In spite of the great advance made by Greek drama from the rough popular beginnings till the time of its greatest glory, and in spite of the enormous difference between the tragedies of the three great masters and the comedies of Aristophanes, both in their whole character as well as in the details of their structure and performance, and the cyclic choruses and rustic sports of the old Dionysia, yet there are a few points in which the drama, even in its highest development, shows the traces of its origin. One of these is the custom of giving theatrical representations only at certain festive seasons of the year, and in some way connected with the worship of Dionysus as actual religious acts, though
A Temple of Asclepios. B Rocky ground. C Seats hewn from the rocks. D Entrance. E Remains of rows of seats. F Destroyed portions. G Parts not yet excavated. H Not yet excavated; private property, with houses on it. I Avenue or boulevard. K Church of the Passover-- (a) Former size. (b) Present size.]
towards the end of the ancient Hellenic period theatrical representations were also given at festivals not in honour of Dionysus. In consequence of this the structure of the theatres, and especially the place for the spectators, had to be far larger than at the present day. As performances only took place a few times in the year, and not only the whole population of the town and neighbourhood, but even many strangers from a distance, collected together for them, the space for the audience had to be so large that many thousands, even tens of thousands, might have room there, and it must also be built in such a way that the performance could be conveniently seen from every place. These remarks refer in particular to Athens, with whose theatrical arrangements we are best acquainted, and which, moreover, was the model for most of the others. In the first place, it was impossible to have a covered space; covered theatres--concert-halls ([Greek: ôdeia]), as they were called--were destined, not for dramatic, but for musical performances; secondly, the performances took place by daylight, in consequence of which much of the illusion was lost. Again, the great size of the structure and the considerable distance of most of the seats from the actors necessitated certain peculiarities in the costume of these latter which we must discuss later on.