The Theater Of Dionysus Essay, Research Paper

The Theater of Dionysus

The Theater of Dionysus was Europe & # 8217 ; s first theatre, and stood instantly below

the Parthenon in Athens, Greece. It was originally built in the late 5th

century B.C. The theatre was an out-of-door auditorium in the form of a great

hemicycle on the incline of the Acropolis, with rows of seats on which about

18 thousand witnesss could comfortably sit. The forepart rows consisted of

marble chairs, and were the lone seats in the theatre that had a back support.

The priests of Dionysus and the main magistrates of Athens reserved these rows.

Priests claimed 50 of the 67 front row seats, so came the functionaries, the

invitees of award, so eventually the ordinary citizens of Athens. Beyond the forepart

row, stood a round infinite called the orchestra where the Chorus would sing and

dance, and in the centre of which stood the alter of Dionysus. The orchestra

degree was about 3 metres higher than the shrine. Behind the orchestra, there

lied a heavy rectangular foundation known as the phase on which the histrions would

execute their subdivision of the drama. The dorsum of the phase had a edifice painted

to look like the forepart of a temple or a castle. Here, the histrions would retire

when they were non needed on phase or would travel to when they had to alter their

costumes. Above lay the deep blue sky, behind it was the Acropolis, and seen in

the distance was the olive coloured hills and exuberant viridity of the woods that

environment.

The theatre was built as a consequence of the Athenian & # 8217 ; s spiritual pattern in award

of the God, Dionysos, who personified both vino and fecundity. Long before

the theatre itself was built, an one-year ceremony festival was held for

Dionysus in the same topographic point. This ancient ceremonial was performed by choruses of

work forces who sang and danced in the God & # 8217 ; s award. Spectators would garner in a circle

to watch these terpsichoreans ; that was the manner that the theatre took its handbill

form. When the theatre was built, the performing artists merely sang and danced about

the narratives of Dionysus & # 8217 ; s life, so subsequently the narratives of other Gods and heroes.

The narratives were told in the signifier of a vocal, chanted at first by all who took

topographic point, so subsequently by a chorus of about 50 performing artists. During the intervals

of a vocal, the leader would declaim portion of the narrative himself. As clip passed,

these recitations became more and more of import, as it finally overtook the

chorus. They were now presented by two or three people, while the chorus

consisted of merely 15 performing artists. A upper limit of three talkers were allowed

on phase at one time, and merely one narrative was told during one public presentation. The

chorus, although less of import, still put the ambiance for the drama, and as

good gave the audience a clip of alleviation from a calamity.

The Festival of Dionysus was a great dramatic 1 that was held during

March and April inside the theatre. Three poets were chosen every twelvemonth, and

each wrote a series of three calamities based on some well-known Grecian fable.

Originally, admittance to the theatre was free, but as the crowds grew, the

leaders realized that a little entryway fee would be economically good for

the theatre. Several dramas were given in one twenty-four hours, and a award was awarded to

the best, so the audience was obligated to get down at morning

and would stay until

sundown. While watching the dramas, the Athenian audience was really critical as

they would bluffly demo their marks of blessing or disapproval by their hand clapping,

or deficiency thereof. The fables and traditions from which most of the Greek dramas

took their secret plans were good known to the Athenians. They were narratives honouring

some great event or explicating some spiritual observation. These fables were

chosen by the different playwrights, each of whom brought forth a different side

of the narrative to implement some peculiar lesson he wished to learn the audience.

The dramas were written in poesy which profoundly stirred the emotions of the

audience. It gave the Athenians much to believe about their ageless jobs of

human life and behavior, and the proper relationship between worlds and Gods.

Each drama followed certain guidelines which created the civilization of the theatre.

When the drama began, merely three histrions were allowed on phase at one time. They

would normally have on really luxuriant costumes, and on their pess would be a unusual

looking wooden sole called a combat boot. This would add about six inches to their

tallness to do them look taller and more impressive to the audience. A facial

mask would besides be worn to place whom the character was, and the tempers and

feelings that the character portrayed. The mask included a broad oral cavity to

undertaking the voice of the histrions so that everyone in the huge audience would

be able to hear what the histrion had to state. The histrions would alter their masks

as they changed their characters. There were no drapes used, even though the

dramas were non divided into different Acts of the Apostless. When there was a intermission in action,

the Chorus would make full up the clip with their vocals. When a calamity was

performed, the concluding catastrophe would ne’er be shown on phase, but a courier

would look to give the audience an history of what had happened.

The creative activity of play and the theatre was a really big stepping rock for the

Greeks, as it showed environing and future societies many things about the

Grecian beliefs, life styles, and civilization. The edifice of the theatre itself

showed their grade of technology and architectural ability that they used in

making their constructions. It besides showed that they had a obscure signifier of

understanding the manner that acoustics work, as all the seats, no affair where

they were, could hear the sounds from the phase. The dramas that were performed

gave an penetration on Grecian history and mythology. Naturally, they would non hold

performed any dramas which did non involvement the audience. They would merely

expose what they believed to be of import for civilians to cognize, such as their

heritage and spiritual beliefs. Finally, the invention of the play and the

theatre undeniably confirmed their absolute belief in faith, as the theatre

would ne’er hold come about if it weren & # 8217 ; T for the worship of Dionysus by the

Athenians

Bibliography

1 ) Powell, Anton, Ancient Greece. Facts on File, Inc. , 1989.

2 ) Onians, John, Art and Thought in the Hellenistic Age. Thames and Hudson

Ltd. , 1979.

3 ) Mills, Dorothy, The Book of the Ancient Greeks. G.P Putnam & # 8217 ; s Sons, 1977.

4 ) Skipp, Victor, Out of the Ancient World. Penguin Books, 1967.

5 ) Erim, Kenan, Aphrodisias, the City of Love. Facts on File Publications,

1986.