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  • Writer's pictureViola

If we can only appreciate tragedy through its performance, can we ever appreciate Greek tragedy?

The assumption that performance is a vital factor of Greek Tragedy is flawed as in reality the two indispensable aspects to fully appreciate Greek tragedy are the religious and the literary sides all of which can be appreciated divorced from the performance element. Defined as ‘the theatre of the mind’ due to its lack of visual features such as machinery, special effects or even lighting, Greek tragedy’s primary purpose is not to appeal aesthetically to the recipient, hence the lack of visual enhancement. The purpose of Greek tragedy is instead to either cleanse the audience of feelings of fear and pity (Aristotle’s analysis of tragedy in his Poetics call this katharsis) or transportation to a different role as a form of ekstasis. Thus what could hinder our understanding is not a lack of performance but instead it is our distance from the religious aspect, due to the myriad of religions which exist within our modern society and lack of shared religion. This means that since religion is not as big a part of our society as a collective, we do not understand the huge role that the gods play in the Greeks daily life hindering our appreciation.


Firstly, the Greeks were inhibited by the lack of special effects and visual features that a modern audience are accustomed to, consequently enforcing the idea that the aim of Greek tragedy is not revealed through performance. Despite having machines such as the ekkyklema and the mechane, (the former used to roll on dead bodies onto the stage such as Agammemnon’s murdered corpse in Aeschylus’ Oresteia, and the latter to fly gods in to save the day, or for Medea’s escape in a sun chariot in Euripides’ Medea) these instructions were already encompassed in the script. Many go so far as to literally point out the characters approaching, or to note a messenger is arriving from the Palace, in turn giving all the information needed to create a mental picture and ergo removing the need for any props or set. These machines were not the central focus of the play but instead served to enhance the meaning of the words; they appealed to the audience’s vision to confirm what they had already been told by the script. For it is not a god flying in from the mechane which gives Greek tragedy its cathartic effect, it is the idea of deus ex machina; the idea that such a powerful figure could come to offer mortals some wisdom and perhaps a solution invokes fear into an audience. The performance in this case may even diminish the effect, since when read as a piece of literature, the impression of a god is personal to the reader but would always be one of more grandeur, whereas the reveal of an actor coming down from the mechane to an audience who had seen this before would have made their role more accessible and normal and possibly humanised it to a detrimental level. The Greeks would have also limited their utilisation of movement, since as evident by the extant Theater of Dionysus, the actors would have to be careful vis-a-vis making sure that the audience, surrounding the actors on 3 sides, would have been able to see them fully. In addition, masks such as the frowning Melpomene mask were used to depict facial expressions, meaning that expressions are an additional visual feature which the Greeks disregard. Costume was more intricate and served to show class, gender, and even sometimes to identify certain characters however in spite of this, one can deduce these pieces of information through the introduction of the characters and their relation to other characters; in Euripides’ Bacchae, Dionysus identifies as the son of Dionysus thereby revealing his social status and class, the Nurse in Euripides’ Hippolytus tells us all about her mistress’ pain, resultantly divulging that she is of a low social status and a woman. Ultimately what few visual devices Greek tragedy originally had are of little importance in appreciating the script, ergo revealing that our lack of performance does not hinder our appreciation.


Additionally to fully appreciate Greek tragedy, we must understand that its purpose and Greek tragedy was not solely made to be performed, instead its purpose is a combination of ekstasis and katharsis, concepts used to encourage introspection and societal progression which can be absorbed as effectively by reading the plays as literature. In fact, in Aristophanes’ Frogs, there is considerable evidence for the value of tragedy as a piece of literature as Dionysus, the god himself, mentions that he was ‘reading Andromeda’ and even in the battle between Euripides and Aeschylus, the two tragic playwrights are judged by the ‘weight’ of their lines, not by their performance. Regarding katharsis, the cleansing of fear and pity allows one to comprehend the fortune and fickleness of fate, and ekstasis depicts the dangerous world of the tragic hero, one where the wrath of the gods is merciless: ‘justice is always on both sides and sugar coated words cover the clandestine operations of violence’. By mirroring our society but intensifying certain aspects the reader is forced to confront what they do not know about themselves and their society therefore still fulfilling the didactic nature of Greek tragedy. One of Greek tragedy’s main purposes- the inducement of self-awareness- is undoubtedly achieved through the script. Fear is instilled through the abundant violence in the plot, the painfully relatable invasions, takeovers, disproportionate punishment of the city, and then enhanced by any stylistic features; whether it is mass suffering such the band of mourning women in Euripides’ Suppliant Women as or Alcestis’ violent self-sacrifice for her husband in his Alcestis. The acts that are committed by close relations are also frequent; Medea kills her children, Agave beheads Pentheus and Theseus cruelly condemns Hippolyuts. The threat of becoming like these characters, or becoming involved in such relationships encourages the reader to identify their mistakes and to use the moral ambiguity of the plot to question their own values and societal roles, for example does the fate of the crazed maenads in the Bacchae show the dangers of oppressing women too much, or not controlling them enough? The provocation of pity, on the other hand, can be generally explained through the analysis of Aristotle’s poetics. The playwrights typically use a character who is not too good nor too bad, who stirs sympathy through their tragic fate and the height of their fall from powerful to hated exile. This sympathy is also extended to the ‘collateral damage’: the characters who suffer because of the tragic hero. The family or even the city must fall because of this cruel fate and the reader has to witness the destruction of many characters, most of them innocent and undeserving of their fate, arguably so cruel because it is not only surrounded by abundant violence but also with constant reminders of human limitations and the danger of character flaws; though Oedipus tried to avoid his fate at all costs, he cannot because it is was the gods have foreseen. This is similarly evident in the character of Cadmus from the Bacchae who withers because of Pentheus’ destiny and he ultimately has to witness both the ruin of his family reputation and his own exile, despite having worshipped Dionysus. In this regard the audience feels sympathy, fear and pity for the characters and is cleansed of these emotions through the script not the performance. This emotional response evoked by the script are disputably timeless impacting literature as far the Renaissance era, indeed we only have to look at modern replicas of Greek tragedies in order to prove that the question of morality or self-reflection is one of the primary purposes within the genre. Marlowe's Doctor Faustus, for instance, relies on similar conventions such as the feeling of katharsis at the inevitable yet self-inflicted death of Faust, despite the hugely developed features of the contemporary theatre. Marlowe utilises a chorus, hubris and anagnorisis to highlight the need for for introspection in much the same way as ancient playwrights such as Euripides; suggesting that the emotional response of an audience can exist entirely separately from the stage floor which also shows that authors have been inspired by tragedies without seeing them performed.

- Classical Greek tragedy spanned over a long time eg Medea retold many times, different interpretations don’t remove from the performance, and neither do modern day


Moreover, another fundamental aspect of Greek tragedy that allows appreciation is the nature of its production. Tragedy exists because ‘you [people] are full of grief’, in truth one could good as far to define tragedy as ‘grief-stricken rage that flows from war’. Both the modern audience and the original Athenian audience would have been implicated in war as most societies have been by some form of war, a violent struggle as seen by the countless references to war across all art, literature and entertainment from revered pieces of literature such as Homer’s Odyssey to Sam Mendes’ film, 1917, and thus we have all grieved, be it the loss of a family member of friend, or a culture or tradition. Tragedy serves to cleanse the people not only of their own fear and problems, but for a grieving society to lament their losses. As Pericles argued ‘war is the life of the city, and its pride, but also the city’s fall and undoing’. Of the extant tragedies, the majority, if not the entirety are influenced by war: There is blatant discrimination against foreigners in the Bacchae, alluding to the Persian invasion of Greece (both having happened in the 5th century) which was an extremely scarring attack from what the Greek perceived to be savages as they were not Greek, and Aeschylus’ venture into the effects of civil war in Seven against Thebes. The aim of allowing a city to mourn collectively is not achieved through performance, but through the reliability of the family relationships, grievances when they die or are harmed and its resonance with the audience through this timeless theme. The theme of war appeals to our primitive instinct of an outburst of violence to deal with anger and the retelling of war in Greek tragedy has also a cathartic effect on the audience since they can experience this emotion without suffering from direct danger. The understanding of the fear and grief present during periods of war is essential in appreciating Greek tragedy and does not need the performance to understand this; indeed a reference to violence, ideas of weapons or conflict or even themes such as militia amoris are enough to create a personal connection between the tragedy and the reader.


However, the fracture between the modern audience and a full appreciation of Greek tragedy lies not in the lack of performance, but rather in the quasi-complete removal of a united religious belief in a modern society. The foundation of Greek tragedy in Athens, the epicentre of drama in the ancient world, is based on worshipping Dionysus, god of theater. The City Dionysia was surrounded by processions, sacrifices and a statue of Dionysus remained in the theater for the rest of the festival, while religious feature such as the chorus sung religious songs throughout the play, such as the chorus of maenads in the Bacchae which chants Dionysus’ Bacchic drone. Most chorus’ in tragedy have a strong religious outlook and curse the hubristic man who dares challenge this such as Pentheus who does not listen to the gdos, or Hippolytus who shuns Aphrodite. Since the chorus acts as a mediator between the audience and the characters, they are very influential in the audiences’ mind and as they themselves abide by religious rules, this in turn encourages the audience to do the same. The beauty of the religious songs and dances performed would also have enticed the audience and reflected a familiar aspect of their society; religious rituals which they had seen at countless festivals which happened throughout the year such as the Panathenaia and much dancing took place, for ‘in the dance he [the Greek] endeavored to enter into spiritual kinship with his gods’. Dancing was also believed to ward off evil spirits, but in the modern day we do not have the same links with dance, nor the same religious devotion and so this places us at a disadvantage since without the performance, we cannot see the dance nor the audience’s reaction and fully appreciate religious ritual and their importance. Dionysus’ statue acts as a constant reminder of his importance throughout the play, and the gods’ roles in tragedy in general, but this feature is admittedly lost without the performance since we cannot see neither the ritual acts being performed, nor do we have the statue of Dionysus as the key reminder. Despite this, Dionysus and the other gods still have very prominent roles in all plays; Dionysus himself is a main character in the Bacchae, in Aeschylus’ Prometheus Bound, the entire cast itself is supernatural, while a common theme in all tragedy is the immortal gods’ wrath and power weighing down on countless characters’ fates. Yet as a modern audience we can understand that the Athenians religious community was a core feature of their society and this meant that these influential figures would have featured in theatre too. Our society, lacking a universal religion, is thus distanced as we cannot see the procession nor the statue of Dionysus and this prevents us from appreciating Classical Greek tragedy fully.


Therefore, notwithstanding the fact that the lack of performance does not hinder our appreciation of Greek tragedy, it is our distance from the religious prospect which prevents us from ever reaching a full understanding on Greek tragedy’s role in an Athenian society. This is due to the fact that without the empathy and evidence to acknowledge such a vital part of their society, we cannot fully understand what emotions the religious aspect of tragedy evoked, nor its desired impact on religious beliefs. However, we are capable of fully appreciating the role of Classical Greek tragedy within a modern world, and its evolution throughout time to become arguably more valuable as literature used to gain a wider perspective on human condition, limitations and to assess the core flaws of our characters. The themes of katharsis and ekstasis have continued to be interwoven seamlessly into plays throughout eras because they challenge the foundation of our persons and force us to be confronted with these problems, an unsolvable problem which resonates through all societies.


(This essay was entered in the Newnham college classics essay competition by Viola)

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