The Origins of Theater

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The Origins of Theater Ancient Greeks
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What did the Greeks contribute to the modern
stage?

• The theatrical form of tragedy
• Actors
• Theatre space
• Trilogy
• Masks
• Raised theatre to a level of art very highly
  respected
• Terms like scene, proscenium, thespian, and
  theatre.

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Where it started

• Athens the capital of Greece named after
  Athena, the goddess of wisdom and war.
• 5th -6th century B.C.
• Annual Dionysian festival celebrating spring and
  Dionysus, the god of wine and fertility.
• Derived from prayer to Dionysus, the dithyramb

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The golden age of Greece

• Athens had rid the city of dictators and
  established the worlds first democracy
• Rebuilt the city and built the Parthenon, a
  temple to Athena, on top of the Acropolis

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A day at the Dionysus Festival

• Wild, ecstatic procession bringing the statue of
  Dionysus into his theater
• Trilogy of tragic plays
• End of the day, a satyr or comedic play to close
  the evening
• Satyr a half-man, half-horse
• Hero is placed in a ridiculous situation

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Theatre of Dionysus, at the foot of the Acropolis
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The Theatre of Dionysus
proskenion
skene
three doors
theatron
scenery
altar
chorus
orchestra
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Parts of the stage

• Skene stage house at edge of orchestra dressing
  area for actors to make entrances and exits,
  hence the word scene has three formal doors
• Proskenion refers to the arch frame around the
  stage today we call it the proscenium arch
• Orchestra literally means dancing place
  circular section on the ground where the chorus
  performs
• Theatron literally means viewing place where
  the audience is seated the Theatre of Dionysus
  could seat around 17-20 thousand people.

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Theatre at Epidaurus
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The players

• The Chorus
• unique to Greek theater
• responded and reacted to the actor
• similar to a narrator
• 12-50 members
• The effort of dancing and singing through three
  tragedies and a satyr play was likened to that of
  competing in the Olympic Games
• Chanted and danced the dithyramb, the prayer to
  Dionysus which the drama is derived.
• Never entered or exited the through the skene

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• Actors
• Thespis is considered the first actor, hence the
  term thespian.
• The original word for 'actor' was hypokrites,
  meaning 'answerer,' for the actor answered the
  chorus.
• Thespis was later called protagonistes (literally
  'first competitor').
• The introduction of a second actor
  (deuteragonistes) is attributed to Aeschylus and
  the third (tritagonistes) to Sophocles.
• Ordinarily, each actor would play several
  different roles in one production.

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Technical and Artistic elements

• Music
• Dance
• Poetry
• Masks
• Helped to distinguish between characters
• Made it easier to show emotion in large theatre
  space

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Masks
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Tragedy

• Literally means goat song
• A serious form of theater developed by the Greeks
• Involves a hero character who challenges the
  gods, but in the end is forced to face the
  consequences.
• The Greek hero character is described as
  honorable and imperfect.
• Struggle which usually ends in death

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Three tragedy playwrights

• Aeschylus
• Sophocles
• Euripides
• Well known satyr playwright Aristophanes

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Aeschylus

• Earliest playwright
• Focused on big epic dramas catastrophic events
  involving the gods, titans, and kings
• Reduced the chorus to 12 members
• Introduced a second actor, and, therefore,
  invented dialogue
• Trilogy called Oresteia
• Agamemnon
• The Libation Bearers
• Eumenides

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Sophocles

• All characters were essential in his plays
• Aeschylus was his teacher
• Credited with perfecting the Greek tragedy
• Focused on the human struggle
• Introduced a third actor
• Had a chorus of about 20 members
• Trilogy
• Oedipus
• Oedipus at Kolonos
• Antigone

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Euripides

• Wrote about moral and political issues that were
  reflective of Athens government
• Characters are neurotic individuals, bursting
  into uncontrolled violence at evil around them
• Involved Feminist issues and had strong female
  characters
• Trilogy
• Electra
• The Trojan Women
• Medea

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Aristophanes - The father of comedy

• Wrote for the two Athenian dramatic festivals
  the City Dionysia and the Lenea.
• Greek Old Comedy, a mix of political, social, and
  literary satire in which chorus, mime, and
  burlesque played a considerable part.
  Characterized by bold fantasy, realistic
  characters, merciless invective and outrageous
  plots.
• Surviving Comedies
• The Clouds
• The Wasps

• The Birds
• Lysistrata
• The Frogs

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