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Prologue
A prologue or prolog (from Greek πρόλογος ''prólogos'', from πρό ''pró'', "before" and λόγος ''lógos'', "word") is an opening to a story that establishes the context and gives background details, often some earlier story that ties into the main one, and other miscellaneous information. The Ancient Greek ''prólogos'' included the modern meaning of ''prologue'', but was of wider significance, more like the meaning of preface. The importance, therefore, of the prologue in Greek drama was very great; it sometimes almost took the place of a romance, to which, or to an episode in which, the play itself succeeded. Latin On the Latin stage the prologue was often more elaborate than it was in Athens, and in the careful composition of the poems which Plautus prefixes to his plays we see what importance he gave to this portion of the entertainment; sometimes, as in the preface to the '' Rudens'', Plautus rises to the height of his genius in his adroit and romantic pro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prologue I
A prologue or prolog (from Greek πρόλογος ''prólogos'', from πρό ''pró'', "before" and λόγος ''lógos'', "word") is an opening to a story that establishes the context and gives background details, often some earlier story that ties into the main one, and other miscellaneous information. The Ancient Greek ''prólogos'' included the modern meaning of ''prologue'', but was of wider significance, more like the meaning of preface. The importance, therefore, of the prologue in Greek drama was very great; it sometimes almost took the place of a romance, to which, or to an episode in which, the play itself succeeded. Latin On the Latin stage the prologue was often more elaborate than it was in Athens, and in the careful composition of the poems which Plautus prefixes to his plays we see what importance he gave to this portion of the entertainment; sometimes, as in the preface to the '' Rudens'', Plautus rises to the height of his genius in his adroit and romantic prol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Loa (Spanish Play)
A loa is a short theatrical piece, a prologue, written to introduce plays of the Spanish Golden Age or Siglo de Oro during the 16th and 17th centuries. These plays included ''comedias'' (secular plays) and '' autos sacramentales'' (sacred/religious plays). The main purposes for the loa included initially capturing the interest of the audience, pleading for their attention throughout the play, and setting the mood for the rest of the performance. This Spanish prologue is specifically characterized by praise and laudatory language for various people and places, often the royal court for example, to introduce the full-length play. The loa was also popular with Latin American or "New World" playwrights during the 17th and 18th centuries through Spanish colonization. Purpose During 16th century public performances of comedias in Madrid, Spain would begin at 2pm in courtyards and later corrales. Audiences would arrive early and vendors would sell foods. Soon these audiences would beco ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Epilogue
An epilogue or epilog (from Greek ἐπίλογος ''epílogos'', "conclusion" from ἐπί ''epi'', "in addition" and λόγος ''logos'', "word") is a piece of writing at the end of a work of literature, usually used to bring closure to the work. It is presented from the perspective of within the story. When the author steps in and speaks directly to the reader, that is more properly considered an afterword. The opposite is a prologue—a piece of writing at the ''beginning'' of a work of literature or drama, usually used to open the story and capture interest. Some genres, for example television programs and video games, call the epilogue an "outro" patterned on the use of "intro" for "introduction". Epilogues are usually set in the future, after the main story is completed. Within some genres it can be used to hint at the next installment in a series of work. It is also used to satisfy the reader's curiosity and to cover any loose ends of the story. History of the term ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plautus
Titus Maccius Plautus (; c. 254 – 184 BC), commonly known as Plautus, was a Roman playwright of the Old Latin period. His comedies are the earliest Latin literary works to have survived in their entirety. He wrote Palliata comoedia, the genre devised by the innovator of Latin literature, Livius Andronicus. The word Plautine refers to both Plautus's own works and works similar to or influenced by his. Biography Not much is known about Titus Maccius Plautus's early life. It is believed that he was born in Sarsina, a small town in Emilia Romagna in northern Italy, around 254 BC.''The Concise Oxford Companion to Classical Literature'' (1996) Ed. M.C. Howatson and Ian Chilvers, Oxford University Press, Oxford Reference Online According to Morris Marples, Plautus worked as a stage-carpenter or scene-shifter in his early years. It is from this work, perhaps, that his love of the theater originated. His acting talent was eventually discovered; and he adopted the names "Maccius ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Greek Tragedy
Greek tragedy is a form of theatre from Ancient Greece and Greek inhabited Anatolia. It reached its most significant form in Athens in the 5th century BC, the works of which are sometimes called Attic tragedy. Greek tragedy is widely believed to be an extension of the ancient rites carried out in honor of Dionysus, and it heavily influenced the theatre of Ancient Rome and the Renaissance. Tragic plots were most often based upon myths from the oral traditions of archaic epics. In tragic theatre, however, these narratives were presented by actors. The most acclaimed Greek tragedians are Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides. These tragedians often explored many themes around human nature, mainly as a way of connecting with the audience but also as way of bringing the audience into the play. Etymology Aristotelian hypothesis The origin of the word ''tragedy'' has been a matter of discussion from ancient times. The primary source of knowledge on the question is the '' Poetic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Canterbury Tales
''The Canterbury Tales'' ( enm, Tales of Caunterbury) is a collection of twenty-four stories that runs to over 17,000 lines written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer between 1387 and 1400. It is widely regarded as Chaucer's ''magnum opus''. The tales (mostly written in verse, although some are in prose) are presented as part of a story-telling contest by a group of pilgrims as they travel together from London to Canterbury to visit the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral. The prize for this contest is a free meal at the Tabard Inn at Southwark on their return. It has been suggested that the greatest contribution of ''The Canterbury Tales'' to English literature was the popularisation of the English vernacular in mainstream literature, as opposed to French, Italian or Latin. English had, however, been used as a literary language centuries before Chaucer's time, and several of Chaucer's contemporaries—John Gower, William Langland, the Pearl Poet, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Terence
Publius Terentius Afer (; – ), better known in English as Terence (), was a Roman African playwright during the Roman Republic. His comedies were performed for the first time around 166–160 BC. Terentius Lucanus, a Roman senator, brought Terence to Rome as a slave, educated him and later on, impressed by his abilities, freed him. It is thought that Terence abruptly died, around the age of 25, likely in Greece or on his way back to Rome, due to shipwreck or disease. DEAD LINK He was supposedly on his way to explore and find inspiration for his comedies. His plays were heavily used to learn to speak and write in Latin during the Middle Ages and Renaissance Period, and in some instances were imitated by William Shakespeare. One famous quotation by Terence reads: "''Homo sum, humani nihil a me alienum puto''", or "I am human, and I think nothing human is alien to me." This appeared in his play '' Heauton Timorumenos''. Biography Terence's date of birth is disputed; Ael ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Miscellany
A miscellany is a collection of various pieces of writing by different authors. Meaning a mixture, medley, or assortment, a miscellany can include pieces on many subjects and in a variety of different forms. In contrast to anthologies, whose aim is to give a ''selective'' and ''canonical'' view of literature, miscellanies were produced for the entertainment of a contemporary audience and so instead emphasise ''collectiveness'' and ''popularity''. Laura Mandell and Rita Raley state: Manuscript miscellanies are important in the Middle Ages, and are the sources for most surviving shorter medieval vernacular poetry. Medieval miscellanies often include completely different types of text, mixing poetry with legal documents, recipes, music, medical and devotional literature and other types of text, and in medieval contexts a mixture of types of text is often taken as a necessary condition for describing a manuscript as a miscellany. They may have been written as a collection, or re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Preface
__NOTOC__ A preface () or proem () is an introduction to a book or other literary work written by the work's author. An introductory essay written by a different person is a '' foreword'' and precedes an author's preface. The preface often closes with acknowledgments of those who assisted in the literary work. It often covers the story of how the book came into being, or how the idea for the book was developed; this may be followed by thanks and acknowledgments to people who were helpful to the author during the time of writing. A preface is often signed (and the date and place of writing often follow the typeset signature); a foreword by another person is always signed. Information essential to the main text is generally placed in a set of explanatory notes, or perhaps in an "Introduction" that may be paginated with Arabic numerals, rather than in the preface. The term ''preface'' can also mean any preliminary or introductory statement. It is sometimes abbreviated ''pref''. P ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Museum Of Eterna's Novel
''The Museum of Eterna's Novel'' (original Spanish-language title: ''Museo de la Novela de la Eterna'') is an avant-garde experimental novel by the Argentine writer Macedonio Fernández. The book has been described as Fernández' masterwork. Fernández started writing it in 1925, and continued working on it for the rest of his life. It was published posthumously in 1967, 15 years after his death. Fernández is widely regarded as a major influence on Jorge Luis Borges, and its writing style bears some resemblance to Borges'. It has been described as an "anti-novel". The book is written in a non-linear style, as a set of multi-layered diversions, discursions and self-reflections, with over fifty prologues before the "main" text of the novel begins. See also * Ultraist movement The Ultraist movement () was a literary movement born in Spain in 1918, with the declared intention of opposing Modernismo, which had dominated Spanish poetry since the end of the 19th century. The m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prolegomena (other)
Prolegomenon (usually plural prolegomena) is an Ancient Greek word used to mean "prologue" or "introduction", to introduce a larger work, e.g., a book. Prolegomena may specifically refer to: *'' Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics'' by Immanuel Kant *''Prolegomena to a Theory of Language'' by Louis Hjelmslev *''Ibn Khaldun's Prolegomena'', or ''Muqaddimah'', an early Islamic treatise on world history, by Ibn Khaldun *''Prolegomena zur Geschichte Israels ''Prolegomena zur Geschichte Israels'' (, ''Prologue to the History of Israel'') is a book by German biblical scholar and orientalist Julius Wellhausen (1844–1918) that formulated but did not found the documentary hypothesis, a theory on the co ...'' (''Prolegomena to the History of Israel''), a book by German biblical scholar Julius Wellhausen *"Prolegomenon", a 2006 episode of the animated television series '' 12 oz. Mouse'' {{disambig ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mystery Play
Mystery plays and miracle plays (they are distinguished as two different forms although the terms are often used interchangeably) are among the earliest formally developed plays in medieval Europe. Medieval mystery plays focused on the representation of Bible stories in churches as tableaux with accompanying antiphonal song. They told of subjects such as the Creation, Adam and Eve, the murder of Abel, and the Last Judgment. Often they were performed together in cycles which could last for days. The name derives from ''mystery'' used in its sense of '' miracle,'' but an occasionally quoted derivation is from ''ministerium'', meaning '' craft'', and so the 'mysteries' or plays performed by the craft guilds. Origins As early as the fifth century living tableaux were introduced into sacred services. The plays originated as simple ''tropes'', verbal embellishments of liturgical texts, and slowly became more elaborate. At an early period chants from the service of the day were a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
