Greek Theatre Research Paper

During the 5th century, only men were able to participate and act in plays. Greek and Medieval Theatre both did play during special occasions. Greek and Medieval Theatre had playwrights, themes, actors, produced worldwide theatre, both were located in a type of amphitheater, costume, staging, and a type of genre. Both had their first play during the 5th century. Greek Theatre has a lot to do with Greek mythology, like god and goddesses as well mystical heroes. The Medieval Theatre presented epic hero sometimes dealing with demigods and normal people that challenged the gods. It also portrays to Marcuity plays.

Greek drama originally started out as a ritual to honor the god of wine, Dionysus, by the cult of Dionysus. In the ritual, drunk men dressed up in goat-skin would sing and have dialogue in chorus to welcome the leader, the person acting as Dionysus (Sayre 151). In these revel-filled festivals, men dressed as satyrs, companions of Dionysus who are half-man and half-goat, while the women dressed up as maenads, the immortal followers of Dionysus. As the participants become drunk and filled with ecstasy, they “transform” into a different identity from before. Later on this behavior became the satyr play, a form of Greek drama. Tragedy is said to be originated from the Dionysian rites, where the name comes from tragoidos, which means the “goat song” from the satyrs – companions of Dionysus who are half-man and half-goat. This could be in reference to the fact that Dionysus was also the

The Greeks were known for giving offerings to their gods. They decided to build a theater where they could give their offerings. Although the main thing that they used it for was giving offerings, it was also used for some other things. This paper will be talking about Greek drama genres, why theater was so important, and how they make their voices heard.

Located in Griffith Park, Los Angeles, the 5,870 Greek Theatre is one of the city's most recognized outdoor venues. The history of the Greek Theatre dates back to 1882, where South Wales settler Colonel Griffith J. Griffith came to America to seek fortune in gold mining. The settler purchased the three thousand acre plot of land and gifted it to the City of Los Angeles. As said by Colonel Griffith himself, the park was to " be made a place of recreation and rest for the masses, a resort for the rank and file, for the plain people.

The Greeks were the first ones to discover the power of the word, the public speaking. The theater finds its origins in the mimetic religious representation of the history of the gods and their myths. Theatre was in honor of Dionysus the god of wine music, and drama, and fertility.The procession was in the temple of Dionysia, where Athenian citizen were dancing, playing tambourines. Others where wearing lavish robes and displaying their dignity. The festival began with dithyrambs, or songs sung by a large chorus of usually fifty men. The remainder of the festival was dedicated to dramatic competitions in which five new plays were performed and judges gave prizes to

The theatre that you are most familiar with today generally comes via the movie version of an originally staged play. But if we go back further, we find that most of the theatre that is written and performed today can be traced back to Greek origins through various

Athens in 534 B.C. (S2 Cline). A low speaker’s platform (Bema) was added to enlarge the stage

Ancient Greek Theater is the first historical record of “drama,” which is the Greek term meaning “to do” or “to act.” Beginning in the 5th century BC, Greek Theater developed into an art that is still used today. During the golden age of the Athenians plays were created, plays that are considered among the greatest works of world drama. Today there are thousands of well-known plays and films based on the re-make of ancient drama.

Greek theatre and medieval drama were both very popular artistic events in their own periods of performance. However, from ancient Greece to the renaissance, time has set them apart in terms of methodology; their practitioners use a creative process based off of different mindsets. Therefore, the significant time lapse between the two genres has had an evident impact on the way theatre was perceived and presented. In comparing aspects such as religious motivations, conditions of violence and character development, the distinct theatrical natures of Greek theatre and medieval drama will be made apparent.

In Greek the word “tragedy” means “goat song”, but the connection between tragedy and goat song is obscure. Perhaps a goat was the prize at some sort of early singing contest in Greece, or perhaps the dancers wore goat skins. One medieval writer ingeniously suggested that tragedy is called goat song because it begins prosperously, as a goat is abundantly hairy in front, and ends wretchedly, as a goat is bare in the rear. Dante Alighieri, whose Divine Comedy proves him to be the greatest poet of the Middle Ages, offered the engaging idea that tragedy is so called because its story is unpleasant and smelly as a goat.

‘The Birth of Tragedy’ written by Nietzsche, brings up the idea of the two gods, Apollonian and Dionysian. This greek essence of the gods are discussed in terms of their nature and what they represent in terms of art and culture. He talks about the rebirth of tragedy and links music to it.

Many aspects of ancient Greek theaters have long been studied and debated. Much of the information about these theaters is based on speculation due to the fact that so little of them still exist today. This lack of remnants especially applies to the architecture of the early Greek Theaters. However, through archeological finds and years of studying the people, the plays, and the architecture of the time, we are able to make many conclusions about these early structures.

     "The arts of the western world have been largely dominated by the artistic standards established by the Greeks of the classical period" (Spreloosel 86). It is from the Greek word theatron, meaning a place for sitting, that we get our word theater. According to James Butler, "The Greeks were the first people to erect special structures to bring audiences and theatrical performers together" (27). "The theaters were normally located near a populated area at the bottom of or cut out of a carefully selected, sloping hillside overlooking a seascape, a plain, or a city" (Butler 30). "They eventually with few exceptions consisted of three distinct parts: theatron

Aristotle defines a tragedy as a ‘representation of an action which is important, complete and limited in length. It is enacted not recited and by arousing pity and fear, it gives an outlet to emotions of this type.’

Tragedy comes from the word “tragoidia,” which means “goat song.” In Ancient Greece, the goat was an animal that was widely associated with Dionysus (Powell 68). Tragedy is, according to Aristotle, “an