Thespis, Athens, and The Origins of Greek Drama: Crash Course Theater #2

This week on Crash Course Theater, Mike is acting like theater started in Greece. Well, for the western theater, this is true. The earliest recorded drama in the west arose in Athen, and these early plays grew out or religious ritual. Namely, they evolved from the worship of Dionysus, god of wine, fertility, and RITUAL MADNESS. That's right. I said RITUAL MADNESS
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[@ashkaaz]

One time I had a substitute teacher for my theater class, and as my friends and I were walking in, he said, "Welcome my thespians" when we thought he said lesbians.

[@thegreatgatsby2635]

vibe check

[@BanditRants]

As a video editor I must say I genuinely appreciate this high quality content.

[@redcomandante1875]

I'm not a content creator but same.

[@soulmate8958]

Yayyyyyyyy

[@jordysfernandez2157]

Hope they cover a section on Nietzsche, or at least nod to his contribution.

[@thekeymind1634]

Can we expect anything on Beckett?

[@bavneetsingh9459]

BanditRants can you please tell me how can i create and which software to use for making animated videos

[@timothymclean]

Pesistratos: "The best way to unite Athens, the city of Athena, is with a series of religious rituals...to Dionysus!" Athena: "...Get out."

[@timeaesnyx]

Timothy McLean lol

[@ismireghal68]

It's not stupid solon it works

[@ElvenAngel]

She hardly worried. Her Panathenea festival was bigger and wilder than the Dionesia XD

[@ConvincingPeople]

Timothy McLean To be fair, like Artemis and Apollo, the two were kind of a sibling double act, just with the roles reversed.

[@SahikoK]

Very awesome! Just one thing: the Greeks did not wear togas, but a chiton and/or a coat (himation or chlamys). The toga is a Roman garment.

[@dthoward2011]

SaiK just about to type the same thing.

[@latronqui]

So I'm from Chile and I have a degree in Drama from an English University. There was this British guy once telling me about this moment when he started going through a sort of catharsis... then he stopped to ask me if I knew the meaning of the English word "catharsis", since I'm not a native English speaker and I just replied: "I studied Drama". And there was a moment of silence when he wondered what my degree had to do with anything and I wondered what wasn't clear about what I had said. Then I realised that maybe for most people the word "catharsis" isn't linked to Theatre.

[@TheRachaelLefler]

Yeah, until I saw this I didn't know it originated in Aristotle's discussion of theater. It's normally used in the context of psychology or psychological therapy.

[@ms.rstake_1211]

Great story

[@muporepain]

Interesting story, though "catharsis" is not an English word, but a Greek one, meaning literally "cleaning". In ancient Greek Dramas "catharsis" was the moment when the viewer finally got the 'justice' she/he wanted in the end (i.e., her/his soul becomes clear of every bad feeling or doubts).

[@isaacme9450]

i want a play about the making of a Greek play

[@addyincolor]

Trains Banana Troons Omelette.

[@isaacme9450]

omelettey

[@maxmonson4796]

basically something rotten but that's​ the renaissance

[@isaacme9450]

43000th view

[@Alexa-cv3xk]

Sidertic I did one in theater today.

[@atziazas]

Deus ex machina is not what Greeks called it. That’s the Roman (Latin) version of “apo mechanis theos”. Also Greeks did not wear togas. They wore chitons/khitons which are different in style.

[@TheRachaelLefler]

Thanks... I wondered why he didn't mention that "Deus ex Machina" is the Latin term.

[@Suite_annamite]

Exactly! And not only were "togas" not authentically Greek, there were actually merely Roman impressions of "Greek clothing"!

[@emamekkartny]

@@Suite_annamite i know right, chitons are way nicer than togas

[@emamekkartny]

knowledge is the power

[@acovo728]

Thank you for this! I'm a total theatre nerd, and this makes my so happy! Keep up the good work!

[@pgirl8990]

I love watching their videos so much. And this is one of my favorite hosts too cause he did Crash Course Mythology

[@obrien92]

So the first plays were actually musicals? That’s fantastic

[@thespibunny272]

*This video was cathartic. Keep up the good work, this Theatre girl is pleased!*

[@sophia-helenemeesdetricht1957]

If I may suggest a possible nuance regarding the precise nature of catharsis from linguistics... The word "catharsis" may have an indeterminate precise meaning in the works of Aristotle, but the word persisted in Greek, its meaning evolving slightly, according to the common psyche (Greek for soul) of the culture. It persists in modern Greek. The adjective καθαρή (kathari), which is "clean." Η ντουλάπα είναι καθαρή (y doulapa einai kathari) means "the closet is clean." So over the millennia, a word meaning "purgation" evolved into "cleanliness." Perhaps Aristotle meant (or catharsis meant), then, that the Athenians considered it a civic duty to come and clean out their emotional closet before engaging in political duties like voting or (call ahead to Orestes), jury duty. Like clearing your head, but instead clearing your heart. Perhaps not, though, and i have no data or empirical evidence to support this idea, just something that occurred to me while watching.

[@mstakenidentity]

As a founding member of my university's ancient theatre group I love this video. As a pedant with a Classics degree I feel the need to tell you that 5th Century BCE Athenians did not wear togas.

[@kns.ann95]

I already knew most of this because I'm Greek and it's part of our education, but I really loved how you explained and portrayed it! Excellent work!

[@basvandeven1837]

Another possible explanation for the origin of the word ''tragedy'' (τραγ-ῳδία: goat-song) is that the winner of the Theatrical Festivities, usually the (Great) Dionysia, received a goat as price. This habit was later replaced by receiving fame and prize-money, rather than a mere goat, which was a lot less profitable than it used to be.

[@anyajvvuuren2179]

I've watched this video 6 times in the last two days. I'm writing a Drama exam tomorrow...

[@paulavery1912]

I can't say I know much about theater, but am interested in learning about the history! Thanks for the information Mike and the Crash Course production cast.

[@1gorli]

Oh, I love this series! The history of theatre is my favorite kind of history! Though, I have always been taught that an amphitheater needs to have audience seats all the way around the stage (like Colosseum) but when it is only a semicircle in front of the stage it is just called a Greek Theater. But that might only be true in Swedish...

[@uzzielfontan2338]

Nope, my Art History professor taught me the same also. You are right, it is a common misconception people make. Btw I'm from Puerto Rico.

[@reconexpe-t1238]

Anyone here from home school work

[@nicsnort]

Having flashbacks to my Greek Theatre and Poetry class. Good times.

[@btetschner]

That was really helpful, thank you for the video.

[@That_Ozian]

Wearing my thespian society sweater and having initiated earlier this week, I feel great.

[@Hecatonicosachoron]

Orchestra is, quite literally, the "dancing place" since orchesis means dance. Also dance back then didn't involve much movement of the feet but happened mostly with the upper body. The earliest plays were most likely entirely sung - which is consistent with their origin in narrative choral song. Aristotle mentions that they were initially written in trochaic tetrameter, which is a facile musical meter (that's from memory, so there may be variation in the meters). That eventually evolved to iambic hexameter which is the standard meter for all spoken parts in extant tragedies. It's quite likely that this evolution coincided with an augmentation of the spoken parts. There were no togas! Togas are for stately Romans... they were thoroughly barbaric. They did wear a (rectangular) himation, which was the equivalent of a winter coat (that could double as a blanket)... nobody would enjoy wearing too many layers during the summer.

[@anxietysquid8900]

This new series makes me so happy, thank you Crash course team ♡

[@annikboyer3395]

Nice to know where Thespian comes from. Great to learn more about catharsis too!

[@thethespiansshow2328]

Very nice presentation and explanation bro 👌👌👍👍👍😊

[@chrissiwmay2971]

Hi- thank you for this video. I am a theater major and have an upcoming quiz; my Professor recommended this video. Good vid.

[@lelesjp295]

Delighted to see Mike again :)

[@preggioperson]

Thank you for this fast moving. fact packed crash course into the Greek world.

[@saris20002013]

So so helpful! Thanks!!!

[@200ENAV]

so informative, you helped me prepare for my test, thank you! one note though, you mentioned toga, but togas were only worn in the roman empire times, and only inside the borders of Rome

[@hampsterdanny]

Mike is definitely the best host on crash course!

[@sapturnus]

Love Mike but that must be Dr. Shini Somara. She's grand!

[@ellenduong]

Just watched this in my Stage Design course!

[@briithagoddess9571]

Passed my GED test this week thanks to this channel thank youuu so much 😊💞💞💓💕🎉🎊🎊🎊

[@youaremagick5935]

Love this! Thank you

[@zefypissaki8524]

As a Greek I have to say this was quite a good vid, despite the horrifically bad pronunciation of words but.. It's not the guy's fault

[@sophia-helenemeesdetricht1957]

Absolutely Zefy Ναι, Ελληνικά είναι πολύ δύσκολο να προφέρει. Well, for native English speakers, anyway.

[@zefypissaki8524]

Sophia De Tricht ολόκληρη εταιρεία. Μπορούσαν να βρουν κάποιον να το πει καλά μωρέ. Χωρίς τη διάθεση να ακουστώ γραφική.

[@sophia-helenemeesdetricht1957]

Prooooooooooobably... But aside from you and I (and it'd probably slip by me), how many people would notice?

[@zefypissaki8524]

Sophia De Tricht I thought this is about providing quality, instead of προχειροδουλειες. Μα δεν είναι χαζή παράλειψη; I thing of this channel so highly, τόση έρευνα, τόσο ψάξιμο. Νταξει δε χάλασε και ο κόσμος. Πιστεύω είναι μια λεπτομέρεια που χαζά αμελειται από τους περισσότερους.

[@sophia-helenemeesdetricht1957]

I mean, είσαι σωστός άλλα η Ελλάδα είναι μικρή και Ελληνικά δεν είναι μία δημοφιλής γλώσσα για τους αλλοδαπούς. I only speak it because I dated a Greek woman way back in the day and I thought it might smooth things over with her parents. It did not.

[@sixpomegranateseeds6893]

Oedipus is one character that I hope no one in history has ever prepared for with method acting.

[@roryokane5907]

Love how you managed to get the Mongoltage in there!

[@Forceprincess]

I've seen thousands of episodes of General Hospital! Perfection achieved!!!

[@fobwatchful]

This looks like a really great series. I hope you eventually do episodes about vaudeville and stand-up comedy.

[@CulturePhilter]

Loving this series

[@KindessisEternal]

Well, I've only seen Les Miserables four times but I get your drift. LOL!

[@Udontkno7]

do you hear the people sing...

[@qazhr]

They need to update this playlist and mythology one needs the rest of it videos

[@LPArabia]

Thumps up before it played... I wasn't disappointed.

[@sage6861]

This is basically my entire first term of my history of theatre class

[@LFalby]

Awesome video! Love the series! Can't wait for more. But you spelled Sophocles wrong. See! Your viewers notice everything!

[@raikespeare]

The "Oresteia" is the only complete tragic trilogy from Ancient Greece? But what about the Theban Plays? Why aren't Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus, and Antigone considered a complete tragic trilogy?

[@EvleenNasir]

raikespeare The theban plays we’re not written as a trilogy. They all deal with Oedipus but were each apart of their own trilogies.

[@VidyaAntics]

From what I remember about the Greeks (I have yet to watch this video, have it paused), playwrights would produce three plays to have performed at the festival of good old Dion. These are the trilogies. The Theban Plays were from three different trilogies written by Sophocles. The plays in a trilogy could be set in completely different times and places, with different characters, which is very different from what we consider a trilogy today.

[@manueldelrio7147]

What's the biggest and best general study on Greek Tragedy available in English?

[@CapKITZ]

I was wondering, at what time between theater being a guy acting out dithyroms and the institution of theater in Athens do people start wrighting plays intended to be acted, rather than acting out dithyroms or epics?

[@run2pray]

Does anyone know if the transcripts of these videos are available anywhere?

[@luciagarcia-yz8xm]

This is the best!

[@ManuManu-zr8eg]

„hi my name is mike rugnetta and this is crash course (myth..) -THEATER!“ in my head he still says mythology just cuz i‘m used to it 😅

[@camilorodriguez5560]

Please do García Lorca plays

[@PoseidonXIII]

I always loved "Trojan Women" because it's an anti-war play written millennia ago and still remains very resonant.

[@geoffreywinn4031]

Cool video!

[@kpopahjussi6379]

Thespis simply asked questions that the chorus would answer. Aeschuylus developed the onkus (masks) when he started adding a second actor.

[@ShortLegendUg]

This is amazing

[@morganbawtree]

I know it's a ways on into the future but I would love to learn more about pantomime. How it evolved from it's Roman roots to the way it commonly exists as a celebratory play at Christmas time in the UK. As a Canadian, we don't have pantos and I would like to know more. Maybe if you get a second season of Crash Course Theatre?

[@MKPiatkowski]

There is a panto in Toronto every year and I am pretty sure other cities have them as well, since Canadian theatrical tradition has evolved from English theatre.

[@puvastinapuvas6211]

can i know about the novel vendor of sweets and prince and the pauper

[@davidpaisdealmeida2793]

At that time, did theatre have a religious function in Athens or a secular function (it was organised in honor of the city) ?

[@emamekkartny]

i love u crash course, u da best

[@josiah566]

i...CANNOT wait for Noh > Kabuki theater [to follow house style].

[@rmeng3]

Wow! I love the new Ideas Channel set! Oh, I made myself sad dot gif

[@nightcr_wler]

Beautiful.

[@twicedemita2151]

Oof this video was for one of my High School work in Drama!! ;-;

[@adamhoward7277]

3:10-3:17 History of the Delian League in 7 seconds

[@badassoverlordzetta]

Mike is the best Crash Course Host

[@jiangciyang3860]

fricking john is

[@MarkSeymourSinged]

Hope they cover a section on Nietzsche, or at least nod to his contribution.

[@irwainnornossa4605]

God, in the thumbnail, I read "The origins of Obama". I need a life.

[@erick-gmz]

Me too! I actually opened the video just to check if anyone else did too lol

[@littlemothbigwings6765]

I believe what Aristotle meant, maybe (just my opinion), when you watch anything that shows your fears for example, usually shows the main character fighting those fears, and at the end realizing how small and nonsense those feelings are. Well my English sucks, but that's just what I think

[@gayatri-ydkh]

Any suggested readings Mike?🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸

[@Stickon32]

THERE were lawsuits ☝️

[@WowUrFcknHxC]

The first bacchanalia!!!

[@milicakrunic4898]

I was so disappointed when he didn't say "Wait for it... The Mongols!" when the montage played.

[@BrianHutzellMusic]

The Thought Bubble description of Greek theatre with its outlandish masks, platform shoes, and fake blood, sounds a lot like a Kiss concert!

[@user-gf6hf5uz2r]

Oh man, I wish you'd have Jamin Warren from PBS Game/Show as a host of CrashCourse eventually

[@johnwojewoda9292]

I love this

[@bennettmp]

Can I have the whole video transcript?

[@alexiskrohn6944]

Are we not getting an episode showing love to Euripides?! :( The Bacchae! Orestes! Iphigenia at Aulis!

[@madelinefranklin7394]

This is how we're gonna pass our theatre Praxis y'all...

[@bavneetsingh9459]

Brother can you please tell me, how you all guys make such cool animated videos, i also want to make animated videos, help me please!!!!

[@lamarabbit]

The plays were preformed in a greek theatre. Not an Amphitheatre. Amphi meaning duo, sits from both sides. Only fully round shape Theaters are Amphis.

[@ms.rstake_1211]

3rd time watching this still love it.

[@exploringQuran]

bravo

[@lidiaadam8063]

this was great but the picture quality went hazy partway through it was hard to pay attention.

[@TheRachaelLefler]

Weird, I always pronounced it like "say-ter". I guess because the only time I heard it aloud, it was said that way in the movie 'The Last Unicorn'.

[@penandsword4386]

Please discuss Aristophanes

[@temporaltoast9692]

7:08 DON’T THINK I DIDN’T NOTICE THAT AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

[@arkroyalslegalteam4911]

Out of interest; will you be discussing Aristophanes when you get on to comedy? If so, I’m sold! Wasps is one of my favourite plays so...

[@sofiyyasujuandy493]

In praise of *you know who*?!?!? Omg 😂😛

[@shwalkingmeme485]

WHERE IS THE CLOSED CAPTIONING?

[@patriciosolorzano5737]

Crash Course Music Theory! Please!!!

[@ghada848]

Mongol montage, how I missed you!

[@victorroerholt9523]

also we dont know if there was an altar in the middle of the orchestrea

[@hishrem]

they spelled Sophocles wrong at 7:17

[@Ad_Hominem]

WOOOO MIKE IS BAACK + i luv u

[@mrsgigglegirl10]

Will you talk about Everyman?

[@Forceprincess]

+

[@machism.a]

There's a small spelling error as 7.20. Sopholes

[@elizabethjilka]

This is great but at 7:19 the "c" is left out of Sophocles - just FYI to whoever edited. :)

[@aman27asad]

Notification Squad where you at?