Theater of Ancient Greece

History of Greek Theater

• Precedent of Greek Theater: festivals to honor gods
• Dionysis: god of "partying, wine, etc." = Festival was "City of Dionysa"
• To welcome Dionysis, men performed songs (plays were used only in the festival for Dionysis in Athens)
• Greek legend: drama began when Thespis (greek playwright) added an actor to chorus to take on role of different characters/ hold dialogue
• Main attraction in this festival=performance competition started 534 B.C.
• At first, actors, directors, and dramatists=same person. As time went on, 3 actors were allowed to perform (in each play)
• Chorus: active in Greek theater because limited number of actors allowed to perform on stage
• Athens was center of these theatrics, but spread tradition to their allies
• Took place in amphitheater (see in theater terms)
• Famous playwrights: Aeschylus, Aristophanes, Euripides, Sophocles
• Popular forms, or genres, of theater: tragedy, comedy, and satyr (deals with mythological subjects in comic way)

Theater Terms

• Orchestra – flat dancing floor of the chorus
• Theatron – the actual structure of the theater building
• Skene – stage building
• Ekkyklema – a wheeled platform with sets of scenes
• Mechane – crane
• Amphitheater – a round building, typically unroofed with a central space for the presentation of dramatic or sporting events
• Antagonist – chief opponent of the protagonist
• Chalmys - Cloak worn by some actors
• Dialogue – conversation between characters in a play
• Mask – face covering with exaggerated features
• Ode- poems sung in a play, divided scenes
• Protagonist- main character
• Prologue – exposition
• Parodos – opening song
• Paean – thanksgiving to Dionysis
• Exodus – final scene
• Choragos – leader of the chorus
• Strophe – verse
• Antistophe – verse answering strophe
• Epode – stanza that follows the stophe and antistrophe

Purpose of Theater in the Lives of the Greeks

• At the theater of Dionysa (Athens) religious festivals were performed in honor of the gods
• Since the gods were so important to the Athenians, they filled the theater for ten days annually to watch plays
• Emperors and magistrates used the plays and public games to gain support in elections = each one tried to out-do his predecessor so the plays continued to become more lavish
• Plays helped the emperors and magistrates gain support, and they were important to the Athenians' religious beliefs = free admission to the plays
• Restrictions were put on the public games (gladiator fights, chariot racing, etc)
• After restrictions, wealthy began throwing banquets & private parties for entertainment
• Poor depended on public games & theater for entertainment
• Therefore, public games & theater was the biggest source of entertainment for Greeks (wealthy & poor)

Theater consisted of

• 3 parts: prose, lyrics, dancing
• Prologue- understand background, "exposition"
• Chorus- sings an ode (as well as divided scenes)
• Plot then develops with epodes
• Exodus- ends the play
• Theater consisted of: amphitheater and orchestra, special machines that were used during the play, and doors for only actors which helped things move smoothly

Theater Structure

• Place: Amphitheater
• 3 Parts of Amphitheater: orchestra, scene, koilon
• Orchestra: "dancing place" of the chorus and chief performance place
• Altar of Dionysis was usually located in the center of the orchestra
• Scene: the background for the play
• Koilon: main part of theater where audience sat
• Audience sat in theatron "seeing place" on semi-circular terraced rows of benches
• Parodoi: chorus entrance
• Logeion: back wall of scene that was set aside for actors only
• Theologion: flat roof of scene dedicated to the gods
• Proedria: front seats reserved for officials and priests
• Most honorable spectator was the priest of Elefthereos Dionysis- sat in throne of marble
• Odeia: indoor theaters for musical performances

Costumes and Actors

• Thespis was the first to begin using actors followed by Aeschylos and Sophocles
• Originally all actors were men
• Costumes allowed the males to take on female roles
• They also helped the audience understand how rich or poor the character was and what occupation the character had
• Most essential part of the costume was the mask
• Masks were necessary for the Dionyssiac religion
• Masks allowed actors to play more than one role in the same play
• Masks also amplified the actors' voices
• Each mask was uniquely painted to portray a different emotion, thus allowing the audience to know what the character was feeling

Theater of Ancient Greece

By: G. Mick Smith, PhD