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Greek Drama
The art of drama developed in the ancient Greek city-state of Athens in the late
sixth century B.C. In the spring in the City of Dionysia there was a week-long festival in
honor of Dionysus, a God associated with fertility. These festivals were important for the
City and they became a celebration of Athens’ civic identity. In 534 BC dramatic
performances were first included as part of the festival program. Alongside performances
there were readings of religious rites, speeches commemorating those who had died in
war and entrusting their orphans to the care of the state, handing over of monies
contributed by the allied states as well as many other significant civic events.
There was also another festival celebrating Dionysus where performances were
an integral part. It was called Lenaea and was held in mid winter. The two festivals had a
similar schedule of performances. At the City of Dionysus three tragic playwrights were
commissioned to each write three tragedies and a satyr play and five comic playwrights
each submitted a comedy. At Lenaea there were four tragedies produced by two
playwrights and five comedies. There was a complex system of judging and prizes were
awarded for the best production.
Most commonly there were three main actors who all had speaking roles. These
actors were professionals. At that time acting was seen as an art form and was thought to
be an honorable calling. In Comedy there were usually around 24 men or boys who made
up the chorus. The choruses in Greek Tragedy were much larger and sometimes had as
many as 50 participants. The chorus in comedy was split into two equal groups each with
a leader. The role as leader of the chorus had great responsibility. They led chanting of
the Parados, sang choral lyrics, led the dances, delivered recitative and participated in the
dialogue. After Aristophanes’ time the use of a chorus died out however the importance
of the actor grew. In the 4th century BC an Actors Guild was established in Athens.
Members of this guild were exempt from Military and Naval Service. This demonstrates
how important actors were to the City.
OVERVIEW OF TRAGEDY
From the religious chants honoring Dionysus arose the first tragedies, which
centered on the gods and Greece’s mythical past. In the fifth century, Greek audiences
enjoyed the works of four master playwrights; of these, three—Aeschylus, Sophocles,
and Euripides—were tragedians. The early works focused on the good and evil that
existed simultaneously in the world as well as the other contradictory forces of human
nature and the outside world. All three tragic playwrights drew their material from Greek
myths and legends and they each brought new developments to the art form.
Aeschylus, whose Oresteia trilogy examines the common tragic themes of
vengeance and justice, brought tragedy to the level of serious literature. The triology also
introduces other major themes in Greek tragedy, namely justice (divine, personal, and
communal) and vengeance.
The critic C. M. Bowra pointed out in his seminal work Classical Greece that
“Greek tragedy provides no explicit answers for the sufferings of humanity, but it . . .
shows how they happen and how they may be borne.” Indeed, Sophocles, whose play,
Oedipus the King is one of the greatest tragic work of all time,. expresses a truly
sorrowful course of events and how one man, though his life is devastated, forges a new
identity and learns to live with himself
The last great tragedian, Euripides, questioned traditional values and the ultimate
power of the gods. In plays such as Medea, Euripides explores the choices that humans
make under difficult situations. This power to choose and choose incorrectly becomes
one of the central tenets of modern drama today. Greek drama created an entirely new art
form, and over the centuries, the works of these ancient Greek writers have influenced
and inspired countless writers, philosophers, musicians, and other artists and thinkers.
Greek drama, with its universal themes and situations, continues to hold relevance for
modern audiences.
EARLY DRAMATISTS
Sophron (fl. c. 430 B.C.)
Sophron of Syracuse lived and wrote in the early to mid 400s B.C. He wrote
rhythmical prose mimes that depicted scenes from daily life.
Thespis (fl. c. 534 B.C.)
Thespis came from the district of Icaria in Attica. He is the first recorded winner
of the prize at the City Dionysia, which he won in about 534 B.C. Thespis is credited
with the invention of the speaking actor (who “delivered prologues and conversed with
the chorus-leader” and impersonated the heroes that his drama was about), thus becoming
the world’s first actor. He is considered to be the “inventor of tragedy.” . Thespian, after
his name remains, An English designation for actor.
THE TRAGEDIANS
Aeschylus (c. 525–456 B.C.)
Aeschylus was born about 525 B.C., probably in Eleusis. He was the first of the
best-known ancient Greek tragic dramatists. He lifted the dramatic presentations from a
choral performance to a work of art. He also is significant because he added a second
actor on stage, allowing for dialogue, and reduced the number of the chorus from about
fifty to about fifteen. With Aeschylus, tragic drama was presented through action, not
through recitation. Aeschylus took part in the City Dionysia (a festival for the god
Dionysus, involving a procession, a sacrifice of bulls with an accompanying feast, and
dramatic competitions), probably for the first time in 499 B.C., and he won it for the first
time fifteen years later. His masterpiece is the Oresteia trilogy, which was produced in
458 B.C. His plays are of lasting literary value because of their lyrical language, intricate
plots, and universal themes. His language is marked by force, majesty, and emotional
intensity as well as by metaphors and figurative speech. He wrote about ninety plays, of
which seven have survived. Aeschylus died about 456 B.C. in Gela, Sicily.
Euripides (c. 485–406 B.C.)
Euripides was born about 485 B.C. in Attica (the region of central Greece that has
Athens as its capital). One of the great three tragedians, he won his first victory at the
City Dionysia, in which he competed twenty-two times, in 441. Nineteen (including one
play of disputed authorship) of his ninety-two plays survive. His most famous plays
include Medea, produced in 431 B.C.; Hippolytus (428 B.C.); Electra (417 B.C.); Trojan
Women (415 B.C.); Ion (circa 411 B.C.); Iphigenia at Aulis (405 B.C., posthumously);
and Bacchae (405 B.C., posthumously).
Euripides differed from Aeschylus and Sophocles in his characterization:
Euripides’ characters’ tragic fates stem almost entirely from their own flawed natures and
uncontrolled passions. The gods look upon their suffering with apparent indifference. His
plays also differed structurally from those of the other two playwrights: Euripides’ plays
are usually introduced by prologues and often end with the providential appearance of a
god, an action known as deus ex machina. The prologue usually is a monologue that
explains the situation and the characters with which the action begins; the deus ex
machina includes a god’s epilogue that reveals the future fortunes of the characters.
Euripides died in 406 B.C. in Macedonia.
Sophocles (c. 496–406 B.C.)
Sophocles was born about 496 B.C. in Colonus, near Athens. He is one of
classical Athens’ three great tragic playwrights. He first won the City Dionysia in 468
B.C., defeating Aeschylus. He went on to write a total of 123 tragedies for this annual
festival, winning perhaps as many as twenty-four times and never receiving less than
second prize. Of the seven of his plays that have survived, his most well-known drama is
Oedipus the King, which was performed sometime between 430 B.C. and 426 B.C.
Sophocles also made important dramatic innovations. He reduced the number of
members of the chorus and added a third actor onstage. He is noted for his language,
artistry, and vivid characterizations.
Sophocles also was a prominent citizen of Athens in that he served as a treasurer
in the Delian League (the confederation of Greek states with Athens as the leader that
formed in 478 B.C., soon after the defeat of the Persian invasion under Xerxes in order to
ensure continued freedom), was elected as one of ten military and naval commanders,
and served as one of ten members of the advisory committee that organized Athens’
financial and domestic recovery after its defeat during the Peloponnesian War at Syracuse
in 413 B.C. Sophocles died in 406 B.C. in Athens.
OVERVIEW OF GREEK COMEDY
Comedy from Aristophanes’ time period is often referred to as Old Comedy. It
was a satirical reflection on the society at the time. It poked fun at a wide range of
subjects such as Literature, Education, Statesmen; anything that they felt would amuse
the public. The themes within Old Comedy were local in colour and theme which helped
the audience relate to the subject matter. Often the subjects were disfigured by grossness
and licentiousness but this is what made the audience enjoy it so much! The exact origins
of Comedy are not very clear and it was not until around 486 BC that comedy gained
official recognition at Athens and came under supervision of the State.
THE COMEDIC PLAYWRIGHTS
Aristophanes (c. 450–385 B.C.)
Aristophanes was born about 450 B.C., possibly on the island Aegina in Greece.
His plays are the only examples of Old Comedy (comedy that focuses largely on political
satire rather than human relations, the focus of New Comedy) that have survived in their
complete form. Aristophanes’ themes and work generally reflected the social, literary,
and philosophical life of Athens, and many of his plays were inspired by events of the
Peloponnesian War. Eleven of his approximately forty plays survive. Among the most
well-known are Birds and Frogs. His appeal lay in his witty dialogue, his satire, and the
inventiveness of his comic scenes. Many of his plays are still produced on the modern
stage. Aristophanes died about 385 B.C. in Athens, Greece.
Crates (fl. c. 470–450 B.C.)
Flourishing about 470 B.C. in Athens, Crates is considered to be the founder of
Greek comedy. According to Aristotle, he abandoned traditional comedy—which
centered on invective—and introduced more general stories that relied on well developed
plots.
Cratinus (?–c. 420 B.C.)
Cratinus was regarded in antiquity as one of the three great writers of the Old
Comedy period. Only fragments of his twenty-seven known plays survive, but they are
enough to show that his comedies, like those of Aristophanes, seem to have been a
mixture of parodied mythology and reference to contemporary events. For example,
Athenian leader Pericles was a frequent subject of Cratinus’s ridicule. He died about 420
B.C.
Epicharmus (c. 530–440 B.C.)
Epicharmus was born about 530 B.C. He is seen as the originator of Sicilian, or
Doric, comedy. He is credited with more than fifty plays, but few lines survive. Many of
his plays were mythological burlesques: he even satirized the gods. His lively style made
his work more akin to New Comedy than the Old Comedy of his time. He died about 440
B.C.
Eupolis (fl. c. 445–411 B.C.)
Along with Cratinus and Aristophanes, Eupolis was regarded in antiquity as one
of the three great writers of the Old Comedy period. His first play was produced in 429
B.C., but only fragments of his plays survive. He focused his satire on Athenian
demagogues, wealthy citizens, but also concerned himself with serious subjects, such as
how Athens could turn the tables on Sparta in the ongoing Peloponnesian War. Eupolis
died about 411 B.C. while he was still a young man.
Menander (c. 342–292 B.C.)
Menander was born about 342 B.C. Today, he is considered to be the supreme
writer of New Comedy (comedy that focuses on human relations), but, during his lifetime,
he was less successful. Of the more than one hundred plays that he wrote, only eight won
prizes at Athens’ dramatic festivals. He produced his first play in 321 B.C. The only one
of his plays to survive intact is Dyscolus, which won a festival prize in 317. The Roman
writers Plautus and Terence adapted many of Menander’s works; thus he influenced the
development of European comedy from the Renaissance on. Menander died about 292
B.C.
Phrynichus (fl. c. 420 B.C.)
Phrynichus was an Athenian poet of the Old Comedy period and a contemporary
of Aristophanes and Eupolis. He began producing plays in 430 B.C. and won two
victories in the City Dionysia.
Costume & Masks
Masks
Masks and ritual
The Greek term for mask is persona and was a significant element in the worship
of Dionysus at Athens, likely used in ceremonial rites and celebrations. Most of the
evidence comes from only a few vase paintings of the 5th century BC, such as one
showing a mask of the god suspended from a tree with decorated robe hanging below it
and dancing and the Pronomos vas, which depicts actors preparing for a Satyr play. No
physical evidence remains available to us, as the masks were made of organic materials
and not considered permanent objects, ultimately being dedicated to the altar of Dionysus
after performances. Nevertheless, the mask is known to have been used since the time
of Aeschylus and considered to be one of the iconic conventions of classical Greek
theatre.
Mask details
Illustrations of theatrical masks from 5th century display helmet-like mask, covering the
entire face and head, with holes for the eyes and a small aperture for the mouth, as well as
an integrated wig. It is interesting to note that these paintings never show actual masks on
the actors in performance; they are most often shown being handled by the actors before
or after a performance, that liminal space between the audience and the stage, between
myth and reality. ] This demonstrates the way in which the mask was to ‘melt’ into the
face and allow the actor to vanish into the role. Effectively, the mask transformed the
actor as much as memorization of the text. Therefore, performance in ancient Greece did
not distinguish the masked actor from the theatrical character.
The mask-makers were called skeuopoios or “maker of the properties,” thus suggesting
that their role encompassed multiple duties and tasks. The masks were most likely made
out of light weight, organic materials like stiffened linen, leather, wood, or cork, with the
wig consisting of human or animal hair. Due to the visual restrictions imposed by these
masks, it was imperative that the actors hear in order to orientate and balance themselves.
Thus, it is believed that the ears were covered by substantial amounts of hair and not the
helmet-mask itself. The mouth opening was relatively small, preventing the mouth to be
seen during performances. Vervain and Wiles posit that this small size discourages the
idea that the mask functioned as a megaphone, as originally presented in the 1960s.
Greek mask-maker, Thanos Vovolis, suggests that the mask serves as a resonator for the
head, thus enhancing vocal acoustics and altering its quality. This leads to increased
energy and presence, allowing for the more complete metamorphosis of the actor into his
character.
Mask functions
In a large open-air theatre, like the Theatre of Dionysus in Athens, the classical masks
were able to bring the characters’ face closer to the audience, especially since they had
intensely over-exaggerated facial features and expressions.
They enabled an actor to appear and reappear in several different roles, thus preventing
the audience from identifying the actor to one specific character. Their variations help the
audience to distinguish sex, age, and social status, in addition to revealing a change in a
particular character’s appearance, ie. Oedipus after blinding himself. Unique masks were
also created for specific characters and events in a play, such as The Furies
in Aeschylus’ Eumenides and Pentheus and Cadmus in Euripides’ The Bacchae. Worn by
the chorus, the masks created a sense of unity and uniformity, while representing a multivoiced persona or single organism and simultaneously encouraged interdependency and a
heightened sensitivity between each individual of the group.
COSTUME DETAILS.
Actors who played tragic roles wore boots called cothurneses that elevated them above
other actors.
When playing female roles, the male actors donned a ‘ prosterneda’ which is a wooden
structure infront of the chest to imitate breasts.
There are little information on theatrical costumes. This is due to the perishable materials
they have been made of. Still we have some information drawn from depictions on
ancient pottery (see some pictures below).
Costumes have been a very important factor of the production, because they could
determine the characters by gender or social status. In the early productions actors have
been using body painting. Little by little they started using animal skins, ears, even
feathers (see Aristophanes’ Birds).
When the poets introduced real costumes, they imitated the contemporary dressing : the
“chiton” and the “hemateon”. The chiton was made of linen or silk and it was worn long.
The hemateon was an exterior cloth, worn over the shoulders. It was usually made of
wool. Both chiton and hemateon were decorated depending on the occasion. For
theatrical use the clothes have been more decorated than usually.
In order to play female roles, since the actors were always men, they were wearing a
“prosterneda” (in front of the chest, to imitate female breasts) and “progastreda” in front
of the belly.
The actors used to put on ordinary shoes, such us loose fitting boots and laced boots. Is
some scholars’ opinion, the actors used shoes with high heels (“kothornoi”). We cannot
be sure about that, because we do not have a clear evidence from the pottery. In the later
years (2nd century BC), it is sure that these shoes with high heels (“kothornoi”) have been
introduced.
Use of costume in Athenian tragedy.
Some authors have argued that use of costume in Athenian tragedy was standardized for
the genre.[1] This is said to have consisted of a full-length or short tunic, a cloak and soft
leather boots, and may have been derived from the robes of Dionysian priests or invented
by Aeschylus. Brockett, however, disputes this, arguing that the evidence we have is
based on archaeological remains, some few references in the texts, and the writings of
later authors. As far as the vase paintings are concerned, most of these are dated later than
the 5th Century BCE and their relationship with theatrical practice is unclear. One of the
earliest examples is a red-figure vase painting c. 500-490 BCE that shows a tragic chorus
invoking a ghost, on a crater (bowl) in the Antikenmuseum in Basle.[2]
The tragic actors were certainly heavily disguised. This had a religious purpose, for the
actor was supposed to give up his identity in order to let another speak and act through
him. Indeed, the dramas were performed in honour of Dionysus, the God of Ecstasy,
which means “standing outside oneself”[2]. Actors therefore had to renounce their
individuality. The actors thought that the mask itself contained the character and are said
to have prayed before putting on their masks. The costume was probably an elaboratelydecorated version of everyday clothing worn in the 5th Century BCE. The garments
included:
·
chiton (robe or tunic)
·
chlaina (overgarment)
·
chlamys (short cloak)
·
kothurnus (short lace-up boots)
·
himation (overgarment)
·
peplos (cloak)[3].
The chiton worn by the actors differed from that worn in everyday life because it
incorporated sleeves, which were coloured and patterned. The sleeves may in fact have
been part of an undergarment. Long white sleeves were worn by the (male) actors for
female roles, and indeed, in vase paintings females are usually painted with lighter skin.
The costumes worn for the performances of Alcestis, for example, were iconographic,
and symbolised the opposition of light and dark.[4] In the play, life is evoked as the act of
seeing the sun. Death – the son of Night in Greek mythology – wears a black peplos and
terrifying black wings. Apollo wears white, representing the sun. Admetus contrasts the
black of the funeral procession with the white of the funeral procession. The corpse of
Alcestis is dressed as a bride, in accordance with Greek tradition and Herakles wears a
bearskin and carries a club.
The costumes worn gave the audience an immediate sense of character-type, gender, age,
social status and class.[5]
Around the time of Aeschylus, the boots or buskins worn by the actors were flat. The
actors had the same “status” as the chorus. In the 3rd Century BCE, the actors were raised
to the status of heroes and “platform” soles began to be used, together with a head-dress
called an onkos. The raised soles may have induced a stylised way of walking, suited to
the rhythm of tragic verse, and the onkos made the actors taller, enhancing visibility.
Their bodies were padded so that they did not look too slim.[6] However, some authors
believe that this happened later than the 3rd Century BCE. It is also thought that the
“teetering gait” is a misapprehension.[7]
The masks were the most striking feature of the costume worn by the Athenian actors.
Facial expression was lost anyway due to the huge size of the Greek theatres, but the
masks were also a means of blotting out expression, so visual meaning was expressed by
the entire body. The actors were seen as silhouettes, or integral bodies, rather than faces.
The masks themselves were made of stiffened linen, thin clay, cork or wood, and covered
the whole head and had hair.
Attempts have been made in modern times to investigate the use of masks in Athenian
tragedy through practice research.[8] These explorations conclude that masks may lead to
a more demonstrative style of acting, with declamatory delivery of the lines substituted
for intimacy. They also found that the mask could impede the projection of sound. The
Greeks are said to have overcome this in various ways. Initially, the mouth apertures
were small, but later this became a “wide-open” mouth. Some authors believe that the
mouth was shaped like a “mouth-trumpet” and had an amplifying effect.[9] Certainly, the
use of a mask covering the whole produces an enhanced resonating effect, which serves
dramatic delivery.
Performances therefore had to be more physical. Peter Arnott states that the Greeks
thought good acting and a good voice were synonymous. This was achieved through
athletic training, voice exercises and diet.
Experiments have shown that unaccustomed actors suffer disorientation and restriction
when masked. The Greeks countered this through a vocabulary of gesture known
as cheironomia (gesticulation). Aristotle says that in his day excessive gestures were used
– leading to overacting – compared with the older tradition.
Masks can also be used as a dramatic tool, e.g. lowering the masks shows reflection,
raising the mask shows a challenge or superiority. The Greeks called these physical
stances schemata (forms).
Silent masks were used to great effect, particularly on child actors, expressing
powerlessness, bewilderment, vulnerability, etc.
The used of masks enabled the three speaking actors to portray up to eight or nine
characters, through multiple role-playing. The same character could therefore be played
by different actors, and transitions within a character would be portrayed by the use of
different masks.
The wide variety of masks used is attested by Pollux, a rhetorician writing in 2nd Century
CE, in hisOnomastikon.[10] He lists 30 different male masks (old age with white or grey
hair, the tyrant with thick black hair, a fair, pale masks indicating sorrow or sickness, a
boastful soldier, a rustic, servants, a cook, etc.) and 17 female masks (fat and thin old
women, two matrons, one virgin, a bawd, a mistress, three courtesans, a lady’s maid, etc.).
The Stage

Greek Theatres
Characteristics of Ancient Greek Theatre.
Performance space was a simple semi- circle space, The orchestra, where the
chorus danced and singed.
The orchestra was situated on a flattened terrace at the foot of a hill, the slope of
which produced a natural theatron [Meaning ‘watching space’]
Later, the term ‘Theatre’ applied to the whole area of theatron, orchestra and skene.
Theatres were originally built on a very large scale with great acoustics.
The first seats in Greek theatre were wooden but around 499BC stone blocks were
used to create stable permanent seating. They were called ‘Prohedria’ which were
reserved for priests and few most respected citizens.
In 465BC, playwrights began using backdrops or scenic wall which hung behind
the Orchestra. It also served for actors to change their costume behind. Known as
the Skene.
In 425B. A stone screen wall, called a paraskenia, became a common supplement.
It was a long wall with projecting sides, which may have had doorways for exits
and entrances.
Proskenia is the part behind the Paraskenia. It was columned and was similar to a
modern day proscenium. Today’s proscenium is what separates the audience from
the stage. A frame around the stage which makes it look as if it is set in a picture
frame.
Parodoi were tall arches that opened onto the Orchestra which were used as
entrances for actors and chorus members. In between the parodoi and the orchestra
lay the eisodoi, through which actors entered and exited.
Scenic elements;
Machina – A crane giving the impression of a flying actor.
Ekkyklema – A wheeled wagon used to bring dead actors into view of the
audience.
Greek Theatre · Just another WordPress.com weblog
The Stage

Greek Theatres
Characteristics of Ancient Greek Theatre.
Performance space was a simple semi- circle space, The orchestra, where the
chorus danced and singed.
The orchestra was situated on a flattened terrace at the foot of a hill, the slope of
which produced a natural theatron [Meaning ‘watching space’]
Later, the term ‘Theatre’ applied to the whole area of theatron, orchestra and skene.
Theatres were originally built on a very large scale with great acoustics.
The first seats in Greek theatre were wooden but around 499BC stone blocks were
used to create stable permanent seating. They were called ‘Prohedria’ which were
reserved for priests and few most respected citizens.
In 465BC, playwrights began using backdrops or scenic wall which hung behind
the Orchestra. It also served for actors to change their costume behind. Known as
the Skene.
In 425B. A stone screen wall, called a paraskenia, became a common supplement.
It was a long wall with projecting sides, which may have had doorways for exits
and entrances.
Proskenia is the part behind the Paraskenia. It was columned and was similar to a
modern day proscenium. Today’s proscenium is what separates the audience from
the stage. A frame around the stage which makes it look as if it is set in a picture
frame.
Parodoi were tall arches that opened onto the Orchestra which were used as
entrances for actors and chorus members. In between the parodoi and the orchestra
lay the eisodoi, through which actors entered and exited.
Scenic elements;
Machina – A crane giving the impression of a flying actor.
Ekkyklema – A wheeled wagon used to bring dead actors into view of the
audience.
Greek Theatre · Just another WordPress.com weblog