Cyber Day; Post 10

After several blogs discussing the COVID-19 Pandemic (a very serious subject), it seems that we're getting back to our Greek curriculum. To begin, we read about the Greek Theater, more specifically their Drama and History themes. Both of which withhold very unique aspects and characters; for instance, a tragedy would normally be a serious drama with a character with extraordinary abilities and personalities (such as excessive pride). After reading, we were instructed to answer several questions with an in-depth analysis. The questions are listed, answered, and reviewed below:  

1.) Describe the kinds of dramas that were performed in the theaters of ancient Greece. 

Similar to the dramas of today, Greek entertainment seemed to focus on two central themes: Tragedy and Comedy. Both of these themes seemed to have perks of their own depending on the type of entertainment you desired; though, possibly more interesting was the vast content that was categorized under each theme. For instance, the theme Tragedy would include dramas about love, hate, war, or even betrayal. Today, we seem to have plenty more themes, or at least themes that aren't categorized like they were in Greece. Unlike Tragedies, Comedies offered a fun, slapstick form of entertainment to the viewers. Very similar to how comedy is today, Greek theaters would present plays that would poke fun at politicians, ideologies, and events taking place in their time. 

 2.) b.  Describe the similarities between an ancient Greek production and a film you have seen recently. The Greek production – and the film – can be either a comedy or a tragedy.

A Greek Drama seems to withhold many of the same characteristics of a mainstream movie today;, especially in its creation. I found that similar to today's films, Greek Dramas had dramatists (like we have directors today) and that some were known to write many popular dramas. For instance, Aeschylus who wrote many comedies (more than 80), could be compared to a famous Hollywood director who writes within a certain theme. While dramatists like Aeschylus seemed to focus on Tragedies, directors today, such as Micheal Bay, may choose to focus on action movies. Let's take the most recent movie I've seen, which was Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. An okay movie, that contained plenty of conflicts with regards to war and fighting. Similar to how the play The Birds and Lysistrata. In this Greek play, the wives of Athens are forcing their husbands to end a conflict (The Peloponnesian War), although they went about ending the war differently, the intent is the same for the rebels in star wars, end the war. Though surprisingly, The Birds and Lysistrata are classified as a Comedy, which is likely a result of the much broader themes of their time. 

    3.) Find an online image of a theater from ancient Greece, and describe it in a few sentences. 

Listed to the right is a classical Greek theater which would hold plays of all themes (mostly Tragedy and Comedies).
Contrary to my prior thoughts,
I figured that the theater would be in a highly constructed area with plenty of other structures as scenery. Rather, it was in a rural area. Based on further personal research, I've found that the average theater performance (such as a play) would contain over 18,000 people! This was shocking to me, I can only imagine how little space theater was in theaters during these performances; additionally, the seats were just slabs of stone rather than anything soft. 

Personal Analysis: 

Going into this subject, I figured Greek Drama was to be much different than what we have in today's entertainment; but, I was definitely wrong. The content which Greek Drama contained, were of very similar aspects to what we watch every day. And while it may not seem that way at first, the deeper analysis leads me to the conclusion that we were (and are) impacted by many things in Greek culture. Once again, I'm truly fascinated by the architecture of Greece, the design of the theater truly looks as if it could hold plenty of people during plays and other live events. 

Works Cited:

https://www.tripsavvy.com/ancient-greek-theaters-where-you-can-see-a-show-4157865

http://www.theatrehistory.com/ancient/greek.html

https://westernciv2020.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2020-03-18T06:42:00-04:00&max-results=7&start=5&by-date=false

https://www.whitman.edu/theatre/theatretour/home.htm

With that said, I conclude my 10th Cyber Day Post, Till next time! Stay Safe!