Greek Theater Essay -- essays research papers

old-fashioned Greek business firm is the first historical record of drama, which is the Greek end point meaning to do or to act. Beginning in the 5th one C BC, Greek Theater developed into an art that is still used today. During the golden age of the Athenians plays were created, plays that are considered among the greatest works of world drama. Today in that respect are thousands of well-k instantern plays and films based on the re-make of ancient drama.Theater originated from the spiritual rites of ancient Greek tribes. Located in northern Greece, a hysteria was organise to worship the God of wine and fertility, Dionysus. The fury held religious celebrations which include large consumptions of alcohol, animal sacrifices, and sometimes massive orgies. Theater was thought as a ritual to release powerful emotions and create pure ecstasy. The cult spread south into Greece and by 500 BC annual festivals in honor of Dionysus were held every spring.A primary(prenominal) part o f Dionysus rites was the dithyramb. It means a choric hymn and it was completely religious describing Dionysus adventures. The performance would have a group of dancers, a chorus in costumes, an orchestra of drums, lyres, and flutes, and a leader/director. It all in all took place around an altar for Dionysus. Soon after the dithyramb became popular at Athenian festivals where poets would compete to create their own unique dithyramb. Soon the dithyramb ceased to be about Dionysus and his adventures. Famous poets chose subjects from several different periods of Greek mythology. Over time, the dithyrambs formed into stories to be performed thus creating drama.During the golden age of Greece, city-states were developed, the most prominent cosmos Athens with a population of at least 150,000. Here is where the rites of Dionysus created what we now call theater. We have the leader, the chorus, the dancers, and the orchestra. So where did actors come from? Around 525 BC a man from Attica named Thespis, added an actor into the dithyramb to interact with the chorus. The actor was called the protagonist and means the main character of a drama. This addition turned the chorus into theater. Thespis went down in history and is where thespians got there name.About 534 BC was when the Dionysian Festivals were changed to add dram... ...d of talkative epics involving Gods and legends. He died in 406 BC all alone, extremely cynical of gracious nature.Athenians not only produced tragedies in their culture, but created many lasting comedies. These comedies helped stiff the way for Romans and Elizabethans coming in later periods. Developed similar to tragedy, waggery was aimed at the common people and had less to do with religious beliefs. banter was often used in comedies, especially ones written by Aristophanes and Menander. Characters in these plays ranged from celebrities to drunken audience members. Menanders plays were the main basis of comedy that locomote onto the Romans and Shakespeare and the Broadway.Over the 200 years from Thespis first accomplishments to the death of Sophocles, Greek Theater thrived. However, all good things eventually come to an end. The golden age was shutting as Athenian culture was all overrun in 404 BC by the Spartans. Theater of course evolved over time and is now a enlighten subject, hobby and profession. Today it wouldnt hurt to look back over some historically recorded plays and appreciate what the ancient Greeks created for us drama.