Suggestions for Study
Read these Sections for Agamemnon:
Greek Theater (Overview)
Greek Theater (Sections of the theater)
Greek Theater (Personnel)
Greek Theater (Spectacle)
Greek Theater (Overview)
Greek drama was performed in a competitive arena. The other two areas for competitive performance in ancient Greece were those of politics and sports.
Link here to an outline summary of competitive performance in ancient Greece, which will also introduce you to some of the terms connected with these cultural enterprises.
(Don't follow the links on this page; explore the particulars of Greek Theater instead by following the links in the sections below.)
Performances of Greek Drama were also part of a festival in honor of the god Dionysus. Link here to a description of the festival.
The major site for the performances of drama was the theater of Dionysus in Athens within the sanctuary of Dionysus.
Link here to a description of the Sanctuary of Dionysus.
Link here to an aerial view of the acropolis in Athens, showing the location of the theater relative to the acropolis (it is in the lower middle part of the photo, on a hill below the acropolis).
Link here to the same site shown as a reconstruction of the theater of Dionysus in the Roman period. (It was made using 3D computer graphics.)
And follow this link to see an aerial view of the ancient theater at Epidauros, which has been reconstructed and is still in use today for the performance of ancient Greek dramas.
Greek Theater (Sections)
The sections of the ancient theater:
Orchestra, meaning "dancing place," where the chorus and actors performed. Link here to a description of the orchestra; a view of the orchestra at Epidauros; an image of the orchestra; a 3D reconstruction of the orchestra as seen from the back of the viewing stands; a reconstruction of the orchestra as seen from the middle of the viewing stands.
Theatron, meaning "viewing place," where the audience sat. (This is the word from which we derive our word "theater".) Link here to a description of the theatron; an image of the theatron; a 3D reconstruction of the theatron as seen from the orchestra.
Skene: "scene-building" or "background building," where props and costumes were stored, and which served also as the "set" for the drama. Link here to a description of the skene; an image of the skene; a 3D reconstruction of the skene as seen from the orchestra.
Parodos, a space between the theatron and the orchestra through which the chorus and actors entered onto (and exited from) the orchestra. Link here to an image of the parodos; a view of one parodos at the theater at Epidauros; a 3D reconstruction where you can see the two parodoi on the sides of the the skene.
Greek Theater (Personnel)
Personnel involved in the production of Greek drama:
Actors: there were three, who took all the roles. All actors were men. Link here to an image from a vase showing actors dressing for their parts.
Chorus: also all-male; composed of fifteen members. Link here to two transcripts from vases showing a flute-player and chorus. One chorus is made up of satyrs; the other chorus is composed of maidens.
The chorus-leader (koryphaios, meaning "head man") led the chorus in its dancing and singing and carried on dialogue with the actors. The koryphaios is the character identified as "Leader" in your text of the Agamemnon on page 112 (line 258) and elsewhere.
The choregus (literally, "chorus-leader") was not himself the leader of the chorus, but the citizen who undertook the expenses of dramatic production. Link here to an explanation of the civic duties known as liturgies, of which paying for dramas was one.
In the earliest period of dramatic production, the poets (like Aeschylus) were also chorodidaskaloi ("teachers/trainers of the chorus"). Link here to a vase showing the dramatic poet (frontal view), along with the flute-player and the chorus.
Judges: at the end of the festival, a board of ten judges awarded first, second, and third prize to the competing playwrights. In the year of its production (458 BCE), Aeschylus' Oresteia won first prize.
Greek Theater (Spectacle)
Spectacle: Masks and Costumes
Actors in dramatic performances wore masks and elaborate costumes. Link here to a description of "The Spectacle of Tragedy."
Link here to a 3D interactive reconstruction of an ancient mask, XX where you can view the mask with and without the wig.
Link here to representation of a vase of a scene from Aristophanes' Birds, on which you can see the actors dressed in their costumes.
Link here to a comic representation on a vase of a scene from Sophocles' Antigone, on which the actor playing Antigone is clearly an old man: he is holding his mask in his right hand.
Follow this link to a brief account of the Life and Career of Aeschylus. (Scroll down to Aeschylus (4) and begin reading there.)
For background, revisit the page on the Line of Tantalos.
And follow this link to revisit the pages on the Origin of the Curse on the House of Atreus.
See also the background notes on pages 14-15 of the "Introduction" to Fagles' translation.
And read also the Introduction to the Agamemnon on pages 23-52 of Fagles' text. Watch out especially for what is said about Clytemnestra in the Agamemnon Introduction, and see if you agree with it.
Troy - Lemnos - Mount Athos (northern Greece) - Mount Makistros (Euboea) - Euripos - Mount Messapion (?) - Plain of Asopos (Boeotia) - Mount Kithairon - Saronic Gulf - Argos
Telephus (king of the Mysians, Trojan allies) received a wound in his thigh from Achilles, while defending Mysia from the Greeks. The wound could not be cured until the one who wounded him healed him. Telephus therefore traveled to Greece and reached the palace of Agamemnon in Argos. In order to convince the Greeks to help him, Telephus (on the advice of Clytemnaestra) grabbed Orestes and threatened to kill him if he didn't receive aid. Odysseus interpreted that the "one who had wounded him" was actually Achilles' spear; after anointing the wound with rust from the spear, Telephus was saved.
The myth is illustrated on this vase, which shows Telephus seated on an altar, holding the child Orestes. On the left, Agamemnon enters, holding a spear in his right hand and holding out his left hand in supplication. Telephus' left thigh is bandaged. You can see Telephus and baby Orestes more clearly in this detail view.
Hymn to Apollo
In the Homeric Hymn to Apollo,
however, the god acquired rights over the oracle after he
defeated and killed a monster bred by Hera, "dreadful and
baneful Typhaon, a scourge to mortals" (line 351).
Since the Greek verb pytho means
"to cause to rot," this provides an etymology for the place,
the monster (later called Pytho), and Apollo's epithet,
See also Pausanias' account of the origin of the name Pytho (scroll to 10.6.5).
Why do you think Aeschylus explains Apollo's dominion over the oracle differently? And why do you think he emphasizes the absence of force (see esp. line 5) in its transmission?
Remember, too, that in the Odyssey (Book 2, lines 144ff.), Telemachus was concerned that, if he followed Antinous' suggestion and drove Penelope back to her father's home, he would insult her, incur her father's anger and the debt to him of her dowry, and risk the likelihood of harm by one of the gods "when mother, leaving her own house behind, / calls down her withering Furies on my head."
For representations of the Furies in ancient art, link here to two vases on which they are shown as young women; see also a vase on which Furies are represented in hunting costume, and another where the Fury has dark skin, in addition to the images on your Study Page.
Who were the Gorgons? In the Theogony (lines 271ff.), they are three daughters born to Keto and Phorkys, Stheno, Euryale, and Medusa.
Only Medusa was mortal, and the most famous exploit of the hero Perseus was her decapitation. The story is related in the Theogony, and more fully in Apollodorus (Volume 1, sections 155-161).
As the Princeton page notes, the head of the Gorgon subsequently found a place on Athena's shield, where, like most shield emblems, it functioned as an apotropaic ("turning-away") device. Athena sometimes wears it on her breastplate, or on the aegis (the divine attribute of a large "bib" with scales worn round the shoulders).
Link here to see images illustrating (a) Perseus and the Gorgons, (b) Athena with the gorgoneion, and (c) frontal views of the Gorgons which show their terrifying features. (Contrast these images with what is said about the Furies in Aeschlyus and their representations on vases.)
To see one of many representations of Orestes at Delphi holding on to an elaborately decorated omphalos, follow this link.
And here you can see a Hellenistic coin showing Apollo seated on the omphalos.
For information about Delphi which is specifically tied to Orestes, see these student pages (read this page and the next one).
And this link will take you to a representation the Pythia on her tripod being consulted by King Aigeus. The Pythia is called Themis on this vase: see the remarks above on the Homeric Hymn to Apollo on the line of transmission of the oracle. (Keep this representation in mind when you are reading Euripides' Medea.)
Last updated 6 April 2000