The History of Greek TheaterTwenty-five hundred years ago, 2 thousand years before Shakespeare, theater was born in Athens, Greece. The ancient Athenians created a theater culture between 600 and 200 BC. They created plays that are still considered among the greatest works of art in theater. The earliest days of western theater remain obscure, but the oldest surviving plays come from ancient Greece. The theatre of Ancient Greece evolved from religious rites that date back to at least 1200 BC. Dramatic and theatrical producti ...view middle of the document...
They played various instruments and danced around a statue of him. Although this started off a religious ritual, the dithyramb would eventually turn into a drama or play.One of the first theaters ever created was the Theater of Dionysus in Athens. The annual drama competitions in Athens took most of the day, and were spread out over several days. Plays were performed in the daytime and the actors wore little or no makeup. Instead, they carried masks with exaggerated facial expressions. They also wore leather boots laced up to the knees. There was little or no scenery. Most of the action in the play took place in the orchestra. Later on, as the importance shifted from the chorus to the characters, the action moved to the stage.As mentioned before, the tragedy was created in Athens, but it came about in the 4th and 5th centuries BC when Athens was bustling with radical ideas like democracy, philosophy, mathematics, science and art. This led the Athenians to ask themselves what was the role of men in this world, and tragedy was the answer to their question. They believed that man should live for honor and fame, his action was courageous and glorious and his life would climax in a great and noble death.
