Greek Drama

Term Paper Title	Greek Drama
# of Words	568
# of Pages (250 words per page double spaced)	2.27

Greek Drama

The history of European theater begins with the Greeks, whose annual festivals in honor of the god Dionysus included competitions in tragic and comical plays.  According to tradition, the first of these dramatic forms evolved from choral songs concerning the death and resurrection of Dionysus.  This occurred about the middle of the 6th century BC, when Thespis of Icaria, in a drama of his own composition, impersonated a character and engaged the chorus in dialogue, thereby becoming both the first playwright and the first actor. Thespis won first prize in the initial tragedy competition held at Athens in 534 BC and is also credited with the introduction of masks, which were thereafter a conventional feature of Greek and Roman theater.  The tragic writers, Aeschylus and Sophocles later added a second and a third actor to tragedy, and about the beginning of the 5th century BC comedy was given written form by Epicharmus of Syracuse and was also admitted to the festivals.
The ancient chorus was retained as an integral part of Greek drama and eventually consisted of a standard number of members: 15 in tragedy and 24 in comedy.  In a satire play, a short burlesque that dramatists were expected to submit along with their tragedies, the chorus comprised either 12 or 15 members. Men played all of the roles; women were not allowed to perform in the Greek theater.
The early Greek playwrights not only wrote and frequently acted in their plays but also served as directors and choreographers; some may also have composed their own music (Greek tragedy was intensely musical).  Sophocles is said to have been a scene designer and Aeschylus to invent the tragic costume. Tragic actors wore a ...

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