In Greece, places of performance were usually connected with the sacred precincts of the god's . Greeks honoured each of their god's through annual festivals. In Athens four festivals were held each year in honour of Dionysus, it was during one of these festivals which was held at the City Dionysia that drama's were first presented. At these festivals playwrights, actors and choruses competed for prizes. When the play began, there was only three actors on the stage at once. They wore very elaborate costumes, and over their faces they wore mask with a wide mouth, so that everyone in the audience could hear and see them.

The theatre in the City Dionysia was a great semi-circle on the slope of the Acropolis, with rows of stone seats. The front row consisted of marble chairs, these were reserved for the priests of Dionysus and the chief magistrates. Beyond the front row, was a circular space called the orchestra, where the Chorus sang, and in the centre of which stood the altar of Dionysus. Behind the orche

The Greeks believed that gods and goddesses controlled everything, from the waves in the ocean to the winner of a race. Each god or goddess controlled one or two major aspects of life. To the Greeks, happiness depended on a conjunction of human and supernatural forces. When the two were in harmony , life could be peaceful, but this could be broken without out warning. This view promoted a drama that centres not only on human struggles , but also one in which supernatural forces have control over human lives. The Greek dramas used the gods in their plays of tragedy to indicate moral choices, and to reinforce sincere religious views, yet some believed that traditional mythology portrayed gods and heroes in unflattering and undignified ways: fighting amongst themselves, committing hideous crimes against members of their own families, abandoning themselves to grief instead of facing death courageously, and so on.

stra, was a stage on which the actors acted, at the back of which was a building to which the actors retire when they were not wanted on the stage or had to change their costumes. The completed stone auditorium seated 14,000 people nevertheless only a small population could have attended at any one time, thus while the theatre may have been open to all, only about one -tenth could have attended any given performance. Due to this an introduction of tickets and admission fee's were introduced, the price being two obols per- ticket. To equalize the opportunity to attend, 'theorical funds' were introduced to provide tickets for the poor. Tickets admitted holders to a section rather than a seat and in these section there was areas set aside for women.

Its hard to think of any period since then in which the theatre has expresse

Some common words found in the essay are:
City Dionysia, Press Greeks, Dionysia Aeschylus, Oedipus Rex, Press Aristotle, , Athens Aeschylus, Sophocles Euripides, city dionysia, Essay Ancient, Athens Goldhill, front row, festivals held, greek tragedy, university press, chorus sang, supernatural forces,
Approximate Word count = 1177
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)