MUSIC SCHOOL OF SPARTA SCHOOL YEAR 2014-15
EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMME FOR ANCIENT THEATER OF SPARTA
LOGOS is devided in two parts: Prose and Poetic. Drama belongs to Poetic . The other two types of poetry of the Ancient Greeks is the Epic and Lyric poetry. Drama consists of: a) Epic parts
(tales) and b) Lyrical parts. Lyrics = sentimental , musical, chorales, accompanied with lyre.
Drama descened from dithyramvos , a chorale song, in honour of Dionysus.
Drama has three types: a) Tragedy, b) comedy, c) Satyric drama. (Doric farse (prank) (joke) was the most played theatrical type on the theatrical stage of Sparta. It was a kind of comedy with usual cases (υποθέσεις), food theft, servants, who stole food from their masters, their arrest and their punishment.)
In ancient Sparta 2 theatrical sites were discovered. The first on the acropolis of the ancient
Sparta. The second on Orthia’s Artemidos temple.. Wodden masks called “kirithra” were also found.
They represent elderly faces and comical female ones. Gitiadas, was the famous architect, poet, planner of “Chalcheoikos Athena’ s” temple. He had lived about the first century b.C. and, perhaps, he constructed the ancient theater of Sparta in Spartan Acropollis. Ancient Sparta had no walls, as other ancient cities had, (Athena, Pylos, Mycenae, e.t.c.) It is said, that the main reason of that was that Sparta had it’s “men’s sternums” as walls. The walls, you can see in front of the Spartan’s
Acropolis area are supporting the ground of the Roman season period.
The ancient theater is located at the South West orientation from the entance of the archeological area and at South East from the Chalcheoikos Athena’s temple.
The basic parts of the ancient theatre were three: a) koilon b) The orchestra and c) The Stage.
9 rows lines of seats (kerkides) are distinct of the lower part of “koilon” and 17 of higher part of frieze (diazoma). The orchestra appears only as space and the scene only is base.
The entrance of ancient theatre was called Parodos . On the left Parodos of the ancient theater of
Sparta there are a lot inscriptions with names, probaably Spartans provides or sponsors.
The left-east entrance “parodos” guides you directly to the orchestra. Orchestra is the place, where chorus was acting: danced, song, spoke as a person. Chorus consisted , initially, of fifty (50) dansers, later of twelve (12) and, finaly, of fifteen (15): 7 of them were standing at the left semi- chorium, 7 at the right and one, who called topper, in the middle. The actors of the ancient drama were called hypocrites = actors . In Sparta was played a kind of drama, which had the name: Doric farse
It’s actors had the name “deikilistai” or “kyrittoi” namely, actors, dancers and singers with wodden women’ masks, ugly and comic. They called, also, “brykilistai”, namely, actors of religious plays, who were singing religious hymns.
If someone was coming from the left Parodos to the stage, it meant that he was a stranger, who came from another country or from the subberbs, or from the port. If someone was coming from

the right parodos to the stage, it meant that he was coming from their town, or from the palace, or from the harbour, so they were well-known to the folk. There was, also, in the middle of orchestra, a
“thymeli”, an altar dedicated to the god of the ancient theatre, usually, to the Dionysos. There, a sacrifice was taking place, before the poetic competition.
In the first line (row) of kerkides were sitting the officially persons. This row was named
“Proedria”. In the first seat of Proedria was sitting the Preast. This seat were decodated and had brunches and buck rest. I can sse 9 lines on the lower diazoma and 17 lines on the upper.
In Sparta, the right Parodos serves to descend from the Chalkioikos Athena’s temple and has covered by the the needs of scene and “scenothecae”.
The area and the persons, which we can see from the fist lines of “kerkides” consisted of the two “imichoria”, the “thymeli” , the chorus, the topper, the angels, the visitors, the “hypocrites” and the schenotheca, by the play, had the name: “Konistra”.
The ancient theatres was made with wood They had the name : “ikriomata” . The theatre of classical ages was made with stone and the theatre of roman ages was made with marble
The stairs to the highest kerkides had the name “klimakes”
The brunches and the buck rest of the first seats had the name: “Erisinota” . The “Proedria” had decorated with lion’ s feet.
The view from the ancient theater contains: Taygetos and the whole town of Sparta and the areas: “Mesoa” was called the central part of the ancient Sparta. Pausanias, a taveller of the 2th century b.C. said that This theater was famous for its view.
The scene had scheme rectangle. Perhaps, it was supported on rectangle structure, which named: “Scenotheca” . It was decorated with the releative decoration to theatrical plays.:
Palaces, temples, supporting columns, capitals etc.
“Nymfeon” was a structure, made with special bricks, where stealing of the inner equipment was prevented. It was constructed during the Roman ages, when the theater reconstructed.
Many parts of Nymfeon and Schenotheca have preserved: Dorian and Korinthian capitals, architraves from the chene, etc. Big corrner stones had brought cords, witch named “toros” and decorated the place of Parodos. The sculptor named : “toreutes”
Flowers were the decoration on the marble bases of schene or of “Nymfeon”. There are parallel rows on the base of construction of the schene The building of schene was based on them and rolled to the center of the schene.
The poet instructed: a)The actors - “hypocrites” were only men. B) the dancers of chorus (15).
They were paid by the constitutors (sponsores), c) the angels and d) applied the “skevi” of actors, clothing, machines etc.
Sponsorship was one of 5 functions of Athenean polity on the classical ages.

A rich Athenean paid for teaching of chorus, a tragedy ot omedy, which took part on dramatical competitions.
“Thespis” was a member of the chorus, who adopted for the first time dialogue in the song
“dithyramvos” for God Dionysus. H posed a question to an other member of chorus of his group and so the epic feature was born; Epic is narrative part of drama.
I adopte = “thespiso” from his name, means that someone establishessomthing that was done regurarly and continuously.
Initially, the performances of the dramatic competitions had a rellingious plot, but then had social and political and ideological content.
The three gratest tragic writers of the Greek drama were: Aishylos, Sofocles, Eyripidis.
Lastly, according to Aristoteles, the term: “katharsis” referred to the spectator, who was cleansed of a storm passion, in which he participated during the performance though his identification with the main character and though his feat, that something similar could happen to him.
There are preserved seven (7) tragedies by Aeschylos. Seven by Sophocles and eightteen by
Eyripides . There are preserved, also, comedies by Menandros, a subsiquentlyl man, who wrote comedies at the ellisnistic ages.