The History of Greek Theater

The Origins of Greek Theater

By the sixth century B.C.E., the Greek god Dionysus had become a popular figure among everyday people, and as a result, religious rituals celebrating his status spread throughout Greece. Many of these rituals featured dithyrambs, or choral songs that were in praise of Dionysus, the Greek god of wine. One theory states that these dithyrambs eventually evolved into what became known as theater when an individual left the Greek chorus to act out the events taking place rather than just singing them.

A notable figure who blazed the trail for Greek tragedy was a man named Thespis. A poet and actor, Thespis began to act out individual characters by switching between different masks. In its earliest form, Greek theater only included one actor paired with a chorus, but over 150 years, plays began to involve more actors as well as architectural components.

By the late sixth century B.C.E., the powerful tyrant, Pesistratos, had come to power in Athens through violent measures. As a way to try and win back public support, Pesistratos decided to promote festivals in honor of the god Dionysus. In 530s B.C.E., he expanded one of the spring festivals and turned Athens into “City Dionysia” with a theater competition as its main centerpiece.

The festival took place over the course of five or six days and featured many public figures, from politicians to military generals. At the center, however, was the theater competition which took place in front of a crowd of 14,000 people. To qualify for the contest, each playwright had to submit a tetralogy, a four-part work that consisted of three linked tragedies and one satyr play. You can learn more about the types of Greek plays below. Once the three playwrights were selected, each writer was paired with an individual choregos who would help fund the production and assemble its chorus, musicians, and costumes.

After all the plays were performed, a group of ten randomly selected audience members would vote on the winner. As the prize, the playwright was awarded an ivy wreath, sacrificial animals, and a big banquet. The Greeks took their theater seriously, and as time passed, more innovators continued to develop the art form.

Types of Greek Dramas

The three genres of drama that emerged during ancient Greece were tragedy, comedy, and satyr plays.

Greek Tragedies

Tragedy, deriving from the Greek words for “goat” and “song,” dealt with heavy themes, such as murder, vengeance, and betrayal. Most tragedies tended to focus on characters who were legendary heroes or came from royal families.

Tragedy, deriving from the Greek words for “goat” and “song,” dealt with heavy themes, such as murder, vengeance, and betrayal. Most tragedies tended to focus on characters who were legendary heroes or came from royal families.

Aristotle, born 384 B.C.E., spent a great deal of time studying Greek tragedy. Eventually, his analysis culminated in his text, The Poetics, the first substantial work of literary criticism. In his analysis, he presented the argument that poetry and theater could be beneficial to society. He identified six elements that compose every tragedy: plot, character, diction, thought, spectacle, and song. For a tragedy to work,

Aristotle believed that the story had to focus on a mostly good character with a flaw who, through action, is tested and brought to a low.

Some of the most revered works of Greek tragedy were written by three men: Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides. While only a small fraction of their bodies of work have survived since their creation, the ones that do exist are closely studied today.

Greek Comedies

The younger cousin to tragedy, comedy derives from the Greek word “komoidia,” which translates to “party song.” By the fifth century B.C.E., comedy began to gain traction, and soon enough, had grown enough in popularity that a festival, The Lenaea, was created. The festival was only held for Athenians, with no foreign dignitaries allowed.

Similar to tragedies, comedies were written in response to the questions and problems permeating society in Athens. However, whereas tragedies tended to be set in the past, comedies took place in contemporary Athens. Comedies also relied on an offering of effects and costumes, such as padded stomachs, butts, or phalluses.

In regards to the form, comedies possessed the same dialogic scenes found in tragedies but also introduced the parabasis, a speech in which the chorus addressed the audience directly. Narratively, comedies tended to present stories about how the everyday “common man” struggled to rise up, though some plays dealt with notable figures with serious dilemmas. Most comedies tended to conclude with a resolution of some sort, whether it was a compromise, peace treaty, or marriage.

One of the pioneers of classical comedy was Aristophanes, who, in total, wrote at least 40 plays, 11 of which are still accessible today. Born sometime in the 450s B.C.E., Aristophanes came from a wealthy Athenian family. From a young age, he began to write, and soon he garnered a reputation for his poetry as well as his relentless mocking of specific political figures. Records show that Aristophanes was sued at least once for his unpatriotic behavior, yet this did not deter him from going on with his work.

However, late in the fifth century B.C.E., Athens began to lose the Peloponnesian War to Sparta. With such a contentious political backdrop, Aristophanes realized it was no longer a great idea to satirize prominent political figures. With Athens possessing limited money to spend on the props and production needed for comedies, Aristophanes decided to make a mid-career switch. Instead of centering his plays on politicians, he wrote them for smaller choruses and with composite comic characters.

One of Aristophanes’ most famous plays, “The Lysistrata,” highlights the frustration at the senselessness of wars. At the time it won first prize in 411 B.C.E., the Peloponnesian War had been waged for about 20 years, and both the people of Sparta and Athens had experienced the toll of the carnage. The play presents a group of women, led by a woman named Lysistrata, who attempt to bring an end to the Peloponnesian War by withholding sex from the men in charge of waging the conflict. Imbued with moments of exaggeration and hilarity, the play still manages to present an incisive argument for the banality of war – and is still studied today.

Satyr Plays

As the name suggests, satyr plays featured a chorus of actors dressed as satyrs – Greek mythological creatures that appeared as half-man and half-animal. Satyr plays were typically considered raunchy and appeared at the end of each tragic trilogy as a way to cheer up the audience. Similar to tragedies, they originated from mythological stories and were often set in a mythic past. However, satyr plays offered sillier versions of important legends and were less interested in providing any definitive resolutions. Most satyr plays emphasized the carefree, drunken, and cowardly nature of the satyrs; often a couple of human characters were interspersed who would offer moments of serious moral debate. 

To this day, Euripedes’ Cyclops is the only complete satyr play that survives. Based on an episode from The Odyssey, the play contains many satyrs on the Cyclops' island who end up getting Odysseus into trouble with the one-eyed beast. At one point in the play, Odysseus challenges the Cyclops in a debate on whether duty or pleasure-seeking is the key to a happy life. Such a balance between elements of tragedy and comedy was emblematic of what satyr plays set out to accomplish.

The Greek Theater

One of the most famous ancient Greek theaters that still stands today, the Theater of Dionysus, was an amphitheater built on the Athenian hillside and is often regarded as one of the world’s first open-air theaters.

To attend a theater performance, audience members would enter the theatron, the section of the amphitheater designated for seating. On stage, the chorus performed on a flat area called the orchestra, and in the center of the orchestra was the thymele, or an elevated platform where performers were given more spotlight. To enter and exit the stage, actors and members of the chorus would walk through the parodoi.

When actors needed to switch out of their masks – all of which were made of linen and attached with hair – they would go to the stage area called the skene. For dramatic effect, an actor playing the role of a god would be lowered from a device attached to the top of a skene, in what was otherwise known as deus ex machina, or “god in the machine.”

Interested in more Crash Course: Theater? Make sure to check out this video about Roman Theater with Plautus, Terence, and Seneca.