Theater of Dionysus Athens - The Origin of Theater - 1st Theater in the World

The first theater in the world and also the oldest.

Here in Athens, the theater of Dionysus.

It was founded in the 6th century BC.

and could accommodate 17,000 spectators.

The theater of Dionysus is located on the southern slope of the Acropolis.

On the map of the Acropolis in Athens, we see our theater of Dionysus here in the southeast.

Right next to it is a younger theater from Roman times.

The Odeon of Herodes Atticus from the 2nd century AD.

It is much better preserved and is still used for performances today.

If you are interested in attending an opera or a concert here, you can find the link to the event calendar below.

Back to our theater of Dionysus.

The first and eldest theater of the world.

And the most important of ancient Greece.

In which the first drama in world history was performed.

Yes, theater is a Greek invention.

But what was new?

Theater-like performances existed before, for example, in China and Egypt.

At the courts of the rulers.

But the auditorium was invented and established by the Greeks.

The auditorium where the audience could sit and watch the play.

The word theater comes from the Greek verb Thein, which means to look at, to contemplate.

Greek theaters were typically semicircular.

They were built into a hillside.

Because there are many mountains in Greece, in contrast, Roman theaters are very often on a flat surface.

Greek theaters also have breathtaking acoustics.

If you drop a coin at the bottom, you can still hear it in the top seats.

The Greek invented not only the theater building with auditorium.

But as well Greek drama as a literary genre, the tragedy and the comedy.

Before I tell you important details about the emergence of theater in Athens.

Let me first provide some information about theater in general in ancient Greece.

There was a chorus in every play.

In addition, a maximum of three actors played.

So that an actor often played two or more roles at once.

At that time the actors were only men, who also played the female roles.

They wore theatrical masks and were stuffed with padding according to their roles.

Here we can see theater masks, a wall painting in Pompeii.

And a theater mask of 2nd century BC.

That is in the National Archaeological Museum of Athens.

As already announced, I'm coming now to the roots and origins of Greek theater.

The beginning of Greek theater is closely linked to the God Dionysus.

From who the theater of Dionysus takes its name.

Originally Greek theater emerged from cult plays in honor of the God Dionysus.

Dionysus was the God of wine, joy, ecstasy and intoxication.

The religious cult in honor of this God.

Developed into a festival in Athens, the so-called Dionysia.

That is a festival that was celebrated once a year.

The Dionysia were lasting several days.

And started with a procession and a sacrifice to the deity Dionysus.

On the following festival days, theater competitions took place.

The comedy competition.

And a tragedy competition.

There were prizes not for the actors, but for the poet of the play.

The origins of Greek theater take us to the Agora in Athens.

The Agora was the central public space.

And was the hub of commercial, political and social life.

On the Agora, the first dramatic performances likely took place.

Then the performances were moved to the sanctuary of Dionysus on the Acropolis.

Here.

A little south of the later theater of Dionysus.

And that's how the first theater was created.

At the beginning, in the 5th century BC.

The theater consisted only of a ground floor orchestra.

The circular area where a chorus of dancers performs.

And a simple wooden skene, a hut for the changing of masks and costumes.

There were no spectator seats yet.

But at the beginning the spectators had to sit on a natural slope.

That were the origin of the auditorium.

Wooden rows of seats were later built.

But only around 330 BC the stone building was built.

That we can see today.

The theaters of ancient Greece were open-air theaters.

Usually in a north-south orientation.

These theaters had space for large crowds of spectators.

For example, the theater in Ephesus could accommodate up to 25,000 people at a time.

Our theater of Dionysus in Athens offered space for up to 17,000 people at the time.

Even though it looks quite small today.

About the seating arrangement.

In the beginning there was no fixed seating arrangement.

Later there were places of honor for priests, officials and residents with special merits.

Male citizens then sat in rows near the stage.

While the back seats were reserved for women, children, non-citizens and slaves.

Originally, the author of a play had many tasks.

He had full responsibility for the whole theater performance.

He took care of the direction.

Composed the music.

He arranged the dances.

And he usually appeared as an actor himself.

In addition, each poet had a so-called choregos.

Who put together and looked after the chorus.

Later, towards the end of the 5th century BC.

The author's function was increasingly reduced to his writing activity.

The tragic poet Sophocles stopped acting in his own plays.

And the comedy writer Aristophanes increasingly handed over the direction to others.

All of this happened in Athens.

In the famous theater of Dionysus.

The first theater in the world.

On the southern slope of the Acropolis.

Which has its origins in the cultus of Dionysus.

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