The Ineffable Role of Greek Theater
The Roman philosopher Seneca once said, “Life is like a play at the theater: it does not matter how long it lasts, but how well it was played.” This is true in several ways; the majority of society will put on a mask to show others instead of their true emotions. The belief that we shield ourselves from society most likely goes back to the ancient Greeks. which raises the question: why were plays an important part of Greek culture? Theater enforced morals and celebrated the god of wine, fertility and ritual madness, Dionysus.
Background Information on Greek Theater
Theater comes from a celebration of the god Dionysus. His cult ceremonies were always extremely exciting. The festival began with a parade, featuring …show more content…
The chorus would dance and sing and act out an event and it eventually it evolved into tragedy.(4) The literal Greek translation of tragedy means “goat song” which referred to the sacrificial goats for Dionysus or the fact that the actors sometimes wore goatskins when performing.(1) Early on, the chorus was simply on a flat patch of ground.(1) But when plays were first being acted out, the actors needed a place to separate themselves from the chorus.
Eventually a small tent they used turned into a wooden stage with the actors on stage and the chorus below them on the ground. The wooden building the actors used was called a skene, which gave them a place to enter and exit. The skene was often painted but the mural was mostly for viewing and didn 't contribute to the content of the play.(4) The skene eventually changed and was made of stone and architectural details were added and the theater was built into a hillside so the spectators could view the stage more easily. As the theater became more advanced over time, the tragedy plays gave way to the loose, critical humor of comedy …show more content…
Greek comedies often made fun of and mocked political situations and authority. The first part of a comedy play was the when the chorus would dance and sing. They were dressed in crazy, flashy, and wild costumes.(3) The second part was the agon, which was a battle of the wits contest, where improvising and making plot twists was the goal.(3) The third part was the parabasis or when the chorus spoke directly to the audience or directly to a poet. The grand finale was another lively song and dance routine.(3)
There are two types of comedy, old comedy and new comedy. Old comedy usually stretched the terms of reality, where a character could jump a long distance in a short amount of time. Mystical creatures and terrible disguises kept the crude jokes, puns, and exaggerations rolling. Plays were a popular form of entertainment, they expressed the slang language and not the typical formal language found in writing.(3) Any public official was fair material, and even mythology and religion was made fun of. Some of the higher gods like Zeus or Athena were off- limits for comedy
The Roman philosopher Seneca once said, “Life is like a play at the theater: it does not matter how long it lasts, but how well it was played.” This is true in several ways; the majority of society will put on a mask to show others instead of their true emotions. The belief that we shield ourselves from society most likely goes back to the ancient Greeks. which raises the question: why were plays an important part of Greek culture? Theater enforced morals and celebrated the god of wine, fertility and ritual madness, Dionysus.
Background Information on Greek Theater
Theater comes from a celebration of the god Dionysus. His cult ceremonies were always extremely exciting. The festival began with a parade, featuring …show more content…
The chorus would dance and sing and act out an event and it eventually it evolved into tragedy.(4) The literal Greek translation of tragedy means “goat song” which referred to the sacrificial goats for Dionysus or the fact that the actors sometimes wore goatskins when performing.(1) Early on, the chorus was simply on a flat patch of ground.(1) But when plays were first being acted out, the actors needed a place to separate themselves from the chorus.
Eventually a small tent they used turned into a wooden stage with the actors on stage and the chorus below them on the ground. The wooden building the actors used was called a skene, which gave them a place to enter and exit. The skene was often painted but the mural was mostly for viewing and didn 't contribute to the content of the play.(4) The skene eventually changed and was made of stone and architectural details were added and the theater was built into a hillside so the spectators could view the stage more easily. As the theater became more advanced over time, the tragedy plays gave way to the loose, critical humor of comedy …show more content…
Greek comedies often made fun of and mocked political situations and authority. The first part of a comedy play was the when the chorus would dance and sing. They were dressed in crazy, flashy, and wild costumes.(3) The second part was the agon, which was a battle of the wits contest, where improvising and making plot twists was the goal.(3) The third part was the parabasis or when the chorus spoke directly to the audience or directly to a poet. The grand finale was another lively song and dance routine.(3)
There are two types of comedy, old comedy and new comedy. Old comedy usually stretched the terms of reality, where a character could jump a long distance in a short amount of time. Mystical creatures and terrible disguises kept the crude jokes, puns, and exaggerations rolling. Plays were a popular form of entertainment, they expressed the slang language and not the typical formal language found in writing.(3) Any public official was fair material, and even mythology and religion was made fun of. Some of the higher gods like Zeus or Athena were off- limits for comedy