Theatre History Lecture Notes Ancient Greek Theatre Unit Lecture compiled by Justin Eick - Theatrical Education Group Objectives: • Students will Overview – Theatre of Ancient Greece expand their The theatre of ancient Greece, or ancient festival to its numerous colonies and vocabulary of Greek drama, is a theatrical culture that allies in order to promote a common ancient Greek flourished in ancient Greece between c. cultural identity. Western theatre theatre. 550 and c. 220 BCE. originates in Athens and its drama has • Students will had a significant and sustained impact understand the The city-state of Athens, which became a on Western culture as a whole. impact of significant cultural, political, and military ancient Greek power during this period, was its center, The word tragoidia, from which the theatre on where it was institutionalized as part of a English word "tragedy" is derived, is a modern society festival called the Dionysia, which portmanteau of two Greek words: tragos through analysis honored the god Dionysus. or "goat" and ode meaning "song", from of historical aeideion, "to sing". This etymology trends from the Tragedy, comedy, and the satyr play indicates a link with the practices of the period. were the three dramatic genres to ancient Dionysian cults. emerge there. Athens exported the • Students will acquire the appropriate skills to Origins accurately and consistently perform ancient Greek tragedy was created in Athens important to the Athenians - this is made Greek theatre before 532 BCE, when Thespis was the clear by the creation of a tragedy within the earliest recorded playwright. Being a competition and festival in the city of specific winner of the first theatrical contest held Dionysia. The festival was created historical and at Athens, he was the leader of the roughly around 508 B.C. cultural context dithyrambs performed in and around of the era. Attica, especially at the rural Dionysia. While no drama texts exist from the sixth century BCE, we do know the names of Thespis aided in the final transition from three competitors besides Thespis: CA Theatre dithyramb to tragedy by adding Choerilus, Pratinas, and Phrynichus. Content characters who speak (rather than sing) Each is credited with different Standards: with their own voice (rather than a single innovations in the field. narrative chorus). Because of these, Thespis is often called the "Father of More is known about Phrynichus. He Artistic Perception Tragedy"; however, his importance is won his first competition between 511 • 1.1 disputed, and Thespis is sometimes BCE and 508 BCE. He was the first poet listed as late as 16th in the chronological we know of to use a historical subject - Historical/Cultural order of Greek tragedians. his Fall of Miletus chronicled the fate of Context the town of Miletus after it was • 3.1 Thus, Thespis's true contribution to conquered by the Persians. He is also • 3.2 drama is unclear at best, but his name thought to be the first to use female • 3.3 has been immortalized as a common characters (though not female Aesthetic Valuing term for performer--a "thespian." performers). • 4.1 The dramatic performances were Ancient Greek Theatre Page 2 of 4 Origins – The Golden Age After the Great Destruction of Athens by place once in winter and once in spring, the Persian Empire in 480 BCE, the town was a competition between three tragic was rebuilt, and theatre became playwrights at the Theatre of Dionysus. formalized and an even more major part of Athenian culture and civic pride. Each submitted three tragedies, plus a The stage of the South satyr play (a comic, burlesque version of theatre in Jerash Jordan, This century is normally regarded as the a mythological subject). Beginning in a the structure at the back is Golden Age of Greek drama. The center- first competition in 486 BCE, each the skene piece of the annual Dionysia, which took playwright also submitted a comedy. Aristotle states Origins – The Hellenistic Period that Aeschylus added the The power of Athens declined following However, the primary Hellenistic its defeat in the Peloponnesian War theatrical form was not tragedy but 'New second actor, against the Spartans. From that time on, Comedy', comic episodes about the lives the theatre started performing old of ordinary citizens. The only extant and that tragedies again. playwright from the period is Menander. Although its theatrical traditions seem to One of New Comedy's most important Sophocles have lost their vitality, Greek theatre contributions was its influence on Roman continued into the Hellenistic period (the comedy, an influence that can be seen in added the third period following Alexander the Great's the surviving works of Plautus and conquests in the fourth century BCE). Terence. actor – in any event, the Greek Performers playwrights Because the Greek outdoor theatre was The chorus represented townspeople or never put more so large, actors could not depend on other groups, and remained in the facial expressions or vocal inflections to orchestra where they sang, danced, and than three actors convey their characters. Instead, they commented on the action. had to rely on large, simple physical on stage at once. gestures, costumes, and even masks. The choragos was the head chorus member who could enter the story as a Comedy and tragedy masks have their character able to interact with the origin in the theatre of ancient Greece. characters of a play. Masks were used to help show emotions and also helped just three actors to play Costumes also played a significant role all the roles in a play, including female in helping convey characters from afar. characters – there were no actresses. For instance, the actors in these plays that had tragic roles wore boots called In addition to the leading actors, there cothurnuses that elevated them above was a chorus of up to fifteen actors who the other actors. The actors with comedic performed the plays in verse roles only wore a thin soled shoe called a Tragic Comic Masks accompanied by music, beginning in the sock. morning and lasting until the evening. Page 3 of 4 Ancient Greek Theatre Stage Characteristics The performance space was a simple semi-circular space, the orchestra, where the chorus danced and sang. The orchestra, which had an average diameter of 78 feet, was situated on a flattened terrace at the foot of a hill, the slope of which produced a natural theatron, literally "watching place". Later, the term "theatre" came to be applied to the whole area of theatron, orchestra, and skené. The theatres were originally built on a very large scale to accommodate the large number of people on stage, as well as the large number of people in the audience, up to fourteen thousand. Mathematics played a large role in A blueprint of an Ancient Theatre. the construction of these theatres, Terms are in Greek language and Latin letters. as their designers had to able to create acoustics in them such that the actors' voices could be heard Just behind the paraskenia was the Some theatres also had a raised throughout the theatre, including proskenion. The proskenion ("in speaking place on the orchestra the very top row of seats. front of the scene") was columned, called the logeion. and was similar to the modern day In 465 BCE, the playwrights began proscenium. There were several scenic elements using a backdrop or scenic wall, commonly used in Greek theatre: which hung or stood behind the Today's proscenium is what orchestra, which also served as an separates the audience from the • Machina - a crane that gave the area where actors could change stage. It is the frame around the impression of a flying actor (thus, their costumes. It was known as the stage that makes it look like the deus ex machina). skené, or scene. action is taking place in a picture frame. • Ekkyklema - a wheeled wagon The death of a character was used to bring dead characters into always heard behind the skené, for Greek theatres also had entrances view for the audience trap doors, or it was considered inappropriate to for the actors and chorus members similar openings in the ground to lift show a killing in view of the called parodoi. The parodoi (plural people onto the stage. audience. of parodos) were tall arches that opened onto the orchestra, through • Pinakes - pictures hung into the In 425 BCE a stone scene wall, which the performers entered. scene to show a scene's scenery called a paraskenia, became a . common supplement to skenes in By the end of the 5th century BCE, • Thyromata - more complex the theatres. A paraskenia was a around the time of the pictures built into the second-level long wall with projecting sides, Peloponnesian War, the skene, the scene (3rd level from ground) which may have had doorways for was two stories high. The upper entrances and exits. story was called the episkenion. Ancient Greek Theatre Page 4 of 4 Timeline Significant Artists/Works 7th Century BCE 625 (c) Arion produces Tragedies: Euripides (c. 480–406 BCE): dithyrambic Alcestis (438 BCE) choruses Aeschylus (c. 525–456 BCE): Medea (431 BCE) The Persians (472 BCE) Hippolytus (428 BCE) 6th Century BCE Seven Against Thebes (467 BCE) Electra (420 BCE) 600-570 Cleisthenes The Suppliants (463 BCE) Sisyphos (415 BCE) transfers "tragic choruses" to The Oresteia (458 BCE, a trilogy The Bacchae (405 BCE) Dionysus comprising Agamemnon, 540-527 Pisistratus founds The Libation Bearers and Comedies: the festival of the The Eumenides.) Dionysia Aristophanes (c. 446-388 BCE): 536-533 Thespis puts on a Phrynichus (~511 BCE): The Acharnians (425 BCE) tragedy at festival The Fall of Miletus (late 500 BCE) The Knights (424 BCE) of the Dionysia The Clouds (423 BCE) 525 Aeschylus born Sophocles (c.