Before the widespread growth of Christianity over the last 2000 years, a majority of the world was polytheistic. In the Abydos Passion Play, possibly the earliest surviving evidence of theatre existence, Osiris, son of the supreme god, Geb, is murdered in a jealous rage and then later resurrected. After his resurrection, Osiris is unable to live on earth and goes on to live in the after

As Christianity gained rapid influence and popularity, many different sects of Christianity with many different slants began to spring up over Europe and North Africa. As an official dogmatic view of the religion began to come into form, theatre was kept alive only through underground mime troupes and storytellers that traveled throughout Europe. As the dark ages approached, mimes and minstrel shows began to take shape and in 970 A.D., a German nun named Hrosvitha began to write plays on Christian morality. Hrosvitha's stories began to gain immense popularity and drama found new life through the Christian church (85). Cycle pageants based on different views of the Bible, known as "Vernacular Drama" were also quite popular. Amongst the most popular of these was the 2nd Shepard's Play. Dedication to the church in the medieval ages produced a very different but involved period for the theatre. Drama was an excellent way of communicating to a highly illiterate society the themes and messages outlined in the Bible (87). Ideals of Christian faith were brought to life through theatre. Whereas in the East, drama was still looked at as distasteful because of the legacy of ancient Rome, the Western world was putting drama to good use.

No one doubts that a primary function of theatre is to make people think. Other than the gods themselves, nothing else was more important to the people of ancient Greece than the concept of thought. In Greek philosophy, the closer people were to figuring out the "meaning of how," the "purpose of why," and the "quest for when," the closer they were to deciphering the mysteries of the gods. Theatre was a way of communicating to the gods what it was like to be human - by idealizing the human experience in either tragedy or comedy (15). Naturally, a medium that could not only please the gods, but also entertain and inspire thought at the same time was highly regarded. As a result, playwrights were particularly popular people in ancient Greece. Playwrights like Aristophanes and Aeschylus and were kings among men. Theatre was such a strong enterprise during this era that competitive festivals such as the City and Rural Dionysia were often held and awards were given to the best writers (18). Sophocles, Euripides, and Thespis, winner of the first City Dionysia tournament, were often among the honored (17). We know of many other playwrights that were also honored but unfortunately their work has long since been lost. Only a small handful of plays from this era still exists today.

Society has looked at the playwright in many different ways and under many different lights. The praise or damnation society gives its theatrical masterminds is relative to where a certain culture is at a specific time. For the Greeks, to praise the gods through verse and drama was extraordinary. For the Romans, it was pointless to watch fake emotion when they could see the real thing in a gladiator fight. During the Middle Ages, playwrights were pastoral and were regarded with quiet respect, merely servants of the Lord. Lastly, renaissance playwrights, keeping in the tradition of the era were both praised and shunned for they're various achievements and disabilities. No matter whom, when, or where, the notion of the playwright as a pivotal figure in both literature and the human experience has been reserved indefinitely.

world, judging the souls of others (8). This story strongly resembles the Christian passion play and although there is no definite proof that it was ever actually acted out in theatrical form, just the story itself and what it could possibly imply is enough to make one uneasy (9). The fact that the Abydos story is so much like the passion of Jesus Christ is interesting considering that they are separated by 2500 years and take place under totally opposite cultural roofs. This coincidence supports the notion generally agreed upon by most theatre scholars that as a social ba

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