played the role of a narrator, helping to convey the meaning of what is happening on the stage, assessing the actions of the actors from a moral position, revealing the depth of the emotional experiences of the heroes. The choir consisted of 12 and later 15 people and did not leave its place throughout the theatrical action.
Initially, only one actor acted in the tragedy, he was called the protagonist, he conducted a dialogue with the choir. Aeschylus later introduced a second actor, called a deuteragonist. There could be a conflict between these characters. The third actor - a tritagonist - was introduced to the stage performance by Sophocles. Thus, in the work of Sophocles, the ancient Greek tragedy reached the peak of its development.
Traditions of Euripides
Euripides introduces an intrigue, using a special artificial technique called deus ex machina to solve it, which means “god from the machine”. It radically changes the meaning of the choir in theatrical performance, reducing its role only to musical accompaniment and depriving the narrator of its dominant position.
The traditions established by Euripides in the construction of the performance were borrowed by the ancient Roman playwrights.
Heroes
In addition to the choir - a participant in all Greek tragedies - the audience could see on the stage the embodiment of mythological characters known from childhood. Despite the fact that the story was always based on one or another myth, the authors often changed the interpretation of events depending on the political situation and their own goals. No violence should have been shown on stage, so the hero’s death always happened behind the scenes, it was announced from behind the curtains.
The protagonists of ancient Greek tragedies became gods and demigods, kings and queens, often of divine origin. Heroes are always individuals with extraordinary strength of mind who oppose fate, fate, defying destiny and higher powers. The basis of the conflict is the desire to choose their own life path. But in the confrontation with the gods, the hero is doomed to defeat and, as a result, dies in the final of the work.
The authors
Among all the authors of Greek tragedies, the most significant are Euripides, Sophocles and Aeschylus. Their works to this day do not leave the theatrical stages of the whole world.
Despite the fact that the creative heritage of Euripides is considered exemplary, during the life of his productions were not particularly successful. Perhaps this is due to the fact that he lived during the decline and crisis of Athenian democracy and preferred solitude to participation in public life.
Sophocles’s work is characterized by an idealistic depiction of heroes. His tragedy is a peculiar hymn to the greatness of the human spirit, its nobility and the power of reason. The tragedian introduced a fundamentally new device in the development of the stage action - ups and downs. This is a sudden turn, the disappearance of good luck, caused by the reaction of the gods to the hero’s overconfidence. "Antigone" and "Oedipus the King" are the most perfect and famous plays of Sophocles.
Aeschylus was the first among the Greek tragedies to receive worldwide recognition. The productions of his works were distinguished not only by the monumentality of the plan, but also by the luxury of embodiment. Aeschylus himself considered his military and civilian achievements more significant than the achievements in the competitions of the tragedians.
Seven vs. Thebes
The staging of the Greek tragedy of Aeschylus “Seven against Thebes” took place in 467 BC. e. The plot is based on the confrontation between Polyunik and Etheocles - the sons of Oedipus, a famous character in Greek mythology. Eteocles once expelled his brother from Thebes to single-handedly rule the city. Years passed, Polynik managed to enlist the support of six famous heroes and with their help he hopes to regain the throne. The play ends with the death of both brothers and a sublimely sad funeral song.
In this tragedy, Aeschylus addresses the theme of the destruction of the communal clan system. The cause of the death of the heroes is a tribal curse, that is, the family in the work does not appear as a support and a sacred institution, but as an inevitable instrument of rock.
"Antigone"
Sophocles, the Greek playwright and author of the tragedy of Antigone, was one of the most famous writers of his time. He took the plot from the Theban mythological cycle as the basis of his play and demonstrated in it the opposition between human arbitrariness and divine laws.
The tragedy, like the previous one, tells about the fate of the offspring of Oedipus. But this time his daughter, Antigone, is at the center of the story. The action takes place after the Campaign of the Seven. The body of Polynik, who was recognized as a criminal after his death, Creon, the current ruler of Thebes, orders that animals and birds be left to be torn to pieces. But Antigone, contrary to this order, performs a funeral rite over the body of her brother, as she is told to her by duty and the immutable laws of the gods. For which he accepts a terrible punishment - she is walled up alive in a cave. The tragedy ends with the suicide of the son of Creon Gemon, the groom of Antigone. In the finale, the cruel king has to admit his insignificance and repent of cruelty. Thus, Antigone appears as the performer of the will of the gods, and in the image of Creon human arbitrariness and senseless cruelty are embodied.
Note that many playwrights of not only Greece but also Rome addressed this myth, and later this plot was reincarnated already in European literature of our era.
List of Greek tragedies
Unfortunately, most of the texts of the tragedies have not reached our days. Among the fully preserved plays of Aeschylus, there are only seven works:
- “Petitioners”;
- "Persians";
- "Prometheus Chained";
- "Seven against Thebes";
- the trilogy “Oresteia” (“Eumenes”, “Hoephors”, “Agamemnon”).
Sophocles' literary heritage is also represented by seven texts that have reached us:
- "Oedipus the king";
- Oedipus at Colon;
- "Antigone";
- "Trahinyanki";
- "Ayant";
- "Philoctetus";
- Electra.
Among the works created by Euripides, eighteen survived for posterity. The most famous of them:
- "Hippolytus";
- "Medea";
- "Andromache";
- Electra
- “Petitioners”;
- Hercules
- "Bacchus";
- “The Phoenicians”;
- "Helena";
- Cyclops.
It is impossible to overestimate the role played by the ancient Greek tragedies in the further development of not only European, but also world literature as a whole.