Greek Theatre Research

The time period for the Greek Theatre was between the 6th century. All the actors were men or boys. Dancers and singers, called the chorus, performed on a flat area called the orchestra. The origin of the ancient Greek theatre is unclear, however, the genre of tragedy became  popular during the late 6th century BC. Comedy gained a wider recognition around 486 BC including satyr plays.The capital city of Athens was the centre of culture, politics and military power during this period. Theatre was part of a festival called the Dionysia in honour of the god Dionysus.




The period of Ancient Greece lasted over centuries. Major political and cultural events include the first Olympic games in 776 BC,  the First Messenian War in which the Spartans conquered southwest Peloponnesia (710-730 BC), introduction of democracy in Athens in 505 BC, Euripides writes his first tragedy (441 BC) and the Goths sack Athens, Sparta and Corinth (267 AD). The social structure and government in Greece was made up of many independent states, called Polis. Greek Society was mainly broken up between Free people and Slaves, who were owned by the free people. Slaves were used as servants and labourers, without any legal rights. Sometimes the slaves were prisoners of war or bought from foreign slave traders. Also the role of women in society was very home centred and they did not have much freedom. They had to look after the children, cook and spin or weave clothes while the husbands went out to go about their businesses or meet friends for meals.


The main playwrights in Ancient Greece were Sophocles, Aeschylus, Euripides and Aristophes. The works of Aeschylus include The Persians, Seven against Thebes, The Suppliants and The Oresteia.
Sophocles wrote Antigone, Oedipus - the King and Oedipus at Colonus. Euripides' main works are Herakles, Medea and Iphigenia in Tauris. Aristophanes created The Clouds, The Birds, The Knights and many other comedy plays.Main themes of these plays included love, tragedy, betrayal, power, politics, belief and religion,  separation and grief, adventure and many more.