Greek theater

Greek Plays Analysis

by Prof. Jonathan Acu単a

The Bacchae by Euripides • Why is this play entitled “The Bacchae?”

• Who’s Seleme and what is her relevance to the plot?

• Who are the Maenads and why do they follow Dionysus?

• Why is Pentheus worried about the new religion?

The Bacchae by Euripides • Who are Agave and Cadmus?

• Why is Pentheus’s palace destroyed?

• Who kills the king? Who’s the first to attack him with her bare hands?

• What’s the play ending?

The Bacchae by Euripides • Why is “The Bacchae” considered a tragedy?

• Who’s the tragedy about …?

– Pentheus – Dionysus – Seleme – Cadmus – Agave

Lysistrata by Aristophanes • Why was this play produced in a time where the patriarchal Greece was the norm?

• Why do you think the play is focused on women –as characters- and not on men?

• Which city states are in battle during the play setting?

Lysistrata by Aristophanes • Do only the women of Athens agree to withhold all sexual activity with their loved ones?

• Why do women seize the Acropolis? What does the Acropolis symbolize in the play?

• Can this play be considered a comedy?

Lysistrata by Aristophanes • What are the two most striking themes along the play?

• Would you say that Lysistrata is the main character along the play?

• Do you think women helped resolve the warfare problem men had?

Antigone by Sophocles • How are Antigone and Ismene different? Can we considered them foil characters? • What is the relationship between Antigone [the play] with Oedipus Rex [another play by Sophocles?

Antigone by Sophocles • What does Antigone symbolize with her rebelliousness?

• Why was it so important to bury her brother, something Ismene is not willing to do?

• Would you say that Antigone is a kind of martyr for her time?

Antigone by Sophocles • How do the characters see themselves in the play? Are they doing what is expected from them?

– Creon – Ismene – Antigone

• How is off-stage action important in this play?

Agamemnon by Aeschylus • Agamemnon is part of a trilogy of plays. Why is this detail important for the plot and for the characters? • How do you explain that Clytemnestra kills her own husband? What was her ulterior motif?

Agamemnon by Aeschylus • What’s Cassandra’s importance in this tragedy?

What’s her leading role in it?

• Who’s Aegisthus? What’s his role in Agamemnon’s death?

• Why was Iphigenia sacrificed for? Is this a good reason for this death?

Agamemnon by Aeschylus • How much do you sympathize with Clytemnestra? Was her cause fair?

• What’s the imminent foreshadowing in the play provided by Cassandra?

What’s to come?