Scribd Logo
Upload

Welcome to Scribd!

  • 148 views

    Greek Theatre Slideshow

    Uploaded by

    Andrew Morley
    The Theatre of Ancient Greece developed out of religious festivals held in Athens in honor of Dionysus between December and April. These festivals featured performances of dithyrambs, which later expanded into tragedies as playwrights used the performances to explore Athenian history and legends. Wealthy citizens would sponsor the productions, hiring playwrights, musicians, actors, and others. The most popular plays were performed in an outdoor amphitheater with tiered seating that could hold up to 15,000 people. Over time, playwrights like Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides refined the structure of tragedies, introducing additional actors beyond the chorus.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Greek Theatre Slideshow

    Uploaded by

    Andrew Morley
    148 views26 pages
    The Theatre of Ancient Greece developed out of religious festivals held in Athens in honor of Dionysus between December and April. These festivals featured performances of dithyrambs, which later expanded into tragedies as playwrights used the performances to explore Athenian history and legends. Wealthy citizens would sponsor the productions, hiring playwrights, musicians, actors, and others. The most popular plays were performed in an outdoor amphitheater with tiered seating that could hold up to 15,000 people. Over time, playwrights like Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides refined the structure of tragedies, introducing additional actors beyond the chorus.

    Original Description:

    Greek Theater Slideshow

    Copyright

    © © All Rights Reserved

    Available Formats

    PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Did you find this document useful?

    Is this content inappropriate?

    The Theatre of Ancient Greece developed out of religious festivals held in Athens in honor of Dionysus between December and April. These festivals featured performances of dithyrambs, which later expanded into tragedies as playwrights used the performances to explore Athenian history and legends. Wealthy citizens would sponsor the productions, hiring playwrights, musicians, actors, and others. The most popular plays were performed in an outdoor amphitheater with tiered seating that could hold up to 15,000 people. Over time, playwrights like Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides refined the structure of tragedies, introducing additional actors beyond the chorus.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    148 views26 pages

    Greek Theatre Slideshow

    Uploaded by

    Andrew Morley
    The Theatre of Ancient Greece developed out of religious festivals held in Athens in honor of Dionysus between December and April. These festivals featured performances of dithyrambs, which later expanded into tragedies as playwrights used the performances to explore Athenian history and legends. Wealthy citizens would sponsor the productions, hiring playwrights, musicians, actors, and others. The most popular plays were performed in an outdoor amphitheater with tiered seating that could hold up to 15,000 people. Over time, playwrights like Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides refined the structure of tragedies, introducing additional actors beyond the chorus.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 26
    At a glance
    Powered by AI
    The document discusses the origins and development of theatre in ancient Athens, including the festivals and plays performed.

    The plays were originally performed in the Agora, which was the public marketplace at the time.

    The early theatres in Athens were designed as amphitheatres to make best use of sightlines and acoustics, with tiered seating dug into hills.

    The Theatre of Ancient Greece

    Early Athens
    Early Athens
    The City Dionysia
    Held between December and April, often in March.
    Festival lasted 5 days.
    Began with parades and celebrations, sacrices and
    tributes to the Gods.
    Especially Dionyssus.
    A celebration of all things primal.
    Originally, the ceremonies incorporated
    performances of DITHYRAMBS.
    A system was developed with high prole members
    of the society to judge the performances of the
    dithyrambs.
    The City Dionysia
    The popularity of the festival and the
    prominence of the winners led to an
    expansion of this part of the festival.
    The theme of the festival and of Dionyssus
    allowed for a retrospection of the city-state.
    Great thinkers and philosophers took
    advantage of this and began to perform
    specic dithyrambs about Athenian legends
    and history.
    This expanded into the performance of
    tragedies.
    They became so popular that the state began
    to fund them directly.
    The City Dionysia
    Each year, the ARCHON, or magistrate of
    the city-state would select wealthy,
    prominent individuals to sponsor a new
    tragedy. This was a great honour.
    The nanciers were called the CHOREGOS,
    and they were responsible for:
    - Commissioning and paying the playwright.
    - Hiring the chorus.
    - Hiring the musicians.
    - Paying for the costumes.
    They were the early PRODUCERS.
    The City Dionysia
    The prize for the best play in the festival was
    shared between the playwright and the
    Choregos. (much like the best picture oscar
    today.)
    The original prize for the best play was a
    GOAT, which may be why Tragedy became
    the name for the plays.
    The popularity of the tragedies grew and
    grew, as did their relevance and complexity.
    The City Dionysia
    The plays were originally performed in the
    AGORA, which was the public marketplace
    at the time.
    AGORA actually means large open space.
    However, the popularity and prominence of
    the performances led the the creation and
    construction of a specic performance
    venue.
    The City Dionysia
    The theatres developed by the Athenians
    were AMPHITHEATRES.
    They were designed as such to best make
    use of natural SIGHTLINES and
    ACCOUSTICS.
    They sat between 10 and 15 thousand
    patrons, and were dug into hills to create
    tiered seating.
    Here is a reconstruction of
    the THEATRE OF
    DIONYSSUS.
    Originally, the plays were made up solely of a chorus.
    The ACTOR was introduced as a sort of Prompter, asking questions of the chorus,
    or replying to their statements.
    The was reective of and important to the style of life in Athenian society.
    The individual and the group were constantly striving for some sort of co-existence.
    The rst playwright to introduce an actor to the performance, in mid 6th century
    BC (around 534), was THESPIS. He also played the rst part.
    In the 460s, the playwright Aeschylus introduced the rst performance with 2
    actors. He played one of the parts.
    Sophocles later introduced the rst plays with three actors.
    All the roles were played by men, most of them between the ages of 17 and 21.
    They sang and danced as a unit, and were judged on criteria of uniformity, grace and
    precision.
    CHOREOGRAPHY is, literally, the mapping of the chorus.
    All the players wore large masks made of linen or lightweight wood.
    The chorus masks were all identical, but the masks for the individual actors were
    more unique.
    In comedies, the masks were more grotesque, like caricatures, often portraying
    animals.
    The Dominant Playwrights
    Aeschylus
    Agammemnon
    The Libation Bearers
    The Persians
    The Oresteia
    Sophocles
    Antigone
    Oedipus
    Electra
    Euripides
    Frogs
    Hippolytus
    The Trojan Women
    Structure of the Plays
    1. PROLOGUE (intro)
    2. PARODOS (entrance of the chorus)
    3. EPISODES (series of odes)
    4. CATASTROPHE (reversal of the heros situation)
    5. EXODOS (nal song and exit of the chorus)

    You might also like