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Getty Villa – Storage Jar with a chorus of Stilt walkers – inv. VEX.2010.3.65. A Greek chorus (Ancient Greek: χορός, romanized: chorós) in the context of ancient Greek tragedy, comedy, satyr plays, is a homogeneous group of performers, who comment with a collective voice on the action of the scene they appear in, or provide necessary insight into action which has taken place offstage ...
According to certain Ancient Greek sources and especially Aristotle, he was the first human to appear on stage as an actor playing a character in a play (instead of speaking as himself). In other sources, he is said to have introduced the first principal actor in addition to the chorus. [3] He is often called the "Inventor of Tragedy". [4] [5]
The orchestra was a circular piece of ground at the bottom of the theatron where the chorus and actors performed; the word means "dancing space", as the chorus also danced in early periods. [15] Originally unraised, Greek theatre would later incorporate a raised stage for easier viewing.
The theatre was just beginning to evolve when Aeschylus started writing for it. Earlier playwrights such as Thespis had already expanded the cast to include an actor who was able to interact with the chorus. [30] Aeschylus added a second actor, allowing for greater dramatic variety, while the chorus played a less important role. [30]
As tragedy developed, the actors began to interact more with each other, and the role of the chorus became smaller. [6]" Scodell notes that: The Greek word for “actor” is hypocrites, which means “answerer” or “interpreter,” but the word cannot tell us anything about tragedy’s origins, since we do not know when it came into use. [6]
Aristophanes (c. 446–388 BC), a leading source for Greek Old Comedy. The Acharnians (425 BC) The Knights (424 BC) The Clouds (423 BC) The Wasps (422 BC) Peace (421 BC) The Birds (414 BC) Lysistrata (411 BC) Thesmophoriazusae (c. 411 BC) The Frogs (405 BC) Assemblywomen (c. 392 BC) Plutus (388 BC) Pherecrates 420 BC; Diocles of Phlius ...
The nearest equivalent to Lysistrata's divided Chorus is found in the earliest of the surviving plays, The Acharnians, where the Chorus very briefly divides into factions for and against the protagonist. [45] Parabasis: In Classical Greek comedy, parabasis is 'a speech in which the chorus comes forward and addresses the audience'.
The performance area included a circular floor (called orchestra) where the chorus could dance, a space for actors (three speaking actors in Euripides' time), a backdrop or skene, and some special effects: an ekkyklema (used to bring the skene's "indoors" outdoors) and a mechane (used to lift actors in the air, as in deus ex machina).