In the Present Active Indicative, the kind of action is linear, the relationship of the subject to the verb is active, i.e. the subject is performing the action rather than being acted upon, and the degree of contingency is zero, i.e., reality rather than hypothetical activity is in view.

The optative mood (/ˈɒptətɪv/ or /ɒpˈteɪtɪv/; Ancient Greek [ἔγκλισις] εὐκτική, [énklisis] euktikḗ, “[inflection] for wishing”, Latin optātīvus [modus] “[mode] for wishing”) is a grammatical mood of the Ancient Greek verb, named for its use as a way to express wishes.

Parsing. To PARSE a Greek verb means to identify these five qualities – Person, Number, Tense, Mood, Voice – for any given verb form. For example, a specific verb form could be: Third person. Singular.

seven tenses

DRAMA Derives from the Greek word “dran,” which means “to do” or “to perform”

The word comes originally from the Greek Theatron, meaning roughly, ‘a place to behold’. In American English, the word ‘theater’ can mean either a place where films are shown (this is also called a cinema) or a place where live stage plays are performed.

The term “drama” comes from a Greek word meaning “action” (Classical Greek: δρᾶμα, drama), which is derived from “I do” (Classical Greek: δράω, drao). The two masks associated with drama represent the traditional generic division between comedy and tragedy.

The Ancient Greeks took their entertainment very seriously and used drama as a way of investigating the world they lived in, and what it meant to be human. The three genres of drama were comedy, satyr plays, and most important of all, tragedy.

Greek tragedy was a form of theater popular in Greece around the 5th century BC. These plays presented tragic tales of heroes who strove for greatness but were brought low by a combination of fate and their own human flaws. In general, Greek tragedies feature a high-born character of ordinary moral virtue.

Theatre buildings were called a theatron. The theaters were large, open-air structures constructed on the slopes of hills. They consisted of three main elements: the orchestra, the skene, and the audience.

The oft appropriated tragic tale of King Oedipus is perhaps the best known of all the Greek myths. In an early example of metafiction, Euripides is pitted against his rival Aeschylus in an imagined battle to find the best tragic poet of Ancient Greece. Think Gladiators, without the bloodshed.

Oedipus Rex

Terms in this set (5)

• tragic hero. at the center of a tragedy is its hero, the main character, or protagonist.
• tragic flaw. an error in judgement or a weakness in character such as pride or arrogance (helps bring about the hero’s downfall)
• Catastrophe.
• Chorus.
• Central Belief: fate.

To sum up: Aristotle defined a tragic hero rather strictly as a man of noble birth with heroic qualities whose fortunes change due to a tragic flaw or mistake (often emerging from the character’s own heroic qualities) that ultimately brings about the tragic hero’s terrible, excessive downfall.

Fate is a major theme in Sophocles plays. It is the actions of each character that bring about their inevitable fate. Oedipus Rex gives the perfect example that you cannot avoid or hide from the life that is destined for you. Oedipus was predicted to marry his mother and kill his father.

The basic structure of a Greek tragedy is fairly simple. After a prologue spoken by one or more characters, the chorus enters, singing and dancing. Scenes then alternate between spoken sections (dialogue between characters, and between characters and chorus) and sung sections (during which the chorus danced).

coryphaeus

(ɡriːk ˈtrædʒədɪ) (in ancient Greek theatre) a play in which the protagonist, usually a person of importance and outstanding personal qualities, falls to disaster through the combination of a personal failing and circumstances with which he or she cannot deal.

Theatrical performances in ancient Greece were not simply, or even primarily, for the purposes of entertainment. Tragic drama provided the audience with an opportunity to reflect on its own social, political, and religious values.

Thirty-two Greek tragedies have survived into the modern period.

Masks served several important purposes in Ancient Greek theater: their exaggerated expressions helped define the characters the actors were playing; they allowed actors to play more than one role (or gender); they helped audience members in the distant seats see and, by projecting sound somewhat like a small megaphone …