首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
DRAMA IN ANCIENT GREECE 1 Long before the ancient Greeks could read and write, they learned of their history and culture throu
DRAMA IN ANCIENT GREECE 1 Long before the ancient Greeks could read and write, they learned of their history and culture throu
admin
2012-01-14
25
问题
DRAMA IN ANCIENT GREECE
1 Long before the ancient Greeks could read and write, they learned of their history and culture through epic poetry chanted by bards or singers. The bards chanted stories in standard musical phrases that were accompanied by musical instruments such as the lyre, a general name for any of several stringed instruments favored by the bards. The greatest bard, Homer, was a poet, singer and master of the lyre. According to tradition, Homer was a wandering minstrel who traveled from place to place chanting stories of gods and heroes. Another famous poet, singer, and lyre player was Sappho, who started a school for girls, where she taught the arts of music, poetry, and dance.
2 Greek civilization reached a
golden
age during the fifth century BC, when politics, philosophy, art, architecture, and theater thrived, as they never had before. As the Greeks took new pride in human achievements, they developed ideals of beauty, order, balance, and moderation throughout their culture, including music and drama.
3 Early drama was associated with the worship of the god Dionysus and was an
outgrowth
of the choral songs and dances performed in honor of the god. The famous outdoor Theater of Dionysus in Athens showed the importance of drama to the Greeks. It was situated on a hillside to take advantage of the natural slope and light, and it could accommodate an audience of 30,000 people. A chorus of singers, dancers, and musicians, led by a singer who stood on steps above them, performed stories that educated and entertained the audience while honoring the god.
4 The crucial innovation that turned choral performance into drama is attributed to Thespis, a poet who is said to have originated tragedy. As the chorus sang the story of a hero or god, Thespis would enter the theater as a masked actor. Between songs, he recited verses as a character in the story, and these spoken verses changed what had been a choral monologue into a dialogue between the actor and the chorus. The
legacy
of Thespis can be seen in the term "thespian," which now describes anything relating to drama.
5 Actors of that time wore a large mask made of linen or cork, inside
which
was a device like a speaking trumpet to amplify the voice. When the actor recited, it was in an exalted monotone, often to the accompaniment of flutes. The chorus enhanced the tragedy with various dances and songs, generally accompanied by the lyre. The actor chanted the lines of the lead character, while the chorus sang the narrative passages.
Still, despite the attention the actor received, the Chorus and its music continued to dominate dramatic performances with the combined power of singing and dancing.
6 Like Thespis, the playwright Aeschylus acted in his own plays, but he added a second masked actor. Now audience attention could be directed to the interplay between the two actors—action and reaction, question and answer, conflict or cooperation—rather than between the actor and chorus. A later playwright, Sophocles, added a third actor. This made possible not only three-way dramatic scenes but also plays with a large cast of characters, since the masks allowed an actor to play more than one part in different scenes. The addition of actors shifted the focus of drama away from the chorus toward the action and dialogue of the characters.
7 Playwrights continued to introduce innovations, but essentially they
adhered to
prescribed conventions. One of these conventions limited the number of scenes in a play to five. The drama always took place in one location and within a short span of time, sometimes a single day. Another convention reflected the society’s sense of balance and order: bloody deeds rarely took place in front of the audience. Therefore, murders, suicides, and other acts of violence occurred offstage. The Greek concept of moderation is reflected in still another convention, in which any character who acted in an excess of passion was usually punished in the story.
Glossary:
choral: relating to a chorus, a group of singers or dancers who perform together
chorus: a group of singers or dancers who perform together
According to paragraph 6, what was the result of adding a second and a third actor?
选项
A、Playwrights were able to act in their own plays.
B、The audience could understand the story more easily.
C、The action could take place in more than one scene.
D、The actors became more important than the chorus.
答案
D
解析
Adding a second and a third actor led to the actors becoming more important than the chorus. Clues: Now audience attention could be directed to the interplay between the two actors... ; The addition of actors shifted the focus of drama away from the chorus toward the action and dialogue of the characters. (1.1)
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/GWyO777K
0
托福(TOEFL)
相关试题推荐
Completethesummarybelow.ChooseNOMORETHANTWOWORDSfromthepassageforeachanswer.Writeyouranswersinboxes19-23o
Whichparagraphcontainsthefollowinginformation?Writethecorrectletter,A-l,inboxes17-21onyouranswersheet.NBYou
Youshouldspendabout20minutesonQuestions14~26,whicharebasedonReadingPassage2below.WHATCOOKBOOKSREALLYTEACHUS
Lookatthefollowingnamesofpeopleororganisations(Questions33-36)andthelistofopinionsbelow.Matcheachnamewithth
TheEvolutionaryMystery:CrocodileSurvivesA.Eventhoughcrocodileshaveexistedfor200millionyears,they’reanything
Tiktaalikrosaeisconsideredtobeanevolutionary______.WherewerethelateDevonianrocksoriginallycreated?
Howdidthestudentgettheuniversityprospectus?doaidwork
【1】Whatistheshortesttimelostitemsarekeptbytheoffice?
Davidsaysthathethinksagapyearisunsuitablefor______.Thegraduateworkplacerequiresflexibilityand______.
ChooseTWOletters,A-E.WhichTWOpossibleobjectionstoaroofgardenarediscussed?AproblemsofaccessBthecostofconstr
随机试题
估价时点为过去的情形,多出现在()中。
下列方法中,可用来综合控制工程进度和工程造价的是()。
资金来源与利用表反映项目计算期内各年的资金盈余或短缺情况,用于选择资金筹措方案,制定适宜的借款及偿还计划,并为编制提供依据。主要含有()项目。
北宋诗文革新运动的领袖是()。
下列现象中属于因果关系的是()
The()isprimarilyconcernedwithacceptanceofthedeliverables,whilequalitycontrolisprimarilyconcemedwithcorrectness
程序执行结果S的值是【】。PrivateSubCommand1_click()i=0Doi=i+1s=i+sLoopUntili>=4P
在考生文件夹下,“sampl.accdb”数据库文件中已建立好表对象“tStud”和“tScore”、宏对象“mTest”和窗体“frest”。试按以下要求,完成各种操作:将窗体“fTest”中名为“bt2”的命令按钮,其高度设置为1厘米、左边界设置为
(1)"Pleasepasstheturkeyanddressing."Whatdoesthissimplerequestmakeyouthinkabout?IfyouareanAmerican,youthink
GrowingMoreFoodwithLessWater[A]SixthousandyearsagofarmersinMesopotamiadugaditchtodivertwaterfromtheEuphrate
最新回复
(
0
)