Ancient Greek Theater

Aim: How can we trace back the origins of theater to Ancient

Greece?Do now: why do people go to the theater? Watch a movie? Read a

book?

Word Origin

The modern term, drama, comes from the Greek word,

dran, meaning “to do.”

Dionysian Festivals• Drama began in ancient Greece

dating back to 543 B.C.

• It started as choral performances of dancing and singing honoring the

Greek god, Dionysus, the god of wine

• Later they held drama contests to honor him

Tragedy

A character is confronted with a difficult moral choice and usually

ends in his or her death.

Comedya humorous entertaining

performance with a happy ending.

MasksIn Greek drama, the actors all wore to help the audience the character

they were playing.

Stage

Theatron

Orchestra

Parados

Skene

Skene