Home - Jan 2023

Ancient Greek Masks

In their studies of the Ancient world, Miss Rock’s 7th grade ancient history class recently reenacted a section of The Frogs by Aristophanes, the 4th century Greek comic playwright. After studying Sophocles tragedy Antigone and excerpts from Aristophanes’ The Frogs, the 7th grade students pulled from their newfound knowledge of Greek culture and drama to contribute to the performance. Each student created a mask to represent a figure from the play, some making up the Chorus of frogs, where the play gets its name, and others the mythological figures of the god Dionysus and the ferryman of Hades, Charon.
In Greek comedy and tragedy, the faces of the actors were not visible, so they relied upon masks to dramatically represent the attitude and emotions of the figure. So, the students designed and created their own masks using materials they had access to and trying to reflect on their understanding of the play and the characters. The masks were a main crux of the Greek drama, as the audience could never see the actual faces of the actors. The art of drama itself was central to Hellenistic, especially Athenian, culture, and it was a place of unity, joy, and sadness. By studying and reenacting the plays, the students were able to glean insights into the culture which they are studying.  

Students, teachers, and parents were all welcomed into the seventh grade classroom to enjoy the short play. After the performance, the seventh graders each spoke about the history of Greek tragedy and answered questions from the audience. Despite thousands of years, the audience was guffawing at the antics of the actors and the cleverness of the dialogue.
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