Julia Henderson

Leila Jackson

Greek and Roman Theater History Outline

We did Greek and Roman Theater but were going to focus mainly on Greek
theater and compare it to roman a little bit
Time Period
Greek theater started in 6th century BC (532 BC)
Roman theater came later in 3rd century BC
Rise in Society
Festivals celebrating Greek gods were popular in Greece
The festival of Dionysus- the Greek god of wine and festivities, happened in
Athens and created first form of theater
During these festivals there were competitions between actors and
playwrights and they won prizes
Message
Plays included mythology and gods and were based on myth or history
The performances were supposed to entertain but also reflected flaws and
values of Greek society
This in turn taught society lessons of the right and wrong paths in life
Audiences
Businesses shut down and the government paid for the poor to attend so the
audience was made up of everyone of the area, of all socio-economic classes
Attendance was practically mandatory
Theater Design
The theaters were outside and built into a hillside and often seated up to 20
thousand
Orchestra was the place for the chorus to dance, sing, and interact with
performers
The chorus was a group that acted as the playwright would want the
audience to
The skene was the backdrop of the play where the actors entered and
exited the stage during the performance
The parodos were the pathways used by the actors and the chorus to enter
and exit before and after the play
The theatron overlooked the orchestra and it was where the audience sat
Front rows were for the more distinguished guests
Costumes and Masks
The costume they usually wore was called a Doric chiton which was
basically a toga and their everyday attire
Masks had exaggerated expressions and helped distinguish characters and
their moods
Visible from a distance and projected what they were saying
Masks used for tragedy were more life-like while for comedy and satyr plays
they were ugly

Julia Henderson
Leila Jackson

Types of Plays
Greek theater consisted of 3 types of plays: Tragedy, Comedy, and Satyr
Plays
Tragedy
Tragedy dealt with love, death, abuse of power and conflict between gods
Usually had a protagonist that regretted committing a crime
Comedy
Comedy was obviously humorous
It was also more exaggerated
It mocked vanity and foolishness
Satyr Plays
Satyr Plays were short plays performed between acts of tragedy
Dionysuss servants were half men half goats know as satyrs
They would comment and make fun of the characters to lighten the mood
Playwrights
Famous Playwrights included Sophocles, Aeschylus, Aristophanes, and
Euripides
Sophocles
Sophocles was a tragedian and wrote 123 plays in his lifetimes however only
7 remain today
He competed in about 30 competitions and won 24 of them, never earning
less than 2nd place
He added a 3rd actor to his plays which lessened the need for a chorus and
helped to better establish characters and conflict
Aeschylus
Aeschylus was one of the earliest tragedians and focused mainly on the
relationship between man and god
Aristophanes
Aristophanes wrote comedies, wrote 30 plays, 11 survive today- one of which
we will be performing
Euripides
Euripides was a tragedian who wrote a total of 92 plays, 18 have survived
Performers
Actors were all men meaning the men had to play women
Thespis was the first actor and winner of a competition
Influence on Roman Theater
Because Greek theater was the first form of theater, it was the only thing for
the Romans to base theirs off of
They had similar costumes, masks, and theater designs
Differences
Greeks preferred tragedy over comedy while the Romans preferred the
opposite
Women were now allowed onstage but only in non dialogue parts
Didnt have a chorus
Tragedy was extremely violent and some people even died onstage
Comedy involved misunderstandings and mistaken identity