From the Ground Up
The overall theatre itself - the word translates to “the seeing place.”
Theatron
The god of wine, agriculture, and fertility.
Dionysus
- a traditional story that relates the early history of a people or that explains some natural or social phenomenon
myth
sang lyric poetry and danced to musical accompaniment, 15 unpaid men drawn from the citizenry at large
chorus
This is the Greek God of Thunder and father of Hercules and Dionysus.
Zeus
Where the audience sat - often dug into the side of a hill, it translates to “the hearing place.”
Auditorium
writer of Oedipus Rex
Sophocles
cranes to lift actors playing gods
deus ex machina
Four plays (three tragedies and one satyr play) staged by a playwright during the drama competition each spring in honor of Dionysus
Tetralogy
Skene eventually became this word in modern english.
Scene
Also known as the “tiring house.” The building upstage of the orchestra (away from the audience) where actors would rest between scenes.
Skene
scholars consider him to be the “first actor,” because he arranged for spoken word in the midst of the choral odes
thepsis
The entrances on the sides of the skene/proskenion where the chorus would enter the orchestra area
Parados
means “goat song” in Ancient Greek (tragos, oides).
tragedy
Deus ex machina translate to this in English.
God Machine
The circular area closest to the audience where the chorus would perform. It translates to “the dancing place”
orchestra
Noun meaning actor or actress; adjective referring to any person or thing pertaining to Greek drama or drama in general
thespian
is a poem written in a heightened style that expresses deep feeling and is intended to be sung
choral ode
the leader of the chorus
choragus
Proskenion eventually became this word in modern English.
Proscenium
The platform/raised level in front of the skene where the non-chorus actors would perform - we get the word proscenium from this word.
Proskenion
play based around a king trying to save his city from the plague and finding the killer of the previous king.
Oedipus Rex
3-sided scenery that rotates according to the location of a scene
periaktoi
first play festival held in 534BC named after Dionysus
City Dionysia
This is what the altar was called in early greek orchestra areas.
Thymele