Ancient Greek theatre

thumb|The classical Punjabi tragedy of Heer Ranjha, one of the four classic tragedies of [[Punjabi folklore; the tragedy's epic form by Waris Shah is regarded as one of the greatest pieces of Punjabi literature]]

An ode (from ) is a type of lyric poetry, with its origins in Ancient Greece. Odes are elaborately structured poems praising or glorifying an event or individual, describing nature intellectually as well as emotionally. A classic ode is structured in three major parts: the strophe, the antistrophe, and the epode. Different forms such as the homostrophic ode and the irregular ode also enter.

thumb|200px|William Shakespeare|Shakespeare's [[Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. William Morris Hunt, oil on canvas, ]]

Muse of comedy in Greek mythology

thumb|Melpomene by Joseph Fagnani (1869) Melpomene (; ) is the Muse of tragedy in Greek mythology. She is described as the daughter of Zeus and Mnemosyne (and therefore of power and memory) along with the other Muses, and she is often portrayed with a tragic theatrical mask.

Catharsis or katharsis is from the Ancient Greek word , , meaning 'purification' or 'cleansing', commonly used to refer to the purification and purgation of thoughts and emotions by way of expressing them. The desired result is an emotional state of renewal and restoration.

theatre tradition written and performed in ancient Greece

thumb|Tragic Comic masks of Ancient Greek theatre represented in the [[Hadrian's Villa mosaic.]]

Polyhymnia (; ), alternatively Polymnia (Πολύμνια), is, in Greek mythology, the Muse of sacred poetry, sacred hymn, dance and eloquence, as well as agriculture and pantomime. thumb|Polyhymnia on an antique fresco from Pompeii

plot device

Mimesis (; , mīmēsis) is a term used in literary criticism and philosophy that carries a wide range of meanings, including imitatio, imitation, similarity, receptivity, representation, mimicry, the act of expression, the act of resembling, and the presentation of the self.

thumb|300px|Classical Athens|Attic [[relief (4th century BCE) depicting an aulos player and his family standing before Dionysos and a female consort, with theatrical masks displayed above]] The dithyramb (; , dithyrambos) was an ancient Greek hymn sung and danced in honor of Dionysus, the god of wine and fertility; the term was also used as an epithet of the god. Plato, in The Laws, while discussing various kinds of music mentions "the birth of Dionysos, called, I think, the dithyramb." Plato also remarks in the Republic that dithyrambs are the clearest example of poetry in which the poet is t

A strophe () is a poetic term originally referring to the first part of the ode in Ancient Greek tragedy, followed by the antistrophe and epode. The term has been extended to also mean a structural division of a poem containing stanzas of varying line length. Strophic poetry is to be contrasted with poems composed line-by-line non-stanzaically, such as Greek epic poems or English blank verse, to which the term stichic applies.

An aulos (plural auloi; : , plural : ) or was a wind instrument in ancient Greece, often depicted in art and also attested by archaeology.

An episode is a narrative unit within a larger dramatic, comedic, or documentary production, such as a series intended for radio, television or streaming consumption.

1872 essay by Friedrich Nietzsche

thumb|400px|A Hellenistic art|Hellenistic Greek [[mosaic depicting the god Dionysos as a winged daimon riding on a tiger, from the House of Dionysos at Delos (which was once controlled by Athens) in the South Aegean region of Greece, late 2nd century BC, Archaeological Museum of Delos]]

thumb|right|Caccini, Le nuove musiche, 1601, title page

genre of theatre from Ancient Greece

thumb|Rhapsode by Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo

ancient concert hall for performances and competitions

'''''' () is the Greek deity who personified conflict, struggle or contest. This could be a contest in athletics, in chariot or horse racing, or in music or literature at a public festival in ancient Greece. is the word-forming element in 'agony', explaining the concept of agon(y) in tragedy by its fundamental characters, the protagonist and antagonist.

thumb|A sculpture representing Ethos outside the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly in Canberra, Australia Ethos is a Greek word meaning "character" that is used to describe the guiding beliefs or ideals that characterize a community, nation, or ideology; and the balance between caution and passion. The Greeks also used this word to refer to the power of music to influence emotions, behaviors, and even morals. Early Greek stories of Orpheus exhibit this idea in a compelling way. The word's use in rhetoric is closely based on the Greek terminology used by Aristotle in his concept

theatrical genre

group of performers, singers or dancers in Greek drama, who witness what is being acted and express their thoughts and feelings

thumb|Buskins

cave in Greece

Anagnorisis (; ) is a moment in a play or other work when a character makes a critical discovery. Anagnorisis originally meant recognition in its Greek context, not only of a person but also of what that person stood for. Anagnorisis was the hero's sudden awareness of a real situation, the realization of things as they stood, and finally, the hero's insight into a relationship with an often antagonistic character in Aristotelian tragedy.

The Lenaia () was an annual Athenian festival with a dramatic competition. It was one of the lesser festivals of Athens and Ionia in ancient Greece. The Lenaia took place in Athens in Gamelion, roughly corresponding to January. The festival was in honour of Dionysus Lenaios. There is also evidence the festival also took place in Delphi.

Peripeteia (, peripety, alternative Latin form: Peripetīa, ultimately from ) is a reversal of circumstances, or turning point, within a work of literature.

narration theory

In literature, the deuteragonist ( ; ) or secondary main character is the second most important character of a narrative, after the protagonist and before the tritagonist. The deuteragonist often acts as a constant companion to the protagonist or as someone who continues actively aiding a protagonist. The deuteragonist may switch between supporting and opposing the protagonist, depending on their own conflict or plot.

thumb | right | Marble bust of Aeschines. Greek, 4th - 2nd century BC. Found in ʽHeraclea Lyncestisʼ, today in the Republic of Macedonia. On display in the British Museum, London. In literature, the tritagonist () or tertiary main character is the third most important character of a narrative, after the protagonist and deuteragonist. In ancient Greek drama, the tritagonist was the third member of the acting troupe.

thumb|The title page of Poetics (Aristotle)|Aristotle's Poetics

In Attic drama, the coryphaeus, corypheus, or koryphaios (, from , , meaning "the top of the head") was the leader of the chorus. Hence the term (sometimes anglicised as coryphe) is used for the chief or leader of any company or movement. The original Greek coryphaeus spoke for all the chorus, whenever the chorus took part in the action, in quality of a person of the drama, during the course of the acts.

A parodos (also parode and parodus; , 'entrance', plural ), in the theater of ancient Greece, is a side-entrance to the stage, or the first song that is sung by the chorus at the beginning of a Greek tragedy.

thumb|upright=1.4|Pinax on the south wall of the exedra in the House of the Prince of Naples in Pompeii In the modern study of the culture of ancient Greece and Magna Graecia, a pinax (Greek: πίναξ; : pinakes, πίνακες, meaning 'board') is a votive tablet of painted wood, or terracotta, marble or bronze relief that served as a votive object deposited in a sanctuary or as a memorial affixed within a burial chamber. Such pinakes feature in the classical collections of most comprehensive museums.

In Greek comedy, the parabasis (plural parabases; , plural: ) is a point in the play when all of the actors leave the stage and the chorus is left to address the audience directly. The chorus partially or completely abandons its dramatic role, to step forward (parabasis) and talk to the audience on a topic completely irrelevant to the subject of the play.

According to one meaning of the word, an epode is the third part of an ancient Greek choral ode that follows the strophe and the antistrophe and completes the movement.

burlesque dramatic form that developed in the Greek colonies of Magna Graecia in the 4th century BCE

thumb|Using of ekkyklema. An ekkyklêma or eccyclema (; ; "roll-out machine") was a wheeled platform rolled out through the skênê in ancient Greek theatre. It was used to bring interior scenes out into the sight of the audience. Some ancient sources suggest that it may have been revolved or turned.

alt=The Orestes Papyrus, a fragment of lines 338-344 from the first stasimon of Orestes by Euritides, dated to the third century BCE|thumb|The Orestes Papyrus, a fragment of lines 338-344 from the first stasimon of Orestes by [[Euripides, dated to the third century BCE]] A Stasimon () in Greek tragedy is a stationary song composed of strophes and antistrophes that is performed by the chorus in the orchestra (, "place where the chorus dances").

Stichomythia () is a technique in verse drama in which sequences of single alternating lines, or half-lines (hemistichomythia) or two-line speeches (distichomythia) are given to alternating characters. It typically features repetition and antithesis. The term originated in the theatre of Ancient Greece, though many dramatists since have used the technique. Etymologically it derives from the Greek stikhos ("row, line of verse") + muthos ("speech, talk").

thumb|Relief of seated [[Dionysus and satyr; inscription beneath is a decree by the deme Aixone honoring the choregoi Auteas and Philoxenides (313–312 BC)]] In the theatre of ancient Greece, the choregos (pl. choregoi; , Greek etymology: χορός "chorus" + ἡγεῖσθαι "to lead") was a wealthy Athenian citizen who assumed the public duty, or choregiai, of financing the preparation for the chorus and other aspects of dramatic production that were not paid for by the government of the polis or city-state. Modern Anglicized forms of the word include choragus and choregus, with the accepted plurals bein

thumb|An "unspoken" sparagmos may have been the central element underlying the very genre of Greek tragedy. (Maenads and Pentheus, from the House of the Vettii)

structure at the back of a theatre stage

The Theorica (), also called the Theoric Fund or Festival Fund, was the name for the fund of monies in ancient Athens expended on festivals, sacrifices, and public entertainments of various kinds. The fund was, in certain circumstances, also distributed among the people in the shape of largesses from the state.

Choreia () is a circle dance accompanied by singing (see Greek chorus, choros), in ancient Greece. Homer refers to this dance in his epic poem, the Iliad.

thumb|An actor dressed as the eirōn character Xanthias in Aristophanes' The Frogs In the theatre of ancient Greece, the eirōn (, “dissembler”) was one of various stock characters in comedy. The usually succeeded by bringing down his braggart opponent (the "boaster") by understating his own abilities. The eiron lends his name to the related concept of irony.

Dochmiac (, from δόχμιος 'across, aslant, oblique', or 'pertaining to a δοχμή or hand's-breath') is a poetic meter that is characteristically used in Greek tragedy, expressing extreme agitation or distress. They appear in every extant tragedy—N.C. Conomis counted a total of 1,985 in the tragedies of Aeschylus (528×), Sophocles (291×), and Euripides (1166×)—, but there are also examples in satyric drama and Aristophanes, where they are often paratragic in tone and impassioned.

thumb|5th century BCE (model)

lyrical song of lamentation in an Athenian tragedy

fiction genre

An aristeia or aristia (; , "excellence") is a scene in the dramatic conventions of epic poetry as in the Iliad, where a hero in battle has his finest moments (aristos = "best"). Aristeia may result in the death of the hero, and therefore suggests a "battle in which he reaches his peak as a fighter and hero".

manuscript

recognised group of classical scholars, mostly in Cambridge, England

In classical drama, the epitasis () is the main action of a play, in which the trials and tribulations of the main character increase and build toward a climax and dénouement. It is the third and central part when a play is analyzed into five separate parts: prologue, protasis, epitasis, catastasis and catastrophe.

Ancient Greek musical fragment