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?