Ancient Greece have influenced many modern worldly things. One of the biggest things they influenced was modern theater. The ancient Greeks were the first masters in the art of drama. Drama tells a story through the imitation of action, it started off as a ritual associated with the worship of Dionysus, god of wine, vegetation, and seasonal regeneration and became and elaborate art (Fiero, page 90). Theatrical performances were held in the city of Athens twice a year. As theater grew more cities built theaters and held performances there. Greek dramas addressed the relationship between the individual, the community and the gods (Fiero, page 90). Ancient Greek theater was a major cultural aspect to Greek life. The Greek theater was an impressive architectural design. Their plays were staged in the open-air theaters built into the hillsides at sacred sites throughout Greece. Drama was often associated with religion so theaters were often located in or near sanctuaries (McManus, 1-2). The Greeks took advantage of sloping hillside for their terraced seating. The core of any ancient Greek theater is the orchestra. The orchestra was the center of attention; it was usually a big circle. This was the “dancing place” and preforming place for the chorus and the place where almost all the action happened during the play. The audience sat in the theatron (McManus, 1-2). It was a semi-circular terraced row of benches. In the earliest theaters these were usually wooden, but later they were built of stone. The Greeks built the seating so they were wedges. The seating capacities for most theaters were between 12,000 and 14,000 (McManus, 1-2). The Greeks were known to have excellent acoustics in their theaters. Every word spoken was heard in the top row. On the far side of the orchestra was the stage building, or skene, which means tent. The skene was a structure that was enclosed; it was originally a temporary building made of wood. This was the place where actors stored the costumes and masks. Most plays, actors had multiple roles so they would change into their other costumes in the skene too (McManus, 1-2). On either side of the stage the Greeks built long ramps called eisodoi or parodoi. These ramps were used as an entrance and an exit for the chorus members and the actors. There was also a central door the actors used to get on the stage (McManus, 1-2). For an early civilization there architectural design for their theaters are impressive. The Greeks utilized costumes when performing their plays. They also used certain structures to preform special effects. The Greeks would paint the skene; this act was called skenographia (Damen, 1). They would paint murals on the ways of the skene to indicate the setting for a particular play, just like how now we use backdrops. They also used what was called ekkulêma, which was a wheeled platform which was used to show the interior of a building (Damen, 1-2). It usually came from inside the skene. They also used a mechane which was a large crane that had a platform on it. The platform could swing and it would carry the actors. It would give the illusion of flying (Damen, 1-2). The costumes for the plays with usually very detailed. The most important part of the costume were the masks. They were made of a light weight material and painted on. The masks usually consisted of a wig. The wig length signified whether the person was young, in there mid years, or old. Masks that indicated a young man were beardless, men who were older had full beards and brown or yellow hair, and old men were portrayed as balding with long grey beards (McManus, 1-2). Women’s masks had specific features that distinguish them too. Long hair was used to portray women who were mourning and shorter hair wigs showed that the women were a slave (McManus, 1-2). The masks were painted to signify sex to; the male masks were a brownish yellow color while the women’s masks were usually white. From the seats at
Greek Theatre Introduction In the year is 441 B.C. five years after the eleven year war between Sparta and Athens, there is famine in Rome but on the up side, literature, artwork, architecture, philosophy, and politics are all growing rapidly only two actors are ever on stage at one time has now changed thanks to Sophocles and theater is also growing and improving every day. first i will talk about Sophocles, how he would have lived and what Greece was like between his birth in 496 B.C to his…
The Greek Culture was diverse with theater and elaborate sculptures. Theater depicted individuals attempting to cope with life on a personal level (Nagle, 2010). The elaborate sculptures are detailed and realistic. Mosaics became commonplace as well creating an artistic medium for people of all stature. This drive for artistic freedom created an amateur market for collections. The architecture of a city was so important to a monarch that an architect would be the first called in to plan the new…
I found pictures of modern and ancient examples of Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian. Doric: Developed by the Dorian Tribes on the Greek Mainland. It was a simple, sturdy and undecorated design. Doric columns had no base. Ionic: Developed by the Ionian Greeks living along the coast of Asia Minor (present day Turkey). It was more delicate and ornate than the Greek order. Corinthian: Was developed in the city of Corinth during the classical period. Developed well after the Doric and Ionic we're founded…
Jessica D. Rodriguez Nick Garcia Drama 16 12/14/13 Religion in Theater Throughout history the importance of God, Gods, and religion has been evident in theater. From the beginning of humanity belief in a higher power has been passed down from every generation, race, culture. Monotheism is the belief in one God, and polytheism is the belief in many Gods. Who is to know if these “religions” are even true. We don’t have proof of any of Greek stories of powerful Gods ruling and doing cruel things to humans…
Griselda Rodriguez Humanities 10 January 16, 2015 Humanities Eros is love as physical lust and agape is a spiritual and intellectual relationship that is more than a strictly physical one. The difference between Eros and agape is that Eros is only a physical attraction driven by desire and lust while agape is more about the soul and truly knowing a person and loving everything about them not just their physical appearance. For example A Thousand and One Night is a tale of over 400 tales put together…
Virginia Danyow Professor Timothy Cochran Introduction to Theater May 8, 2014 Irish Playwrights Often, when people think of theater, they think of the Shakespeare or the Greek tragedies. This is likely because plays such as Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, or Hercules are popular and often taught in high school literature classes. The writings of Irish playwrights such as Sean O’Casey and George Bernard Shaw are often overlooked. Sean O’Casey was born in Dublin on March 30, 1880. His father, a broth…
Four dimensions of theater 1. Standard drama and musical theater 2. Theatrical arts a. Opera b. Ballet c. Circus d. Film 3. Fields that make use of theater 4. Theater sensibilities used in life “There is only one show business” –Penn Julette Theatrical- using theater as a metaphor National Theater of the Deaf- The oldest theatre company in the United States that has continually gone on tours and produced original works. The company has visited each of the 50 states in close to 80 national…
Katherine Moran History of Art and Visual Culture 102-099WB Prof. Denise Budd 02/24/15 Greek Architecture Assignment The Greek architecture surprises by the complexity of their construction as well as for its vigor, harmony and refinement. It also suggests eternity, as it has endured over the millennia and still inspires awe and appreciation to observe its huge stone columns, stoic beauty and fine craftsmanship. The Greek architecture used as principal element the columns, and it is considered an essential…
Rome and Greece were very similar. Greek and Roman people were a majority farmers and Greece and Rome had commercial agriculture, which was one of the leading forces in the creation of the empire and trade. However, for all the importance of trade in Greek and Roman societies, merchants enjoyed a somewhat ambiguous status in classical Mediterranean civilization. Slavery was also a key social institution in classical Mediterranean civilization. The Roman gods were almost exact replicas of the Greek gods, merely renamed and…
Auriel Smith Oct. 8, 2013 Theatre 1 “Greek Theatre” You can go to a play almost anytime you choose. Hundreds of plays are performed almost every night of the week all across the United States. Your opportunities to see a play would have been very limited, however, had you lived in Greece around 400 to 500 B.C. Tragedy plays: Thespis is considered to be the first Greek "actor" and originator of tragedy (which means "goat song", perhaps referring to goats sacrificed to Dionysus before performances…