Theatre : Introduction to ancient Greek theatre

The theater in ancient Greece was ancient even to the ancient Greeks themselves. By the time the works of playwrights like Aeschylus were performed in the Hellenistic heyday, Aristotle was reduced to guessing as to how it all began. And likely, many of the specifics are lost irretrievably to history. But the tradition that was left in place has influenced the theatrical tradition for thousands of years, and reaches into modern-day expectations of how a story is to be told.

GREEK THEATER’S ORIGINS

The two main types of Greek plays, comedies and tragedies, are thought to have evolved separately. Comedy was thought to have come out of the festivals honoring Bacchus and Dionysus, gods associated with the baser aspects of humanity such as food and fertility. By the fifth century, there would be an annual spring Dionysus festival where three selected poets would perform tributes on a sloped hillside, perhaps one of the earliest existing outdoor theater sites.

Tragedies evolved out of perhaps a nobler tradition, the desire to educate the public about important parts of local and world history. Tributes would be paid to various gods and battle warriors in a pageant-style fashion. Strangely, far more plays of Greek legend and myth survive than works dedicated to actual history, perhaps because their timeless quality caused them to translate better to future generations.

GREEK THEATER TERMS

The term “theater” itself refers to the particular acting schools, probably known as troupes today. Amphitheaters were the venues for the outdoor theatrical performances, and were constructed with acoustical properties to maximize the players’ voices. Parts were likely sang, with the lead actor or “protagonist” likely a soprano. The leader of the “chorus” , known as the “choryphaeus” stepped up and spoke with the actor, while the chorus danced and sang in the “orchestra,” stepped up and spoke with the actor and emphasized the important parts of the actor’s speeches and engaged in back-and-forth dialog with others called “stichomythia.”

Over time specific conventions arose. Often there would be “acts” periods marked by the actors parading into and out of the amphitheater. The complications, especially violent ones, occurred offstage and were reported by messengers. Gods and other heroes would be on a “machine,” a crane-like structure, resulting in the phrase “Deus ex machina.”

GREEK PLAYWRIGHTS

ARISTOPHENES (448-338 or 380 B.C. 50 plays)
Aristophanes is the best known of the surviving Greek comics. He doesn’t write in the old tradition of the Dionysian festivals, rather much in a format we might recognize today. He was a satirist, poking fun at everything from Socrates to the tragedy writers. His famous works include “The clouds,” “The birds” and “The wasps.”

AESCHYLUS (525-456 B.C.)
The earliest of tragedy writer, said to be one of the creators of Greek drama. He built upon the ancient historical celebrations by adding a second actor into the play, (Thespis is supposedly one), reducing the role of the chorus. Most of his plays were part of trilogies, including The Orestia. Characteristic of Aeschylus’ plays are clear and distinct characters which face strong forces beyond their control. Chains of justice, crime and punishment are set into motion and then resolved at the end with a catharsis.

SOPHOCLES (496-406 B.C)
Sophocles made tragedy more like its modern form by introducing the third actor into the plot. The chorus becomes less important and the dialog more so., the action is swifter and the dialog sharper. Sophocles was perhaps the most popular in his day, producing 127 plays of which 7 survive. Aristotle considered his most famous work, “Oedipus the King,” the best work of its kind.

EURIPIDES (480-406 B.C.)
Euripides was the most revolutionary, though not the most popular. H wrote ninety plays, few of which were performed regularly or survive to today.. Euripides was educated as a free thinker, and as a result, he approached the traditional myths as just the background against which he could create the real human drama. One established convention he maintained was supernatural intervention, resulting in use of the “Deus ex machina” device. Mechanical devices had to be invented that allowed the gods to appear and disappear quickly. He made extensive use of the history legend, and his famous works included “Medea,” “Orestes,” and “The Phoenician Women,” “Orestes, and “The Phoenician Women.”

CONCLUSION

The tradition that grew out of these efforts was so strong that many of the established conventions continue today. Few of the movies, stories or other dramas that are narrated are without some of the conventions introduced by the Ancient Greeks. Built on the tradition they created, Ovid, Homer, Dante, Chaucer, Shakespeare and many others build on the stories and traditions of their day, and transform their own local legends, values and stories into literary masterpieces.nationalism by transforming mythology and local legend into literary masterpieces.