Greek Theater History

Every child seems to have their own memories of theater class, all with their own interpretations. Everyone seems to remember the days of acne-ridden teenagers, all worrying about their next performance in front of the class. While everyone remembers the tacky costumes and cheesy lines, almost no one can recollect the valuable information shared that filled their heads at the time. The teacher shared more with their students than just how to recite lines. They taught them how to be comfortable in their own skin, how to pick themselves up again after they fall, all while informing them of the rich history of theater. Between comedy and tragedy, theater is the basis of almost all modern compositions. From the origins of theater, to its ever-famous …show more content…
Theater can owe its development to Dionysus, a Greek god that was widely celebrated at the time. He was the god of wine, fertility, and agricultural growth, and was also commemorated for his tendency to ignore rules or laws (“Origins of Greek”). He was considered to be a free spirit, which was a great contrast to the other Greek gods of the time (“Origins of Greek”). One article mentions the reasoning behind Dionysus’s popularity by saying, “While Apollo represents qualities the Athenians prized most – such as rational thought, ordered musical and poetic composition, and civic justice – the Greeks were also aware that human nature is two-fold. For every rational thought, there is an irrational desire. For every beautifully compose paean song on the lyre, there is a wild and unformed song of pure, raw human emotion” (“Origins of Greek”). Add transition Dionysus symbolized all of these qualities, and was almost like the guilty pleasure for the Athenian people. At the time of theaters rise, around sixth century BC, Athens was in a constant state of dispute. The tyrant of Athens, Pisistratus, wanted to solidify the support of the citizens against the opposing aristocrats. To accomplish this, he handed over prominence to the most popular god of the time, Dionysus. The citizens instantly reacted, so to greater the support for his cause, Pisistratus changed some traditional rural festivals …show more content…
The original form of theater began during the Dionysian Festival, when volunteers would stand up to perform monologues in reference to the god, Dionysus. As the tradition began to grow, the Athenian citizens that performed began to add in a chorus of people, which would act as a third-person point of view to clarify the situations for the audience. This was the usual routine for many years, until a man by the name of Thespis, changed the standards. Thespis was one of the usual volunteers for the annual monologues, until one year he surprised everyone at the festival, and added dialogue to converse with the chorus (“A Brief History”). As the years went on, and the festival grew larger, the small performances began to include more and more characters to interact with each other. The performances soon grew to a level of popularity, where there were constant demands for regular showings. As they began performing scheduled theatrics, they were forced to add structure to their pieces. To accomplish this, several different occupations were created, one example being the choregos (Dunkle). A choregos, which roughly translates into the phrase “to lead”, was typically wealthy Athenian citizen who supervised all productions (Dunkle). This job was considered to be a public service, and was viewed as an income tax for the citizens who participated. The choregos would provide food for the actors,