John Keats wrote "Ode on a Grecian Urn" after learning that his life would be cut short after he contracted tuberculosis. He died before the age of 26. After visiting the British Museum in London, he was inspired by the scenes painted on a Greek urn. This poem is his most famous and is often used as a "benediction" or "good word" to share with those embarking on a journey or entering a life transition such as adulthood.
Dionysis was the most important god in Greek culture, even more important than Zeus. Half man and half god, he was the god of the vine, and his life cycle followed that of the grapevine through the seasons. He died every winter and came back to life each summer. All drama festivals were held in his honor, and it was at these festivals that Sophocles came to fame. The biggest festivals were held in Thebes, which is the setting for the trilogy of plays, Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus, and Antigone.
Greek drama was wholly connected to religious worship of Dionysis. The first Greek plays were performed during religious sacrifice when a goat was offered to the god. In fact, the word "tragedy" comes from the Greek word for "goat song." Plays were a form of worship as the believers acted out the life-cycle of Dionysis.
Greek festivals consisted of the bacchanal, a period of free-spiritedness when "bad behavior" was permitted. Following the party, the Greeks would file into an ampitheater to watch the drama competition. Each playwright had to submit both tragedies and comedies. The plays explored the relationship between man's spirit, connected to the gods, and his earthly limitations. The god Dionysis embodied this struggle just as Gilgamesh did in the Sumerian epic. All plays were dedicated to the god of the vine.
The Importance of Greek Tragedy
Aristotle wrote of the importance of drama, especially tragedy, in his work, Poetics. It is possible he had discussions of this theory with Plato, and it is also likely that these ideas originated with Socrates the philosopher. The main character had to be better off in life than the average man. He may have ties to the gods or to royalty, or both, but he may not know this as the play begins. The main character has to be someone the audience can admire, even through his downfall, in order to create sympathy. Usually, the downfall of the main character is connected to a weakness that becomes amplified in the course of the play. The tragic hero is admired from start to finish because he is often a victim of unforeseen circumstances; usually, the gods place the tragic hero in an impossible situation. The resolution is not a happy one, and often the tragic hero dies or has to live with his fate.
Aristotle wrote that the purpose of tragedy was to instill "pity and fear" into the hearts and minds of the audience members in order to achieve catharsis: a purging or purification as well as a feeling of release as the audience members go through the cycle of the main character. Aristotle laid the foundation of a dramatic character's arc, which became the basis of our understanding of "plot," and he taught that all stories must follow this arc. The story arc is divided in two: Rising Action and Falling Action. The incidents rise to the climax or turning point and fall to the resolution. During Rising Action, he said, the writer must create tension and then release the tension as the action "falls" heading toward the story's resolution.
During the European Renaissance, Shakespeare used Aristotle's story arc to create tragedies such as Hamlet, Othello, and Macbeth.
Aristotle wrote of the importance of drama, especially tragedy, in his work, Poetics. It is possible he had discussions of this theory with Plato, and it is also likely that these ideas originated with Socrates the philosopher. The main character had to be better off in life than the average man. He may have ties to the gods or to royalty, or both, but he may not know this as the play begins. The main character has to be someone the audience can admire, even through his downfall, in order to create sympathy. Usually, the downfall of the main character is connected to a weakness that becomes amplified in the course of the play. The tragic hero is admired from start to finish because he is often a victim of unforeseen circumstances; usually, the gods place the tragic hero in an impossible situation. The resolution is not a happy one, and often the tragic hero dies or has to live with his fate.
Aristotle wrote that the purpose of tragedy was to instill "pity and fear" into the hearts and minds of the audience members in order to achieve catharsis: a purging or purification as well as a feeling of release as the audience members go through the cycle of the main character. Aristotle laid the foundation of a dramatic character's arc, which became the basis of our understanding of "plot," and he taught that all stories must follow this arc. The story arc is divided in two: Rising Action and Falling Action. The incidents rise to the climax or turning point and fall to the resolution. During Rising Action, he said, the writer must create tension and then release the tension as the action "falls" heading toward the story's resolution.
During the European Renaissance, Shakespeare used Aristotle's story arc to create tragedies such as Hamlet, Othello, and Macbeth.