Greek Theatre Athens 5th Century BCE Started at religious festivals Dionysus wine sexual god Play writing competitions Dithyrambs Ancient fertility rituals wine for Dionysus Dithyrambus chorus made up of 50 men whom would sing for Dionysus eventually shifted into story form or satyr Satyr plays acted out Dionysus skits From 1 to 4 times a year for each season called orgia Morphed into traditional theatre Thespis Accredited with being the first actor Stepped out of dithyrambus and had solo dialogue Requirements for Playwright Competition Male actors only Never more than 3 hours Must have chorus Masks used heavily to portray character Stage mechanisms Violence tended to happen off stage The only texts kept were the ones that won the competitions Aeschylus 524 456 BC First important greek playwright Wrote first plays for 50 men and one actor First to include 2 actors reduced chorus size to 12 more manageable and easy to understand Tended to deal with noble families and lofty themes Known for poetry and intellectual content Master of the trilogy 3 tragedies Orestia the most famous trilogy follows the saga of the god of the Trojan war Gods and Myth Sophocles 596 406 BC Aeschylus prot g e Added a 3rd actor Raised number of chorus to 15 Oedipus Rex Electra Antigone Tended to be moral tales Heros Famous pieces Euripides 484 406 BC Youngest of the playwrights Most progressive Plays were about political topics The Trojan Women pointed out how the Greek army massacred women and children after the play was over from women s point of view men played women Media Common Man women s philosophy not always received favorably Separate Playwright Competitions for Comedies winter festivals Aristophanes most recent Both old and new comedies The Frogs The Clouds old Lyzesteria new Pioneered changes to move towards new comedies Old comedy up to 4th century BC New Comedy 5th Century on