WEEK 12 DRAMA
M. 11/07. Read "Elements of Drama" introduction (1125-34). Chapter 24. Critical Contexts. Sophocles. Antigone (1490-1523).
W. 11/09. Sophocles. Antigone, continued (1490-1523). Critical Excerpts (1524-39).
Introduction to Ancient Greek Theater
Best Books I’ve Come Across:
Easterling, P.E. The Cambridge Companion to Greek Tragedy. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1997.
Kaufmann, Walter. Tragedy and Philosophy.
Ley, Graham. A Short Introduction to the Ancient Greek Theater. Chicago: U of Chicago Press, 1991.
McLeish, Kenneth. A Guide to Greek Theatre and Drama. London: Methuen, 2003.
Pomeroy, Sarah. Et al. Ancient Greece: A Political, Social, and Cultural History. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1999.
Classical theater flourished mainly from 475-400 B.C. I have posted a run-down of its history, mostly the major plays composed by our three extant tragedians.
Festivals: The Festivals of Dionysus at Athens were called the City Dionysia, which was held in March or April, and the Lenaea, which was held in January.
The God of Honor: Dionysus was an Olympian god, and the Greeks celebrated his rites in the dithyramb. In mythology, his followers were satyrs and mainades, or ecstatic females. We sometimes call him the god of ecstasy, and as Kenneth MacLeish says, he “supervis[ed] the moment when human beings surrender to unstoppable, irrational feeling or impulse” (1-2). His agents are wine, song, and dance. Song and dance were important to Dionysian rites, and the participants apparently wore masks.
At the festivals, three tragic writers would compete and so would three or five comedic playwrights. The idea was that each tragedian would present three plays and a satyr play; sometimes the three plays were linked in a trilogy, like the Oresteia. So the audience had a great deal of play going to do during the festival seasons; the activities may have gone on for three or four days, with perhaps four or five plays per day. The Oregon Shakespeare Festival provides something like this pace.
Organization: How were the festivals organized? Well, the magistrate was chosen every year by lot – the archon. Then, dramatists would apply to the magistrate for a chorus, and if they obtained a chorus, that meant that they had been chosen as one of the three tragic playwrights. After that affair was settled, wealthy private citizens known as choregoi served as producers for each playwright. The state paid for the actors, and the choregos paid chorus’ training and costumes. So there was both state and private involvement in the production of a tragedy or comedy.
The Playwrights: Aeschylus 525-456 B.C. / Sophocles 496-406 B.C. / Euripides 485-406 B.C.
Aeschylus composed about 80 dramas, Sophocles about 120, Euripides perhaps about 90. Aristophanes probably wrote about 40 comedies. Dramatists who wrote tragedies did not compose comedies, and vice versa.
The playwright was called a didaskalos, a teacher or trainer because he trained the chorus who were to sing and dance. As drama developed, the playwright also took care of the scripts and the music. He was something like a modern director, and may at times have acted in his own plays, especially in the early stages of his career. A successful dramatist could win prizes, but generally, playwrights were able to support themselves independently by land-holdings. Sophocles, for example, was a prominent citizen – he served as a general and treasurer. Aeschylus was an esteemed soldier against the Persian Empire, and his tombstone is said to have recorded his military service, not his prowess as a playwright.
The Theater: The theater for the City or Great Dionysia was located on the south slope of the citadel of Athens, the Acropolis. Let’s look at a later reconstruction: http://www.didaskalia.net/StudyArea/recreatingdionysus.html.
The theater had three parts:
Theatron: this was for seating around 14,000 spectators; it was probably at first of wood, but later it was of stone.
Orchestra: this was for the chorus to sing and dance in and for the actors, when their function was developed.
Skene: this was at first a tent-like structure that served as a scene-building, and it had a door for entrances and exits. The Oresteia requires one, though perhaps the earliest plays didn’t.
Costume was important, too, because it could be used to determine factors like status, gender, and age.
The chorus remained important in drama, especially in Aeschylus. At some point, a choregos (legend says it was “Thespis,” hence actors are “thespians”) stepped forth and became the first actor, or answerer (hypocrites). So the composer was the first participant to turn choral celebration into what we call drama, with a plot and interaction between characters. Apparently Aeschylus or Sophocles added a third actor. The former’s early plays required only two actors, but even that was enough to make for interesting exchanges between the chorus and the actors and, to some extent, between the actors and each other. With three actors, of course, the possibilities for true dramatic dialogue and action are impressive.
Audience: Would have consisted mostly of male citizens—the ones who ran Athenian democracy by participating in the Assembly. There would probably have been very few, if any, slaves or women present, and perhaps some resident aliens or “metics” and visiting dignitaries. Drama was surely a male-centered affair, as was the political life of Athens. Public speaking was vital in democratic Athens—anyone who was someone in the legal/political system needed to know how to move and convince fairly large numbers of men. Theater and political life, as we shall see from Aeschylus, were in fact closely connected: the same skills were required, and the same class of people participated (male kyrioi, or heads of households who also performed military service). So while the stuff of tragedy seems almost always to have been the ancient myth cycles, the audience watching the plays would have felt themselves drawn in by the dramatists’ updating of their significance for the major concerns of the 5th-century B.C. present. And that present was, of course, the age of the great statesman Pericles (495-429 B.C.), who drove home the movement towards full Athenian democracy from 461 B.C. onwards and who at the same time furthered a disastrous course of imperial protection and aggression that had ensued from victory in the Persian Wars around 500 B.C. Greek tragedy grew to maturity in the period extending from the battles of Marathon on land in 490 B.C. and the naval engagement at Salamis in 480 B.C., on through the Second Peloponnesian War from 431-404 B.C., in which the Athenians lost to Sparta the empire they had gained during half a century of glory following the victories over Persia. Athens’ supremacy didn’t last long as such things go, but it burned brightly while it lasted, and festival drama, along with architecture, sculpture, and philosophy, was among its greatest accomplishments. So the dramas took place in one of the most exciting times in Western history – both heady and unsettling at the same time, shot through with violence, democratic and artistic flowering, victory, and great loss.
A Return to the Mask, Our Way in to the Discussion of Aristotle:
The masks tell us something about tragedy: with linen or clay masks, a single actor might play several roles, or wear several faces of the same character. Wilde said, “give a man a mask, and he’ll tell you the truth.” His quip should remind us that masks don’t discourage expression — as Kenneth MacLeish says, they had religious significance in the theater: participants in Dionysian rites offered up their personal identity to the god, and further, he continues:
Wearing a mask does not inhibit or restrict the portrayal of character but enhances it, allowing more, not less, fluidity and suppleness of movement; and the character created by or embodied in the mask and the actor who wears it can feel as if it has an independent identity which is liberated at the moment of performance – an unsettlingly Dionysian experience. (9)
That emphasis on what we might call expression is important especially because – Aristotle’s claims about plot being the soul of tragedy notwithstanding – not that much really happens in many Greek tragedies. You don’t get five chariot chases and multiple flurries of semi-automatic bow-and-arrow fire in each performance. Those things are no doubt in the plays that have been lost…. What you get, instead, is chorus members and characters “taking up an attitude” towards the few well-packaged, exciting things that take place on or off the stage. The action is important, but characters’ words and attitudes help us, in turn, “take up an attitude” towards the action. Perhaps when Aristotle emphasizes plot so much, he’s taking for granted the great power of the Dionysian mask to support the plot in driving us all towards “catharsis.” Character, he says, will be revealed through action; we might add that it will be revealed while characters relate themselves to the action, thus drawing out the action’s significance. In this way, everything still revolves around action.
Aristotle’s theory of drama: if you would like to read something about it, please see my Fall 2007 E491 Literary Theory blog (http://www.ajdrake.com/blogs/491_fall_07/index.html), where (in the entry for Week 3) I cover The Poetics in some detail. In Aristotle’s view, a well-constructed plot that follows probability and necessity will induce the proper tragic emotions (pity and fear or terror), with the result being “catharsis,” a medical term that may be interpreted as “purgation” (of emotion) and/or as “intellectual clarification.” I should think that the tragic emotions, once aroused, become the object of introspection; thereafter, the audience attains clarification about an issue of great importance – for instance, our relation to the gods, the nature of divine justice, etc.
Antigone – Some Questions
1. Do you consider Antigone or Creon the more important character in this play? Or do you consider them both equally important? In your response, consider why one or the other, or both, might deserve the title of protagonist or tragic hero.
2. What vision of rulership does Creon set forth? To what extent does he remain true to that vision? What would you say is Creon's most important mistake, and why?
3. With what powers does Antigone align herself? Would you say that her mission has more to do with personal concerns than with religious piety, or would that be an unfair interpretation of her conduct? Explain.
4. How important is gender in this tragedy? Which of the characters treats it as an important consideration? How does Sophocles' handling of female characters differ, in general, from the way Aeschylus treats female characters?
5. Does the chorus in Antigone get to the bottom of why the two main characters suffer -- do they understand the cause and nature of the tragedy that unfolds in front of them? Explain.
6. How important are the gods in this play? Can you tell with whom they side? Or do they remain inscrutable? Explain.
7. Do you think the way Antigone treats her sister Ismene is proper, given her insistence upon familial piety? What is the basis for Antigone's harshness towards Ismene, and how does Ismene interpret Antigone's approach to the respective claims of family and state?
8. Aside from simply advancing the plot, what is the significance of the Sentry in this play? How does his conduct serve as a foil for more important characters? How does that same conduct undermine Creon's claims about the best way to keep citizens loyal?
Notes on Antigone
One immediate question is whether Antigone really deserves her fate -- it is easy to see how Oedipus brings on his own punishment, at least to some extent. But it is not so easy to see Antigone as a character with a tragic flaw. The main action she takes is simply to defend familial piety. It would seem that this action offends only Creon, not the gods. So I am going to suggest that there are really two main characters in this play. Antigone is the one who behaves heroically and suffers nonetheless, while Creon is the one who makes a serious mistake in asserting political right over the familial piety connected with Greek religion.
Creon, that is, asserts state power as something absolute and separate from religion and the family. It will be important to attend to how the play handles the opposition between state/religion, state/family, as well as gender. I do not see that Antigone's main problem is her gender; that is somewhat different than what we saw in Aeschylus. Similarly, Creon treats law and state as settled matters even though he is newly planted on the throne. It is not the case, as it was in the Oresteia, that we are moving from a primitive clan-based to a more modern conception of law and the state.
Be sure to make another contrast between Sophocles and Aeschylus: Sophocles concentrates much more intensely upon individual characters, even though he does not go so far as to say that these characters are entirely independent of the realms surrounding them. But it certainly is the case that in Sophocles, we cannot simply say action reveals character. Perhaps it is even true that Antigone is driven to exclude any possible course of action that would betray her own character. This makes her quite an absolutist.
It would be interesting to compare Antigone with Socrates later -- Socrates obeys the laws of his city, but unlike Ismene, no reproach accrues to his behavior.
A possible question concerns whether or not there is a certain amount of pride in Antigone's decision: around line 45, she sets up the struggle between herself and Creon in terms of breeding versus cowardice. It is difficult to determine whether or not Ismene is a coward or simply a good citizen, at least if we do not fully and simply accept Antigone's viewpoint.
Around 75, Ismene pleads that she and Antigone are both women and underlings. So they must obey for both reasons. And at 80, she asks "why rush to extremes?" She is not a creature of extremes, unlike Antigone. So Antigone has the capacity of all true heroes -- she is capable of behaving in extreme manner where honor is concerned.
Antigone is rather harsh with her sister. At 90, she says do as you like, dishonor the laws the gods hold in honor. She allies her decision with the gods, and around 110, she already sees herself from the perspective of the dead, who have their own rights and can affect the living. Death without glory is worse than any other fate for her.
The chorus. Certainly you will want to ask a question about the way in which the chorus of Sophocles differs from that of Aeschylus. But more specifically, notice how at 117, their first prayer is to the sun. So they ally themselves and their city with the light of day, while Antigone allies herself with the dark realm of Hades. They also say that Zeus does not like human pride or bravado -- which is exactly what we have just seen in Antigone. The chorus invokes Dionysus, but only in the service of the new day.
Creon asserts state power as the highest good of all. He refers several times to the "ship of State." This might be an important metaphor for the Greeks, because one can well imagine how strict discipline must have been on an Athenian trireme. And he also says that anyone who "places a friend above the good of his own country...is nothing." That would certainly include Antigone. Here one can see how a Hegelian view makes sense because both Creon and Antigone assert the absolute rights of their respective realms. Creon even forbids the relatives from feeling anything for their lost kinsmen.
The Sentry who begins speaking at 250 illustrates a consciousness centered entirely on preserving one's safety. This soldier is no hero; he only wants to tell the truth and avoid getting blamed for what has happened.
Around 320, one fault in Creon's reasoning begins to show: he really does believe that money is the root of all evil and the cause of disobedience. When the leader of the chorus dares to mention the possibility that perhaps it would be best to honor the usual funeral rites, Creon becomes insulted and begins complaining about the corruptive influence of money -- he seems almost an atheist or materialist because he discounts the participation of the gods in human life.
It is easy to see the futility of Creon's plans and his whole way of going about things by the way the Sentry takes his commands -- he came to Creon out of fear, and is happy to escape with his life. Loyalty never enters his thoughts. This is around 360.
375. A good question about the chorus -- isn't it very difficult sometimes to understand who exactly they are criticizing? Inhumanity is the charge in this speech -- I would say the term refers to Creon since Creon ignores the justice of the gods that should bind his oaths together concerning statecraft. But there is also perhaps some irony in the praises that the chorus give to mankind. It almost sounds like Shakespeare's famous speech "what a piece of work is man, how like an angel." But death comes in as the great leveler of everyone.
485. Again the Sentry shows what he is made of -- he fears death more than anything. This fear makes enable to contain within himself the contradictory feelings he describes; he can take joy in his own escape and yet feel bad because he has betrayed Antigone. He will do it nonetheless.
500. Antigone contemptuously allies herself with Hades and Zeus. She interprets herself as the agent of these great powers and their laws. Complying with Creon's edict would force her to contradict the gods.
Evidently, the leader of the chorus sees her as wild just as Oedipus was. Creon agrees shortly thereafter, when he says that Antigone is mocking him and making him seem effeminate. For him, the struggle does have a gender dimension.
555. Creon and Antigone argue their respective cases here. They disagree about what we owe the dead, since for Antigone it makes no difference that her two brothers opposed one another in life. Creon cannot forgive an enemy even in death. We have certainly seen this behavior before in the Greeks -- consider Achilles dragging the body of Hector around Troy.
660. Ismene offers to share Antigone's death, but Antigone refuses. Ask students if they find Antigone overly harsh in her judgment of Ismene. Perhaps this exchange between the two sisters shows us the nature of Antigone's familial piety -- it is hardly sentimental, but is based on a sense of obligation that overrides personal feeling.
655. The chorus sees the force of the gods as a force of nature. They also keep referring to the senselessness and rashness of the main characters' actions.
735. Here it seems that Creon does not think he is being arrogant towards the gods -- he refers to Zeus, but does not think that Zeus would find fault with him for what he is doing. His point seems to be that a man must rule his own household, Kings included. Creon will not be ruled by a woman from his own household. Creon says he must at all costs prevent anarchy.
775. Haemon seems to be respectful of his father, but his criticism is strong: in polite terms, he accuses Creon of what we would call egotism. And he will go on to say that this stubborn man mistakes his own will and self-interest for the good of the State. On the whole, Haemon sees Creon as entirely too rigid. The chorus leader agrees. At 813, Creon shows that he interprets everything said in light of the speaker’s category or rank. Here, the distinction is between youth and age. At 825, the argument boils over: Creon says that he is the State or the city, and Haemon tells him he might as well be king of a desert island if he thinks that way.
870. Creon declares that he will punish Antigone by burying her alive. She worships death, he says. Shortly thereafter, the chorus blames love or Aphrodite for everything; they assume Haemon has defied his father because he loves Antigone.
900. Antigone shows genuine emotion now that she has been condemned. It seems she is not so eager after all to leave the world of light. Now that the heroic action has been taken, she is free to lament. Certainly, this is what Aristotle means when he refers to pity and fear being aroused in an audience. Look up the story about Niobe. At 940, Antigone says she is a stranger and that she has no home. She really does not belong to the living or to the dead. At 946, Antigone reveals that she feels the curse of her house deeply, feels the alienation it entails from her own city. She is caught in a net of family misdeeds, and yet is bound to observe familial piety.
Creon seems wrong at this point -- he would preserve himself from any taint of impurity, but he is killing Antigone nonetheless.
1000. Antigone declares that while other family members could be replaced her brother is irreplaceable since both her parents are gone. This shows, according to our introduction by Bernard Knox, that Antigone is really motivated by private reasons, not by reverence for the gods and for the family unit as a whole. The difference between her and Creon is that he betrays the values he set out to defend, while Antigone suffers for what she defends, even though it is not her primary motive, so she is a truly heroic character -- something we see Sophocles exploring in many of his plays. Knox also talks about the mysteriousness of the gods in Sophocles; we never learn what they really think of it all. I like the passage on page 51 -- Sophocles "Explores...the destinies of human beings who refuse to recognize the limits imposed on the individual will by men and gods, and go to death or triumph, magnificently defiant to the last."
