Ancient Greek Tragedy: History, Playwrights and Performances

Not just the origins of Ancient Greek tragedy, but the origins of theatre itself traces back to classical Athens in the 6th century BCE. Greek theatre was performed in an open-aired venue called a theatron, the most famous being the Theatre of Dionysus in Athens and was an important aspect of the political landscape in Ancient Athens. Common features of Ancient Greek Tragedies were the chorus, and the use of masks. The plays were about popular tales in Greek mythology, which at that time was their religion, and in some cases, although mainly in comedies, the plays would be about contemporary events such as Aeschylus’ tragedy The Persians which is about the battle of Salamis, which Aeschylus may have even fought in.
Greek tragedies were performed not just in theatrons for people to enjoy, but were composed in order to be performed in competitions, with the City Dionysia or the Great Dionysia, being the most famous of these competitions. From the many ancient tragedians and playwrights we are aware of, only the works of the greatest three authors have survived, Aeschylus, Euripides and Sophocles, with a total of 32 works surviving between them. Greek tragedies were written and performed specifically for religious festivals and competitions, yet many were re-performed and written down for mass publication. Kept by the state were copies of the works of the three great tragedians, Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, and their plays even became important parts of school curriculums. So, if you want to know all about the history, main playwrights and performances of Ancient Greek tragedy you're in the right place!
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- CHAPTERS -
0:00​ Introduction
0:47 Origins of Greek Theatre and Tragedy
3:33 The Competition of Greek Tragedy and Satyr Plays
5:54 Aeschylus, Euripides and Sophocles
8:00 The Legacy of Greek Tragedy
9:15 Outro and End Page
- WANT TO KNOW MORE? -
Ancient Greek Theatre worldhistory.org/Greek_Theatre/
Ancient Greek Tragedy worldhistory.org/Greek_Tragedy/
Aeschylus worldhistory.org/Aeschylus/
Euripides worldhistory.org/Euripides/
Sophocles worldhistory.org/sophocles/
Medea (Play) worldhistory.org/medea/
Cyclops (Satyr Play) worldhistory.org/Cyclops_(Play)/
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- ATTRIBUTIONS -
You can find all attribution and credits for images, animations, graphics and music here - worldhistory.typehut.com/anci...
The music used in this recording is the intellectual copyright of Michael Levy, a prolific composer for the recreated lyres of antiquity, and used with the creator's permission. Michael Levy's music is available to stream at all the major digital music platforms. Find out more on:
www.ancientlyre.com
open.spotify.com/artist/7Dx2v...
/ @michaellevymusic
- THUMBNAIL IMAGE -
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Sailko
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World History Encyclopedia
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#greektragedy #ancientgreektheatre #ancientgreektragedy

[@WorldHistoryEncyclopedia]

Have you read or seen any Greek tragedy? What did you think of it? Do you have a favourite? Let us know!

[@ROMA--AETERNA]

Great stuff. It's incredibly sad that history hasn't been taught in public schools for decades!!

[@WorldHistoryEncyclopedia]

Thanks for watching! Hopefully, our free resources will help make history education more accessible for those who don't get the opportunity to learn it at school!

[@stevenbrown9275]

Excellent, informative video. Thank you for posting. Also, great T-shirt.

[@WorldHistoryEncyclopedia]

Thanks for watching, glad you enjoyed it!

[@karasharpe3181]

We love Antigone! Our fave here in Spokane, WA!

[@ukestudio3002]

Antigone is a favorite of mine. Thank you for your vid !

[@WorldHistoryEncyclopedia]

We love her too! Thanks for watching!

[@Tekmirion]

👍 As always well presented and informative!

[@WorldHistoryEncyclopedia]

And as always, thank you so much for watching and for your lovely comments!

[@Deirachi]

Loved it! Instant subscribe!

[@WorldHistoryEncyclopedia]

Thankyou so much for subscribing! We are glad you’re loving our work!

[@jennypoussin3866]

Great overview ☺️❤️

[@WorldHistoryEncyclopedia]

Thanks for watching!

[@josepheffiong6942]

Very imformative

[@SARAMARCELARIANOARISTIZABAL]

A good video i learned a lot of greek tragedy. God bless you

[@WorldHistoryEncyclopedia]

Thank you for your kind words. 🙂

[@karinakriger71]

Beautiful! This video helped me to do a work for intercultural studies at the teaching training college. Thank for spreading history!

[@donttakeitpersonal8704]

Such a good and clear video

[@WorldHistoryEncyclopedia]

Thanks! We're so glad that you enjoyed it. 🙂

[@areebawani6522]

Ma'am for presentation I have to give work cited if you could tell the source

[@NaeemKhan-wm2nh]

Well presented I need notes plZz

[@ShivamKumar-gv2yh]

Dii, where do you get such good knowledge from? 🤔

[@WorldHistoryEncyclopedia]

You can always find more info on the topics Kelly discusses on our website, check out the links under our 'want to know more?' section in the description box!

[@ShivamKumar-gv2yh]

@@WorldHistoryEncyclopedia Ok, Thank u di, You are so cute. I love you dii. ❤️

[@donttakeitpersonal8704]

I have 1 question.When you say costumes of the actors, are you speaking about the real actors or about the choir who is singing? I assume that there were never more than 3 actors on stage.

[@WorldHistoryEncyclopedia]

Both. 🙂 Thanks for watching!

[@googlebanmetoomuch2601]

I think those Greeks were on to something