Itp Midterm

Front 1

Dithyramb

Back 1

Unison hymn sung around the altar of Dionysus. Act of worship that evolved into Greek Tragedy.

Front 2

Dionysus

Back 2

The wine-god whose cult had spread to Greece from the Near East by a chorus of fifty men, five from each of the ten tribes of Attica.

Front 3

Thespis

Back 3

The leader of a dithyrambic chorus. First to step out of the chorus to portray heros or even the role of God.

Front 4

City Dionysia

Back 4

Celebrated at Athens in April, and attended not only by all able-bodied citizens, but also by official representatives. The festival for which all the extant Greek plays were written.

Front 5

Choregus

Back 5

A wealthy man who as part of his civic duties paid all of the expenses for a production at the City Dionysia

Front 6

Orchestra

Back 6

The flat circular space with the altar of Dionysus in the centre which was used by the chorus.

Front 7

Theatre of Epidaurus

Back 7

Theatre with a well preserved orchestra, still used for an annual summer dramatic festival.

Front 8

Mechane or Machine

Back 8

The crane by which the god could descend from heaven to sort out the complications of the plot.

Front 9

Periaktoi

Back 9

Triangular prisms which could be rotated to indicate symbolically a change of scene by means of a painted tree, a column, or waves.

Front 10

Phlyakes

Back 10

Stages on which farcical mime-plays had been performed in southern Italy up to about 300 BC. High stage and elaborate stage wall.

Front 11

Scaenae Frons

Back 11

An elaborate stage wall in Roman theatre, often two stories tall.

Front 12

Thymele

Back 12

In the orchestra of an ancient Greek theater, a small altar dedicated to Bacchus; usually at the center of the orchestra circle and marked by a white stone.

Front 13

Ekkyklema

Back 13

A wheeled platform rolled out through a skene in ancient Greek theatre. It was used to bring interior scenes out into the sight of the audience.

Front 14

Skene

Back 14

The background building which connected the platform stage, in which costumes were stored and to which the periaktoi (painted panels serving as the background) were connected.

Front 15

Agora

Back 15

An open "place of assembly" in ancient Greek city-states.

Front 16

Theatron

Back 16

"watching place"

Front 17

Cothurni

Back 17

Boots worn by Greek actors to increase their height and, thus, visibility to theater audiences.

Front 18

Protagonist

Back 18

A character who suffers some serious misfortune which is not accidental and therefore meaningless, but is significant in that the misfortune is logically connected with the hero's actions.

Front 19

Theatre of Pompey

Back 19

The building is considered the original Roman theatre. It was the first to be entirely built as a free-standing stone structure without earthen works, as traditionally constructed since the Hellenistic Greek period.

Front 20

Dominus Gregis

Back 20

The manager of actors (who were slaves) in Roman Theatre.

Front 21

Vomitoria

Back 21

a passage situated below or behind a tier of seats in an amphitheatre, through which crowds can "spew out" at the end of a performance.

Front 22

Fabula atellanae

Back 22

A Roman form of farce that proceeded Greek satyr plays and preceded Commedia d'el Arte.

Front 23

Quem Quaeritus trope

Back 23

The trope used in medieval theatre for Easter. Literally translating to "Whom seek ye?"

Front 24

Liturgical Drama (or Bible-histories)

Back 24

Found all over Europe, portraying Bible stories, functioning as a means of religious instruction for the illiterate. Assumption of devotion and belief in audience.

Front 25

Platea

Back 25

The "playing space" in Medieval Theatre. Could be used to portray any place.

Front 26

Pageant Wagon

Back 26

Two story carts paraded around town, stopping to perform liturgy plays around town.

Front 27

Hell Mouth

Back 27

A mechanical device which was used to attempt to scare the audience by vividly dramatizing an entrance to Hell. These seem often to have featured a battlemented castle entrance, in painting usually associated with Heaven.

Front 28

Feast of Corpus Christi

Back 28

A holiday in which mystery plays were performed that depicted Christ tales in common vernacular.

Front 29

Mysteries

Back 29

focused on the representation of Bible stories in churches as tableaux with accompanying antiphonal song.

Front 30

Miracle Plays

Back 30

Distinguished from mystery plays as they specifically re-enacted miraculous interventions by the saints, particularly St. Nicholas or St. Mary, into the lives of ordinary people, rather than biblical events.

Front 31

Mansions

Back 31

Small scenic structures for indicating location.

Front 32

Vitruvius

Back 32

Architect who's work the stages of the Medieval Era were modeled after.

Front 33

Andrea Palladio

Back 33

Italian Renaissance architect. Designed the Teatro Olympico

Front 34

Teatro Olympico

Back 34

Theatre built in 1585 by Andrea Palladio in Vicenza

Front 35

Sebastiano Serlio

Back 35

An Italian Mannerist architect, who was part of the Italian team building the Palace of Fontainebleau. (Older)

Front 36

Perspective

Back 36

Scenery and the scene design technique that represents three-dimensional space on a flat surface, creating an illusion of reality and an impression of distance.