Sophocles:

see Chapter I pages 9

 

Aristotle:

see Chapter I pages 9, 27  Chapter V page 178 Chapter VIII pages 259, 284 Chapter IX pages 304, 317

 

μίμησις  ούκ άνθρώπών  άλλά πραξεως  καί  βίον (Aristotle): * see EndNote<A>

Extract from Poetics: “In a play accordingly they do not act in order to portray the Characters; they include the Characters for the sake of the action.”

 

Poetics (Aristotle):

first philosophical treatise focused on dramatic & literary theory, 335 BC; the study includes verse drama, comedy, tragedy, the satyr play and lyric & epic poetry; his analysis of tragedy constitutes the core of the discussion.

 

ήθος:

Greek for the Latin dramatis persona, the list of dramatic characters in a play

 

surface in Euclidean geometry: * see EndNote<B>

a flat, 2D surface that extends infinitely far having an independent existence in its own right;

 

Riemann (theory of algebraic equations): * see EndNote<C>

the Riemann surface is a 1-dimensional complex manifold studied & named after Riemann; they are deformed versions of the complex plane: locally near every point they look like patches of the complex plane, but the global topology is often quite different.  They are the natural setting for studying the global behaviour of holomorphic functions (especially multi-valued functions such as the square root & other algebraic functions, or the logarithm). 

 

μΰθος:

Greek, possibly a misprint of, or derivative from μΰθικος meaning mythic or legendary

 

δραμα:

Greek, variety of meanings to include deed or act; office, business or duty; action represented on stage; or tragic event

 

Othello:

title of a tragedy by Shakespeare (1603) & the main character, a Moorish general in the Venetian army, who is destroyed by jealousy.

 

Don Quixote:

Spanish novel by Cervantes, published in 2 parts, 1605 & 1615; the most influential literature from the Spanish Golden Age & of the Spanish literary canon, often labelled "the first modern novel".  The plot revolves around the adventures of a noble from La Mancha named Alonso Quixano, who reads so many chivalric romances that he loses his mind and decides to become a knight-errant to revive chivalry and serve his nation, under the name Don Quixote de la Mancha.

 

Le Misanthrope:

aka the Cantankerous Lover, French play by Molière, first performed 1666 in Paris; satirizes the hypocrisies of French aristocratic society, also considers the flaws all humans possess.  It differs from other contemporary farces by employing dynamic characters like Alceste and Célimène as opposed to the traditionally flat characters used by most satirists to criticize problems in society.

 

Werther:

hero of Goethe’s Sorrows of Young Werther (published 1774), who falls in love with Charlotte, a beautiful young girl already promised in marriage; he eventually commits suicide.

 

Hedda Gabler:

play by Ibsen (1891), telling the story of Hedda, daughter of a general, trapped in a marriage & a house she does not want; a deep & emotional play due to Ibsen's portrayal of an anti-character.  The role Hedda Gabler is one of the great dramatic roles in theatre.  Ibsen was interested in the -embryonic science of mental illness; some critics see a connection between Hedda Gabler & Freud.  She is one of the first fully developed neurotic female protagonists of literature, neither logical nor insane but what she wants most would see as abnormal.  Her character implies that there is a secret, sometimes unconscious, world of aims & methods, often more important than the rational one.  Not initially well received but has over time become recognized as a classic of realism & 19th century theatre.

 

milieu:

surroundings, especially of a social or cultural nature

 

Classical stage-figures (the old man, the slayer, the lover):

The first study of stock characters was The Characters (319 BC) by Theophrastus a student of Aristotle; this work outlines character types not individuals & included 30 character types (e.g. The Insincere Man, The Flatterer, The Garrulous Ma), each an illustration of an individual who represents a group, characterized by his most prominent trait; all tend to be bad.  These became the core of "the Character as a genre".  New Comedy (323-260 BC) theatre was the first to use Theophrastus.  Menander, a student of his, was famous for his prototypical cooks, merchants, farmers & slave characters & his play titles have a "Theophrastan ring": The Fisherman, The Farmer, The Superstitious Man, The Soldier.  Theophrastus had a number of imitators, notably Diogenes Laërtius (3rd century BC) who in 230 BC published Ethical Characters.  Other imitators included: Satyrus Atheneus, Heracleides Ponticus, Lycon, Rutilius Lupus, Ariston (whose 212 BC discourse on morality included proud Character types & mimicked the Theophrastan style) and Philodemus of Gadara (110-40 BC).  Hellenic literature shows acquaintance with the character type but after 40 BC character genre loses popularity to portrait studies.

 

Classical drama (the mask): * see endnote<D>

The Greek term for “mask” is prosopon, literally face; they played an important role in ceremonial rites & celebrations in the worship of Dionysus at Athens.  None have survived; they were not permanent objects & were dedicated at the altar of Dionysus after performances.  They were known to have been used since the time of Aeschylus & were an iconic convention of Greek theatre.

 

Greek theatre (size): * see EndNote<E>

the ancient theatre of Athens is the Theatre of Dionysus on the south slope of the Akropolis hill, part of the sanctuary of Dionysos Eleuthereus (Dionysus the Liberator).  The distance from the centre of the orchestra (stage) to the furthest seats was approximately 42 meters (138 feet).

 

Ajax:

title of 1 of Sophocles’ first surviving tragedies, belonging to the same period as his Antigone (which was first performed 441 BC).  It depicts the fate of the warrior Ajax, after the events of the Iliad but before the end of the Trojan War.  Ajax is a renowned Greek warrior; following the death of Achilles he claims his armour, but is denied when it goes to Odysseus.  Furious he vows revenge but is deluded by Athena & instead of the Greeks kills their battle spoils (cattle).  Coming to his sense he is shamed & decides to commit suicide.  His concubine & brother try to dissuade him but fail.  The warrior then impales himself.  Menelaus orders the body NOT to be buried (as a sign of disrespect) but Odysseus persuades him to allow a proper funeral.

 

Philoctetes:

Greek hero, famed as an archer & a participant in the Trojan War; the subject of 4 different plays, of which only Sophocles' Philoctetes survived.  He was also mentioned in Homer's Iliad, Book 2, which describes his exile on the island of Lemnos, his being wounded by snake-bite & eventual recall by the Greeks.

 

Antigone:

in Greek mythology the daughter of Oedipus, sister of Polynices, Eteocles & Ismene.  Following the exile of Oedipus, his sons, Eteocles & Polynices, shared the rule of Thebes.  They eventually quarrelled, Polynices is expelled, gathers an army & attacks the city.  Both brothers are killed.  Creon, now king, decrees Polynices is not to be buried on pain of death.  Antigone attempts to secure a respectable burial for her brother; she is brought before Creon & admits that she knew the law but chose to break it, claiming the superiority of divine over human commandment.  Creon orders she be buried alive in a tomb but then relents & tries to release her.  By this time she has hanged herself.  Creon's son Haemon (in love with Antigone) commits suicide & his mother Queen Eurydice, also kills herself in despair.  Antigone is a typical Greek tragedy where inherent flaws of the characters lead to irrevocable disaster.  She & Creon are prototypical tragic figures in an Aristotelian sense, as they struggle towards their fore-doomed ends, forsaken by the gods.  The story of Antigone was addressed by Sophocles in his Theban plays (Oedipus Rex, Oedipus at Colonus, Antigone) : Antigone appears briefly in Aeschylus' Seven Against Thebes.

 

Electra:

daughter of King Agamemnon & Queen Clytemnestra, rulers of Mycenae.  She plots with Orestes to avenge the murder of their father, Agamemnon, by their mother Clytemnestra.  She is a popular figure in Greek drama, Aeschylus produced a trilogy titled The Oresteia, while  Sophocles & Euripides each produced a play titled Electra; she also features in Orestes by Euripides.

 

antecedents:

in behavioural psychology, the stimulus that occurs before a trained behaviour