Origins of Ancient Greek Drama and Theatre. AT 11

Belinsky: “Drama is the highest stage of development of poetry.” The term "drama" is translated from Greek as "action". Life events are revealed not through the author's story, but through the actions and speech of the characters. The main elements in drama are action and dialogue, through which events, characters, thoughts and feelings are directly revealed.

The chorus was an integral part of the drama. He sang to the music and danced. In drama, the hero, the person, and not the event came to the fore (unlike the epic). The drama is built on a tense clash of forces, on acute conflicts. Hero ancient tragedy comes into conflict with fate, with the gods, with his own kind, a conflict with society is emerging - 5th century BC.

In VII - VI, after anti-aristocratic coups, tyrants were in power. They tried to be loved by the people → encouraged folk holidays(cult of Dionysus). People took to the streets and acted out scenes from his life

The roots of the drama lie in the cults (religious and mythological) in honor of the god Dionysus: dithyrambs and the Eleusinian mysteries. The drama is based on the cult of Dionysus. Dionysus is crowding out the cult of Apollo - the cult of aristocrats. The theatrical performances themselves are born from dithyrambs. According to legend, the first dithyramb was invented by Orion. But only the praises of Bacchylides have reached us. Songs in honor of Dionysus - “goat songs” - tragos.

Pisistratus in the 20s VI issued a decree to stage performances on stage in the days of the great Dionysius → legalized the performances.

The anthropomorphism of the gods provided great opportunities for the theater. Seven tragedies of Aeschylus, seven of Sophocles and seventeen of Euripides have reached us.

Performances took place only three times a year during the festivals of Dionysus. They sang not only tragic songs, but also funny ones. The crowd performing such songs was called Kommos. There was another genre - satyr drama.

Theatrical performances were based on the principle of agons (according to the group - competition) - 3 tragedy poets competed, each representing a tetralogy (3 tragedies and 1 satyr drama), three comedy poets (1 comedy each)

Those who prepared its material side were called choregas. Sometimes they went bankrupt, since the theater was an expensive business, but they never refused this honorable position.

The performance circle began with a proagon - sacrifices were made to Dionysus, initially even human ones. Then the choirs came out. Each tragedian had to have a tetralogy: a tragic trilogy and a satyr drama.

Actors - only men

Choir - narrator, commentator, occupied central place in the story. There could only be three actors, and at first there could only be one - the protagonist (the first responder), who stood out from the lead singer of the choir. The second answerer is a deuteragonist, introduced by Aeschylus. They could be in conflict. Sophocles introduced a third actor - a tritagonist, this is the pinnacle of Greek tragedy.

The main task of theater is catharsis. Cleansing from the passions that consume a person. Fate always wins, although the hero is noble.

Structure of Greek tragedy

The tragedies began with a parod - the song of a choir walking through the orchestra. The leader of the choir is a luminary. In later times, it was replaced by a prologue (commencement) - this is all before the first song of the choir, usually a story, an exposition. Then came the stasim - the song of a standing choir. Then the episode - the protagonist appeared. Then there was an alternation of stasims and episodies. The episode ended by O mosom - a joint song of the hero and the choir. All tragedy ends uh ksodom (departure of the choir) - the song of everyone.

Question about origin ancient Greek tragedy is one of the most difficult in history ancient literature. One of the reasons for this is that the works of ancient scientists who lived in the 5th century. BC e. they didn’t reach us. The earliest evidence belongs to Aristotle and is contained in Chapter IV of his Poetics. Later ancient sources do not agree with him in everything and often give such versions (for example, Horace in “Poetics”), the very origin of which requires additional research. Therefore, among a number of researchers there is a skeptical attitude towards Aristotle’s messages and attempts are made to explain the origin of the tragedy, bypassing his data. However, the results of such reconstructions rarely stand up to serious criticism, and Aristotle's evidence should be considered most credible. “Having initially emerged from improvisations... from the initiators of dithyrambs, the tragedy grew little by little... and, having undergone many changes, stopped, having reached what lay in its nature,” we read in “Poetics” (Chapter IV). “The speech from a humorous one later became serious, since the tragedy arose from the performance of satyrs.” The dithyramb to which Aristotle raises the initial stage of tragedy is choral song, which formed an integral part of the cult of Dionysus, which embodied the ideas primitive man about the winter dying and spring awakening of nature. His cult song - a dithyramb - is called the “Bull Chaser”. It is reliably known that the ancients were the first tragic poet in Attica they considered Thespis. There were enormous opportunities here for further development genre, and the original form of tragedy can be imagined as a dialogue between the actor, the performer of a series of small narrative speeches, and the choir, who responded to them in their songs. As for the chorus asking questions to the responding actor, the most suitable companions for the god Dionysus were the so-called “satyrs” - cheerful goat-like creatures. The dithyramb, in which the vocal choral parts were sung by satyr goats, could rightfully be called a “goat song”, which corresponds to the literal meaning of the Greek word “tragoidia” (the modern “tragedy”: “tragos” in Greek means “goat” and "oide" - "song"). Consequently, the very name of the genre confirms Aristotle's view that tragedy was originally a "performance of satyrs." The transformation of a humorous satyr's performance into a pathetic tragedy already occurred on purely Attic soil, and the reasons for this should be sought in the ideological shifts of the period of formation of the Athenian democratic state. The tragedy in Attica was first staged in 534 BC. e. under the tyrant Peisistratus, when, on his initiative, Thespis, who had already established himself with successful theatrical performances, was summoned to the city for this purpose. By establishing the state cult of Dionysus, the Athenian ruler sought to strengthen his power. Since then, the holiday of the Great Dionysius, which fell at the end of March - beginning of April, included the mandatory performance of tragedies. After the overthrow of the Pisistratids, around 501-500, he decided new order presentation of tragedies on behalf of the state, which was then preserved throughout the entire brilliant period of the Athenian theater. Every year, three playwrights performed at the Great Dionysia as an artistic competition, which ended with the awarding of honorary awards to the winners. Together with the poet and - subsequently - the first actor, the award was also given to the chorega - a wealthy citizen who, on behalf of the state, took upon himself the material costs associated with staging tragedies.

Structure The participation of the choir determined the main features in the construction of ancient Greek tragedy. Even in the early tragedies of Aeschylus, the appearance of the chorus (the so-called people) on the stage (orchestra) marked their beginning; in most of the tragedies of Aeschylus and always in Sophocles and Euripides, the parody is preceded by an introductory monologue or a whole scene containing a statement of the initial situation of the plot or giving its beginning. This part of the tragedy is called the prologue. The entire further course of the tragedy occurs in the alternation of choral and dialogic scenes. At the end of the speech part, the actors leave the orchestra, and the choir, left alone, performs the stasim. Stasim literally means “standing song”: the choir sings it while remaining in the orchestra. Songs both in parod and in stasims are usually symmetrical in nature, that is, they are divided into stanzas and antistrophes, which, as a rule, exactly correspond to each other in terms of poetic meter. Sometimes symmetrical stanzas end with an epod, a song conclusion; they may also be preceded by a brief introduction by the luminary. The latter also takes part in dialogic scenes, coming into direct contact with others actors.

In Aeschylus, a small final dialogical scene is often accompanied by an extensive final song, accompanying the departure of the choir from the orchestra in a solemn or funeral procession. Antiquity considered the founder of this genre to be the poet Pratin (late 6th - first quarter of the 5th century BC) from the Dorian city of Phlius, but he was, most likely, not the creator of satyr drama, which arose much earlier, but the first poet who gave it specific literary form. In the obligatory addition of the satyr drama to the tragic trilogy, the memory of the “satyr” past of the tragedy itself was undoubtedly preserved; at the same time, the atmosphere of relaxed fun generated by the presence of satyrs in the orchestra returned the viewer to the atmosphere of the joyful spring festival of Dionysus.

Aristotle, demanding “purification of the passions” from tragedy, speaks in the language of telestics and cathartics, religious disciplines about the healing sanctification of the soul and body. In essence, the author of the Poetics repeats the old religious truth about the Dionysian purification; but he seeks to give it a new light, interpreting it purely psychologically and independently of religious premises. Aristotle is referring to the religious psychiatry of pathological states of corybanthiasm and enthusiasm, the principle of which was the artificial intensification of ecstasy through stimulating influences to the extent of its harmonious resolution - just as he himself, however, speaks of “sacred melodies that intoxicate the soul.” Aristotle's "compassion" (eleos) grew out of an orgiastic lament for divine destruction, the resolution of which was jubilant joy. According to Aristotle, purification comes through compassion. To do this, the viewer needs to clearly feel the main character. The main character of the tragedy is given a special place, since he must evoke compassion among the audience.

The surviving part of the Poetics deals mainly with tragedy. Through compassion and fear, tragedy purifies passions. Aristotle speaks more than once about compassion and fear as the main experiences of the audience of the tragedy. These emotions, in his opinion, are called surprise, a turning point. For example, in Sophocles' Oedipus, a messenger comes to Oedipus to announce who he really is and thereby free the hero from fear, but in reality achieves the opposite. In this case, fear can be caused provided that the tragic hero is not too different from the viewer, for fear is a feeling for someone similar to oneself. Compassion can only be evoked for a hero who suffered undeservedly, therefore, in a tragedy, a change, a turning point in the hero’s fate should lead not from misfortune to happiness, but from happiness to misfortune, and the reason for this should not be the depravity of a person, but a “big mistake.” Only such an action, Aristotle thinks, can evoke fear (trepidation) in the souls of the viewer - by identifying oneself with tragic hero, and compassion. The poet in the tragedy gives the audience pleasure - “the pleasure of compassion and fear through imitation of them.” This effect of the tragedy on the audience is also characterized as purification - catharsis.

According to Aristotle, the goal of catharsis (or “purification”) is to excite and strain a person’s affective ability, to extract pleasure precisely from the crime of everyday measures of affect, from violating the boundaries of the “normal” in affects through “compassion and fear.” To understand the process of purification itself, one must find out what Aristotle understood by tragedy, fear and compassion.

Drama (from the Greek drama - action) was born in Greece in the 6th century BC, when the slave system was finally established and the center cultural life Greece became Athens. On certain holidays antique theater gathered the entire population of the city and surrounding areas.

The precursor to the appearance of drama in Greece was a long period during which epic and lyric poetry occupied the leading place. The drama was a unique synthesis of the achievements of previously formed types of literature, incorporating an “epic” heroic, monumental character and a “lyrical” individual beginning.

The emergence and development of Greek drama and theater is associated, first of all, with ritual games of a mimic nature, which were noted at an early stage of development among many peoples and have been preserved for centuries. Mimic games of agricultural peoples were part of holidays dedicated to the dying and resurrecting gods of fertility. Such holidays had two sides - serious, “passionate”, and carnival, glorifying the victory of the bright forces of life.

In Greece, rituals were associated with the cult of the gods - the patrons of agriculture: Dionysus, Demeter, and her daughter Persephone. At holidays in honor of the god Dionysus, solemn and cheerful carnival songs were sung. The mummers who were part of Dionysus's retinue organized a noisy party. Participants festive procession They “camouflaged” their face in every possible way - they smeared it with wine grounds, put on masks and goat skins.

Three genres originate from ritual games and songs in honor of Dionysus ancient Greek drama- comedy, tragedy and satyr drama.

An integral part of folk holiday activities associated with agricultural work was singing and dancing. From them later arose the classical Athenian tragedy.

The theater had two stages. One - the stage - was intended for actors, the other - the orchestra - for a choir of 12 - 15 people.

The ancient Greeks believed that the theater should reveal universally significant and deep themes and glorify high quality human spirit and ridicule the vices of people and society. A person, after watching the drama, should experience a spiritual and moral shock. In tragedy, empathizing with the heroes, the viewer must cry, and in comedy - the type of drama opposite to tragedy - laugh.

The ancient Greeks created such theatrical forms as monologue and dialogue. They made extensive use of multi-faceted action in the drama, using the chorus as a commentator on the events taking place. The choral structure was monophonic, they sang in unison. Male choirs predominated in professional music.

In the ancient Greek theater, special buildings appeared - amphitheaters, designed specifically for acting and audience perception. It used stages, backstage, a special arrangement of seats for spectators, also used in modern theater. The Hellenes created the scenery for performances. The actors used a special pathetic manner of pronouncing the text, widely used pantomime and expressive plasticity. However, they did not consciously use facial expression; they performed in special masks, symbolically reflecting a generalized image of joy and grief.

Tragedy (a type of drama imbued with the pathos of the tragic) was intended for broad sections of the population.

The tragedy was a reflection of the passionate side of the Dionysian cult. According to Aristotle, tragedy originates from the dithyramb singers. Elements were gradually mixed into the dialogue between the singer and the choir acting. The word "tragedy" comes from two Greek words: tragos – “goat” and ode – “song”. This title brings us to satyrs - goat-footed creatures, companions of Dionysus, who glorify the exploits and sufferings of God. Greek tragedy, as a rule, borrowed plots from mythology well known to every Greek. The audience's interest was concentrated not on the plot, but on the author's interpretation of the myth, on social and moral issues, which unfolded around well-known episodes of the myth. Within the framework of the mythological shell, the playwright reflected in the tragedy the contemporary socio-political situation, expressed his philosophical, ethnic, religious views. It is no coincidence that the role of tragic ideas in the socio-political and ethical education of citizens was enormous.

The tragedy reached significant development already in the second half of the 6th century BC. According to ancient tradition, Thespis is considered to be the first Athenian tragic poet in the spring of 534 BC. At the festival of the Great Dionysius, the first production of his tragedy took place. This year is considered as the year of birth of the world theater. Thespis is credited with a number of innovations: for example, he improved masks and theatrical costumes. But the main innovation of Thespis is the separation of one performer, an actor, from the choir. Hypocritus (“responder”), or actor, could answer questions from the choir or address the choir with questions, leave the stage area and return to it, and portray various characters during the action. Thus, early Greek tragedy was a kind of dialogue between the actor and the choir and in form rather resembled a cantata. At the same time, it was the actor who, from his very appearance, became the bearer of an effective energetic principle, although quantitatively his part in the original drama was insignificant (the main role was assigned to the choir).

Phrynichus, a student of Thespis, an outstanding tragedian of the era before Aeschylus, “expanded” the plot boundaries of the tragedy, taking it beyond the boundaries of Dionysian myths. Phrynichus is famous as the author of a number of historical tragedies that were written in the wake of recent events. For example, in the tragedy “The Capture of Miletus” the capture by the Persians in 494 BC was represented. the city of Miletus, which rebelled against Persian rule along with others Greek cities Asia Minor. The play shocked the audience so much that it was banned by the authorities, and the author himself was sentenced to a fine.

The works of Thespis and Phrynichus have not survived to this day; information about them theatrical activities are few in number, but they also show that the very first playwrights actively responded to pressing issues of our time and sought to make the theater a place for discussing the most important problems public life, the tribune where the democratic principles of the Athenian state were affirmed.

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GREEK DRAMA. All primitive peoples had religious rituals and epic tales that became sources of drama, but the Greeks were the first to give primitive ideas a highly developed dramatic form.

The golden age of Greek drama was the 5th century. BC. The city-state of Athens was experiencing the peak of political, economic and artistic development. Dramas were staged in other areas of Greece, but Athenian, or Attic, drama was distinguished by its particular sophistication and sophistication. Performances were held three times a year at festivals dedicated to Dionysus - the Great Dionysia (in March - April according to our calendar), Lenaea (in January - February) and the Rural Dionysia (in December - January). The main festival was the Great Dionysia, at which each tragic poet presented three tragedies and a satyr drama - a short farce in which the choir part was performed by satyrs, the goat-legged companions of Dionysus. The comic poet presented one comedy.

Performances were staged in large open theaters. The theater consisted of a skena - a tent where the actors changed clothes (it also served as a set); orchestra - a round platform on which the actors and choir performed, and a semicircular amphitheater where the audience was seated. A choir always took part in the play, the number of its participants varied: Sophocles had 15, Aristophanes had 24. The drama never involved more than three actors, so each played several roles. Female roles performed by men. In tragedies, the actors were dressed in long, richly decorated tunics. Comic actors wore short tunics, and their costumes were often grotesque or fantastical in nature. The masks helped to recognize the characters and amplified the sound with the help of a bell in the mouth. Thanks to masks with large, expressive features and buskins, and shoes with very thick soles, the actors were clearly visible from all rows of the huge amphitheater.

The word "tragedy" translated from Greek means "goat's song." The origin of the name may be related to the sacrifice of a goat, accompanied by ritual dances. Poetics Aristotle (384–322 BC) is the main source of information about Greek drama. Aristotle believed that the tragedy originated from the ancient dithyrambs - hymns that the choir sang in honor of Dionysus. It is believed that the poet Arion (c. 600 BC) gave the dithyramb a literary form for recitation. Apparently Greek drama 5th century BC. has ritual origin.

The tragedy consists of a prologue, chorus parts, episodies and exodus. The prologue precedes the appearance of the chorus. Coming out to the orchestra, the choir performed a parody; The choir parts during the action were called stasims. Episodes are dialogues between actors between choir parts. The choir's song that concluded the tragedy was called exodus. In laments, so-called commos, the parts of the choir and actors could alternate, as, for example, in Hoeforach Aeschylus. The poet Thespis (6th century BC) is recognized as the first to stage a tragedy in which the actor was separated from the chorus. Platinus (c. 534 BC) was the first to compose satyr drama, but only one fragment of his plays survives. Another famous tragedian was Phrynichus, who first won victory in 511 BC. The names and surviving fragments of his tragedies indicate that they were based not only on mythological subjects, but also on recent historical events.

One of greatest writers Ancient Greece Aeschylus (525–456 BC) reduced the role of the chorus, introduced a second actor and made dialogue main part tragedy. It was perhaps Aeschylus who first combined the three tragedies presented at the Great Dionysia into a trilogy, so that they essentially became three acts of tragedy with a single plot. Aeschylus won dramatic competitions 13 times. Only 7 of the 90 tragedies he wrote have survived: Persians, Seven against Thebes, Petitioners, Chained Prometheus and trilogy Oresteia, which includes Agamemnon, Khoefors And Eumenides. IN Petitioners It is noticeable that in the early Attic tragedy the choir played main role. The heroines of the tragedy are the 50 daughters of Danae (Danaida), who fled from hated suitors from Egypt to Greece. Persians- the only surviving tragedy, the action of which is connected not with myth, but with historical event– Greek victory at Salamis in 480 BC. IN Chained Prometheus Titan Prometheus is defeated and punished for his arrogance by Zeus, the new supreme deity. Seven against Thebes- the third part of the lost trilogy, which tells about the struggle for the Theban throne of Eteocles and Polyneices, the sons of Oedipus. Trilogy Oresteia- Aeschylus' masterpiece. In the first part, Agamemnone, tells the story of King Agamemnon's return from war and his death at the hands of his own wife Clytemnestra and her lover Aegisthus. IN Hoeforach Agamemnon's son, Orestes, avenges his father's death. IN Eumenides Orestes is pursued by the avenging goddess Erinyes. At the end of the tragedy, he is acquitted by the Areopagus court established by the goddess Athena. The tragedy is simultaneously devoted to several themes: the victory of wise and merciful gods over the goddesses of blind revenge; the emergence of a civilized court to replace the primitive court; the abolition of the ancestral curse.

The second great Greek tragedian, Sophocles (496–406 BC), was more interested in inner world man rather than the will of the gods in his destiny. Sophocles reduced the role of the chorus and introduced a third actor. The playwright won more than 20 victories and wrote over 110 tragedies, of which 7 have survived: Ajax, Antigone, Oedipus the King, Fucking girls, Electra, Philoctetes, Oedipus at Colonus. Three of them are dedicated to the family of King Oedipus. It is not possible for a person to understand the incomprehensible forces that influence his destiny ( Oedipus the King). The all-powerful Oedipus is haunted by fate, over which he has no control, but he himself strives to find out the truth, no matter what the cost. IN Oedipus at Colonus the king appears as an old blind wanderer, accompanied only by his daughter Antigone. He takes refuge in Athens, where he dies, blessing this region and cursing his warring sons, Eteocles and Polyneices. Their fratricidal war formed the basis Antigones. Violating the prohibition of Creon, the king of Thebes, Antigone buries her brother Polyneices, as required by custom. For this she is sentenced to death. Two plays by Sophocles Ajax And Philoctetes, dedicated to the heroes of the Trojan War.

Sophocles allegedly said that he depicted people as they should be, and Euripides (485–406 BC) - as they really are. Euripides won only 5 competitions, but in subsequent eras his tragedies were eagerly read and staged. The satyr drama of Euripides has been preserved Cyclops and 18 of his tragedies: Alcestis, Medea, Hippolytus, Andromache, Hecuba, Heracleidae, Petitioners, Hercules, Trojan women, Electra, And he, Iphigenia in Tauris, Elena, Phoenician women, Orestes, Bacchae, Iphigenia in Aulis And Res(unsuccessful dramatization of the 10th song Iliad; it is believed to be a fake). Euripides' best tragedies depict the mental suffering of a woman. IN Medea The Colchian princess, who knew how to conjure, betrayed her father and homeland in order to escape with Jason. When Jason cheated on her, in a fit of jealousy she killed not only his new bride, but also her two sons from Jason. In Medea's lengthy monologues, Euripides masterfully reveals the heroine's conflicting feelings. Love experiences are at the core Hippolyta, but the goddess Aphrodite is to blame for them, who was rejected by Hippolytus, who took a vow of virginity to Artemis. In revenge, Aphrodite forces Hippolytus's stepmother, Phaedra, to fall in love with her stepson. As a result, Phaedra commits suicide, and Hippolytus, falsely accused of trying to dishonor his stepmother, dies tragically. Queen Alcestis - the complete opposite of Phaedra and Medea - voluntarily goes to the grave in place of her husband.

Five of Euripides' tragedies are related to the Trojan War: Trojan women, Hecuba, Iphigenia in Aulis, Elena, Andromache. It is noteworthy that war appears in them as meaningless suffering and useless death. IN Iphigenia in Aulis Agamemnon is forced to sacrifice his daughter Iphigenia to Artemis so that a fair wind will blow and the ships can sail to Troy. IN Trojan women And Hecuba it tells about the suffering that the wife and daughter of the Trojan king endure in captivity among the Greeks. Plot Orestes And Electra the same as in the great trilogy of Aeschylus. Bacchae- the only known tragedy in which Dionysus is the hero. Cyclops, the plot of which is taken from Odyssey, is the only completely preserved satyr drama. During Euripides's lifetime, his work evoked accusations of immorality, since his heroes did not honor the gods and were inclined towards illicit love.

Competitions between tragedians continued in Athens for several centuries, but none of the tragedies of the 4th century. BC. and subsequent centuries was not preserved. In the 3rd century. BC. interest in the tragedy briefly flared up in Alexandria. The tragedies of seven poets, the so-called. The Pleiades shone more with scholarship than with dramatic skill. The history of Greek tragedy ends with their work.

The word "comedy" comes from the Greek. the words “feast” and “song”. Aristotle believed that comedy grew out of the feast songs that were performed during festivals in honor of Dionysus, but already in Aristotle's time little was known about the history of Attic comedy. There were several types of Doric comedy; in Sparta, masked actors performed farcical scenes from Everyday life; in the cities of Magna Graecia, phylaki were installed, i.e. comic skits that parodied mythological stories. In Sikyon (Peloponnese), a procession of tipsy revelers performed playful hymns in honor of Dionysus to the crowd. In Syracuse, the philosopher Epicharmus (c. 500 BC) wrote, as far as can be judged from surviving fragments, extremely funny and witty comedies. Thanks to the paintings on Attic vases of the 6th century. BC. it is known that in Athens performances were given, possibly related to the cult of Dionysus, in which people dressed up as animals. Perhaps these performances served as the basis for early Attic comedy. According to sources, the first Athenian comedian was Chionides, who won the competition at the Great Dionysia in 487 BC. The most famous among the first Athenian comedians is Kratin (who first won in 453 BC), who did a lot for the formation of Attic comedy.

Participants in the ritual action put on masks with goat beards and horns, depicting the companions of Dionysus - satyrs (hence the name - satyr drama). Ritual performances took place during the Dionysia (festivals in honor of Dionysus), in spring and autumn. There were “great” Dionysias - in the city, very magnificent, and “small” - rural, more modest. These ritual performances are the origins Greek theater.

The Greek theater was an open building of enormous size. The stage consisted of a long narrow platform and was surrounded on three sides by walls, of which the back one (with a canopy) was called skene, the side ones were called paraskenions, and what we call the stage was called proskenion.

The semicircle of seats for spectators, rising in ledges, was called an amphitheater, the place between the stage and the amphitheater - an orchestra; a choir was located here, which was controlled by a coryphaeus (choir leader). With the development of dramatic action, a tent (skene) was added to the orchestra, where the actors dressed and changed clothes (each of the actors played several roles).

From mimic praises telling about the sufferings of Dionysus, they gradually moved on to showing them in action. Thespis (a contemporary of Peisistratus) and Phrynichus are considered the first playwrights. They introduced an actor (the second and third were then introduced by Aeschylus and Sophocles). Dramatic works were usually given by authors as competitions. The authors played the main roles (both Aeschylus and Sophocles were major actors), wrote the music for the tragedies themselves, and directed the dances.

The organizer of theatrical competitions was the state. In the person of a member of the Areopagus specially allocated for this purpose - the archon - it rejected or allowed certain tragedies to be presented. This is where the class approach usually comes into play when assessing dramatic works. The latter had to be in tune with the sentiments and interests of the upper class. For this purpose, the right to provide a choir to the playwright was reserved for the so-called choregs, large landowners, special patrons theatrical arts. They tried to use the theater as a tool for agitation and propaganda of their ideology. And in order to exert their influence on all free citizens (slaves were prohibited from visiting the theater), they established a special theatrical cash distribution for the poor (theorik - under Pericles).

These views expressed the protective tendencies of the ruling class - the aristocracy, whose ideology was determined by the consciousness of the need for unquestioning submission to a given social order. The tragedies of Sophocles reflect the era of the victorious war between the Greeks and the Persians, which opened up great opportunities for trading capital.

In this regard, the authority of the aristocracy in the country fluctuates, and this accordingly affects the works of Sophocles. At the center of his tragedies is the conflict between family tradition and state authority. Sophocles believed reconciliation was possible social contradictions- a compromise between the trade elite and the aristocracy.

And finally, Euripides - a supporter of the victory of the trading stratum over the landowning aristocracy - already denies religion. His Bellerophon depicts a fighter who rebelled against the gods for patronizing treacherous aristocratic rulers. “They (the gods) are not there (in heaven),” he says, “unless people want to madly believe old fairy tales.” In the works of the atheistically inclined Euripides, the characters in the drama are exclusively people. If he introduces the gods, it is only in those cases when it is necessary to resolve some complex intrigue. Dramatic action He is motivated by the real properties of the human psyche. The majestic but spiritually simplified heroes of Aeschylus and Sophocles are replaced in the works of the younger tragedian by, if more prosaic, then complicated characters. Sophocles spoke of Euripides this way: “I portrayed people as they should be; Euripides depicts them as they really are.”

Ancient Greek comedy