The Theater of Dionysus :: essays research papers fc

The Theater of DionysusThe Theater of Dionysus was Europes first theater, and stood presently belowthe Parthenon in Athens, Greece. It was originally built in the late fifthcentury B.C. The theater was an outdoor auditorium in the shape of a vastsemicircle on the slope of the Acropolis, with rows of seats on which slightly xviii thousand spectators could comfortably seat. The earlier rows consisted ofmarble chairs, and were the only seats in the theater that had a bum support.The priests of Dionysus and the chief magistrates of Athens reserved these rows.Priests claimed 50 of the 67 front row seats, then came the officials, theguests of honor, then finally the workaday citizens of Athens. Beyond the frontrow, stood a pear-shaped space called the orchestra where the Chorus would carol anddance, and in the center of which stood the alter of Dionysus. The orchestralevel was around 3 meters higher(prenominal) than the shrine. Behind the orchestra, therelied a heavy rectangular footing known as the stage on which the actors wouldperform their section of the p sit. The back of the stage had a building paintedto look like the front of a temple or a palace. Here, the actors would retirewhen they were not infallible on stage or would go to when they had to change theircostumes. Above lay the deep blue sky, behind it was the Acropolis, and seen inthe distance was the olive sloping hills and lush green of the forests thatsurround.The theater was built as a payoff of the Athenians religious practice in honorof the god, Dionysos, who personified both wine and fruitfulness. prospicient beforethe theater itself was built, an annual ceremonial festival was held forDionysus in the similar spot. This ancient ceremony was performed by choruses ofmen who sang and danced in the gods honor. Spectators would pull in in a circleto watch these dancers that was the way that the theater took its circularshape. When the theater was built, the performers only sang and danced aboutthe stories of Dionysuss life, then later the stories of former(a) gods and heroes.The stories were told in the form of a song, chanted at first by all who tookplace, then later by a chorus of about fifty performers. During the intervalsof a song, the leader would recite part of the story himself. As time passed,these recitations became more and more important, as it eventually overtook thechorus. They were now presented by two or three people, while the chorus