Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Aphrodite
Drama
The great dramatists such as Aeschylus, Aristophanes, Euripides and Sophocles re-
defined theatre from religious ritual to become a compelling form of entertainment. They
were to be found at the Theatre of Dionysos at the foot of the Acropolis, and their com-
edies and tragedies reveal a great deal about the psyche of the ancient Greeks.
Across the country large open-air theatres were built on the sides of hills, designed to
accommodate plays with increasingly sophisticated backdrops and props, choruses and
themes, and to maximise sound so that even the people in the back row might hear the
actors on stage. The dominant genres of theatre were tragedy and comedy. The first
known actor was a man called Thespis, from whose name we derive the word 'thespian'.
