The classical Greek drama which reached its maturity in the 5th and 4th centuries BC was in fact Athenian drama: for although every Greek city and many a large city elsewhere came to have its own theatre, and although some dramatic forms, such as mime, originated and flourished elsewhere, Athens established and maintained a complete pre-eminence among the Greek states, and all the Greek drama that we possess was written by Athenians for Athens. Both tragedy and comedy were part of the religious celebrations in honour of Dionysus and addressed to a whole community, which came to the theatre as a community, not as individuals; a community which was its own political master and its own government. In both forms of drama the chorus, the communal element, was originally very prominent.
Preparations for drama were in the hands of the state. Plays were given only at the city festivals, the Dionysia and the Lenaea, and early in the official year, which in Athens began at midsummer, officials in charge of the festivities would choose from among the many applicants three poets whose works would be performed in the festival. It is surmised that the lesser known were asked for a complete script, established writers for a synopsis only. The chosen three were then assigned a choregus, who became responsible for all the expenses in connection with the production except for the chorus and the three statutory actors paid by the state. The poet not only wrote the play but also composed the music and arranged the dances. In earlier times he trained the chorus and acted the chief part himself, but later these functions were handed over to a specialists, and in the 5th century individual actors seem to have been associated closely with particular poets. When later the importance of the actor increased it was thought fairer, at least in the case of the Protagonist, to assign them, like the choregus, by lot.
Very little is known about individual Greek actors, but with the decline of tragedy in the 4th century they became more prominent. Actors known by name include, in the 4th century, Polus, said to have taught Demosthenes elocution, Theodorus, who had a reputation for adapting plays to suit his own personality, and Aristodemos, known to have been sent as an envoy from Athens to the Court of Macedonia. Actors, who were usually men of good repute and members of guilds such as the Artists of Dionysus, were often employed on secret missions, since their semi-religious function gave them a degree of diplomatic immunity. From the 5th century have survived the names of Nicostratos, famous for his delivery of messenger speeches, and Callipides, often the butt of comic writers because of his high-flown style.
Playgoing in Greece was a civic duty, and still retained traces of its religious origins, as did the theatres. These were all open-air, cut into the side of a hill (see THEATRE BUILDINGS), and had to be big enough to contain a vast number of spectators during a day-long session—Epidauros could seat 14,000—while seats had to be provided for distinguished visitors and officials, the seat of honour in the centre of the front row being reserved for the priest of Dionysus. Originally all other seats were free; later a charge of 2 obols (about 4p or 8 cents) was made. Those citizens too poor to pay were given a grant. The acting area, with its stage-wall and vast circular orchestra, probably duplicated the original playing-place in front of a temple wall, and the orchestra still retained its thymele or altar to Dionysus. When the importance of the chorus diminished and a raised stage or logeion was placed against the back wall for the actors, that too had its altar, which could also be used if necessary as a tomb or other holy shrine.
There was no scenery in the early Greek theatres, colour and splendour being supplied by the rich robes of the actors, who all wore masks, and the multifarious costumes of the chorus, particularly in comedy. Later, easily changed backcloths helped to diversify the permanent set, and periaktoi, or movable screens, indicated a change of scene. There were also mechanical devices, such as the mechane, or crane, and the ekkyklema, or wheeled platform. (See also OLD, MIDDLE, and NEW COMEDY.)
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