Essay On Greek Theater

Greek Theater Greek drama is said to have its roots from Athenian seasonal festivals honoring Dionysus, the god of wine and fertility. These festivals occurred around 700 B.C.; they were filled with drunkenness and sexuality. Scholars believe there were four festivals during each of the seasonal change periods. The festival related to the Greek people planting, tending the vine, harvesting, and wine-making was in early December. This was called the Festival of Vintage. There was a Festival of the Winepress in early February, a Festival of Tasting in early March, and the Great Festival of Celebration in early April. These festivals were a time for the people to sing, pray for good crops, give thanks, and make sacrifices for bountiful harvests. In these celebrations, drunken men used to dress up in rough goat skins to symbolize sexual potency and donned fake phalluses to symbolize fertility. They sang and cavorted in choruses to imitate a …show more content…
For example, the Theater of Dionysus was built in Athens in 435 B.C. and had more than 17,000 seats; this theater served as a model for all theaters over the Mediterranean world. These early theaters were built out in the hillsides and had efficient acoustics. When an actor would deliver his speech, the actor’s words would be heard in all sections of the theater. There were sections in the theater for different groups of people. The theatron, or “seeing place,” was an area where the audience sat. The theatron was shaped like a horseshoe and had roes the stone bleachers rising upwards. The first row seats were for honorable city officials, the choragus, and the priest of Dionysus. Male citizens and a special section of eighteen year old boys who were training for the military sat behind them. Women sat behind the males and the military trainees; slaves sat on the top. Seats were assigned by a number which matched a number on a circular token or