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BACKGROUND
- little known
- what we have is often suspect
- (tradition or history?)
- born in Colonus
- north-west of Athens
- always held in high regard
- (see Oedipus Coloneus)
- family = wealthy
- father =
- Sophillus
- blacksmith, carpenter
- relationships:
- married to Nicostrata (son, Iophon)
- Iophon accused his old father of being mentally
incompetent in order to control his (Sophocles')
estate
- in his defense, Sophocles recited parts of
Oedipus at Colonus and was immediately acquitted
- (tradition or history?)
- involved with Theoris of Sicyon (son, Ariston)
- involved with Archippe (a courtesan)
- made her executor/heiress of his property (?)
- (tradition or history?)
- education:
- typical Greek education
- music, dancing, gymnastics
- under Lamprus (traditional style of music)
- excelled at early age
- led Chorus of children
- "learnt tragedy from Aeschylus"
- 30 years younger
- (tradition or history?)
- 468 BC:
- 28 years old
- 1st appearance as tragedian
- Aeschylus = one of his competitors
- fierce competition?
- (tradition or history?)
- Sophocles won
- continuous success thereafter
- most productive era =
- under PERICLES
- statesman, general (@ 495-429)
- finest phase in Athenian history
- period of commercial, artistic, &
intellectual growth***
- wrote approximately 90 plays
- from 90 to 130
- only 7 extant
- produced one every other year
- won 18 prizes
- (at the City Dionysia)
- 1st or 2nd
- never 3rd
- (several other victories at the Lenaea)
- 7 extant plays:
- some fragments
- Electra, Ajax
- Trachiniae, Philoctetes
- Theban plays
- Oedipus Rex, Oedipus at Colonus,
Antigone
- not a "trilogy"
- though deal w/Oedipus myth
- not written chronologically (3, 1, 2)
- inconsistencies in mythology
- Creon as undisputed successor in OR, but
then Eteocles & Polynices fight over throne in OC
and Antigone
- Creon expels Oedipus in OR, but Oedipus
blames his sons in OC
- history:
- his lifetime =
- the rise & fall of the Athenian Empire
- boy
- celebrated the victories at Salamis & Plataea
- (479 BC)
- adulthood
- Athenian Golden Age
- (Pericles)
- old age
- loss at Aegospotami (405 BC)
- last major battle of Peloponnesian War
- destruction of Athenian navy
- political life:
- twice elected general
- (highest Athenian office)
- because of his plays
- 440: with Pericles, to quell revolt on
Samos
- treasurer & ambassador, too
- served on the Committee of Ten & helped establish
the Four Hundred (?)
- yet not very
skilled
- yet kept his
political life separate from his literary life
- tragedy = idealism
- no allusions to contemporary events
- political aphorisms = generalities
- religious life:
- priest of Asclepius (deity) & Alcon (hero)
- deeply religious, reverent
- "god-fearing"
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BACKGROUND
-
Persian Invasion
- Battle of Marathon (490 BC)
- Battle of Thermopylae (Leonidas & the 300 Spartans)
- Battle of Salamis (greatest naval battle)
-
The Peloponnesian War:
- (431–404 BC)
- between Athens and the Spartans
- Athens fought only at sea
- Spartans burned Athenian crops
- --> starvation --> surrender
-
link
-
City Dionysia:
- religious festival held in honor of
DIONYSUS
- (sometimes called Bacchus)
- Greek god of wine, fertility, agriculture
- patron of music, poetry
- son of Zeus & Semele
- portrayed as masked or a mask
- duality -
- brings joy, ecstasy
- brings brutal, unthinking rage
- loss of identity =
- actors playing roles
- & audience identifying w/characters
- rites -
- wild parties
- religious ecstasies
- orgies
- the Maenads & Satyrs
- (in woods, not temples)
- Dionysus' connection to
drama:
- masks
- loss of identity
- singing & dancing
- "democratic"
- unlike other deities
- late to the Greek pantheon
- not in temples, but in woods
- Dionysus = one of the people
- popular rather than aristocratic figure
- connected to anti-aristocratic move
- received official status under burgeoning democracy
(under which theatre blossomed)
- dramatic performance = act of art & worship
- festival = democratic:
- inclusive
- prizes awarded by 10 judges
- judges = elected at start by lots
- judges = sworn to impartiality
- attendance = part of civic duty & pride
- chorus = 50 men =
5 from each of the 10 tribes of Attica
- *all extant plays from
this festival
- spring festival
- when leaves reappear on vines
- in Athens
- in late March, early April
- drama competition
- 1st comedies performed at City Dionysia -
- @ 490 BC
- (at the Lynaea = @ 450 BC)
- "dithyramb"
- a song sung in honor of Dionysus
- "tragedy" = "goat song"
- goat sacrificed on 1st day
- goat awarded on last day
- attendance
- compulsorily attendance by ALL
- but citizens also attended out of pride for their
community in the competition
- attended by official representatives of federated &
allied states
- foreigners welcomed
- business = suspended
- prisoners let out on bail
- DAY 1:
- procession through the city
- actors wore stage clothes, but no masks
- DAY 2-4:
- devoted to tragedies
- (later, would begin at dawn)
- DAY 5:
- devoted to comedies
- (later, comedies moved to evenings after tragedies)
- PRESIDING OFFICERS
- received plays from poets
- chose 3 plays to be performed
- assigned a leading actor & patron to poets
- PATRON (“choregus”)
- wealthy member of the community
- paid all costs of production (as part of his civic
duties)
- unlike a Hollywood "producer" who makes money
- AUTHOR:
- 1) composed all the music
- 2) arranged the dances (choreographer)
- 3) trained the Chorus (until specialists took over)
- 4) chief actor (until actors increased in number &
importance)
- TRAGEDIANS:
- each had to submit 3 plays
- trilogy on a theme
- OR 3 plays on a theme
- plus, “satyr play”
- bawdy comic comment on the theme of the tragedies
- link to past early worship of Dionysus (religious
element)
- COMEDIANS:
- “OSCARS”:
- Best Production (good patron)
- Best Comedy
- Best Tragedy
- Best Tragic Actor
- *GREEK TRAGEDY = more important
than Comedy
- key aspect of theatre’s development
- topics
- number of plays
- time of day
- awards
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