20071221141201the greek theatre

7/30/2019 20071221141201The Greek Theatre

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The Greek Theatre

5th Century Athenian Theatre
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Occasions for Performance

Theatrical performances were part of the worship of the godDionysus, the god of wine and fertility. This worship includedfour annual festivals; plays were performed during two ofthem.

While it varied from time to time, typically during the City

Dionysea, three days were given over to the performance oftragedies, and one day to comedy. During the Lenean Festivalcomedies, and at times tragedies as well, were presented.

Thus, theatre was presented on six or seven specific days ayear. There was no theatre the rest of the year.


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The Production of Plays

During the fifth century, three playwrights of

tragedies and a similar number of comic

playwrights were selected to have their work

presented.

The selection was made by one of the three

archons who were the chief administrators of

Athens.


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Each playwright who was selected was

responsible for staging and, for much of the

century, being one of the actors in his plays. A wealthy citizen, called a choregus, was

assigned to underwriting the expenses

involved in the process. This assignment was aform of taxation.


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Theatres

All Greek theatres were always built on the sides of

hills. In Athens, the main theatre was The Theatre of

Dionysus, built into the south slope of the Acropolis.

During the fifth century, all elements of the theatrewere made of wood, and dismantled at the end of

the festival. It was only in the fourth century that

stone began to be used as a material for building

theatres.


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Orchestra

The circular area, about 65 feet in diameter in

Athens, where the chorus sang and danced.

(The word chorus derives from chorea, to

dance)


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Theatron

The area where the spectators sat to watchthe performances.

During the 5th century there were no

permanent seats. Theatron means viewing place in Greek. It has

the same root as the word theory, which

suggests a view. Our word theatre, of course,is derived from theatron.


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Skene

Behind the orchestra, a wooden building

called a skene was erected. It had at least one

central door, through which actors made their

entrances and exits.

There might have been two other doors in the

wall of the skene facing the spectators.


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Parados

Greek theatres had no separation between

themselves and the surrounding land, they

just flowed into the hill. There was a path,

however, between the seat in each row that is

closest to the skene and the skene itself.


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A symbolic boundary between the theatre and the

surrounding area was created by placing a simple

lintel on two posts, one at the corner of the skene,and one next to the theatron. This is theparados

(plural -paradoi).

The spectators entered the theatre through the

paradoi. (The Theatre of Dionysus at Athens was so

large that there was a second access near the back of

the theatron.)

The entrances and exits of the chorus were alwaysmade through theparadoi.


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Several features of Greek theatres are

worth noting.

The enormous size. In the Theatre of Dionysus at Athens it isapproximately 350 feet from the last row in the theatron to the facade ofthe skene.

That's the equivalent of sitting behind one goal post in Harvard Stadiumand watching a play being enacted behind the other goal post.

It is estimated that the Theatre of Dionysus at Athens held between18,000 and 20,000 people, making it perhaps the largest facility evercreated for watching theatrical performances. At least two thirds of thecitizens of Athens could be accommodated in the theatre at the sametime.


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All Greek theatres had the same elements: orchestra,

theatron, skene, and paradoi, and they always simply

existed, next to each other, in the same place. Theywere never contained inside of anything, or

organized in any way that diminished any part's

separateness.

Greek theatres were never separate from the city.

The spectator never left his ordinary world to enter a

separate world of the theatre. He remained in both

at the same time.


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Most of the tragedies follow the same

format Prolog, spoken by an actor

Parados, the entrance of the chorus, singing and dancing.

Episode 1, between two or three actors

Stasimon 1, the chorus, singing and dancing.


Stasimon 2, the chorus, singing and dancing. Episode 3, between two or three actors




Episode 5, the final encounter between two or three actors

Exodus, the chorus departs through the paradoi, singing and dancing

20071221141201the greek theatre

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