1. What ancient Greek city is considered the birthplace of drama? **Athens**
2. Approximately what centuries did classical Greek drama flourish? **5th and 4th centuries BC**
3. What was the purpose of Greek drama? **To honor Dionysus at an annual festival**
4. What was this dramatic festival called? **The Dionysia**
5. Where were plays performed at the festival? **The Theatre of Dionysus in Athens**
6. What were these Athenian theatrical productions called? **Dithyrambs**
7. Who is considered the father of Greek tragedy? **Thespis**
8. Who expanded on Thespis' innovations to develop Greek tragedy as a genre? **Aeschylus**
9. What were the three main playwrights of Athenian tragedy called? **The three great tragic poets**
10. Name the three great tragic poets. **Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides**
11. What notable play is attributed to being the first true tragedy written by Aeschylus? **The Persians**
12. Name Aeschylus' trilogy that told the story of the House of Atreus. **The Oresteia**
13. Which of Aeschylus' famous plays featured the monologue of Prometheus? **Prometheus Bound**
14. Name Sophocles' tragedy about the king of Thebes who unwittingly kills his father and marries his mother. **Oedipus Rex**
15. Which of Sophocles' plays deals with the trojan War hero Ajax who goes mad with grief? **Ajax**
16. Name Euripides' electrifying tragedy about the vengeful Medea. **Medea**
17. His play The Bacchae dealt with the human conflict between what forces? **Reason and passion**
18. Besides tragedians, who are the two most famous comic playwrights? **Aristophanes and Menander**
19. In what genre did Aristophanes specialize? **Old Attic comedy**
20. Name one of Aristophanes' surviving comedies. **Lysistrata**
21. Which comedy by Aristophanes satirized innovation in dramatic styles? **The Frogs**
22. What elements defined Old Attic comedy? **Parabasis scenes, fantasy plots, mockery of public figures**
23. Who was the famous comic playwright from the late 4th century BC? **Menander**
24. What style characterized Menander's comedies? **Domestic scenes and characters**
25. How many actors were allowed in Greek tragedies? **Three**
26. What was the name for the main protagonist in tragedy? **Protagonist**
27. Name the other two main characters. **Deuteragonist, Tritagonist**
28. What was the name for a non-speaking actor who played smaller roles? **Supernumerary**
29. How many actors were allowed in Greek satirical comedies? **No more than three**
30. Plays were performed as part of a religious ceremony honoring what god? **Dionysus**
31. What annual festival was centered around Dionysus? **The Dionysia**
32. Where were plays performed at this festival in Athens? **The Theatre of Dionysus**
33. How many plays were typically part of a dramatic production? **Four plays as a tetralogy**
34. What was the structure of a dramatic tetralogy? **Three tragedies followed by a satyr play**
35. Name the three ancient cities that hosted major dramatic festivals. **Athens, Argos, Corinth**
36. What prize was the main incentive for playwrights? **An amphora of olive oil**
37. Where were masks and costumes stored between performances? **TheneighboringOdeonofPericles**
38. What kinds of masks were used in Greek drama? **Three mask types corresponding to character ages**
39. What was the innovation of dramatic costumes? **To clearly distinguish the characters' identities**
40. What element was represented by the chorus? **The collective spirit and thought of the average citizens**
41. How many members comprised the theatrical chorus? **Usually 12 but sometimes 15 or 24**
42. How were chorus members trained as a cohesive ensemble? **Through music and dance instruction**
43. What percentage of plays are thought to have survived intact? **Approximately 10%**
44. How did playwrights initially disseminate their scripts? **By spreading manuscripts across Greek cities**
45. How were texts preserved after the 4th century BC decline? **By copying manuscripts into medieval monasteries**
46. What reasons led to drama's decline under the Romans? **Preference for pantomime performances and games**
47. What three genres did Greek dramatists perfect that still thrive today? **Tragedy, comedy, satyr plays**
48. Which playwright integrated dramatic arts with philosophy more than others? **Euripides**
49. Euripides has been called what in relation to subsequent Greek thought? **The playwright of Socrates**
50. His plays portrayed humans as driven more by what than the gods? **Psychology and rationalism**
51. True or false - all Greek tragedians' works were composed in verse. **True**
52. What language were plays written and performed in? **Ancient Attic Greek dialect**
53. Which playwright and his plays came to epitomize the tragic genre? **Sophocles and works like Oedipus Rex**
54. Which playwright showcased Greek drama's transition to a more rational age? **Euripides**
55. Euripidean tragedies featured more complexly developed what? **Female characters**
56. His electrifying works plumbed depths of the human psyche before what era? **The modern**
57. Sophocles is sometimes called the most what of the three tragedians? **Compassionate**
58. His profound insights ring as relevant today as when they were written. **True**
59. Aeschylus contributed what innovation to create full-fledged tragedy? **A second actor**
60. His liberation of dramatic potential has likened him to what founder? **Shakespeare**
61. The Oresteia trilogy explored humanity's transition from what to justice? **Retribution to rational law**
62. Aeschylus' Prometheus Bound analyzes the human condition through what perspective? **Defiance of the gods**
63. Apart from Oresteia, what is his only other trilogy that survives? **Seven Against Thebes**
64. True or False: Sophocles was younger than Euripides but older than Aeschylus. **False, Sophocles was the youngest**
65. Which playwright sought to abolish the choral moments in his later works? **Euripides**
66. In Greek, what did "ode" mean that defined these interludes? **Song**
67. Which play is thought to have been the first true Greek tragedy written by Thespis? **Certamen**
68. Greek drama was richly tied to broader culture through what art? **Architecture of theaters**
69. The amphitheatrical designs echoed gathering spaces used for what purpose? **Citizen assemblies**
70. Tragedies depicted man as fundamentally flawed yet capable of attaining what? **Nobility, catharsis**
71. Dramatists highlighted humanity's ability to choose between good/evil through what crisis? **The tragic héro's fall and redemption**
72. Archetypal characters revealed timeless struggles between life's oppressions and what? **Liberty, justice, love**
73. Dramatic tensions coaxed the heart and mind to purge excess through what experience? **Emotions like pity and fear**
74. Catharsis cleansed audiences so they could pay full respects to what god? **Dionysus, with a lighter spirit**
75. Greek drama became revered for using collective suffering to probe life's profound what? **Questions and dilemmas**
76. Thespis and his successors crafted drama as a humanistic celebration of both our capacity for what? **Goodness and nobility alongside folly**
77. Their groundbreaking works laid foundations for subsequent cultural development through what? **Philosophy, psychology, modern democratic thought**
78. Besides cultural impact, Greek drama pioneered which theatrical conventions? **Acting, masking, scenery, plot**
79. Plays were rigorously structured and delivered through unified sets of what? **Dialogue, action, character, rhetoric**
80. Playwrights worked within musical, poetic formats and traditions exemplifying what virtue? **Restraint, harmony**
81. Choral outbursts, solo lines heightened conflicts through sophisticated use of what? **Language, symbol, perspective**
82. Plays offered collective catharsis by steering audiences to see beyond their own what? **Suffering
83. Which playwright is considered a more visual stylist who emphasized dramatic spectacle? Aeschylus
84. Which playwright focused more on intimate family dynamics and psychological motivation? Euripides
85. Which genre is often considered a precursor to Greek drama that influenced its structure? Dithyrambic poetry
86. What mythical figure do the plots of Greek tragedies often revolve around? The Heroes
87. Tragedies depicted the tragic doom of protagonists due to which character flaw? Hubris
88. What element provided exposition to establish context and comment on the action? Stasimon (choral odes)
89. Whose tragedies expanded dramatic scope and introduced a third actor to staged conflicts? Aeschylus
90. Which playwright is known for his mastery of dramatic intrigue, suspense and surprise? Sophocles
91. Which playwright's works showed innovation through their complex women characters? Euripides
92. Which playwright's works emphasized philosophical ideas and rationalism more? Euripides
93. Which comedy playwright relentlessly satirized public figures and intellectual fashions? Aristophanes
94. Which genre did the satyr play derive from that blended drama with ribald folk satire? Satyr dithyrambs
95. How did the amphitheater's tiered design aid natural acoustics for audiences? Semi-circular stone benches faced the orchestra
96. Tragic plays were written for competitive festivals judged by prestigious civic figures. True
97. Which playwright is thought to have pioneered splitting the role of the chorus master? Sophocles
98. Plays often dealt with justice, civic duty, moral laws shaped by what higher spiritual truths? The will of the gods
99. Dramatic works served to both entertain and enlighten audiences as thoughtful works of what? Art, literature, philosophy
100. Greek dramatists refined theater as both communal ritual and respected art form ahead of any other culture. True
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