Greek Theatre

      Theatre is one of the most important thing to early Greek cultures. The stages were massive and made of brick and wood. A truly amazing sight.  The biggest genres consisted of tragedy and comedy.
People thought of these two genres as completely separate. Because of that, they weren't mixed. One of the biggest aspects of Greek theatre is the visual art.

     One of the biggest visual arts were masks. The Ancient Greek term for a mask is prosopon, or face. Masks were a significant aspect in worshiping Dionysus at Athens. They were used for ceremonial rites and celebrations. A large amount of evidence strives from only a few vase paintings of the 5th century BC. One was showing a mask of the god suspended from a tree with decorated robe hanging below it and dancing. Another one was the Pronomos vase.The Pronomod vase portrays actors preparing for a Satyr Play. Unfortunately, no physical evidence remains available acceessible to the world. The reason is the masks were made of organic materials and not considered permanent objects .Conclusively being dedicated at the altar of Dionysus after performances. Still, the mask is known to have been used since the time of Aeschylus and considered to be one of the most well known conventions of classical Greek theatre.

   Masks were also made for members of the chorus, who play some role in the action and give a narration on the events in which they are caught up. Although there are twelve or fifteen members of the tragic chorus, they all wear the same mask to show they are considered to be representing one character. 


   The Ancient Greeks took their entertainment very vigoroursly and used drama as a way of investigating the world they lived in, and what it meant to be human. The three genres of drama were comedy, satyr plays, and most important of all, tragedy.

    The first comedies were mostly satirical and taunted men in power for their pride and absurdity. The first master of comedy was the playwright Aristophanes. Later on, Menander wrote comedies about everyday people and made his plays more like sit-coms.

     Tragedy handled the big themes of love, loss, pride, the abuse of power and the fraught relationships between men and gods. Usually, the main protagonist of a tragedy commits a crime without realizing how absurd and arrogant he has been. Then, as he slowly sees his mistake, the world crumbles around him. The three most famous playwrights of tragedy were Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides.

     In conclusion, theatre is extremely important to Greek culture. It is well thought out and is supposedly an amazing show. The work put into the stages show just how much theatre meant to them. Without Greek theatre, television might not be what is is today.