Essay: Comparison between Greek drama and Medieval Drama

Greek Drama

Medieval Drama

Origin:

The Greek drama first originated in ancient Greece.

Greek dramas mostly involves the interaction

With gods (Dionysian).

Target

Greek dramas did not pinpoint on someone’s character whether he/she was wicked or sinful.

Types

There are three types of  Greek drama

·            Tragedy

·            Comedy

·            satyr

Place for Performance

The plays were performed in the city Dionysian at their annual festival.

Theme

Greek comedy was based on the theme fertility of the Dionysian rites.

Greek tragedy dealt with the theme of death and life of Dionysian rites.

The Greek dramas were based on mythical heroes like Agamemnonn, Medea, etc.

Hymn/ song

Dithyramb( long hymn) was sung in the respect of  Dionysian

location

Example1:

Oedipus Rex is a very famous Greek tragedy. The story revolves around the hero, Oedipus, and his search for truth. Throughout the whole journey he had faced many obstacles. In this play also the elements of production such as chorus and prologue are very visible.

Example2:

Trojan Women is about the Trojan war, also about righteous women of fallen Troy and her tragic fortune. There are also some humorous aspects in it. (Steven Leigh Morris, 2009).

Origin:

The Medieval Drama was first originated in Europe.

The source of the drama was bible.

Target

The main target in these plays was on one’s character i.e.  good, evil, sin, etc

Types

There are two types of Medieval Drama

·            Tragedy

·            Comedy

Place for Performance

These plays were performed in the Christian churches.

Theme

The themes of the plays were based on religion.

The main elements of the drama are Christian content and its moralizing purpose.

The inception of medieval plays and the secular dramas initiated to honor the birth and rebirth of Chris

Hymn /song

The tropes were incorporated in to the liturgical text .They were used as a tool for delivering the dialogue.

Example1:

Wakefield Cycle: Second Shepherds’ Play. This was biblical story. The story was about the miseries and poverty of three shepherds Coll ,Gib and Daw. Daw was intelligent among them. Pretended messenger Mak arrives there and stole their sheep. the three shepherds reached at the Mak place in search of stolen sheep, here with the intelligence of Daw the found their sheep. The play had also comic elements in it(Heather Bellingham)

Example2:

Everyman is the best known mortality play. Everyman was told y death about his end. The play shows the fear of hero about death. Every man offers the death thousand pounds for freeing. Everyman was left alone y his fellowship. Then he recalls his good deeds, his beauty, his intelligence and his knowledge. But when he reached in the graves only knowledge and his good deeds were remained y his side (Jokinen and Anniina,2010).