The Theater of Dionysus was Europe's first theater, and stood immediately below the
Parthenon in Athens, Greece. It was originally built in the late 5th century B.C. The
theater was an outdoor auditorium in the shape of a great semicircle on the slope of the
Acropolis, with rows of seats on which about eighteen thousand spectators could
comfortably seat. The front rows consisted of marble chairs, and were the only seats in
the theater that had a back support. The priests of Dionysus and the chief magistrates of
Athens reserved these rows. Priests claimed 50 of the 67 front row seats, then came the
officials, the guests of honor, then finally the ordinary citizens of Athens. Beyond the
front row, stood a circular space called the orchestra where the Chorus would sing and
dance, and in the center of which stood the alter of Dionysus. The orchestra level was
around 3 meters higher than the shrine. Behind the orchestra, there lied a heavy
rectangular foundation known as the stage on which the actors would perform their section
of the play. The back of the stage had a building painted to look like the front of a
temple or a palace. Here, the actors would retire when they were not needed on stage or
would go to when they had to change their costumes. Above lay the deep blue sky, behind
it was the Acropolis, and seen in the distance was the olive colored hills and lush green
of the forests that surround.
The theater was built as a result of the Athenian's religious practice in honor of the
god, Dionysos, who personified both wine and fruitfulness. Long before the theater
itself was built, an annual ceremonial festival was held for Dionysus in the same spot.
This ancient ceremony was performed by choruses of men who sang and danced in the god's
honor. Spectators would gather in a circle to watch these dancers; that was the way that
the theater took its circular shape. When the theater was built, the performers only
sang and danced about the stories of Dionysus's life, then later the stories of other
gods and heroes. The stories were told in the form of a song, chanted at first by all
who took place, then later by a chorus of about fifty performers. During the intervals
of a song, the leader would recite part of the story himself. As time passed, these
recitations became more and more important, as it eventually overtook the chorus. They
were now presented by two or three people, while the chorus consisted of only fifteen
performers. A maximum of three speakers were allowed on stage at once, and only one
story was told during one performance. The chorus, although less important, still set
the atmosphere for the play, and as well gave the audience a time of relief from a
tragedy.
The Festival of Dionysus was a great dramatic one that was held during March and April
inside the theater. Three poets were chosen every year, and each wrote a series of
three tragedies based on some well-known Greek legend. Originally, admission to the
theater was free, but as the crowds grew, the leaders realized that a small entrance fee
would be economically beneficial for the theater. Several plays were given in one day,
and a prize was awarded to the best, so the audience was obligated to start at dawn and
would remain until sunset. While watching the plays, the Athenian audience was very
critical as they would bluntly show their signs of approval or disapproval by their
applause, or lack thereof. The legends and traditions from which most of the Greek plays
took their plots were well known to the Athenians. They were stories honoring some great
event or explaining some religious observance. These legends were chosen by the
different dramatists, each of whom brought forth a different side of the story to enforce
some particular lesson he wished to teach the audience. The plays were written in poetry
which deeply stirred the emotions of the audience. It gave the Athenians much to think
about their eternal problems of human life and conduct, and the proper relationship
between humans and gods.
Each play followed certain guidelines which created the culture of the theater. When the
play began, only three actors were allowed on stage at once. They would usually wear
very elaborate costumes, and on their feet would be a strange looking wooden sole called
a buskin. This would add about six inches to their height to make them look taller and
more impressive to the audience. A facial mask would also be worn to identify whom the
character was, and the moods and feelings that the character portrayed. The mask
included a wide mouth to project the voice of the actors so that everyone in the immense
audience would be able to hear what the actor had to say. The actors would change their
masks as they changed their characters. There were no curtains used, even though the
plays were not divided into different acts. When there was a pause in action, the Chorus
would fill up the time with their songs. When a tragedy was performed, the final
calamity would never be shown on stage, but a messenger would appear to give the audience
an account of what had happened.
The creation of drama and the theater was a very large stepping stone for the Greeks, as
it showed surrounding and future societies many things about the Greek beliefs,
lifestyles, and culture. The building of the theater itself showed their degree of
engineering and architectural ability that they used in creating their structures. It
also showed that they had a vague form of understanding the way that acoustics work, as
all the seats, no matter where they were, could hear the sounds from the stage. The
plays that were performed gave an insight on Greek history and mythology. Naturally,
they would not have performed any plays which did not interest the audience. They would
only display what they believed to be important for civilians to know, such as their
heritage and religious beliefs. Finally, the innovation of the drama and the theater
undeniably confirmed their absolute belief in religion, as the theater would never have
come about if it weren't for the worship of Dionysus by the Athenians.
Bibliography
1) Powell, Anton, Ancient Greece. Facts on File, Inc., 1989.
2) Onians, John, Art and Thought in the Hellenistic Age. Thames and Hudson Ltd., 1979.
3) Mills, Dorothy, The Book of the Ancient Greeks. G.P Putnam's Sons, 1977.
4) Skipp, Victor, Out of the Ancient World. Penguin Books, 1967.
5) Erim, Kenan, Aphrodisias, the City of Love. Facts on File Publications, 1986.
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