Aristophanes, Eupolis, and Cratinus were among the best playwrights who ancient critics recognized for their literary works. Aristophanes’ plays are the only surviving samples of the literary genre conventionally referred to as old comedy. Old comedies were characteristic of topical issues touching in the society and real personalities. New Comedy transcended topical issues to generalized contexts together with stock characters. The move was because playwrights had internalized the perspectives of the people’s cultures after changes.
This can be seen in an essay by Gustave Lanson when he states, “In Paris Italian farce had replaced French farce.” The success of Commedia Dell’ Arte during the reign of Charles IX is well-known” (Lanson, 137). This effect can be seen through one of the country’s most famous playwrights, Moliere. Moliere was a renowned playwright and actor that continues to be well-known today. He was greatly influenced by Commedia Dell’ Arte. “Well-known definitions of the Commedia Dell’ Arte are that it was a semi-literary form of theatrical performance based primarily upon effective gestures and lazzi, and involving a limited number of generally accepted types who in their contrasting relation provide the setting for a light and flimsy action linked somehow by the eternal theme of love”( 704).
The tragedies that they were writing drew on the same “reservoir of stories about the distant heroic past and its great dynasties and wars, especially those set at Thebes and Troy (Brown J.R. 1995). The chorus in Sophocles’ Oedipus the King played a very important role in the progression of the play and I have come to discover just how much of and influence the role of the chorus has continued to have throughout history and how it has developed and evolved in performance and theatre throughout the centuries. To a modern reader who has had little exposure to ancient Greek theatre, one of the most unusual elements of the play will be the role of the Greek chorus as it is not as prevalent in modern theatre as a theatrical convention. Modern readers can often find the chorus to be “intrusive and irrelevant” (Hall, 1994, pg xxix), however, it can be argued that the chorus is in fact one of the most pivotal characters within the play itself, as without the commentary and narration that they provide, a lot of the plays themes and ideas could otherwise be overlooked. In many of the ancient Greek
The culture of Greeks has evolved over thousands of years and made many major cultural contributions. It is believed that democracy was created in Ancient Athens about the year 508 BC. Ancient Greeks also made contributions to literature in the form of the tragedy genre. Tragedy is a form of art based on human suffering that offers its audience pleasure. Tragedy refers to a specific tradition of drama that has played a unique and important role historically in the self-definition of Western civilization.
Assess the contribution of speeches in Thucydides’ work. Thucydides’ introduces his work by presenting it as a “history of the war fought against each other by the Peloponnesians and the Athenians”. However his work was not a simple narrative of the events that unfolded, Thucydides wanted his work to be judged as useful because he believed that history repeats itself. He wrote his work largely to explain the fall of the Athenian empire. Thucydides’ work, however, was not simply a book written about Athens as the protagonist which was defeated by its foolish over-ambition, he wrote about the Athenians and Spartans with similar objectivity, acknowledging both their weaknesses and virtues.
Brecht consistently uses comedy throughout his play to make a darker point. However, Gold strays from this approach and instead heightens and adds comical elements in an attempt to amuse his audience further. One must remember that Brecht’s original play – even though an entertaining play – was essentially used as a didactic tool and that people chose wether or not they wished to come and view the performance. Gold’s adaptation of the play was made in 1972 and therefore targeted a very different audience – television viewers. It is for this reason that Gold has twisted (and even added to) Bretch’s wry, black humour into high comedy – in a bid to appease and
Aristotle, the ancient Greek philosopher claims that a good tragic play must arouse pity from the audience, suggests that the best way to accomplish satisfying a crowd is through the use of dramatic irony. In the plays Oedipus Tyrannous by the Greek playwright Sophocles and Seneca’s Oedipus, we are able to indicate the presence of dramatic irony as it helps develop meaning in the text. Dramatic irony is revealed in a way that allows the reader to be more exposed to the play. Within this setting, we notice the aftermath of the story is conveyed to the reader, whereas the hero is blindly stumbling deeper towards his future of agony. In Sophocles’ Oedipus Tyrannus and Seneca’s Oedipus, dramatic irony is used to demonstrate and emphasize a character's disloyalty, ignorance, and blindness.
which has given us a step towards the entertainment we have today. Aristotle, a Greek philosopher, has also given us a system of logic, which, I believe, a lot of people didn’t thing was invented in any shape or form. With all this things, known and unknown about the Greeks, it has made them popular, stories about their people and gods could be seen written in books and passed by tongue, but one familiar part of the Greek culture and the one we’re tackling in this research is the War’s of Greece, more specifically, the ever famous Trojan War. This research report would circle around the idea of the Greek’s war culture, as we can see in most of their mythology and stories, their warriors are quite violent and think of war as a way to solve problems, thus the research report about it. Specifically, we would be looking at the famous Greek author Homer's work, the Iliad, and on how it shows the story of the mighty Achilles, a fearless warrior and hero of Greece, and his act of revenge towards Hector which leads to the doom of Troy.
C. M. Greek History Through Drama The Works of Aristophanes: An Analysis of Comedy, Commentary and Conflicts Western society has been indeterminably shaped by the thoughts and achievements of the Hellenic civilization, from our concept of government and politics to the way we understand love. In fact, the ancient Greeks contributed to the arts in ways that shaped nations for centuries – millennia even – after the crumbling of their own civilization. Throughout the years, much of their contributions to the arts have been lost to time; however, some glimpses into the world of Ancient Greece still remain intact to this day. Aristophanes, perhaps the most celebrated representative of ancient Greek comedy, has been immortalized by his surviving plays which include critiques of contemporary politics, outrageous and merciless satire, and bold humor in the face of conservative and imperialistic city-states. Perhaps the most poignant critiques in his plays are of Socratic thought, the character of populist Cleon, and Athens’ role in the Peloponnesian War.
A dandy is a man who places unusual importance on his clothes and appearance. He cultivates wit and refined language, and leads a leisured life. Dandies were common in the literature and drama of certain periods, notably comic plays of the Restoration period (1660-1700), and in eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century literature. They were usually ridiculous figures who embodied the absurd fashions and mores of their time, and were meant to be laughed at by the audience or reader. Many of Wilde’s works feature a dandy, and in many cases, the dandy stands in for the author.