Origin
The origins of the Greek theater are rooted in tragedy and the tragedy is rooted in a ritualistic dance performed to honor the Greek god Dionysius, the king’s god. This dance was called the dithyramp and was accompanied by a hymn. The dance was to be performed with intense emotion and the atmosphere in which it was performed tended to be quite disorderly due to the drunkenness of the participants.
Solo Performers
Dithyramb was eventually developed among Dorians by Sicyon; This is the role of the speaker, who usually assumed the role of a priest. He would introduce the dance ritual and then continue to talk a dialogue against the background of the dancers and singers. By the end of the 7th century BC dithyramb had spread over much of Greece and began to gain prominence.
Drama
Another hundred years would pass before a poet named Thespis would turn dithyramb into real drama. Thespis, from which we get the word thespian, decided that the current state was just too chaotic and so began writing scripts. These early literary texts were the forerunners of the classical Greek drama and comedies still performed today.
Theaters
Greek plays were performed in outdoor theaters surrounded by spectators on three sides. The Koran, a group of actors who would communicate directly with the audience, was located in a circular area called the orchestra. The actors on stage would perform behind the choir, but to the front of a building called Skene. Skene would later become the root word for the word scenary.
Actor
Actors in Greek drama differ significantly from actors today. Realism was not the rule of the day, instead the theater was strongly stylized. Actors who performed tragedies wore clothes and boots that enhanced their character. Masks, the main element of Greek theater, were also used. Masks were huge and contained a single distinct emotional expression. When an actor took on a different role, he would simply change the mask. Only three actors were used at a time and each was male.
Tragedy
Classical Greek tragedies include those in the Oedipus cycle of Sophocles and Oresteia of Aeschylus. The Greek tragedy consisted of two separate elements: the protagonist’s so – called fatal error that led to an angry god persecuting him and his ultimate fall that caused devastation to those around him.
Comedy
The Theater Include the comedy mask and the only symbolic tragedy. Although less known than tragedies, the Greeks also invented theater. The representative playwright of Greek comedy is Aristophanes. Hans, as well as works by smaller writers, set the template for comedy to come. Greek comedy is based on the concepts of continuity in order and a happy ending, which is in direct opposition to disorder and unhappy ending in connection with the tragedy. Every form of entertainment with actors that is popular today goes back to the ancient Greeks. Television, film and especially theater have their roots in the type of drama that developed in Greece in the 6th century BC What is even more amazing is that many of the texts of Greek drama are still performed regularly today, thousands of years after they were first introduced .
Source:danspela.com