“But for mine own part, it was Greek to me” - Shakespeare, Julius Caesar.
Another
relief from Shakespeare. With so many Shakespeares we read in this
event, maybe we will start speaking Shakespeare at the end of
October. Well, at least the insults come in handy. The quote above is
just one example.
Now,
plays have been one form of entertainment since long before
Shakespeare. So this month we will go backwards, far before the Bard,
long before Richard III and Julius Caesar. We will read the Greek
plays and have fun with them.
One
problem with Greek plays: they are not Shakespeare. That's the point.
What's the point of reading Greek if it still smells Shakespeare? Yet
their being Greek makes quite a lot of differences. That's what this
month's meme is all about. We will discuss the differences of Greek
plays with the ones we have been reading these last few months.
As
usual, here are some helping questions:
- What do you think is so exclusive to Greek plays which we don't find in other kinds of plays?
- What do you like (or hate) from them?
- How did they do it long ago? What's the most interesting in its culture?
There.
Please leave a link to your post below. I'd be happy to read what you
think about Greek plays. Have fun.
Posts
Your questions reminded me of a post I made a few years ago. Greek drama grew out of religious practice and there are many elements of religious ritual that remain in the Greek plays. Offers a slightly different point of view that differs from our current idea of theater as entertainment.
ReplyDeletehttp://severalfourmany.wordpress.com/2009/04/09/drama-as-sacred-ritual/
I'm a bit late for it, but I wrote my amateur observations about the peculiarities of a Greek play: http://irrelevant-scribble.blogspot.cz/2013/04/oedipus-king-by-sophocles-whats-so.html
ReplyDelete