Greek Theatre in 5th Century Bce

Theatre became important to Greek cultures when it became a part of the festival honoring the god Dionysus (The god of wine and fertility).”( Greek Mythology in Theater by Bruce Tucker October 27, 2016) The theater festival was founded to bring unity among the Attican tribes.( Greek Mythology in Theater by Bruce Tucker October 27, 2016) Athens was the main center of these traditions. Everyone came to sing and dance in hope for a good harvest. At one point, a Greek named Thespis began to sing praises to the god, with others responding, which led to the actor and chorus. During the festival everyone would dance and sing in a circle, in the middle of which was the altar to Dionysus. Over time the festivals started giving thanks to other themes, and eventually had nothing to do with Dionysus or any god, but began to turn into classical Greek plays. (First Ancient History, Oxford University Press 2000 pg.166)

Historians have long considered Ancient Greece to be one of the most influential societies on modern day life. Ancient Greece has inspired the modern world in five main areas: theatre, government, philosophy, art, and architecture.

Theatre  represented  a  culture  and  values  found  in  Greek  society.  Theatre  was  also  a  way  for

The Greek civilization contributed greatly to the development of modern Western culture. Three of the most important contribution that are the foundations of our society are Language, Philosophy, and Government.

Ancient Greek made many advances during their time in many subjects still used today. The ancient Greeks advances in these subjects, influenced and contributed to the Western civilization. The Western civilization’s culture and outlook on life was shaped by ancient Greek. Many things the ancient Greeks created were the basis for what we use today, including, architecture, art, dramas, math, science, and philosophy.

The Western world was highly influenced by the ancient Greeks. The Greeks changed the way the world looks at art, math, architecture, philosophy, sports, and drama. Without the ancient Greeks, the modern world would not be the same. Men such as Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle changed the way we look at philosophy. The Athenians created the first known democracy, setting the stage for future governments. The Euclidian Theorem and the Pythagorean Theorem among others made mathematics easier and more developed. Even current architecture can be traced back to the Parthenon and other pieces of Greek architecture. The Olympics even started in ancient Greece, creating one of the finest traditions the world has ever known. Without the ancient

Ancient Greek culture has influenced our modern culture in many ways from philosophy to medicine to government. We still use many of their concepts, technology, and even alphabet system. Without ancient Greece, our modern world would not have advanced as far. A significant contribution of the ancient Greek culture to the world today is the Greek theater, more specifically the structure of tragedy. Some contributions are the structure of tragedy in modern literature, rise of opera, and the creation of the theater.

Greek drama was performed in the late 6th century BCE in ancient Greece. Tragedians like Euripides wrote very influential and popular plays such as the Bacchae. Greek tragedies lead to Greek comedies such as Aristophanes’ Lysistrata. Many of the Greek dramas have similar concepts, one of being duality. Without duality, the nature of our lives and the environment around us remains unbalanced.

At the back of the ancient Greek theatre stood the ‘skene’. The word ‘skene’ means stage building. The ‘skene’ was a wooden building where the actors could change and this building could also be used for as a house or temple or any other part of scenery (Gill). At the front of the

“Theatre is the art that shaped the Hellene culture, and that is the single most influential culture that shaped the world (Germal 57)”. The people of ancient Greece, known as the people Hellenes, were responsible for many firsts, theatre being among them. Theatre and other arts flourished in ancient Greece between 550 BCE and 220 BCE. Its geographic influence was momentous, spanning through parts of modern day Italy, Turkey, Egypt, Spain, and France. These productions were showcased and funded by the government, making them accessible to all citizens. This allows for an accurate portrayal of Greek culture due to the large amount of people that experienced it, as it was an integral part of their culture,

Roman theatre initially began in 240 BC when Greek theatre was discovered and translated to Latin, then being brought to Rome. The first drama was held at Ludi Romani, the Roman Festival or the Roman Games. This occurred just before Rome became an empire in 27BC. There were many types of these festivals during a year for all sorts of reasons according to history. Theatre was, and is a diverse art form. It ranged from festival performances, street theatre, and acrobatics to eloquent tragedies.

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

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.

Greek theater can be considered to be one of the building blocks for our theater today. The advancements that the Greeks possessed in the early fifth century were the start of western theater. The Greeks were heavily involved with religion and religious festivals, comedies, tragedies, climatic drama, and took the outdoor amphitheater and made many improvements to its structure.