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The University High School Band
The History and Theory of Music

Greek Drama

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Drama in the modern sense was invented in Ancient Greece. It was usually performed in an amphitheater, a semicircular seating area built into a hill.

At the center of the ampitheater was a decorated wall called the skene. Actors would hide behind the skene and come out when it was their turn to speak, giving rise to the English word "scene." The front of the skene, or proskenion, was often decorated to match the setting of the play. Actors would step onto a side area called the paraskenioi and then enter the stage, which was called the logeion (from the Greek word λόγος meaning "word/speech.") This is where the main dialogues or monologues (notice the "log-" in those words) would take place.

In front of the logeion was a circular space called the orchestra, where the chorus would sing and interact with the actors on the logeion.

The audience would sit in the kerkis, which would be entered by aisles called klimakes. A long diazoma served as a mezzanine across the middle of the theater.

Greek plays were usually accompanied by other festivals, dancing, and sacrifices in honor of the Greek gods. The three main genres of Greek theater were tragedy, comedy, and satires known as "satyr plays."

Aeschylus

Aeschylus is considered the father of tragedy. Some of his famous plays include The Persians, an historical drama about the Battle of Salamis; a trilogy called the Oresteia, about King Agammemnon of Argos; and Prometheus Bound.

Sophocles

Another tragic playwright, Sophocles' most famous works are Antigone and Oedipus the King.

Euripides

The third of the great tragedians, his works like Medea and Bacchae bridge comedy and tragedy.

Aristophanes

Aristophanes is considered the father of comedy. He often used his plays to slander and ridicule his political enemies. Famous works include The Clouds, The Birds, and Lysistrata.