The Ancient Greek Time Period

Theaters, actors, and plays were all started in the ancient Greek time period. Ancient Greek theater began between 550 and 220 BC. The plays or productions focused on the Greek God Dionysus. Dionysus was the God of wine, agriculture, and sexuality. Thespis was a person who told stories through songs to Dionysus. Thespis did two major things that transformed Greek theater, make actors instead of just storytellers and translated the hymns into Dionysus to story telling songs which people acted out. The theater began with no actors or in a dithyrambous. The poet Thespis was the first to use actors. Aeschylos was the second, and Sophocles was the third. The actors that were the leading characters were originally called hypocrites.The actors were all only men because it was against the law for women to be actors/actress.( Phillips; Karayannakos) Ancient Greek theater consisted of a mixture of legend, philosophy, poetry, social commentary, visual splendor, public participation, and myths. A myth is an old story rooted in a particular society that explains a belief, ritual, or some mysteries aspect of nature. The ancient Greek theater also consisted of loud music, bright colors, and extensive dancing. ( Karayannakos) The ancient Greeks started a whole new world of theater terms. Some of the words that they invented were theater, which came from the word theatron meaning “seeing place”, drama, which came from the word dran meaning “ to do”. Chorus, which was the character that told what has been happening in the play, and ode meaning part of the play when the chorus speaks or sings. Also, strophe, which is when during the ode, the chorus crosses from stage right to stage left and the opposite directions for antistrophe. Another word that came for the ancient Greek theater was hypocrites, which were the leading actors, or parts.(Karayannakos) Greek theater consisted of three major types of plays. There was tragedy, which was derived from the word tragos meaning goat. A tragedy is a play with no obvious happiness or happy ending. They usually involved death, murder, war, violence, lust, and betrayal. Other types are comedies, which was derived from the word ode meaning song. They usually involved funny stories. In comedy plays they many different themes but, through comedy. The final types of play were the satyr. Satyr plays were plays that told a story usually offensive to real people. In satyr plays they showed social and ethical issues and daily life issues. The ancient Greeks tragedies and comedies were always performed in outdoor theaters. (Fagg, Ancient Greece; Karayannakos) The Greek theater plays consisted of three major parts. The tragedy begins with the prologue, spoken before the chorus, the character not part of the action that comments on what happening, enters the scene. The prologue helps the audience to understand the historical or mythological background of the plot. After that the chorus enters, then the orchestra singing an ode, called parodos usually poetic. The chorus also sings between the dialogic parts of the play other songs called stassima in ensemble, or divided in two groups, semechoria. Other parts of a play were the first episode where the character and chorus talked; it was one of many episodes. The exodus were also at the end of the play where the chorus exits singing a processional song which usually offers words of wisdom related to the action and outcome of the play. The orchestra, literally “dancing space”, was a leveled space where the chorus would dance, sing, and interact with the actors who were on the stage near the skene. The theatron, literally “viewing-place”, was usually part of the hillside overlooking the orchestra, often wrapped around a large portion of the orchestra and where the spectators. The skene, literally “tent or hut”, was the building directly behind the stage. Finally, the parodos, literally “passageways”, were the paths by which the chorus, some actors, and the audience made their entrances and exits.(Phillips; “Ancient Greek Theater-academic”) Another thing that the ancient Greek theater used was masks. The masks showed emotions and helped to identify different characters. The masks served to amplify the actors’ voices as well. They also aided the audience, who often sat too far from the actors to see their facial expressions. The larger masks in ancient Greek theater were used to express anger, joy, and other emotions. The masks used in classical Greek comedy and tragedies have become the symbols of theater and drama. Masks were also used so that actors could play more than one character. Tragic masks carried mournful or pained expressions, while comic masks were smiling or leering.( Wood, The World Book Encyclopedia ; “Ancient Greek Theater- crystal”) The ancient Greek theater was the start of a time period with theaters, plays, and actors, which are still used today.

Work Cited
“Ancient Greek Theater”. Crystalinks. 2007. 28 Nov 2008

Englert, Walter. “Ancient Greek Theater”. Academic. 2007. 28 Nov 2008 < http://academic.reed.edu/humanities/110Tech/Theater.html>

Fagg, Christopher. Ancient Greek. New York: Warwick Press, 1979. 28 Nov 2008

Karayannakos, Elias. “Description of a Theater of 5th Century BC”. Greek Theatre. 2007. 28 Nov 2008

Phillips, K. “Ancient Greek Theater & Actors”. Richeast. 2000. 28 Nov 2008

Wood, Peter. The World Book Encyclopedia. Chicago: World, 1996. 28 Nov 2008

Cited: “Ancient Greek Theater”. Crystalinks. 2007. 28 Nov 2008 Englert, Walter. “Ancient Greek Theater”. Academic. 2007. 28 Nov 2008 < http://academic.reed.edu/humanities/110Tech/Theater.html> Fagg, Christopher. Ancient Greek. New York: Warwick Press, 1979. 28 Nov 2008 Karayannakos, Elias. “Description of a Theater of 5th Century BC”. Greek Theatre. 2007. 28 Nov 2008 Phillips, K. “Ancient Greek Theater & Actors”. Richeast. 2000. 28 Nov 2008 Wood, Peter. The World Book Encyclopedia. Chicago: World, 1996. 28 Nov 2008