Ancient Greek Theatre Research Paper

Throughout history, humans have always enjoyed being entertained. Whether it be through song, dance, or a moving story; the central need for something beautiful and miraculous has been there to touch our souls and inspire our minds. In the theatre, greatly written plays are no different. Playwrights look to entertain audiences and to fulfill a certain need within themselves when they create their unique worlds and stories. This is something that has occurred since the days of the Greeks when tragedies were one of the most influential forms of theatre. Tragedy as an art, can be used to show a person when they are experiencing life at its lowest level. This form of theatre also shows how the character handles the situation they are in and in

most cases the consequences that follow. Which is a necessary component for any character to achieve to captivate audiences. But how is it that theatre became this way? How did the actors learn to portray these characters and show the beauty of humanity? Was theatre influenced in anyway by the arts? This paper will explore that using three key points. I will analyze and explain how theatre moved from being ritualistic to entertaining, how actors portrayed these complex characters. And how audiences reacted to it, and whether or not the importance of Aristotle’s ideas were valid and whether or not the play has to follow a singular unity for theatre of the time as well as subsequent periods.
Civilizations have been practicing ritualistic ceremonies for over a Millennia.

Rituals were performed for many reasons such as a way to appease the gods, to bring in good harvests for the year, and even to bring rain. The ancient Greeks were no different and their festival of Dionysus was one of most important rituals of their time. The ritual which was held annually to celebrate the god Dionysus, was originally a bunch of different local festivals that celebrated the fermentation of new wine. There were many changes that took place when the festival was established. In John Brown’s Oxford Illustrated History of Theatre he says, that the Greeks decided to build a massive performance space or “orchestra” around a massive seating area known as the “theatron” This is where the Greeks would gather together and have many processions and sacrifices in Honor of the God all centered around two contests called Dithyramb.” These rituals were performed by primarily male Greeks with who would gather inside of the orchestra and chant and sing a rhythmic hymn that would praise their great god. (Brown 14) Theatre began to make the transition from rituals to performance when the Athenians decided to create a new kind of Art form called “tragoidia”. This unique art form was performed and Invented at the Great Dionysia where three dramatists competed each year and put on there performances (Brown 14-15) This hymn and the creation of tragedy is what I believe laid the foundations of theatre

and may have been what drove Thespis to decide that instead of singing to the gods, he would step into the circle and declare that he was Dionysus.