Although much is speculated about the origins of early Greek theater, it may be stated that the “source of tragedy is to be found in choric dithyrambs sung in honor of the god Dionysus” (Nicoll 9). The performance took place in an open-air theater. The word tragedy is derived from the term “tragedia” or “goat-song”, named for the goatskins the chorus wore in the performance. Originally these songs were improvised and rhapsodically as time passed by they were “poetized or rendered literary&#

pity for Creon’s loss, however it is realized it was his decision.

3. Nicoli, Allardyce. The Development of the Theatre. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanich Inc., 1966.

5. World master Expanded Edition. Editor, Maynard Mack. New York: Morton and Company Press, 1995.

These festivals grew in size and complexity, especially in Athens, where the largest of these festivals were held and only the premier playwrights released their plays. These prestigious and elaborate plays were performed at dramatic festivals. The two main festivals were the Feast of the Winepress in January and the City Dionysia at the end of March. The Proceeding began with the procession of choruses and actors of the three competing poets. A herald then announced the poet’s names and the titles of their plays. On this day it was likely that the image of Dionysus was “taken in a procession from his temple beside the theater to a point near the road he had once taken to reach Athens from the north, then it was brought back by torch light, amid a carnival celebration to the theater itself” (Lucas 315). This is where his priest occupied the central seat of honor during the performances.

Aristotle also outlined “six constituent elements to the Greek tragedy as; plot, character, language, thought, spectacle and melody” (World 759). His book continues to explain the role of a tragic hero and the lessons that are to be taught through the dialogue and action. He also explains the chorus’ purpose, and how the audience was supposed to react to what the chorus sings. The fact was that it was necessary in the Greece shows play production needed to become organized in order to maintain its primary goal, religious teaching.

4. Wickhan, Glynne. A History of Theatre. Cambridge University press. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1992.

2. Cheney, Sheldon. The Theatre; Three Thousand Years of Dramas and Stagecraft. New York: David McKay Company Inc., 1972.

The Attic dramatists, like the Elizabethans, had a public of all classes. Because of the size of the audience, the actors must also have been physically remote. “The sense of remoteness may have been heightened by masked, statuesque figures” (Wickham 42) of the actors whose acting depended largely on voice gestures and grouping. Since there were only three actors, the same men in the same play had to play double parts. At first, the dramatists themselves acted, like Shakespeare. Gradually, acting became professionalized.

8221; (Nicoll 9). The word “chorus” meant “dance or “dancing ground”, which was how dance evolved into the drama. Members of the chorus were characters in the play that commented on the action. They drew the audience into the play and reflected the audience’s reactions. The change from freelance song to theatre was obtained at the hands of a Greek named Thespis. He turned what was originally a song leader,

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