In ancient Greece, animation inns were divided into tragedy and comedy. What are their basic differences?

The period from the end of the 6th century BC to the beginning of the 4th century BC is generally called the "classical period" of Greek history. Literature in this period mainly refers to Athenian literature. In the early Athens city-state, there was a contradiction between the new industrial and commercial slave owners and the land aristocratic slave owners within the ruling class. Because the two sides were evenly matched, the city-state rulers in the sixth century BC always pursued the policy of reconciliation. By the end of the sixth century BC, the power of industrial and commercial slave owners had grown unprecedentedly, and democratic reforms were carried out, so that freemen enjoyed equal political rights. The struggle against aristocratic rule for more than a hundred years was finally won, and slave-owner democracy was established. At this time, the remnants of the clan system were completely swept away, and the class contradictions since then were mainly the contradiction between slaves and slave owners and the contradiction between foreigners and citizens without citizenship. However, the struggle between Democrats and oligarchs among slave owners still ran through the whole classical period.

At the beginning of the 5th century BC, the economic and political contradiction between Greece and Persia triggered the Greek-Persian War, and the Greeks won great victories in the Marathon (490 BC) and Salami. After the war, some Greek city-states established the Tyrol Maritime Alliance to resist Persian aggression and was controlled by Athens. Since then, the economic and political power of Athens has flourished. The reign of Perikles (443-429 BC) was the golden age of Athens. In 43 1 BC, the economic and political contradiction between the Tyrol League headed by Athens and the Peloponnesian League headed by Sparta triggered the Peloponnesian War, which lasted intermittently for 27 years (43 1-404 BC) and finally ended in the defeat of Athens. During and after the war, Athens fell into economic and political crisis, the contradiction between the rich and the poor, slaves and slave owners became increasingly acute, and slave escapes and uprisings occurred frequently. After the Peloponnesian War, Greece went to war with Persia again, and the city-states were constantly at war. The city-state system has been unable to achieve the unity required by the development of slavery economy. In the middle of the 4th century BC, Macedonia in the north rose and soon conquered Greece, thus ending the history of Greece in the classical period.

In the classical period, the industry, commerce and agriculture in Athens were relatively developed. Due to foreign aggression and internal democratic struggle, the political life of the polis is very active, which promotes the prosperity of culture. City-states often hold grand festivals and sports competitions. With the development of historical science, natural science and philosophy, the art of architecture and sculpture has made great progress. The main achievements in literature during this period were tragedy and comedy, and literary theory also made great achievements.

The ancient Greek tragedy originated from Ode to Dionysus, lamenting Dionysus's sufferings on earth and praising his rebirth. The other is a serious manifestation of sad events such as the death of rural festivals in Attica. Generally, the first theory is adopted. The etymology of the tragedy is "goat song", because the chorus part of Ode to Dionysus plays the role of goatskin, half sheep and half man; Or the singer's prize in the exhibition competition is a goat. In 560 BC, in order to please farmers, the tyrant Pisces strato moved bacchanalia, which was popular in the countryside, to Athens, and the performance during the festival was the precursor of the tragedy. In the era of slave-owner democracy, Athens leaders used this most extensive form of mass performance for publicity and education. Perikles gave theater subsidies, rebuilt the outdoor theater and held a grand drama competition every spring, which made the theater one of the centers of political forum and cultural life of free people at that time. Greek tragedy developed under such conditions.

On the subject matter, tragedy gradually expanded from Ode to Dionysus to the scope of myth and the legend of heroes. It retains the chorus form and lyrical features of Ode to Dionysus, and the dialogue in the play adopts poetic style. The form of tragedy is gradually developed and perfected. The original text of Ode to Dionysus was asked by the chorus, and the author acted as the respondent to answer temporarily. This respondent is the first actor. The first tragic poet is said to be thespis, who adopted another actor around 534 BC and turned Ode to Dionysus into a tragedy. This is the first time that a tragedy has been staged in Athens. At the beginning of the fifth century BC, Aeschylus increased the number of actors to two. Each actor wears high-heeled boots and masks, and can take turns playing several roles. The chorus was originally twelve, but later it was increased to fifteen. Chorus teams sing and dance to express sympathy for the people in the play, give advice to the audience, explain or predict the subsequent plot, express their feelings about the development of events in the play, and also play a role in changing the scene.

According to Aristotle's definition, Greek tragedy describes serious events, aiming at arousing pity and fear and leading to the purification of these emotions; The protagonist often encounters misfortune unexpectedly and develops into tragedy, so the conflict of tragedy becomes the conflict between man and fate.

Tragedy is indeed permeated with the concept of fate, because the Greeks attributed the incomprehensible social development trend and personal experience to the teasing of fate. Therefore, the conflict between man and fate actually reflects the conflict between man and social environment and between people in a superstitious way. Tragedy is caused by the hero's inability to compete with the evil forces in society. Although the hero was finally eliminated, he was invincible in spirit. Therefore, the Greek tragedy mainly lies not in writing sadness, but in expressing lofty heroic thoughts with a magnificent style. Greek tragedy flourished in the era when democracy defeated dictatorship and Greeks defeated Persian aggression. Its basic theme is to write about the ancient democratic struggle. Tragedy is permeated with the spirit of opposing dictatorship, aggression and oppression, and praises the heroic behavior and patriotic thought of fighting for freedom and justice. Although it takes myth and the legend of heroes as its theme, it is closely related to the politics at that time, and has a distinct tendency and profound ideological content.

The 5th century BC was the heyday of Greek tragedy. At that time, many tragic poets wrote a lot of plays and took part in competitions, the most famous of which were Aeschylus, Sophocles and euripides. Only a small part of their works have been circulated in ancient Greek tragedies. Aeschylus (525 BC? -456) Born into a noble family, he participated in the Marathon and Salami battles to fight against aggression. In his later years, he went to Sicily twice because of conflicts with the Athenians. Legend has it that he wrote ninety tragedies and Satiros' plays, and only seven have survived. He won thirteen awards when he was alive. His works reflect the social life of Athens during the period of democratic establishment.

Aeschylus supported democrats politically, and the spirit of democracy was everywhere in his tragedy. The downfall of the Persian navy in The Battle of Salami, written in Persian, is the only existing tragedy with the reality at that time as the theme, which shows that the democratic system in Athens is superior to the autocratic system in Persia. The poet believes that the Greeks won because they were free men and fought to defend the freedom and independence of the motherland; The Persians failed because the Persian king was arrogant and punished by God, and because Persian soldiers were enslaved and forced to fight under the threat of beheading. In Seven Attacks on Thebes, Polonius is a traitor who attacks the motherland. The poet used him to imply that hippias, the tyrant of Athens, and hippias tried to recover from the Persian army in the marathon. However, there are contradictions in Aeschylus' thoughts, and he sometimes looks at the reality at that time with aristocratic eyes. In "The Avengers", he advised the Athenians not to change the law casually, indicating that he disagreed with the Democratic Party's reform of the Senate. In Prometheus Trilogy, he expressed his desire to reconcile oligarchs and Democrats. Political contradictions are also reflected in religion. The poet puts God in an important position. On the one hand, he praised God's justice in Orestes Trilogy, and on the other hand, he was hostile to God in Prometheus Bound. On the one hand, he believes in people's free will and thinks that people should be responsible for their own destiny. Aeschylus' ideological contradiction reflects the characteristics of the early Athenian Democrats, who have always taken appropriate measures to control the nobility and satisfy the wishes of the free people politically and economically; Ideologically, it is also trying to reconcile advanced ideas with traditional concepts.

Aeschylus's tragedies are full of high-spirited fighting spirit and often end in celebration of victory, which shows that he is full of confidence in the victory of democracy. Engels once called him "a poet with a strong tendency".

Aeschylus' most important work is Prometheus Bound, the first in the Prometheus trilogy (479-478 BC). The tragedy is based on the myth that Prometheus stole skyfire. At first, in order to punish Prometheus, Zeus sent a god of strength and violence and chained him to the Caucasus Mountain. Oceanus, the river god, came to persuade him to make peace with Zeus, but he refused. Prometheus said, "If the kingship of Zeus is not overthrown, my suffering will never end." He knew that if Zeus married a goddess, she would give birth to a son stronger than Zeus and overthrow Zeus. Hermes was ordered to force Prometheus to tell the secret, but he refused to tell it. He said, "I won't trade my unfortunate experience for the fate of your slave." Then, the sky broke and Prometheus fell into the abyss. The second song released by Prometheus has been lost. It is said that Zeus reconciled with Prometheus in order to get rid of his father's curse that he would be overthrown. The third "Prometheus of Fire" has also been lost. It is said that the worship ceremony and torch parade of Prometheus in Athens were described, which showed their confidence in the progress of human society.

Prometheus Bound is one of the noblest and most solemn works in Greek tragedy. The script uses the whole universe to allude to the small Athens city-state, showing the Democrats and oligarchs as superhuman gods, raising the democratic struggle to the height of human destiny, and showing the lofty spirit and majestic spirit of fighting for a just cause. The whole play is full of philosophy, solemn atmosphere and surging emotions, which embodies the pride of Athenian Democrats.

Prometheus was originally a small god in Herzog's genealogy. After being shaped by Aeschylus, he became a great god who was not afraid of violence, sacrifice and struggle, and became the embodiment of the democrats. He hates unjust gods, and would rather endure the pain for hundreds of millions of years than give in to them. The image of Prometheus is immortal. He has been praised by progressive human beings since ancient times, and Marx called him "the noblest saint and martyr in the philosophical calendar".

Zeus is the new god in the play. He is hostile to mankind and even attempts to destroy it. He is the public enemy of mankind. He overthrew his father and won the throne with the help of Prometheus, but he bite the hand that feeds him and persecuted his companions. He is treacherous, cruel, tyrannical, savage, dissolute and evil. The image of Zeus reflects the tyrant of Athens that day. In addition to attacking Zeus, the poet satirized the cowardice of the river god and Hermes' favorite, so Marx said in Prometheus that the Greek gods were "fatally wounded".

Prometheus has a simple script structure and few actions, and monologues and chorus lyrics account for a large proportion in the play. Prometheus is like the defendant in the ode to Dionysus. The characters in the play asked him questions, and he answered and expressed his feelings. Zeus has never appeared in the play, but his arrogance is everywhere, and the invisible image is more powerful than the tangible image.

Aeschylus' other famous plays are the Orestes Trilogy (458 BC), which is the only trilogy in ancient Greece. The First Agamemnon is one of the most outstanding tragedies in ancient Greece. When Agamemnon sent troops to Troy, he killed his daughter Iphigenia to sacrifice to the gods. His wife, Clytaemestra, wanted to avenge her daughter, colluded with her lover, Egers Toth, and murdered Agamemnon when he returned home in triumph. The second book "The Drunken" wrote that Agamemnon's son Orestes returned to China to avenge his father and killed his mother. The third "The Avengers" wrote that Orestes was tried in the Athens court and the goddess Athena acquitted him. At the end of the script, the Athenians celebrated the festival of Athena, the patron saint of the city-state. The theme of this trilogy is to describe the victory of patriarchy over matriarchy and the victory of the progressive spirit of the rule of law over the concept of revenge of the blood clan. Aeschylus was the real founder of ancient Greek tragedy, and Engels called him "the father of tragedy". He endowed tragedy with profound ideological content and complete form. He first adopted the tragic form of trilogy, each of which can exist independently and is closely related to each other. It is said that scenery, solemn dance, high-heeled boots and bright clothes were all first adopted by Aeschylus.

Aeschylus' characters are all giants, but on the whole, their personalities are fixed. His tragedy is full of lyrical atmosphere and pays little attention to the drama of the plot. His style is solemn and noble, and his vocabulary is rich, but sometimes it seems to be piled up.

Aristophanes worships Aeschylus in his comedy Frog, and thinks his tragedy is of great educational significance. His works received extensive attention in the19th century. It is said that Aeschylus is one of Marx's favorite writers.

Sophocles (496 BC? -406)' s father is a workshop owner who makes armor. In his early years, the poet made friends with Meng Ke, the leader of oligarchy, and later with Perikles, the leader of democracy. In 440 BC, he was elected as one of the ten generals in Athens, and participated in the anti-democratic coup in 4 13 BC. He wrote about 130 tragedies and Satiros' plays, including seven, among which antigone and Oedipus the King were the most outstanding. He has won twenty-four drama awards and is the most tragic poet.

Sophocles lived in the heyday and decline of Athens. Although the Pericles era was called the "golden age", there was a serious social crisis lurking in this city-state. Athens' oppressive position in the Tyrol League strengthened the parasitism and reaction of the upper city-states; After the outbreak of the Peloponnesian War, democracy was greatly weakened. The decline of democracy and social unrest lead to the disillusionment of the liberal class with the democratic ideal. In Sophocles' tragedy, there is a heavy confusion and counterproductive mood. He also attributed various social phenomena to the teasing of fate. For him, fate is not a concrete god, but an abstract force. Although he believes in the power of fate, he thinks it is unfair and unreasonable. He attaches great importance to the personality and free will of free people and is unwilling to give in to fate. The hero in his works has a strong will to fight the enemy or fate to the end. They believe that they are on the side of justice, so they are not afraid of danger and know that they can't do it. Sophocles attached great importance to human wisdom and strength. In antigone, he said that man is the strangest thing in the world and praised him for being good at his work and using language and thoughts.

Sophocles belongs to a moderate democratic faction in politics, advocating the maintenance of democracy and the rule of law and opposing dictatorship. However, he is in favor of limiting citizens' rights, and he advocates ethical moderation.

Sophocles' most representative work is King Oedipus (43 BC1). He borrowed an old and thrilling story to reflect the reality at that time. King Raus of Thebes learned from God that his son was destined to kill his father and marry his mother because of his earlier sins, so he abandoned his baby, Oedipus. The baby was adopted as his own son by Polopus, king of Korentos. When Oedipus grew up, he also learned his fate from God. He was determined to defy his fate and flee to Thebes. On the way, he lost his temper and killed an old man who happened to be his biological father. He guessed the mystery of the banshee with the sphinx, relieved the disaster for the people of Thebes, and was hailed as king by the people of Thebes. After marrying the widow of the former king, he was actually his mother Jocasta. At the beginning of the script, there was a plague in Thebes, and God said that the murderer of Ios must be expelled before the plague could subside. Oedipus sincerely sought the welfare of the polis. In order to eliminate the disaster, he tried every means to visit the murderer. As a result, he found out that the murderer was himself, and the prediction of marrying his mother came true. Extreme grief further led to tragedy. Jocasta committed suicide. Oedipus was very angry. He stabbed himself in the eye and asked for exile.

The theme of King Oedipus is to describe the individual's strong will and the conflict between heroic behavior and fate, which shows that a good hero is bound to be destroyed in the struggle with great disparity in strength. Oedipus embodies some characteristics of the ideal monarch of slave owner democracy. He is smart and upright, loves truth, cares about free people, dares to face reality and take responsibility. His tragic fate lies in his innocence, but he has to bear the sins of his ancestors; The more he tries to resist, the more he falls into the trap of fate; The more he sincerely wants to eliminate disasters for the polis, the closer he is to his own destruction. On the one hand, his destruction publicized the irresistible force of fate, and at the same time, it showed the evil nature of fate, reflecting the grief and indignation of Athenian freemen's helplessness to social disasters.

King Oedipus has made great achievements in thought and art, and Aristotle thinks it is a model of Greek tragedy. The tragic conflict, tragic character and tragic effect in the play are enough to represent the characteristics of Greek tragedy. When Sophocles wrote this play, he had gone out of the early imitation stage, reached a mature stage in art and formed his own style. There are serious events at the beginning of the script, and the tragic atmosphere is very strong, but he can easily strengthen this atmosphere and gradually push the plot to a climax; The plot is reasonable and natural, and everything in it is the inevitable development of the previous one. Although the plot is complex, it is concise and compact, and every dramatic action has the greatest effect. Sophocles created a dramatic situation that the audience understood but the people in the play didn't understand. Oedipus' ignorance further aggravated his tragedy. In the face of terrible fate, Oedipus' heroic behavior was very heroic, which caused great pity and fear.

Another representative work of Sophocles is antigone (44 BC1). The play tells that antigone, the daughter of Oedipus, rebelled against the tyrant's orders and buried her brother Bo Nekes, so she was executed. The theme of the play is to describe the conflict between religious ethics and cruel law. Although antigone, the representative of justice, was destroyed, the tyrant Creon only alienated from others and caused himself a tragedy. The theme of the script is still advocating the spirit of democracy and opposing dictatorship. The contradictions and conflicts in the play are very complicated, but the structure is very rigorous. Antigone was originally a weak woman, but she was brave and tenacious, with the spirit of sacrifice, and her moral strength made her a tall image.

Sophocles brought the tragic art to a perfect state. He broke through the tragic form of lyricism, reduced the role of chorus and strengthened dramatic action. He gave up the form of trilogy and was able to express complex dramatic conflicts in a tragedy more concisely. He pays most attention to the integrity and internal connection of the plot, making the script an organic whole, and his works have the most complete structure in Greek drama. Sophocles pays attention to writing heroes rather than gods; It does not pay attention to expressing the feelings of the characters in large paragraphs, but to depicting the characters' characters, making them the basic driving force for the development of the plot. He is also good at using the method of character contrast to make his characters special. Sophocles' style is simple and natural, and the dialogue is very compact, which conforms to the identity of the characters. His chorus is also beautifully written, especially the first chorus in Oedipus of Kronos and the third chorus in antigone, which are regarded as the models of lyric poetry.

Aristophanes thinks that Sophocles is the most qualified successor of Aeschylus in Frog. Racine thought King Oedipus was the most perfect tragedy, and Lessing and Goethe spoke highly of his skills.

Euripides (485 BC? -406) was born in a noble family, studied natural philosophy, and interacted with Socrates and some sophists. He was called a "philosopher in the theater". In his later years, he was skeptical about God because he opposed the war of aggression, so that the Athens authorities did not allow him to visit the royal palace of Macedonia and later died there. He wrote about 92 tragedies and Satiros' Plays, including Medea, trojan women, Iphigenia of Taoluo and Hippolytus 18 tragedies, and he won five drama awards.

Euripides's works reflect the Athenian society during the slave owners' democratic crisis. He advocated the maintenance of some important principles of democracy and believed that all citizens should be equal before the law and everyone should have a say. He also condemned the tyrant. But he is different from the first two tragic actors. Aeschylus enthusiastically supported democracy, Sophocles' confidence in democracy was shaken, and euripides deeply realized the serious drawbacks of democracy. Influenced by the progressive thought of sophists, he doubted the Athenian city-state's policy of foreign aggression and domestic oppression, as well as the status of women and religious consciousness at that time. He called God an "old lie" and even thought that "there is only one thing shameful about slaves, and that is their names". In euripides's view, it is no longer God who decides people's fate, but people themselves. In some places, euripides went beyond the limitations of slave-owner democracy, and to some extent, it reflected the democratic demands of the people. However, he did not completely get rid of the shackles of old ideas, and still retained some traditional religious ideas.