Post on 27-Jan-2017
Classical Greek Drama
Background Information
Four Reasons for Theater
• Entertainment• Religion• Displaying loyalty to your city-state• Honoring local heroes
Origins
• Over the centuries, harvest dances developed into the dithyramb (dith-uh-ramb), a religious ritual performed by a chorus of men wearing masks.
The Theaters
• The first theaters were just hillsides with a few wooden benches for the important spectators.
• Then the circular dancing area, called the orchestra, was paved with stones.
• The skene (skee-knee), a rectangular building made of wood, provided changing rooms for actors and prop storage.
• Banks would shut down for days, people would travel from all around to see the drama competitions—even prisoners were temporarily released to see the plays