My interest in the arts and theater very intimately connects me with the ancient Romans and Greeks. Nearly every noteworthy Roman and Greek city had an open-air theater in those days, with the seats neatly arranged in tiers overlooking a lovely view of the nearby landscape. Here is where the ancient Greeks sat and watched the plays of Aeschylus, Euripides, Aristophanes, Sophocles and Menander.
The ancient Greek theaters developed through the ceremonial worship of the then God Dionysus and were always communal in nature. The Greek drama or theater is a tradition that flourished greatly between in c. 600 and c. 200 BC in ancient Greece. Athens, the political and military pover city of Greece was the epicenter of the ancient Greek theatrical tradition. Athenian comedy, tragedy and satyrs have been recorded as some of the earliest forms of theater to emerge in the world. Yes, Greek plays and theater have indeed had a strong impact on the Western culture and drama.
Early tradition claims that theater in Athens evolved from various festivals that were related to the cult of Dionysus who is the Greek God of fertility and wine. This is probably accurate information, since drama in Athens occurred during the Dionysia, which is the annual festival that honors Dionysus.
These ancient theaters mainly consisted of the orchestra, the flat floor for dancing and the theatron, which was the actual structure of the building. Since those ancient theaters were frequently rebuilt and modified, the remains that survive today offer very little evidence as to the nature of the space available to those classical dramatists and actors back in the fifth and sixth centuries BC.
However, there is no clear physical evidence showing that orchestras were circular in shape earlier than that of the great theater at Epidaurus, which dates back to the year 330 BC. It is more likely that the fifth century BC Athens audience was seated closer to the stage in a more rectilinear arrangement, like the evidence shown in the ruins of the theater at Thorikos in Attica. During this early period in Greek theater and drama, the stage and the stage building or Skene were made up of wood. Many ancient vases have been found with paintings on them depicting the Greek comedy from the fifth and fourth centuries BC, and these suggest that the stage was a bout a meter high and had a flight of steps towards the center.
The actors would enter from either side of the stage or from the central door situated in the Skene. The Skene also housed the ekkyklema, which is a wheeled platforms having different sets of scenes. A crane or mechane, located towards the right side of the stage was generally used to hoist heroes and Gods through the air and onto the stage. Greek actors and dramatists surely made the most of the contrasts between the men on stage and the gods up high, and between the bright daylight and the dark interiors of the Skene.
The ancient Greek theaters developed through the ceremonial worship of the then God Dionysus and were always communal in nature. The Greek drama or theater is a tradition that flourished greatly between in c. 600 and c. 200 BC in ancient Greece. Athens, the political and military pover city of Greece was the epicenter of the ancient Greek theatrical tradition. Athenian comedy, tragedy and satyrs have been recorded as some of the earliest forms of theater to emerge in the world. Yes, Greek plays and theater have indeed had a strong impact on the Western culture and drama.
Early tradition claims that theater in Athens evolved from various festivals that were related to the cult of Dionysus who is the Greek God of fertility and wine. This is probably accurate information, since drama in Athens occurred during the Dionysia, which is the annual festival that honors Dionysus.
These ancient theaters mainly consisted of the orchestra, the flat floor for dancing and the theatron, which was the actual structure of the building. Since those ancient theaters were frequently rebuilt and modified, the remains that survive today offer very little evidence as to the nature of the space available to those classical dramatists and actors back in the fifth and sixth centuries BC.
However, there is no clear physical evidence showing that orchestras were circular in shape earlier than that of the great theater at Epidaurus, which dates back to the year 330 BC. It is more likely that the fifth century BC Athens audience was seated closer to the stage in a more rectilinear arrangement, like the evidence shown in the ruins of the theater at Thorikos in Attica. During this early period in Greek theater and drama, the stage and the stage building or Skene were made up of wood. Many ancient vases have been found with paintings on them depicting the Greek comedy from the fifth and fourth centuries BC, and these suggest that the stage was a bout a meter high and had a flight of steps towards the center.
The actors would enter from either side of the stage or from the central door situated in the Skene. The Skene also housed the ekkyklema, which is a wheeled platforms having different sets of scenes. A crane or mechane, located towards the right side of the stage was generally used to hoist heroes and Gods through the air and onto the stage. Greek actors and dramatists surely made the most of the contrasts between the men on stage and the gods up high, and between the bright daylight and the dark interiors of the Skene.