In some beautiful, messed up coincidence the same crowd who helped get Alexander Hamilton out obscurity also loves the weekly thrills of American Horror Story.
The connected story line has reminded me of works from some tragic Greek writers. Not so much in content, but in structure. Not everyone will agree with this theory, and I am looking for discussion. Maybe this can help you in your next theatre history exam on Greek theatre.
1. The Greeks used the same actors for their plays.
In The City of Dionysus festival, there would traditionally be three tragic plays and a satyr play to accompany or parody it. (Satyr=satire.) All of these plays would circle around the same family for the most part and the tragic events that the protagonists would endure. With all of the connections being confirmed for the seasons, it should sound pretty familiar. The Greek actors would use masks to assume different characters, but we can, of course, count the difference in makeup and hair between seasons as "masks."
2. Myths and familiar stories.
Many Greek tragedies were based off myths that already existed, and playwrights would just tell their version of events. It's well known that AHS draws inspiration from real murders and events like The Black Dahlia in Murder House, Barney and Betty Hill who inspired two characters in Asylum, and so on. These do differ a little because the Greeks used stories of people battling the fate of the gods, and some of the things in AHS were inspired by actual events. We can see the similarity, however, by the supernatural element throughout the show. Vampires who run a hotel, a house where if you are murdered there your soul is trapped, and almost any other aspect of the show.
3. Deus Ex Machina
To me, aliens definitely count as an unexpected being that just swooped in and summed up the story. While the literal definition of deus ex machina is "God in the machine" it is a literary device to solve a problem that seems unsolvable, and in Greek mythology that often meant the gods interfering. However, AHS also has the tragic hero element which means that heroes often own up to their actions even if it's not necessarily their fault. They were fated to be bad. So if they don't have any intervention we know that Ryan Murphy has no problem giving them a slightly different ending.
4. Slim to none happy endings.
In the tragedy Madea, the protagonist Madea kills her two children but is whisked away by the gods which is about as happy as ending I feel you get with American Horror Story as well. Think back to Murder House and the fact that the family will stay together for eternity. At first, it seems like an alright ending, but the fact is that they will have to live with the ghosts that terrorized them until the end of time or beyond. It's not a pretty sight.
5. How does Cult fit into this?
So at this current time, there have only been two episodes of Cult released. However, I'm going to make a prediction that this will relate more to a comedy or satyr play. Greek tragedies rarely commented on things like politics, but comedies were well known for mentioning public officials and making fun of current offense. Comedies were also known for mentioning sex more than tragedies, and in the first five minutes of episode one, we see Evan Peters humping a television set while he is celebrating Trump winning the election. They're also an element of parody with the character Twisty returning as a pop culture icon with his own comic books rather than just a feared fable. Who knows how many troupes this season will fall into this time around.
