Origins

The ancient Greek drama was a theatrical culture that

flourished in ancient Greece from 600 BC. The city-state of
Athens, which became a significant cultural, political, and
military power during this period, was its center, where it was
institutionalised as part of a festival called the Dionysia, which
honored the god Dionysus. Tragedy (late 500 BC), comedy (490
BC), and the satyr play were the three dramatic genres to emerge
there. Athens exported the festival to its numerous colonies.

Staging an ancient Greek play

Attending a tragedy or comedy in 5th century BC Athens was in
many ways a different experience than attending a play in the
United States in the 20th century. To name a few differences,
Greek plays were performed in an outdoor theater, used masks,
and were almost always performed by a chorus and three actors
(no matter how many speaking characters there were in the play,
only three actors were used; the actors would go back stage after
playing one character, switch masks and costumes, and reappear
as another character). Greek plays were performed as part of
religious festivals in honor of the god Dionysus, and unless later
revived, were performed only once. Plays were funded by the
wealthy, and always presented in competition with other plays,
and were voted either the first, second, or third (last) place.
Tragedies almost exclusively dealt with stories from the mythic
past (there was no "contemporary" tragedy), comedies almost
exclusively with contemporary figures and problems.
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Greek tragedies and comedies were always performed in

outdoor theaters. Early Greek theaters were probably little more
than open areas in city centers or next to hillsides where the
audience, standing or sitting, could watch and listen to the
chorus singing about the exploits of a god or hero. From the late
6th century BC to the 4th and 3rd centuries BC there was a
gradual evolution towards more elaborate theater structures, but
the basic layout of the Greek theater remained the same. The
major components of Greek theater are labled on the diagram
above.
Orchestra: The orchestra (literally, "dancing space") was
normally circular. It was a level space where the chorus would
dance, sing, and interact with the actors who were on the stage
near the skene. The earliest orchestras were simply made of hard
earth, but in the Classical period some orchestras began to be
paved with marble and other materials. In the center of the
orchestra there was often a thymele, or altar. The orchestra of the
theater of Dionysus in Athens was about 60 feet in diameter.
Theatron: The theatron (literally, "viewing-place") is where the
spectators sat. The theatron was usually part of hillside
overlooking the orchestra, and often wrapped around a large
portion of the orchestra (see the diagram above). Spectators in
the fifth century BC probably sat on cushions or boards, but by
the fourth century the theatron of many Greek theaters had
marble seats.
Skene: The skene (literally, "tent") was the building directly
behind the stage. During the 5th century, the stage of the theater
of Dionysus in Athens was probably raised only two or three
steps above the level of the orchestra, and was perhaps 25 feet
wide and 10 feet deep. The skene was directly in back of the
stage, and was usually decorated as a palace, temple, or other
building, depending on the needs of the play. It had at least one
set of doors, and actors could make entrances and exits through
them. There was also access to the roof of the skene from
behind, so that actors playing gods and other characters (such as
the Watchman at the beginning of Aeschylus' Agamemnon)
could appear on the roof, if needed.
Parodos: The parodoi (literally, "passageways") are the paths by
which the chorus and some actors (such as those representing
messengers or people returning from abroad) made their
entrances and exits. The audience also used them to enter and
exit the theater before and after the performance.

Scenic elements[edit]
There were several scenic elements commonly used in Greek
theater:
• mechane, a crane that gave the impression of a flying actor
(thus, deus ex machina)
• ekkyklêma, a wheeled platform often used to bring dead
characters into view for the audience
• pinakes, pictures hung to create scenery
• thyromata, more complex pictures built into the second-
level scene (3rd level from ground)

Attending the theatre was considered so important that the

government paid for the poor to attend. This meant that
everyone could attend the theatre regardless of social
class. In conclusion, Ancient Greek Theatre demonstrated
social class, but still included both rich and poor people.

famous play
Antigone by Sophocles
Antigone is another tragedy written by Sophocles. Here, we
focus on Antigone who was the daughter of Oedipus and his
mother, Jocasta. Sophocles uses this tale as a way to warn us
against our own pride. In this story, Antigone witnesses her
brothers fighting for the throne – a conflict that eventually killed
one of them.

Important points

The chorus plays a very important role in Greek tragedy. The

play does not officially begin until they enter and ends when
they leave. The chorus acts as characters within the drama, it
provides the audience with vital information and it locates the
story of the play within the context of wider Greek mythology.
The chorus sang and danced during the performance. Their
movements were elaborately choreographed. The chorus acts as
a bridge between the action and the audience. The chorus
physically stood on the orchestra between the actors and the
audience. It could talk to the actors on one side and the audience
on the other. It was made up of members of the Athenian
community, just like the audience. The chorus for each play was
selected from the citizens of Athens, who took on this
responsibility unpaid as part of their civic duty.

The actors in Greek theatre were semi-professionals. They were

paid for their performances, but acting was not their full time
occupation. There were no actresses on the Greek stage. All the
female roles were played by men. The maximum number of
actors required for any Greek tragedy is three. If you look at the
plays, you will see that there are never more than three speaking
characters onstage at any one time. Each actor could quickly and
easily change characters by simply changing his mask and
costume.

Little is known about acting styles in Greek theatre. There was

no fourth wall in the Greek theatre. Like the chorus, the actors
could see the audience, and would have acknowledged their
presence and spoken directly to them. Visibility and audibility
was probably an issue in the huge Greek theatres. The actors’
masks had megaphones built into the mouths to amplify their
voices. In the dialogue of Greek plays, the characters often
describe what they are feeling and doing in detail. For example,
they might tell us that they are crying or that another character is
scowling at them. Through the language of the play they are able
to convey the action of the scene to even the most distant
spectator.

There were many Greek playwrights, but sadly only the work of
three of them has survived: Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides.
All three wrote plays for the City Dionysia, but they were very
different from each other.
The plays of Aeschylus explore the dangers of arrogance, the
misuse of power and the bloody consequences of revenge. His
trilogy, the Oresteia, explores the chain of revenge set into
motion by king Agamemnon’s decision to sacrifice his daughter
in return for a fair wind to take his ships to Troy.

Sophocles is interested in the redemptive power of suffering. A

good example of this is the character of Oedipus in Oedipus
Rex. Sophocles portrays Oedipus as a good-hearted but
headstrong young man who kills his own father without
knowing that he is his father, and marries his mother without
realising that she is his mother. When he discovers what he has
done, he blinds himself in remorse.

Euripides, the last of the three, belongs to a somewhat later

generation of Greek thought, and is a far more troubled,
questioning and unsatisfied spirit. Euripides is the most direct of
the three in his questioning of Athenian society and its
established beliefs.