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The first theater in the world and also the oldest.
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Here in Athens, the theater of Dionysus.
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It was founded in the 6th century BC.
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and could accommodate 17,000 spectators.
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The theater of Dionysus is located on the southern slope of the Acropolis.
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On the map of the Acropolis in Athens, we see our theater of Dionysus here in the southeast.
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Right next to it is a younger theater from Roman times.
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The Odeon of Herodes Atticus from the 2nd century AD.
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It is much better preserved and is still used for performances today.
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If you are interested in attending an opera or a concert here, you can find the link to the event calendar below.
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Back to our theater of Dionysus.
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The first and eldest theater of the world.
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And the most important of ancient Greece.
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In which the first drama in world history was performed.
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Yes, theater is a Greek invention.
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But what was new?
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Theater-like performances existed before, for example, in China and Egypt.
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At the courts of the rulers.
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But the auditorium was invented and established by the Greeks.
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The auditorium where the audience could sit and watch the play.
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The word theater comes from the Greek verb Thein, which means to look at, to contemplate.
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Greek theaters were typically semicircular.
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They were built into a hillside.
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Because there are many mountains in Greece, in contrast, Roman theaters are very often on a flat surface.
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Greek theaters also have breathtaking acoustics.
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If you drop a coin at the bottom, you can still hear it in the top seats.
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The Greek invented not only the theater building with auditorium.
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But as well Greek drama as a literary genre, the tragedy and the comedy.
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Before I tell you important details about the emergence of theater in Athens.
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Let me first provide some information about theater in general in ancient Greece.
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There was a chorus in every play.
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In addition, a maximum of three actors played.
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So that an actor often played two or more roles at once.
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At that time the actors were only men, who also played the female roles.
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They wore theatrical masks and were stuffed with padding according to their roles.
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Here we can see theater masks, a wall painting in Pompeii.
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And a theater mask of 2nd century BC.
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That is in the National Archaeological Museum of Athens.
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As already announced, I'm coming now to the roots and origins of Greek theater.
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The beginning of Greek theater is closely linked to the God Dionysus.
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From who the theater of Dionysus takes its name.
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Originally Greek theater emerged from cult plays in honor of the God Dionysus.
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Dionysus was the God of wine, joy, ecstasy and intoxication.
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The religious cult in honor of this God.
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Developed into a festival in Athens, the so-called Dionysia.
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That is a festival that was celebrated once a year.
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The Dionysia were lasting several days.
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And started with a procession and a sacrifice to the deity Dionysus.
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On the following festival days, theater competitions took place.
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The comedy competition.
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And a tragedy competition.
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There were prizes not for the actors, but for the poet of the play.
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The origins of Greek theater take us to the Agora in Athens.
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The Agora was the central public space.
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And was the hub of commercial, political and social life.
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On the Agora, the first dramatic performances likely took place.
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Then the performances were moved to the sanctuary of Dionysus on the Acropolis.
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Here.
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A little south of the later theater of Dionysus.
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And that's how the first theater was created.
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At the beginning, in the 5th century BC.
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The theater consisted only of a ground floor orchestra.
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The circular area where a chorus of dancers performs.
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And a simple wooden skene, a hut for the changing of masks and costumes.
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There were no spectator seats yet.
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But at the beginning the spectators had to sit on a natural slope.
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That were the origin of the auditorium.
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Wooden rows of seats were later built.
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But only around 330 BC the stone building was built.
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That we can see today.
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The theaters of ancient Greece were open-air theaters.
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Usually in a north-south orientation.
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These theaters had space for large crowds of spectators.
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For example, the theater in Ephesus could accommodate up to 25,000 people at a time.
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Our theater of Dionysus in Athens offered space for up to 17,000 people at the time.
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Even though it looks quite small today.
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About the seating arrangement.
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In the beginning there was no fixed seating arrangement.
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Later there were places of honor for priests, officials and residents with special merits.
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Male citizens then sat in rows near the stage.
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While the back seats were reserved for women, children, non-citizens and slaves.
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Originally, the author of a play had many tasks.
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He had full responsibility for the whole theater performance.
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He took care of the direction.
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Composed the music.
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He arranged the dances.
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And he usually appeared as an actor himself.
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In addition, each poet had a so-called choregos.
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Who put together and looked after the chorus.
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Later, towards the end of the 5th century BC.
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The author's function was increasingly reduced to his writing activity.
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The tragic poet Sophocles stopped acting in his own plays.
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And the comedy writer Aristophanes increasingly handed over the direction to others.
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All of this happened in Athens.
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In the famous theater of Dionysus.
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The first theater in the world.
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On the southern slope of the Acropolis.
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Which has its origins in the cultus of Dionysus.
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