Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions from 44 to 50. GREEK THEATER Plays are one of the oldest forms of literature we have. Long before there were any novels, people around the world were writing and acting out plays. One society which did much to develop plays as we know them today was the society of the ancient Greeks. Originally Greek plays began as part of a religious festival to the ...

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions from 44 to 50.

GREEK THEATER

Plays are one of the oldest forms of literature we have. Long before there were any novels, people around the world were writing and acting out plays. One society which did much to develop plays as we know them today was the society of the ancient Greeks. Originally Greek plays began as part of a religious festival to the Greek god Dionysus, the god of song, wine, and nature. For the three days of the festival, Greek writers would present their plays. At the end of the three days, judges would choose the best play.

Greek plays had two forms: tragedy and comedy. Greek tragedies are now by far the most famous form of Greek play. Tragedies focus on a great character, such as a king or a great warrior. During the play, this character would suffer terrible misfortune, until at the end of the play they either were dead or had lost their status. Their fall from their high position was usually caused by some flaw in their personality. For example, in the famous tragedy Oedipus, the main character is searching for the murderer of his father. Throughout the play, he receives many warnings to stop his search, but he refuses to listen. At the end of the play, he discovers that he is actually his father's murderer, and his life is destroyed. In this case, the character's tragic flaw is his stubborn attitude. The Greeks watched tragedies because they believed that they took negative emotions such as fear and disgust out of them and left them emotionally clean. This process was called catharsis.

Greek comedies were not like the comedies we have today. Greek comedies were not necessarily funny. The basis of a Greek comedy was the opposite of a Greek tragedy, a normal person would enjoy a period of good luck and would rise in status at the end of the play. Greek comedies were less serious than tragedies and were generally used to lighten the mood of the audience after they saw a tragedy.

According to the passage, all of the following are true of Greek plays EXCEPT _________.