Greek Drama

Word Drama:-
The word drama comes form the Greek language means “To act or To
perform”

Origin of Greek Drama:-

Greek theatre has its beginnings in the many religious celebrations that
were held in the Greek world to worship the gods that are mentioned in
Greek mythology. A chorus, made up of men and boys, performed songs
and dances throughout these celebrations. These performances eventually
expanded to feature three actors, each of whom played a different
character from a story. The Greeks started building theaters in the sixth
century BCE so that people might watch such performances.The oldest
greek drama was originated from the annual festival of god Dionysus
(god of wine, fertility,rituals,religion) held in March of every year till 5th
BC. Writers were required to present Tetralogy for competition which
can equal to three tragedies and one satyr.

Main Theme:-
There were three main themes of Greek drama which were love, loss,
pride, the abuse of power and the fraught relationships between men
and gods.

History:-
Classical drama starts from the Athen City Greece. At that time there
was three types of drama that were:
 Tragedy.
 Comedy.
 Satire play.
The comedies and tragedies were the most important and have had the
most influence on later theatre.

Comedy:-
Comedy is a progression of a action from adversity to prosperity.The
first Greek comedies, written in the 4th Century BCE, often made satirical
fun of political leaders and  other well-known people, as well as Greek
organizations and institutions. As Greek theatre developed, comedic plays
came to focus on the lives of more average people, their behavior and the
awkward or silly situations they found themselves in.
Famous Comedy writers:-
Aristophanes and Menander.

Tragedy:-
Tragedy is a progression of a action from prosperity to adversity.
Greek tragedies often told stories of people who came into conflict with
rules decreed by the gods and suffered as a result. Some tragedies told
important stories from Greek history and politics that were used to
examine the causes and consequences of bad choices by leaders.
Someone dies in almost every Greek tragedy and disaster is a common
occurrence.The actors of tragedy used to wear long robes with the
pictures of birds and animals on it.

Famous Tragic writers:-

Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides.

The influence of Greek comedy and tragedy are such that we still
use those words to describe contemporary plays. When there is a
disastrous event that results in a loss of life, we often call it tragic.
Unfortunately, the texts of only a few of the many hundreds of plays
produced ancient Greece have survived.

How they were performed:-

  Orchestra
In Ancient Greece, plays were performed in open-air theaters during the
day. At the start of the play a chorus of between 15 and 25 people came
onto the stage, called the orchestra, to introduce the story, explaining
who the characters in the story were and what had happened to them
before the time the play was about. The appearance of the chorus often
included music, dance, and song.

 Different Roles:-
After the chorus’s introduction, individual actors would appear and
interact with one another and also often engaged in a dialogue with the
chorus. Besides the chorus, no more than three actors were allowed on
stage at any time. This meant that Greek actors often had to play more
than one part.
 Dress:-
The actors were used to wear padded dresses. They usually wear
bodkins or they used to stand on sticks.

 Mask:-
To suggest different characters actors wore masks and costumes that
they changed over the course of the play.Greek theatre masks had very
exaggerated features to convey the emotions of a character. Greek
comedy masks were often cartoon-like.The reason that Greek theatre
masks were exaggerated is that the audience sat so far from the stage that
it would be very hard for audience members to see the actors’ bare faces.
Masks allowed actors to communicate emotions to the whole audience.

Thespis:-
Greek poet Thespis, who lived in Athens in the sixth century BC, is
rumoured to have been born in the Icaria deme. Thespis is credited as
being the first actor in Greek drama, according to legend. He was known
as the father of tragedy and is credited with staging the first tragedy in
the Great (or City) Dionysia (534 BC). There is disagreement among
scholars over the meagre evidence regarding Thespis and his contribution
to the growth of Greek play. Aristotle said that tragedy was wholly choral
until Thespis introduced the prologue and the interior discourses in the
fourth century AD, according to the Greek rhetorician Themistius.

Different Techniques used by Greek Theater:-

As the Greek theaters were so large, the chorus' actions had to be
exaggerated and their voices clear so that everyone could see and hear
them. To do this, they used techniques such as synchronization, echo,
ripple, physical theatre and the use of masks to aid them. A Greek
chorus was often led by a coryphaeus.

Interesting facts about Greek Theater:-

 The Ancient Greek drama, is a theatrical culture that flourished in

ancient Greece from c. 700 BC.
 The earliest tragedy that survives, is Aeschylus Persai, dates from 472
 The festivals were attended by all Athenian citizens (women as well
as men) and visitors from throughout Greece.
 Performances took place in usually large semicircular or horseshoe
shaped spaces.
 Performances were performed in the open air.
 Semi-circular shape with rows of tiered stone seating around it. The
shape of the theaters gave everyone in the audience excellent viewing
and also meant they could hear the actors well too.
 The stage was raised within the circle – this shape made sure all the
audience could see and helped amplify the sound.
 Very important visitors would sit in the front seats.
 Greek plays were either comedies or tragedies. Tragedies were often
about the past, whereas comedies tended to be about current and
everyday life.
 The Drama Masks which are so often associated with the subject
originate from Greek Theatre and stand for Comedy and Tragedy.
 All the actors were men.
 Instead of one actor telling a story a group of actors known as a
chorus worked together.
 Chorus worked in movement and voice so that stories could be heard
and movements seen.
 A chorus consisted between 5 and 50 actors.
 The audience would throw food and stones if they thought the acting
wasn’t good enough.
 They wore large masks that exaggerated facial features and emotions.
 The actors wore masks, bright colour for comedies and dark colour
for tragedies.
 The masks were made from fabric and stiffened with plaster.

References:-

https://www.ice.cam.ac.uk/course/introduction-aeschylus-father-greek-
tragedy

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_tragedy