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Historically, traditional drama begins when

spoken drama is introduced into shamanistic rites.

Ancient Egypt's Adydos Passion Play and other texts of that time employed plot elements that indicate they derived from even more ancient

ritualized reenactments of the coming of spring and celebration of vegetative rebirth.

When theatre historians speak of the "Greek theatre" they are speaking specifically about

Athens in the fifth century B.C.

The god of fertility, wine, agriculture, and sexuality was


The dithyrambos was

an ancient, drunken, dance-chant fertility ritual that celebrated the birth of the wine god.

A satyr play was

a short bawdy farce that parodied the events of tragedy.

From the Greek word for dancing, what was the name given to the rectangular or circular ground-level playing space in Greek theatre used primarily by the chorus?


From the word for hut or tent, the Greek version of dressing room was a wooden changing room called the


18. The device by which the playwright offers revelations about past events in the play or characters' lives is called


The flaw of overweening pride is known as


Catharsis refers to an experience at the end of a tragedy in which the audience feels

a purgation of the feelings of pity and fear and a cleansing of emotions.

Which of the following would NOT describe the experience of catharsis experienced by an audience?

it excites emotions, preparing spectators for vigorous or violent social action outside the theatre

Which of the following is true of Titus Maccius Plautus (c.254-184 B.C.)?

His twenty-one plays are fast-paced, joke-filled, lusty stage romps filled with songs.

Which of the following is true of Publius Terentius Afer (c.190-159 B.C.)?

This freed African slave wrote six comedies, based on Greek models, that were highly prized during the Middle Ages for their rhetorical excellence and philosophic depth.

The foundations of theatre are ritual and dancing


Although much Middle Eastern Drama had disappeared by the third century, the spread of Islam, beginning in the seventh century, provided fertile ground there for the development of live actor and puppet theatre in the Middle Ages.


The Greek word for tragedy was tragoidia, which means goat song.


The first word for actor was hypokrites, meaning "answerer."


The genre that most closely preserved the spirit of the dithyramb was tragedy.


Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides are the three famous masters of Greek tragedy.


Hamartia refers to the error, flaw, or "sin" in a great hero


Most extant Roman plays were adaptations of Greek models with Greek characters in Greek costumes, acting out Greek legends.


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