Theatre is one of ancient Greece's greatest inventions. It was born in Athens in the 6th century BC from songs and dances in honour of Dionysus, god of wine and transformation. Tradition says the first actor was Thespis, who stepped out of the chorus to speak with it.
The festivals of Dionysus
In Athens plays were staged at the City Dionysia, in spring, and the Lenaia, in winter. They were contests: three tragedians each presented three tragedies and a satyr play, and a jury awarded the prize. Chorus costs were paid by a wealthy citizen, the choregos, as a public service. Thousands attended; in Pericles' time the state paid poorer citizens' admission.
Genres
| Genre | Features | Authors |
|---|---|---|
| Tragedy | Mythical stories, heroes facing fate, suffering and moral choices | Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides |
| Old Comedy | Fierce political satire, real people mocked, wild fantasy | Aristophanes (Clouds, Frogs, Lysistrata) |
| New Comedy | Family affairs, love, mix-ups, stock characters | Menander |
| Satyr play | Parody of myth, with a chorus of satyrs | Euripides (Cyclops) |
Actors, masks, chorus
Actors were all men, at most three per tragedy, playing several roles by changing masks. The masks, of linen and wood, let audiences recognise characters from afar. The chorus, of 12 or 15 in tragedy and 24 in comedy, sang and danced commenting on the action, voicing citizens or gods. Violent scenes were not shown: a messenger reported them.
How a theatre was built
- Theatron: the auditorium, semicircular tiers cut into a hillside
- Orchestra: the circular space where the chorus danced, with Dionysus' altar
- Skene: the building behind the orchestra, where actors entered, with scenery
- Proskenion: the facade in front of the skene
- Parodoi: side passages for the chorus and audience to enter
Special effects included the mechane, a crane that made gods appear in flight (hence deus ex machina), and the ekkyklema, a wheeled platform revealing the interior of a house.
Epidaurus and theatres today
The theatre of Epidaurus in the Peloponnese, built in the 4th century BC, is the best preserved: it seats about 14,000 and has extraordinary acoustics, so a coin dropped in the centre of the orchestra can be heard from the back rows. Every summer the Athens and Epidaurus Festival stages ancient tragedies and comedies there, while in Athens performances take place in the Odeon of Herodes Atticus below the Acropolis. The Theatre of Dionysus, on the south slope of the Acropolis, is where Sophocles' and Euripides' plays premiered. Other spectacular theatres are at Delphi, Dodona, Argos and Philippi; in Italy, at Syracuse and Taormina.
Legacy
Words such as tragedy, comedy, drama, scene, chorus, protagonist and catharsis come from Greek theatre. Greek tragedies are still rewritten, from Anouilh's and Brecht's Antigone to Pasolini's films, and Aristotle's Poetics remains a reference for storytellers.
See also ancient Greek literature and Oedipus and the myths of Thebes.