Key terms Flashcards
(24 cards)
Polis
city or state
Oikos
household, family
Agon
A contest of words between two characters highlighting the importance of oratory in Athenian culture.
It begins with an introductory exchange, followed by speeches of roughly the same length with a choral comment in the middle, and a conclusion.
The accuser would usually speak first, as in a law court.
Dramatic Irony
Greek word meaning ‘pretended ignorance’; a speech with a hidden meaning which is understood at the time of speaking by the speaking but not the listener, or vice versa, or only by the audience, or the meaning will only become apparent with hindsight.
very common in Greek tragedy
Metic (applies only to Medea)
a foreigner with the right to live in another country
Demos
the people of the city
Skene
The stage, complete with a backdrop, usually representing the front of a palace or building, control of the door of which indicates a powerful character (such as Creon and Oedipus)
Episode
A section of a play between choral songs
Great Dionysia
festival in March for Dionysis. Celebrates theatre in which playwrights compete.
Epilogos
the epilogue: the part of the play that follows the last speech of the Chorus.
Eponymous hero or heroine
a main character whose name is the title of a play such as Medea and Oedipus.
HUBRIS
Greek word for overwhelming pride, a quality which usually attracts heavy punishment from the gods (Hippolytus and Creon)
Katharsis
Purging of emotions, sense of emotional draining which comes at the end of a good tragedy.
An Aristotle term from his work on tragedy.
Kommos
a lament: a lyrical exchange between the Chorus and a character
PATHOS
‘suffering’: the artistic quality of arousing feelings of sadness and pity in the audience
Role reversal/ PERIPETEIA
a change from happiness to misery; from good fortune to bad fortune; from high status to no status
An Aristotle term.
Turning point
events in the play that lead to the reversal or ultimate tragic event.
Protagonist
the chief actor
Prologos
the prologue: the part of the play which precedes the entry of the chorus.
Monologue
a long uninterrupted speech
nemesis
divine wrath; the goddess of retribution: the consequence of hubris
orchestra
the area on which the chorus and probably the actors performed
Messenger’s speech
A convention by which horrifying events which took place off stage are narrated on stage at length and with graphic powers of description.
PIOUS
to be devoutly religious (Hippolytus)
