Greek Theatre History
Greek Theatre



Grew out of religious ceremonies
(rituals), which were prominent
features of Greek society
Ceremonies included funeral
services, festivals celebrating the
seasons, and ceremonies honoring
the gods
City Dionysia held a festival in
honor of Dionysus, the Greek god
of wine and fertility
Festival of Dionysia




Many believe that Greek drama originated in the
dithyrambic chorus presented to honor
Dionysus
Dithyramb – a lengthy hymn, sung and danced
by a group of 50 men (chorus)
Chorus – group of men, elders that represented
the voice of society
There were 4 plays performed at the festival: 3
tragedies and 1 comedy
Greek Tragedy




Tragedy – means “goat song” in Greek
The protagonist (main character) in a tragedy,
usually does not reach his goal so tragedies have
sad endings
Tragedies are based on myths, which are stories
or legends sometimes based on fact, which are
handed down from generation to generation
Three Greek tragedy playwrights: Aeschylus,
Sophocles, Euripedes
Thespis





Greek tragic playwright
Is credited with transforming the dithyramb into
tragedy
Added the first actor (hypokrite) to the play
Hypokrite – means an actor speaking behind a
mask
Thespians (actors) are named for Thespis
Aeschylus




“Father” of tragedy
Added second actor
to plays
Reduced the chorus
from 50 to 12 men
Wrote about gods
Sophocles





Wrote about heroes
Added the third actor to
plays
Added dramatic action and
defined plot structure
Wrote 110 plays; 7 survived
Most noted works:
Oedipus Rex and Antigone
Oedipus Rex



Ideal tragedy
Tragic story of a man in search of truth
Fate has preordained that Oedipus to kill his
father and marry his mother
Euripides





Playwright who questioned life
Wrote about man not gods or heroes; more
interested in human problems rather than
religious interests
Emphasized human relationships and emotions
Reduced importance of the chorus
Most famous play was Medea, a tragedy about a
woman who seeks revenge on her unfaithful
husband by killing their children
Aristophanes





Greek Comedy playwright
Wrote 40 plays
Combined satire, wit and farce (slapstick
comedy) to create the Greek comedy form
Nothing was sacred – made fun of everyone and
everthing
Most famous play Lysistrata; women try to stop
war by refusing to sleep with their husbands
until they quit fighting
Aristotle



Greek philosopher
Published The Poetics, guideline for the arts
Established six elements of drama:
Plot
 Character
 Theme
 Language (Dialogue)
 Music
 Spectacle

Conventions of Greek Theatre






No violence on stage
Men played all the roles
Only 3 main actors on stage at all times; these
actors played multiple roles wearing masks
Audience included all social classes
Audience learned lessons from the plays
Catharsis – purging of emotions – the audience
feared the same thing that happened to the
protagonist would happen to them
More Conventions



Masks - Actors wore masks to change characters
Large stylized movements were needed to help
audience understand the plot
Special effects –
Ekkylema – a wagon used to bring characters
onstage; often to reveal the results of offstage
violence
 Deus ex machina – crane hidden behind the upper
level of the skene; used for the entrance of the actor
playing a god

Greek Play Structure




Prologos – opening scene which begins the
action and provides background information
Parados – the chorus enters
Choral ode – performed by the chorus
Exodus – final scene in which all the characters
exit from the stage
Theatre and Stage Area





Orchestra – the circular playing space where the
actors performed
Parados – the entrance way for the chorus
Proskenion – the bottom level of the skene or
stage house
Skene – the scene house behind the orchestra;
used to present several locales; actors changed
their costumes behind the skene
Theatron – “viewing place”; where audience sat
Greek Theatre Space