Drama And Literature Of Early Greece Essay

, Research Paper

In early Greece, most drama and poetry grew from Athenian celebrations honoringthe god of wine, Dionysus. Greek plays were performed outdoors to an all maleaudience. The plays were performed in theaters that were built into hillsides. All ofthe actors were also male, and they had a chorus which explained the play as itwent. The actors wore high boots and intricate costumes, while the chorus just worenormal clothes. Most early Greek plays were tragedies and usually ended in a disaster.Tragedies were inspired by The Odyssey and The Iliad. The most famous tragedywriter is probably Aeschylus. He has been called the father of Greek tragedybecause his work served as a model for others. His plays dealed with therelationships of humans and gods. Sophocles was another famous poet who wrote123 plays, but only seven of them have survived. Euripides, another famous poet,had a more controversial style. In his poetry he was critical of traditional ideas. In

one of his plays he expressed sympathy for women and the oppressed. All of Greek’s plays weren’t tragedies; there were also comedies. Comedieswere plays in which poets ridiculed people, ideas, and social customs. A famouscomedy poet was Aristophanes. He would poke fun of everything from politiciansto even his audience. The Greeks enjoyed epic poetry and lyric poems. Examplesof epic poems are The Odyssey and The Iliad. Lyric poems are poems in whichthe author expresses his emotions or thoughts. They were sung by a musicianplaying a lyre. Through trade, Greek theaters spread throughout theMediterranean world. Drama and the theater became a part of western civilization.Greek literature had a big influence on the way that we write today. I think theGreeks were probably the ancient culture that contributed the most to our literaturetoday.