Uday's Process Journal

Friday 18 July 2014

Works Cited

Hall, Edith, Fiona Macintosh, and Amanda Wrigley. Dionysus since 69: Greek Tragedy at the Dawn of the Third Millennium. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2004.

Johnson, Martha. "Reflections of Inner Life: Masks and Masked Acting in Ancient Greek Tragedy and Japanese Noh Drama." Modern Drama 35.1 (1992): 20-34. Print.

Carrick, James. "II. Drama. Greek Tragedy. By Professor Charles Burton Gulick. 1909-14. Lectures on the Harvard Classics. The Harvard Classics." II. Drama. Greek Tragedy. By Professor Charles Burton Gulick. 1909-14. Lectures on the Harvard Classics. The Harvard Classics. N.p., 2 Feb. 2010. Web. 25 Apr. 2014. <http://www.bartleby.com/60/202.html>.

Dutta, Shomit. Greek Tragedy. London: Penguin, 2004. Print.

Brown, Alexander. "Facts About Greek Tragedy and Comedy." About.com Ancient / Classical History. N.p., 28 July 2009. Web. 25 Apr. 2014. <http://ancienthistory.about.com/od/greekliterature/a/GreekTheater_2.htm>.

Agamemnon. Perf. John Lambert, Simon Baker and Susan Trivonovic. 2009. DVD.

Tucker, Simone. "Ancient Greek Theater, An Introduction." About.com Plays / Drama. N.p., 7 Nov. 2013. Web. 25 May 2014. <http://plays.about.com/od/historyofthestage/a/History-Of-Greek-Theater.htm>.

Madigan, Patrick. "Greek Tragedy & Political Philosophy: Rationalism and Religion in Sophocles' Theban Plays. By Peter J. Ahrensdorf." The Heythrop Journal 52.6 (2011): 1032. Print.

Greek Art. Dir. Simon Goldhill. Perf. Susan Christine and Ben Zander. 2004. DVD.

Wiliams, Ben. "Greek Tragedy Masks." Greek Culture. N.p., 20 Dec. 2012. Web. 25 Apr. 2014. <http://novaonline.nvcc.edu/eli/spd130et/ancientgreek.htm>

What Did Features Of The Mask Symbolize?

The facial expression of the Greek tragedy Mask symbolized loss in love and pride as well as tragedy. The features on the mask also represented new life and beginnings. The colors on the Greek tragedy mask were usually dark colors because it symbolized tragedy and it usually increased the affect of tragedy on the audience, it symbolized loss, death and betrayal. The Greek Tragedy Mask's upper part was in an A shape and the lower part in V shape. This was because it amplified the affect of tragedy, and it symbolized the god Dionysos as the Greek people believed that Dionysos's face was shaped like that.

The Greek Tragedy Mask also had enormous eyes and mouths with fairly small noses because the Greek believed that's how the god Dionysus looked like. They also had enormous eyes so that people sitting in distance seats could see the mask. The Greek Tragedy mask also tended to cover the whole head of a person. This was mainly because if the actor turned his head to the audience they would just see the mask, but if the mask only covered the face and the actor turned around then it would seem really unrealistic, and that would destroy the affect of tragedy on the audience.

The mask would also have large mouths so that the actor could breathe easily, as there were many cases where people almost died because of amount of oxygen.

So overall, this why the Greek tragedy mask had these features.

The Materials Used To Make The Greek Tragedy Masks

Greek tragedy Masks were usually made from linen or cork therefore no masks have survived to this time in order for historians and scholars to study. It is not surprising that none of these masks survived, because they were made of things like cork, wood and linen. These materials are not that sturdy and tend to decay over time. Human or animal hairs were also used on the Greek tragedy masks to make wigs for it. The Greek tragedy mask also had eyes drawn on, a small hole to allow the person wearing the mask to see and small aperture for the mouth.One of the most interesting things about the Greek tragedy mask was that it had large features and the mouths were always fashioned as open and round so that their voices could be heard even in the furthest row but how did people make the Greek tragedy mask?

The mask was made of cloth dipped in gypsum and pressed on a matrix to obtain the desired form. Then it was covered with a thin layer of plaster and finally the features of the character were painted on it and different materials like hair were put on it. The shape of the mask was like a helmet since it was covering not only the face but also the entire head. The Greek tragedy mask’s upper part was in Λ shape that contributed a lot to the impressive appearance of the actor.

So overall you can see the Greek tragedy masks were made from linen, wood, cork, cloth, plaster and human and animal hair.

Efforts Associated With Their Movements

To understand the many efforts associated with each archetype's movements you should see the table below, which basically shows the Laban efforts.

So as you can see these are the laban efforts, but the question is which efforts are associated with the archetype's movements? The efforts associated with the movements of the:

The protagonist's are press, wring and slash. This is because the protagonist is the hero therefore he is elegant and has sustained movements, which are direct and strong. he also has indirect movements at times as he can be arrogant, foolish and can be forced into a bad position where he has to do whatever he can to to get out of it

The Deuteragonist are punch, press, flick and float. This is because the Deuteragonist is either the side kick or the lancer therefore when he is close to the protagonist he is sophisticated, strong and has sustained movements, which are direct. When the Deuteragonist is against the Protagonist he becomes unacceptable, bad and imperfect, which causes him to have sudden strong or light movements, which most of time is indirect.

The Tritagonist are float, dab, glide and flick. This because the Tritagonist is basically the innocent or caretaker type of character. Since he is mostly calm, and usually wants peace he has light sustained movements which are direct, but if he caused a tragedy or is involved in one he can have indirect movements, which are sudden.

So overall these are the efforts associated with each archetype's movements and these efforts are mostly based on the archetypes the common characters represent of the the greek tragedy mask form.

Archetypes The Common Characters Represent

The common characters that represent the Greek tragedy mask form are the Hero, the lancer, the side kick or the care taker. The hero is usually the person who represents the Greek tragedy mask form the most.

The archetypes for each of the characters are:

· In a Greek tragedy play the Hero is kind of the protagonist since he is the most important character and he aims for the greater good and has big dreams of glory, but towards the middle or ending of the play his goals change as he has unintentionally committed a crime. When he commits these crimes a number of tragedies are caused, which impact him. These tragedies also impact the other characters in the play in some way or the other.

· In a Greek tragedy play the sidekick or the lancer is basically the deuteragonist. This is because he is the second most important character, and can be the closest member to the Protagonist. This person can also be either with, or against the protagonist - thus sometimes pulling double duty.

· In a Greek tragedy play the caretaker is basically the tritagonist. This is because the he is the third most important character in the play, and he takes no side and he tries to care of both protagonist and deuteragonist. He is basically innocent and tries to solve problems. His greatest fear is being in any way for doing something wrong.

So overall these are the archetypes the common characters represent.

Culture

Greek Tragedy masks were important in theatrical performances but why were Greek Tragedy masks so important in Greek culture?

The use of Greek Tragedy masks in plays, and basically theatrical culture flourished in ancient Greece more than any other country. Greek Tragedy masks involvement in plays were extremely essential as the Greek tragedy masks formed most of theatre performances as Greek Tragedy masks allowed any amount of actors to perform the same role, it prevented the audience from identifying the actor with the role (since the mask was covering the face), it often bore exaggerated expressions, instantly conveying the mood, background and function of the character, the Greek Tragedy mask was also designed in a manner were when the actor spoke the audience sitting in the distant seats could hear him. Greek tragedy masks also formed most of theatre performances because the actors in the performances could be seen by audience members in distant seats and because the Greek Tragedy Masks helped the audience understand the storyline and what was happening better, therefore the performance would have a greater impact on the audience by taking them from the real world to a fictional world, which at times were good since it would give some Greeks a break from their difficult lives. This was one the main reasons why Greeks liked theatre performances so much.

Since live theatre performances were loved by greeks because of the use of not only Greek Tragedy masks but other masks as well ( Greek Comedy mask and Greek Satyr mask). Theatre performances became a big thing in Greece, but it didn't become a big thing only because people loved it. It also became a big thing because the greek wanted to honor the Greek God Dionysos since he was the god of wine, vegetation, pleasure and arts.

The greeks honored Dionysos, showed their love of theatre and the uses of masks in theatre performances by ensuring every town had every type of mask and a open air theatre. They also ensured that there were competitions between towns , and the winner (who had the best play or theatrical performance) would get almost the same respect as a todays olympic gold medalist . The greeks also honored Dionysos, showed their love of theatre and the uses of masks in theatre performances with a festival called "City Dionysia". In this festival men used to sing songs, and different theatrical performances would be held by different towns all over Greece.

So overall this is why Tragedy masks, and other types of mask were important in Greek culture because they made theatrical performances brilliant, and this lead to festivals, and other things to honor the art of theatre, and the creation of it. So this is the type of culture the Greek Tragedy Mask came from.

Common Characters in Greek Tragedy Mask Forms

In Greek Tragedy plays there were three actors, which were required. There was the protagonist (first actor) who was the leading character and main figure, the deuteragonist (second actor) who was the second most important figure and the tritagonist (third actor) who was third in importance after the protagonist and deuteragonist.

The protagonist was usually a hero who commits some terrible crime without realizing how foolish and arrogant he has been. Then, as he slowly realizes his error, the world crumbles around him. The deuteragonist is the person whose role depends on the story. He could play one role as did the protagonist and function like a sidekick. The deuteragonist is a Robin to his Batman, a Watson to his Holmes or he could play several role by switching masks and wigs and prop. The tritagonist is a person who is the least important in the play, but he switches masks, wigs and costumes several times throughout the play.

The common characters in Greek tragedy Mask form in the Greek tragedy play were basically all three actors (Protagonist, Deuteragonist and Tritagonist) since in the play they all experienced numerous moments of tragedy, but the character that usually wore the Greek tragedy Mask the most in the play was the Protagonist. He wore the Greek Tragedy mask the most because as a character in the Greek tragedy play he is the hero who only tries to make good, but either gets tricked into committing a terrible crime or by mistakenly does something bad, which then hurts the rest of the characters in some way. In the starting of the play he usually has elegant clothes and is young, strong mentally, strong physically and naive, but during the end and middle of the play he wears less elegant clothes and he becomes foolish, arrogant, less confident, which causes him to start losing his heroines as he has committed to many crimes, which then causes him serious tragedies

So overall as I have explained in Greek tragedy plays all the actors at one point or the other wear the Greek tragedy mask, but it is usually the protagonist who usually wears the Greek tragedy mask as he is foolish, young, arrogant, and over confident which causes him in the play to make silly and painful mistakes, which in the end only cause him the most amount of tragedies.

The links below in order are videos which are part of the same Greek tragedy play. The videos involve a protagonist, deuteragonist and tritagonist. It also involves choruses.