Lesson Overview:
Students will discover the origins of our own modern theater in the ancient Greek Theater. After learning about the history of Greece, Athens and Dionysus, students will understand the evolution of theater, as we know it today. They will hold a choral reading and gain knowledge of actors, the chorus, and playwrights of ancient Greece while familiarizing themselves with their works.
Length of Lesson:
Five 45-minute class periods
Instructional Objectives:
Students will:
- understand the origin of Greek drama.
- discuss the festivals honoring Dionysus.
- identify terminology related to Greek theater.
- research Greek tragedy and comedy.
- participate in a choral reading from a Greek tragedy or comedy.
- judge their peers performance as in a Greek theater competition.
Supplies:
- Pencil and paper
- Notebook
Instructional Plan:
First, have students locate Greece on the world map in your classroom. If a map is not available, use the following website, Holt, Rinehart, and Winston. The textbook company has on line maps for teachers and students to use HRW World Atlas Web site. Clicking on Europe, and then Greece, will bring you to a detailed map of Greece. Locating Greece in this manner—from world to continent to country—will provide the students with a geographical reference.
Next, show students the map of ancient Greece located at the Plato and His Dialogues site. Ask students to compare both maps. This could be done through large or small group discussions. The ancient Greek nation is most likely much larger than students expect. You might want to discuss the pros and cons surrounding a nation so spread out during the 6th century. Students could use a Venn diagram to organize the pros and cons. Means of transportation and communication in the 6th Century and the 21st Century (then and now) are suggested topics for discussion. Information on Venn diagrams can be found at the Write Design Web site, a site devoted to helping teachers with writing skills and graphic organizers
It is believed that the first settlers to the Greek mainland arrived around 2100 B.C. Check students' prior knowledge to see if they understand what B.C and A.D. mean. It might be appropriate at this time to discuss the meaning of B.C. and A.D. in relationship to years. A timeline would be helpful as a visual tool. Today, the world predominantly uses B.C. and A.D., but various other calendar systems exist. You can find information about them at New Mexico State University Astronomy Web site.
Greece reached the pinnacle of its civilization around the 5th century B.C. The Greek culture and civilization was very rich, not just in commerce and possessions, but also in spirit, artistic accomplishments, literary endeavors, and life in general.
The Greeks built many famous cities and they each were like small nations. They were known as city-states. They had their own laws and government but shared the same language and culture. The most powerful of these city-states were Athens and Sparta. Have students locate them on the Peloponnesian Peninsula. Refer again to the ancient map of Greece on the Plato and His Dialogues Web site. These two city-states differed dramatically. Athens was a democracy governed by free males; Sparta was a military state ruled by a small number of military leaders.
Athens flourished between 500 B.C. and 430 B.C. This period was known as The Golden Age Of Athens. As the center of Greek civilization and culture, Athens was a very prosperous city on many levels. Artists, writers, poets, sculptors, architects, philosophers, and great thinkers worked side by side.
After the above information has been presented and discussed by the class, lead the students in a discussion of Greeks and their contributions to drama. The word drama comes from the Greeks. It means "to do" or "to act." The theater as we know it today came to us from the Greeks. The Greek plays, as students will see, include dance, music, and art (stage-sets) just as our modern day plays and musicals do. Distribute the Vocabulary handout and familiarize themselves with the words.
Begin with a discussion of how drama is reflected in a culture. The following topics can be used as discussion starters. Encourage students to add their own topics and ideas.
- customs
- political structure
- people
- values
- other ideas
On the board or chart paper, make an organizer with these headings:
- Name of Play, Musical or Movie
- Brief Plot Description
- Cultural Characteristics
- Evidence of Cultural Characteristics
Students can also use How Culture Is Reflected In Drama worksheet
Next, have students brainstorm plays, musicals, or movies that they have seen or know about. Write the titles on the board, chart paper, or organizer. Complete the rest of the chart by adding brief plot descriptions, cultural characteristics or themes of the play, and evidence of these characteristics or themes in the play. Students will see as they delve into Greek Theater that these same characteristics and themes are reflected in Greek plays from the 6th century.
Explain the beginnings of Greek Theater that began at religious festivals honoring a Greek god, Dionysus. The festivals were held twice a year, December (in the country) and March (in the city). Since Dionysus was the god of wine and fertility, these festivals resulted in much singing, drinking and dancing in his honor. This behavior evolved into presenting the myths surrounding Dionysus and other Greek gods by dancing and singing their stories. This was done in a chorus format. They performed at the front of the stage and beside setlines. They also commented on events as the play progressed. Chorus members were very versatile as actors, singers, and dancers.
In sixth century B.C., a Dionysian priest walked away from the chorus during the presentation of a story and, instead of singing, began to recite words and create extra dialogue. This person, named Thespis, became the first actor and playwright creating and performing what were called tragedies. We still honor him today by calling actors "Thespians."
This new form of theater with an actor and spoken dialogue, along with the Greek Chorus, gained much attention as word of it spread among the Greeks. It became so popular that an Athenian named Pisistratus built a theater in Dionysus' honor. This allowed for more performances and larger audiences. Audiences were predominantly male because they believed that the plays were either much too vulgar or too tragic and upsetting for women. The city gave out tickets to those that could not afford to pay. The most famous Greek theater, and most likely the first theater in the world, is the large theater of Dionysus on the lower slopes of the Acropolis. Once again visit the Plato and His Dialogues Web site for yet another resource, the map of the Acropolis. Show students this map of the Acropolis and have them locate the theater. In the true spirit of Greek competition, performance competitions for Greek tragedies were held four times a year. This evolved into theatrical festivals giving way to the addition of comedy and satyr plays. Thus the Greek masks of Comedy and Tragedy were born.
At this point in the lesson, students may work independently or in small groups to research a component of Greek tragedy or comedy. Students should be sure to look at the works of the three most famous dramatists of the time period, Aristophanes (b.450 B.C.), Sophocles (b.496 B.C.), and Euripides (b.485 B.C.) The following sites can be accessed to shorten their search time in the lab and to make sure that they are directed to sites that will give them verified and confirmed information from reliable sources.
When research is completed (one class period), students should next meet in cooperative groups to discuss what they discovered about each form (comedy and tragedy). Each cooperative group should create a chart listing their findings. (If the technology is available, students could create PowerPoint presentations.) Have students tape their charts on the board and present their findings to the class. The teacher can conclude this segment of the lesson by engaging the class in a discussion of the common elements that made up Greek tragedy and Greek comedy.
As a concluding activity, students will be asked to work in small groups and make a presentation to the class as a Greek Chorus. So they will have practice prior to doing this, consider using the following text and have the class complete the assignment as one large chorus (group) before they break out into small groups. This would give them a much better understanding of the exercise. Use the dramatic speech found on the Class Chorus Reading worksheet as the class chorus project.
As a concluding activity, pass out various speaking parts from Greek dramas and tragedies to each cooperative group. Since each group will be speaking as a chorus, they should get the same lines. These can be found at the Perseus Digital Library, Tufts University.
Explain that they will take the lines given to them and follow these steps:
- Read through the lines quietly to themselves.
- As a group, decide if these lines are from a tragedy or comedy (use the talking points from the earlier discussion of tragedy and comedy).
- Go over the lines to make sure that they understand the meaning that the author is trying to convey.
- Practice reciting the lines as a chorus.
Each group, acting as a Greek Chorus, will present their part before the class. The class will act as judges just as in an actual contest in the theater of Dionysus, by using their Judging Chart worksheet. Have the students review the presentations as a group and tally the numbers as the actual judges for a Greek Drama Festival might have done. They chose a first, second, and third place and the students might do the same.
Assessment:
Use the Assessment Rubric to assess your students' works.
Authors:
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Susan DePlatchett, Educational Consultant
Greenbelt, Maryland
