Greek Amphitheatre

GREEK AMPHITHEATRE from BurnsteinAzalee Design

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Ancient Greek theaters were very large, open-air structures that took advantage of sloping hillsides for their terraced seating. Because of drama's close connection with religion, theaters were often located in or near sanctuaries.

The core of any Greek theater is the orchestra, the “dancing place” of the chorus and the chief performance space. The audience sat in the theatron, the “seeing place,” on semi-circular terraced rows of benches (in the earliest theaters these were wooden; they were later built of stone). The Greeks often built these in a natural hollow (a koilon), though the sides were increasingly reinforced with stone. Scholars often use the Latin word for hollow, cavea, to designate the seating in an ancient theater. Stairs mounting to the highest levels divide the sections of seats into wedges. Although the name theatron suggests an emphasis on sight, in reality actors and chorus would look rather small even from seats only part-way up, and from the top rows one would see mostly colors and patterns of movement rather any details of costuming or masks. The acoustics in this theater, however, are magnificent, and words spoken very softly in the orchestra can be heard in the top rows (as long as your neighbors are quiet).

On the far side of the orchestra was the stage building, or skene (meaning “tent”). This was a covered structure, originally a temporary wooden building, where the actors stored their masks and costumes and performed quick changes out of the sight of the audience. We know very little about the skene in the fifth century; however, there seems to have been some type of stage building by the time Aeschylus’ Oresteia was first produced (458 BCE), since these plays require central doors and an upper platform (the “roof” on which the watchman appears). The wooden stage buildings of the fifth century were replaced by more permanent stone structures in the fourth century. It is thought that the original stage buildings were relatively low, rectangular structures with large central doors, possibly two other doors flanking the central one, a flat roof on which actors could appear, and possibly a higher platform above this “roof.” There may have been projecting wings on either side of the stage building (the paraskenia, “beside the skene”), and between these two wings there may have been a low platform or stage, connected to the orchestra by only a few steps (the proskenion, “in front of the skene”).

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GREEK AMPHITHEATRE

40*40 m
highly detailed
beautiful curtain with breeze
Corinthian style pillars
delicate flowers in authentic vases

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