Prologue

The prologue (Greek πρόλογος / ProLogos / " before the word, the pre- speech" ) means something like " Foreword". It consists of the components " per " (Greek "before" ) and "logos" ( Greek " word "). According to the epilogue refers to the epilogue.

A prologue is an introduction, preface or a foreword. Known for his prefaces was, for example, Erich Kaestner, who likes prefaced his " gay novels " for adults a detailed, ironic and sometimes self-critical preface.

In the drama, the prologue is used in various ways. Aristotle defined the prologue formally as "the whole part of the tragedy before the entry of the choir " (12, 1452b ). In ancient prologue the actors appear, usually in iambic speech verses before the chorus feeds ( parodos ): "Together with the parodos is the prologue to the exposure of the myth ' of the drama; it can be fixed action people, place and time. In view of their function they form a unit with regard to their form, they are inseparable. "

A prologue is often used to explain the intention of the piece. It can be connected to the piece of the action of the prologue, but also detached from the actual drama introduction to the subject. The prologue can be a dialogue of two or more characters in the drama, but also be a soliloquy of the play related or neutral person.

In the prologue of Goethe's Faust I, a bet between God and the devil is represented, whether of thumb is to dissuade by the devil from the right path, if God grant him a free hand. The piece is replaced by both a frame and a reference to the Bible. " The " exposure of my fist " has " with some similarity of Job " In Faust is the Prologue " functional part of the drama "," it leads to the current situation of Faust, and brings the Faust Mephisto act already in motion. " Hugo von Hofmannsthal used a figure for the " prologue " in several dramas, introductory words which speaks to the audience.

In Bertolt Brecht prologues often have the function to qualify the action and to disillusion the viewer. The program's happening on stage is related to the reality. In the play Puntila and his Man Matti the audience is presented by one of the actresses character and intention of staging. It is clear that the stage character of the landowner stands as a social class, not just for a single destiny.

The word " prologue " has found its way into other areas: there are, for example in many television series, especially sitcoms, a prologue before the opening credits, which is similar to those described above. Another example is in cycling. On the first day of the Tour de France there is often a prologue, which is normally a short ITT, which already addresses in the overall standings.

Related Topics

Equivalents in other areas:

• The abstract in the documentation (such as for presentations )
• The preamble for contracts
• The proem in ancient literature
• The bias in the film
• The introduction or the intro in music
• The overture to an opera

Other components of the ancient drama:

• The Epeisodion ( intermediate spoken dialogue )
• The Stasimon (chorus chants between the Epeisodien )