Greek Theater (2024)

Ancient Greek Theater

1.Timeline of Greek Drama

Although the origins of Greek Tragedy and Comedy are obscure andcontroversial, our ancient sources allow us to construct a roughchronology of some of the steps in their development. Some of thenames and events on the timeline are linked to passages in the nextsection on the Origins of Greek Drama which provide additionalcontext.

(Works in bold are on the Hum 110 syllabus)

7th Century BC

c.625Arionat Corinth produces named dithyrambic choruses.

6th Century BC

600-570Cleisthenes,tyrant of Sicyon, transfers "tragic choruses" to Dionysus
540-527 Pisistratus, tyrantof Athens, founds the festival of the Greater Dionysia
536-533Thespis puts ontragedy at festival of the Greater Dionysia in Athens
525Aeschylusborn
511-508 Phrynichus' firstvictory in tragedy
c. 500Pratinusof Phlius introduces the satyr play to Athens

5th Century BC

499-496 Aeschylus' firstdramatic competition
c.496Sophoclesborn
492Phrynicus'Capture of Miletus (Miletus was captured by the Persians in 494)
485Euripidesborn
484Aeschylus'first dramatic victory
472Aeschylus'Persians
467Aeschylus'Seven Against Thebes
468Aeschylusdefeated by Sophocles in dramatic competition
463?Aeschylus'Suppliant Women
458Aeschylus'Oresteia (Agamemnon, Libation Bearers, Eumenides)
456Aeschylusdies
c.450Aristophanesborn
447Parthenonbegun in Athens
c.445Sophocles'Ajax
441Sophocles'Antigone
438Euripides'Alcestis
431-404 Peloponnesian War(Athens and allies vs. Sparta and allies)
431Euripides'Medea
c.429Sophocles'Oedipus the King
428Euripides'Hippolytus
423Aristophanes'Clouds
415Euripides'Trojan Women
406Euripidesdies; Sophocles dies
405Euripides'Bacchae
404Athensloses Peloponnesian War to Sparta
401Sophocles'Oedipus at Colonus

4th Century BC

399Trial and deathof Socrates
c. 380'sPlato'sRepublic includes critique of Greek tragedy and comedy
c. 330'sAristotle'sPoetics includes defense of Greek tragedy and comedy

Ancient Greeks from the 5th century BC onwards were fascinated bythe question of the origins of tragedy and comedy. They were unsureof their exact origins, but Aristotle and a number of other writersproposed theories of how tragedy and comedy developed, and toldstories about the people thought to be responsible for theirdevelopment. Here are some excerpts from Aristotle and other authorswhich show what the ancient Greeks thought about the origins oftragedy and comedy.

Aristotle on the origins of Tragedy and Comedy

1. Indeed, some say that dramas are so called, becausetheir authors represent the characters as "doing" them(drôntes). And it is on this basis that the Dorians [=the Spartans, etc.] lay claim to the invention of both tragedy andcomedy. For comedy is claimed by the Megarians here in Greece, whosay it began among them at the time when they became a democracy [c.580 BC], and by the Megarians of Sicily on the grounds that the poetEpicharmas came from there and was much earlier than Chionides andMagnes; while tragedy is claimed by certain Dorians of thePeloponnese. They offer the words as evidence, noting that outlyingvillages, called dêmoi by the Athenians, are calledkômai by them, and alleging thatkômôdoi (comedians) acquired their name, not fromkômazein (to revel), but from the fact that, beingexpelled in disgrace from the city, they wandered from village tovillage. The Dorians further point out that their word for "to do" isdrân, whereas the Athenians use prattein.(Aristotle: Poetics Chapter 3)

2. And in accordance with their individual types ofcharacter, poetry split into two kinds, for the graver spirits tendedto imitate noble actions and noble persons performing them, and themore frivolous poets the doings of baser persons, and as the moreserious poets began by composing hymns and encomia, so these beganwith lampoons....Thus among the early poets, some became poets ofheroic verse and others again of iambic verse. Homer was not only themaster poet of the serious vein, unique in the general excellence ofhis imitations and especially in the dramatic quality he imparts tothem, but was also the first to give a glimpse of the idea of comedy[in the Margites]...And once tragedy and comedy had made theirappearance, those who were drawn to one or the other of the branchesof poetry, true to their natural bias, became either comic poetsinstead of iambic poets, or tragic poets instead of epic poetsbecause the new types were more important-- i.e. got more favorableattention, than the earlier ones. Whether tragedy has, then, fullyrealized its possible forms or has not yet done so is a question theanswer to which both in the abstract and in relation to the audience[or the theater] may be left for another discussion. Its beginnings,certainly, were in improvisation [autoschediastikês], aswere also those for comedy, tragedy originating in impromptus by theleaders of dithyrambic choruses, and comedy in those of the leadersof the phallic performances which still remain customary in manycities. Little by little tragedy grew greater as the poets developedwhatever they perceived of its emergent form, and after passingthrough many changes, it came to a stop, being now in possession ofits specific nature [tên hautês phusin]. It wasAeschylus who first increased the number ofthe actors from one to two and reduced the role of the chorus, givingfirst place to the dialogue. Sophocles[added] the third actor and [introduced] painted scenery. Again,[there was a change] in magnitude; from little plots and ludicrouslanguage (since the change was from the satyr play), tragedy cameonly late in its development to assume an air of dignity, and itsmeter changes from the trochaic tetrameter to the iambic trimeter.Indeed, the reason why they used the tetrameter at first was thattheir form of poetry was satyric [i.e. for "satyrs"] and hence moreoriented toward dancing; but as the spoken parts developed, naturalinstinct discovered the appropriate meter, since of all metricalforms the iambic trimeter is best adapted for speaking. (This isevident, since in talking with one another we very often utter iambictrimeters, but seldom dactylic hexameters, or if we do we depart fromthe tonality of normal speech. Again, [there was a change] in thenumber of episodes -- but as for this and the way in which reportedlyeach of the other improvements came about, let us take it all assaid, since to go through the several details would no doubt be aconsiderable task. (Aristotle: Poetics Chapter 4)

Stories about the poet Arion

3. Periander was tyrant of Corinth. The Corinthianssay (and the Lesbians agree) that the greatest wonder in his life wasthe voyage of Arion of Methymna to Taenarum on a dolphin. He was akitharode second to none at that time and the first of men whom weknow to have composed the dithyramb and named it and produced it inCorinth. (Herodotus I.23)

4. Arion, of Methymna...is said also to have inventedthe tragic mode (tragikoû tropou) and first composed astationary chorus and sung a dithyramb and named what the chorus sangand introduced satyrs speaking verses. (The Suda lexicon)

5. Pindar says the dithyramb was discovered inCorinth. The inventor of the song Aristotle calls Arion. He first ledthe circular chorus. (Proculus, Chrest. xii)

6. The first performance of tragedy was introduced byArion of Methymna, as Solon said in his Elegies. Charon ofLampsacus says that drama was first produced at Athens by Thespis.(John the Deacon, Commentary on Hermogenes)

Stories about Cleisthenes, Sicyon,and Hero-drama

7. I must not omit to explain that [the tyrant]Cleisthenes picked on Melanippus as the person to introduce intoSicyon, because he was a bitter enemy of Adrastus, having killed bothMecistes, his brother, and Tydeus his son-in-law. After settling himin his new shrine, he transferred to him the religious honors ofsacrifice and festival which had previously been paid to Adrastus.The people of Sicyon had always regarded Adrastus with greatreverence, because the country had once belonged to Polybus, hismaternal grandfather, who died without an heir and bequeathed thekingdom to him. One of the most important of the tributes paid himwas the tragic chorus, or ceremonial dance and song, which theSicyonians celebrated in his honor; normally, the tragic chorusbelongs to the worship of Dionysus; but in Sicyon it was not so -- itwas performed in honor of Adrastus, treating his life-story andsufferings. Cleisthenes, however, changed this: he transferred thechoruses to Dionysus, and the rest of the ceremonial to Melanippus.(Herodotus V.67)

Stories trying to explain why, if tragedy originated fromDithyrambs sung in honor of Dionysus, not all tragedies were aboutDionysus ("Nothing to do with Dionysus": (ouden pros tonDionuson)

8. When Phrynichus and Aeschylus developed tragedy toinclude mythological plots and disasters, it was said, "What has thisto do with Dionysus?" (Plutarch, Symp. Quaest.)

9. Nothing to do with Dionysus. When, the chorusesbeing accustomed from the beginning to sing the dithyramb toDionysus, later poets abandoned this custom and began to write"Ajaxes" and "Centaurs". Therefore the spectators said in joke,"Nothing to do with Dionysus." For this reason they decided later tointroduce satyr-plays as a prelude, in order that they might not seemto be forgetting the god. (Zenobius V.40)

10. Nothing to do with Dionysus. When Epigenes theSicyonian made a tragedy in honor of Dionysus, they made thiscomment; hence the proverb. A better explanation: Originally whenwriting in honor of Dionysus they competed with pieces which werecalled satyric. Later they changed to the writing of tragedy andgradually turned to plots and stories in which they had no thoughtfor Dionysus. Hence this comment. Chamaeleon writes similarly in hisbook on Thespis. (The Suda lexicon)

Stories about Thespis the Athenianplaywright

11. From when Thespis the poet first acted, whoproduced a play in the city and the prize was a goat... (MarmorParium, under the year about 534 BC).

12. This is Thespis, who first moulded tragic song,inventing new joys for his villagers, when Bacchus led thewine-smeared (?) chorus, for which a goat was the prize (?) and abasket of Attic figs was a prize too. The young change all this.Length of time will discover many new things. But mine is mine.(Dioscorides, Anth. Pal. VII. 410)

13. The unknown poetry of the tragic Muse Thespis issaid to have discovered and to have carried poems on wagons, whichthey sang and acted, their faces smeared with wine-lees. (Horace,Ars Poetica 275-277)

14. As of old tragedy formerly the chorus by itselfperformed the whole drama and later Thespis invented a single actorto give the chorus a rest and Aeschylus a second and Sophocles athird, thereby completing tragedy... (Diogenes Laertius III. 56)

15. Thespis: Of the city of Ikarios in Attica, thesixteenth tragic poet after the first tragic poet, Epigenes ofSicyon, but according to some second after Epigenes. Others say hewas the first tragic poet. In his first tragedies he anointed hisface with white lead, then he shaded his face with purslane in hisperformance, and after that introduced the use of masks, making themin linen alone. He produced in the 61st Olympiad (536/5-533/2 BC).Mention is made of the following plays: Games of Pelias orPhorbas, Priests, Youths, Pentheus. (The Suda lexicon)

3. Staging an ancient Greek play

Attending a tragedy or comedy in 5th century BC Athens was in manyways a different experience than attending a play in the UnitedStates in the 20th century. To name a few differences, Greek playswere performed in an outdoor theater, used masks, and were almostalways performed by a chorus and three actors (no matter how manyspeaking characters there were in the play, only three actors wereused; the actors would go back stage after playing one character,switch masks and costumes, and reappear as another character). Greekplays were performed as part of religious festivals in honor of thegod Dionysus, and unless later revived, were performed only once.Plays were funded by the polis, and always presented in competitionwith other plays, and were voted either the first, second, or third(last) place. Tragedies almost exclusively dealt with stories fromthe mythic past (there was no "contemporary" tragedy), comediesalmost exclusively with contemporary figures and problems.

In what follows, we will run through an imaginary (but as far apossible, accurate) outline of the production of a Greek tragedy in5th century BC Athens from beginning to end. The outline will bringout some of the features of creating and watching a Greek tragedythat made it a different process than it is today.Staging a play.

4.Greek Theaters

Greek tragedies and comedies were always performed in outdoortheaters. Early Greek theaters were probably little more than openareas in city centers or next to hillsides where the audience,standing or sitting, could watch and listen to the chorus singingabout the exploits of a god or hero. From the late 6th century BC tothe 4th and 3rd centuries BC there was a gradual evolution towardsmore elaborate theater structures, but the basic layout of the Greektheater remained the same. The major components of Greek theater arelabled on the diagram above.

Orchestra: The orchestra (literally, "dancing space") wasnormally circular. It was a level space where the chorus would dance,sing, and interact with the actors who were on the stage near theskene. The earliest orchestras were simply made of hard earth, but inthe Classical period some orchestras began to be paved with marbleand other materials. In the center of the orchestra there was often athymele, or altar. The orchestra of the theater of Dionysus in Athenswas about 60 feet in diameter.

Theatron: The theatron (literally, "viewing-place") iswhere the spectators sat. The theatron was usually part of hillsideoverlooking the orchestra, and often wrapped around a large portionof the orchestra (see the diagram above). Spectators in the fifthcentury BC probably sat on cushions or boards, but by the fourthcentury the theatron of many Greek theaters had marble seats.

Skene: The skene (literally, "tent") was the buildingdirectly behind the stage. During the 5th century, the stage of thetheater of Dionysus in Athens was probably raised only two or threesteps above the level of the orchestra, and was perhaps 25 feet wideand 10 feet deep. The skene was directly in back of the stage, andwas usually decorated as a palace, temple, or other building,depending on the needs of the play. It had at least one set of doors,and actors could make entrances and exits through them. There wasalso access to the roof of the skene from behind, so that actorsplaying gods and other characters (such as the Watchman at thebeginning of Aeschylus' Agamemnon) could appear on the roof,if needed.

Parodos: The parodoi (literally, "passageways") are thepaths by which the chorus and some actors (such as those representingmessengers or people returning from abroad) made their entrances andexits. The audience also used them to enter and exit the theaterbefore and after the performance.

GreekTheaters Click here to explore more about Greek theaters inPerseus, with descriptions, plans, and images of eleven ancienttheaters, including the Theater of Dionysus in Athens, and thetheater at Epidaurus.

5.Structure of the plays read in Humanities 110

The basic structure of a Greek tragedy is fairly simple. After aprologue spoken by one or more characters, the chorus enters, singingand dancing. Scenes then alternate between spoken sections (dialoguebetween characters, and between characters and chorus) and sungsections (during which the chorus danced). Here are the basic partsof a Greek Tragedy:

a. Prologue: Spoken by one or two characters before thechorus appears. The prologue usually gives the mythologicalbackground necessary for understanding the events of the play.

b. Parodos: This is the song sung by the chorus as it firstenters the orchestra and dances.

c. First Episode: This is the first of many "episodes",when the characters and chorus talk.

d. First Stasimon: At the end of each episode, the othercharacters usually leave the stage and the chorus dances and sings astasimon, or choral ode. The ode usually reflects on the things saidand done in the episodes, and puts it into some kind of largermythological framework.

For the rest of the play, there is alternation between episodesand stasima, until the final scene, called the...

e. Exodos: At the end of play, the chorus exits singing aprocessional song which usually offers words of wisdom related to theactions and outcome of the play.

Click here to see an analysis ofthe structure of the plays read in Humanities 110.

6. English and Greek texts ofthe plays for word searching.

Englishtext
Greektext

B. Libation Bearers

Englishtext
Greektext

C. Eumenides

Englishtext
Greektext

D. Antigone

Englishtext
Greektext

E. Oedipus the King

Englishtext
Greektext

F. Bacchae

Englishtext
Greektext

G. Clouds

7.Links to other on-line resources for Greek Theater anda brief bibliography

A. Bibliography for further reading

Books in the Reed Library that provide helpful approaches to GreekTragedy include:

General Books

Goldhill, S. Reading Greek Tragedy (1986)
Heath, M. The Poetics of Greek Tragedy (1987)
Knox, B. Word and Action (1979)
Lesky, A. Greek Tragic Poetry (1983)
Rehm, R. Greek Tragic Theatre (1992)
Segal, C. Interpreting Greek Tragedy: Myth, Poetry, Text (1986)
Taplin, O. Greek Tragedy in Action (1978)
Vernant, J.P., and Vidal-Naquet, P. Tragedy and Myth in AncientGreece (1981)
Vickers, B. Towards Greek Tragedy (1973)
Winkler, J. and Zeitlin, F. Nothing to Do with Dionysus? (1990)

Origins of Greek Drama

Burkert, W. "Greek Tragedy and Sacrificial Ritual." Greek, Roman,and Byzantine Studies 7 (1966): 87-121.
Lesky, A. Greek Tragic Poetry (1983). Chapter 1: "Problems ofOrigin."
Pickard-Cambridge, A.W. Dithyramb, Tragedy, and Comedy (1927)________, second edition by Webster, T.B.L. (1962)
Winkler, J. "The Ephebes' Song: Tragoîdia and Polis." reprintedin Nothing to Do with Dionysus? (1990)

Aeschylus

Goldhill, S. Language, Sexuality, Narrative: The Oresteia(1984)
Lebeck, A. The Oresteia: A Study of Language and Structure (1971)
Rosenmeyer, T. The Art of Aeschylus (1982)
Taplin, O. The Stagecraft of Aeschylus (1977)
Winnington-Ingram, R.P. Studies in Aeschylus (1983)

Sophocles

Blundell, M.W. Helping Friends and Harming Enemies: A Study inSophocles and Greek Ethics (1989)
Edmunds, L. Oedipus: The ancient Legend and its Later Analogues(1985)
Gardiner, C.P. The Sophoclean Chorus (1987)
Gellie, G. Sophocles: A Reading (1972)
Knox, B. The Heroic Temper (1964)
Knox, B. Oedipus at Thebes (1957)
Scodel, R. Sophocles (1984)
Segal, Charles Tragedy and Civilization: An Interpretation ofSophocles (1981)
Winnington-Ingram, R.P. Sophocles: An Interpretation (1980)

Euripides

Burian, P., ed. Directions in Euripidean Criticism (1985)
Collard C. Euripides (Greece and Rome Surveys in the Classics n. 14)(1981)
Foley, H. Ritual Irony: Poetry and Sacrifice in Euripides (1985)
Halleran, M. Stagecraft in Euripides (1985)
Michelini, A.N. Euripides and the Tragic Tradition (1987)
Segal, C. Dionysiac Poetics and Euripides' Bacchae (1982)
Segal, E., ed. Euripides
Velacott, P. Ironic Drama: A Study of Euripides (1975)
Winnington-Ingram, R. Euripides and Dionysus: An Interpretation ofthe Bacchae (1948)

Aristophanes

Cartledge, P. Aristophanes and His Theatre of the Absurd(1990)
Dover, K.J. Aristophanic Comedy (1972)
Henderson, J. The Maculate Muse: Obscene Language in Atic Comedy. 2ndedition. (1991)
Henderson, J. "The Demos and the Comic Competition", in J. Winklerand F. Zeitlin, eds, Nothing to Do with Dionysus? (1990)
Konstan, D. Greek Comedy and Ideology (1995)
MacDowell, D. Aristophanes and Athens (1995)
McLeish, K. The Theatre of Aristophanes. London, 1980.
Nussbaum, M. "Aristophanes and Socrates on learning practicalwisdom", Yale Classical Studies 26 (1980) 43-97.
Redfield, J. "Drama and Community: Aristophanes and Some of HisRivals", in J. Winkler and F. Zeitlin, eds, Nothing to Do withDionysus? (1990)
Taplin, O. Comic Angels and Other Approaches to Greek Drama throughVase-Paintings. Oxford: 1993.
Ussher, R.G. Aristophanes (Greece and Rome New Surveys in theClassics, 13). Oxford, 1979.
Whitman, C.H. Aristophanes and the Comic Hero. Cambridge, MA.,1964.

This page developed byWalter Englert for Hum110 Tech.