Agon: a) contest, e.g. sporting or military; b) a formal debate in a play, usually involving some stichomythia and brief contributions from the chorus.

Hybris: inflated self-esteem and disregard for others (Eng. ‘hubris’).

Kurios: the male guardian of an Athenian woman.

Orchestra: the central area of the performance space, used by the chorus.

Parodos: a) a side passage for entrances/exits; b) the song of the chorus as it enters.

Polis: city-state, i.e. a city with the surrounding countryside. Forms of government were very varied.

Prologue: the part of the play that precedes the first choral ode.

Rhesis (pl. rheseis): a character’s formal set-piece speech.

Satyr play: normally the final element in a tetralogy: devoted to an episode from mythology, with a chorus of satyrs, i.e. horse-men devoted to Dionysus, wine, and sex

Stasimon (pl. stasima): choral ode, a song in which the actors don’t participate. Performed in the orchestra between scenes.

Stichomythia: rapid exchange of dialogue (one or two lines each) between two or more speakers.

 



Last modified: Monday, 13 January 2025, 1:09 AM