Greek 'viewing place'. The architecture of the Greek ancient theatre distinguished skene (the stage building) from theatron (the seating), but since the stage building was in origin often temporary, both in the East and the West, the word came to imply our ... ...

What does theatron mean in Greek?

amphitheatre ÆM-fi-thee-ah-ter. (Late Middle English via Latin from Greek amphitheatron). From amphi, meaning "on both sides" or "around" and theatron, meaning "place for viewing." An oval or circular, open-air performance space with tiered seating on all sides.

What does theatron mean in English?

The theatron (plural theatra) is the word referring to the seating area section of an ancient Greek, Roman, and Byzantine theater. The theatron is one of the earliest and most pronounced parts of ancient theaters.

What is the theatron in ancient Greek theatre?

Theatron: The theatron (literally, "viewing-place") is where the spectators sat. ... Spectators in the fifth century BC probably sat on cushions or boards, but by the fourth century the theatron of many Greek theaters had marble seats. Skene: The skene (literally, "tent") was the building directly behind the stage.

What Greek word does theater come from?

theatre, also spelled theater, in architecture, a building or space in which a performance may be given before an audience. The word is from the Greek theatron, “a place of seeing.” A theatre usually has a stage area where the performance itself takes place.

What is Greek Theatre?

16 related questions found

What is the Greek term for second actor?

Deuteragonist. a secondary character who accompanies the main protagonist. in the oldest form of classical greek drama, plays originally consisted of a single character standing on stage speakeing with the chorus.

What does theater literally mean in Greek?

Definition: a building, part of a building, or outdoor area for housing dramatic presentations, stage entertainments, or motion-picture shows. Greek Word: theasthai. Greek Meaning: to behold. Fun Facts: theatrical festivals played an important role in Greek social life.

What is a Stasimon in Greek tragedy?

: one of the regular choral odes between two episodes in a Greek tragedy possibly sung with the chorus standing in its place in the orchestra — compare parodos.

What is a satyr in Greek Theatre?

The satyr play is a form of Attic theatre performance related to both comedy and tragedy. It preserves theatrical elements of dialogue, actors speaking verse, a chorus that dances and sings, masks and costumes.

What is the purpose of theatron?

Even in this rudimentary state, the theatron was a crucial part of a theater, drawing attention to the audience and providing a place where many people could be housed to be addressed or entertained.

What God did plays originally Honor?

Greek plays were originally part of a spring festival called the City Dionysia festival that was put on to honor Dionysus, the god of wine, music, drama, and fertility.

Was Euripides married?

Of Euripides' private life, little can be said. Later tradition invented for him a spectacularly disastrous married life. It is known that he had a wife called Melito and produced three sons. One of these was something of a poet and produced the Bacchants after his father's death.

What does the Greek word skene mean?

skene, (from Greek skēnē, “scene-building”), in ancient Greek theatre, a building behind the playing area that was originally a hut for the changing of masks and costumes but eventually became the background before which the drama was enacted. ... In the Roman theatre it was an elaborate building facade.

Why did Greek actors wear masks?

Masks served several important purposes in Ancient Greek theater: their exaggerated expressions helped define the characters the actors were playing; they allowed actors to play more than one role (or gender); they helped audience members in the distant seats see and, by projecting sound somewhat like a small megaphone ...

What are the 3 types of Greek drama?

The three genres of drama were comedy, satyr plays, and most important of all, tragedy.

How are satyr plays different from Greek comedies?

Satyr plays were short, about half the length of a standard tragedy. They were generally composed in a trochaic meter best suiting the dancing performed by the chorus. In diction, meter and structure, the satyr play is far closer to Tragedy rather than to Comedy, even the speeches of the satyrs and those by Silenus.

Who is Dionysus?

Dionysus, also spelled Dionysos, also called Bacchus or (in Rome) Liber Pater, in Greco-Roman religion, a nature god of fruitfulness and vegetation, especially known as a god of wine and ecstasy. ... Dionysus was the son of Zeus and Semele, a daughter of Cadmus (king of Thebes).

What does Stasima mean in Greek?

noun, plural stas·i·ma [stas-uh-muh]. (in ancient Greek drama) a choral ode, especially in tragedy, divided into strophe and antistrophe: usually alternating with the epeisodion and, in the final ode, preceding the exodos.

What is the purpose of kommos?

A kommos (from Greek κομμός, kommós, literally "striking", especially "beating of the head and breast in mourning") is a lyrical song of lamentation in an Athenian tragedy that the chorus and a dramatic character sing together. A kommos occurs "when the tension of the play rises to a climax of grief or horror or joy".

What is drama in Greek word?

The term "drama" comes from a Greek word "draō" meaning "to do / to act" (Classical Greek: δρᾶμα, drama), which is derived from "I do" (Classical Greek: δράω, drao). The two masks associated with drama represent the traditional generic division between comedy and tragedy.

Is from Greek word Dran meaning to do or to perform?

Theater. Many words associated with theatre have roots in Greek. Theater comes for the word theatron meaning "seeing place". Drama comes form the word dran meaning "to do" Many dramas were presented in the theater in Athens, yet only forty-three plays have been found intact.

What is a Parode?

A parodos (also parode and parodus; Ancient Greek: πάροδος, "entrance," plural parodoi), in the theater of ancient Greece, is a side-entrance to the stage, or the first song that is sung by the chorus at the beginning of a Greek tragedy.