See also:

• THEATRE (BEarpov, " a place for seeing," from OeacOae)

THEATRE (BEarpov, " a See also:

• PLACE (through Fr. from Lat. platea, street; Gr. IrAar6s, wide)

place for seeing," from OeacOae)  , a See also:

• BUILDING

building specially devised for dramatic representations . The See also:

• DRAMA (literally "action," from Gr. Snail, act or do)

drama arose from the choric dances in See also:

• HONOUR (Lat. honos or lwnor, honoris; in English the word was spelled with or without the u indifferently until the 17th century, but during the 18th century it became fashion-able to spell the word " honor "; Johnson's and Webster's Dictionaries stereoty

honour of See also:

• DIONYSUS (probably = " son of Zeus," from & Os and vv(7os, a Thracian word for " son ")

Dionysus, which were held in a circular dancing-See also:

• PLACE (through Fr. from Lat. platea, street; Gr. IrAar6s, wide)

place (opxiivrpa, See also:

• LAT

Lat. See also:

• ORCHESTRA (Fr. Orchestre; Ger. Kapelle, Orchester; Ital. Orchestra)

orchestra) in his See also:

• PRECINCT (from Lat. praecingere, to encircle, enclose, surround, prae and cingere, to gird)

precinct at the See also:

• FOOT

foot of the See also:

• ACROPOLIS (Gr. aKpos, top, a6)Xts, city)

Acropolis at See also:

• ATHENS
• ATHENS ['AN vat, Athenae, modem colloquial Greek `Ath va]

Athens . When the See also:

• LEADER, BENJAMIN WILLIAMS (1831– )

leader of the See also:

• CHORUS (Gr. xopbs)Z

chorus held a See also:

• DIALOGUE

dialogue with the remaining choreutae he mounted the table which stood beside the See also:

• ALTAR (Lat. altare, from alias, high; some ancient etymological guesses are recorded by St Isidore of Seville in Etymologiae xv. 4)

altar of Dionysus in the centre of the orchestra; but as the number of actors and the importance of the dialogue increased, it became necessary to erect a See also:

• PLATFORM (Fr. plateforme, i.e. ground plan)

platform at the See also:

• SIDE
• SIDE (mod. Eski Adalia)

side of the dancing-place and a See also:

• BOOTH (connected with a Teutonic root meaning to dwell, whence also " bower ")
• BOOTH, BARTON (1681–1933)
• BOOTH, CHARLES (184o– )
• BOOTH, EDWIN [THOMAS] (1833–1893)

booth in which the performers could See also:

• CHANGE (derived through the Fr. from the Late Lat. cambium, cambiare, to barter; the ultimate derivation is probably from the root which appears in the Gr. «a urmu', to bend)

change their dresses and masks . At the same See also:

• TIME (0. Eng. Lima, cf. Icel. timi, Swed. timme, hour, Dan. time; from the root also seen in " tide," properly the time of between the flow and ebb of the sea, cf. O. Eng. getidan, to happen, " even-tide," &c.; it is not directly related to Lat. tempus)
• TIME, MEASUREMENT OF
• TIME, STANDARD

time temporary wooden stands (iKpea) were set up for the spectators, who no longer ranged themselves around the whole See also:

• RING (O.E. hring; a word common to Teutonic languages; and probably cognate with the Lat. circus, Gr. KtpKOS or KpLKOS, Skt'. chakra, wheel, circle, cf. also " harangue "); in art, a band of circular shape of varying sizes, made of any material and used f

ring, but only on the slope of the Acropolis, facing southward . We are told that the collapse of the ZKpta, in 499 B.C. led to the erection of a permanent See also:

• THEATRE (BEarpov, " a place for seeing," from OeacOae)

theatre; this was not, however, a See also:

• STONE
• STONE (0. Eng. shin; the word is common to Teutonic languages, cf. Ger. Stein, Du. steen, Dan. and Swed. sten; the root is also seen in Gr. aria, pebble)
• STONE, CHARLES POMEROY (1824-1887)
• STONE, EDWARD JAMES (1831-1897)
• STONE, FRANK (1800-1859)
• STONE, GEORGE (1708—1764)
• STONE, LUCY [BLACKWELL] (1818-1893)
• STONE, MARCUS (184o— )
• STONE, NICHOLAS (1586-1647)

stone building . Embankments were made for the support of the spectators' benches: the See also:

• STAGE (Fr. 6/age; from Lat. stare, to stand)

stage buildings were of See also:

• WOOD, ANTHONY A2 (1632-1695)
• WOOD, JOHN GEORGE (1827—1889)
• WOOD, MRS HENRY [ELLEN] (1814—1887)
• WOOD, SEARLES VALENTINE (1798—188o)

wood, and, although some traces of a stone theatre belonging to the end of the 5th See also:

• CENTURY (from Lat. centuria, a division of a hundred men)

century have been pointed out, the " theatre of Dionysus," whose remains may still be seen (Pl . I. and II.), is in the See also:

• MAIN (from the Aryan root which appears in " may " and " might," and Lat. magnus, great)
• MAIN (Lat. Moenus)

main a See also:

• WORK

work of the 4th century . It was completed soon after 340 B.C. under the See also:

• ADMINISTRATION (Lat. administrare, to serve)

administration of the statesman and financier See also:

• LYCURGUS
• LYCURGUS (c. 396–325 B.C.)
• LYCURGUS (Gr. AvKofpyor)

Lycurgus . Alterations were made in the stage-buildings in the Hellenistic See also:

• PERIOD
• PERIOD (Gr. irepioSos, a going or way round, circuit, aepi, round, and &Sis, way, road)

period, under See also:

• NERO (37-68)

Nero, and again in the 3rd century A.D . Although the prototype of See also:

• GREEK
• GREEK, ETRUSCAN AND

Greek theatres, it is not the most perfectly preserved . Amongst those of purely Greek See also:

• DESIGN (Fr. desiin, drawing; Lat. designare, to mark out)

design the most typical is that of See also:

• EPIDAURUS

Epidaurus (Pl . I.), which was built in the latter See also:

• PART

part of the 4th century B.C. by See also:

• POLYCLITUS

Polyclitus the Younger .

The largest known to See also:

• PAUSANIAS

Pausanias was that of See also:

• MEGALOPOLIS

Megalopolis, excavated by the See also:

• BRITISH

British School at Athens in 1889-91, in which the stage buildings were replaced by the Thersilion, a large See also:

• COUNCIL (Lat. concilium, from cum, together, and the root cal, to call)

council - chamber . Others of importance for the study of the See also:

• ANCIENT
• ANCIENT (also spelt ANTIENT; derived, through the Fr. ancien, old, from the late Lat. antianum, from ante, before)

ancient theatre have been excavated at See also:

• DELOS

Delos, See also:

• ERETRIA (mod. Aletria)

Eretria, See also:

• SICYON, or SECYON (the latter being the older form used by the natives)

Sicyon and See also:

• OROPUS

Oropus . None of these, of course, is contemporary with the classical period of the Greek drama, and their stone stage-fronts belong to the Hellenistic period . In See also:

• ASIA

Asia See also:

• MINOR
• MINOR (Lat. for smaller, lesser)
• MINOR, ROBERT CRANNELL (1839-1904)

Minor we find a type of theatre (belonging to a some-what later date) with a broader, See also:

• LOWER

lower and deeper stage; and ry the See also:

• ROMAN

Roman theatre (see below) carries these changes still further . Before discussing their significance it will be best to describe the parts of the ancient theatre, the fullest See also:

• ACCOUNT
• ACCOUNT (through O. Fr. acont, Late Lat. comptum, cornputare, to calculate)

account of which is to be found in the fifth See also:

• BOOK

book of See also:

• VITRUVIUS (MARCUS VITRUVIUS POLLIO)

Vitruvius (written in the Augustan period) . Its three main divisions were the auditorium (Lat. See also:

• CAVEA

cavea; it had no technical name in Greek), the orchestra, and the stage buildings (ec,pvip, literally " See also:

• TENT

tent " or " booth " Lat. scena) . As the orchestra was the germ of the theatre, so it determined its shape, and in the Greek theatre preserved its circular See also:

• FORM (Lat. forma)

form in many instances (as at729 Epidaurus) . In the See also:

• SCHEME (Lat. schema, Gr. oxfjya, figure, form, from the root axe, seen in exeiv, to have, hold, to be of such shape, form, &c.)

scheme of proportions given by Vitruvius, however (see fig . 1, which carries its own explanation), a segment (ihgf) was cut off by the stage-front (srporcipvwv, See also:

• PROSCENIUM (Gr. 7rpoutci/veov)

proscenium) . The auditorium was divided by flights of seats into See also:

• WEDGE (O. Eng. wecg, a mass of metal, cognate with Dutch wig, wigge, Dan. vaegge, &c.; in Lith. the cognate form outside Teut. is found in wagis, a peg, spigot; there is no connexion with " weigh," " weight," which must be referred to the root wegh, to li

wedge-shaped blocks (KEpKISES, cunei) and also longitudinally by a gangway (Seib-o See also:

• EA(nar...), (p.s„,.,.)
• EA(psr...), (p, „...)• (pqr...)

ea, praecinctio) . In See also:

• GREECE

Greece the slope of a See also:

• HILL
• HILL (0. Eng. hyll; cf. Low Ger. hull, Mid. Dutch hul, allied to Lat. celsus, high, collis, hill, &c.)
• HILL, A
• HILL, AARON (1685-175o)
• HILL, AMBROSE POWELL
• HILL, DANIEL HARVEY (1821-1889)
• HILL, DAVID BENNETT (1843–1910)
• HILL, GEORGE BIRKBECK NORMAN (1835-1903)
• HILL, JAMES J
• HILL, JOHN (c. 1716-1775)
• HILL, MATTHEW DAVENPORT (1792-1872)
• HILL, OCTAVIA (1838– )
• HILL, ROWLAND (1744–1833)
• HILL, SIR ROWLAND (1795-1879)

hill was always chosen For the auditorium and furnished with stone seats in tiers like steps . The slope of the Acropolis faces See also:

• SOUTH
• SOUTH, ROBERT (1634–1716)

south, which (as Vitruvius points out) was the worst aspect for the spectators; but this was unavoidable for religious reasons, since the performances had to be held in the precinct of Dionysus .

At Athens the inner boundary was a semicircle with the ends prolonged in parallel straight lines, which gave the spectators in the wings a better view of the stage than that obtainable in those theatres where (according to the Vitruvian See also:

• RULE

rule) the boundary was segmental . At Epidaurus See also:

• SCALE
• SCALE (1) A

Scale 20 yards . FIG . 2 . From Dorpfeld and Reisch, Das griechische Theater . ab, See also:

• DOUBLE
• DOUBLE (from the Mid. Eng. duble, the form which gives the present pronunciation, through the Old Er. duble, from Lat. duplus, twice as much)

double western See also:

• WALL (O. Eng. weal, weall, Mid. Eng. wal, wane, adapted from Lat. vallum, rampart; the original O. Eng. word for a wall was wag or tenth)
• WALL, RICHARD (1694-1778)

wall. be, single wall . aa, gg, walls terminating wings of auditorium . b, f, entrances . c, the " katatome " (where the See also:

• ROCK
• ROCK (O.Fr. rake, Sp. rota, Ital. rocca; possibly from a Lat. form rupica, from rupes, rock)
• ROCK, DANIEL (1799–187t)

rock of the Acropolis was met by the walls) . d, e, diazoma . fg, eastern boundary wall . hh, front wall of Neronian stage .

i, fragment 5th-century orchestra . klm, ancient See also:

• MASONRY

masonry (? of supporting walls) . nn, See also:

• OLDEST

oldest stage buildings . oo, stone proscenium (1st or 2nd century B.C.) . p, See also:

• FOUNDATIONS

foundations of Neronian side wings . qr, fragments 5th-century orchestra . s, 4th-century See also:

• PORTICO (Ital. for " porch," Lat. porticus)

portico . t, old Dionysus See also:

• TEMPLE
• TEMPLE, FREDERICK (1821-1902)
• TEMPLE, RICHARD
• TEMPLE, SIR RICHARD, BART
• TEMPLE, SIR WILLIAM, BART

temple . a See also:

• COMPROMISE (pronounced compromize; through Fr. from Lat. compromittere)

compromise was effected by prolonging the ends of the semi-circle as segments of a See also:

• CURVE (Lat. curvus, bent)

curve with a longer See also:

• RADIUS

radius . The best seats were in the lowest See also:

• ROW, JOHN (c. 1525—1580)

row; at Athens this was formed by a See also:

• SERIES (a Latin word from serere, to join)

series of See also:

• MARBLE (from Lat. marmor, Gr. pApµapos, shining stone)

marble thrones assigned to various priests or officials whose titles may be read on those (6o out of 67) which are now preserved . The See also:

• PRIEST (Ger. Priester, Fr. pretre)

priest of Dionysus occupied the central See also:

• THRONE

throne . In some theatres benches with backs took the place of See also:

• SEPARATE

separate thrones .

The right of sitting in reserved places was called apoe5pia . The orchestra, which was separated from the auditorium by a See also:

• GUTTER (O. Fr. goutiere, mod. gouttiere, from Lat. gutta, drop)

gutter and kerb and generally paved with slabs, contained an altar of Dionysus called the Bv;.cEX,p, whence the choral or musical contests which took place in it were called a.y<ayss OvpzEX LKOt . At Athens this altar stood in the See also:

• MIDDLE

middle of a See also:

• LOZENGE (from the Fr. losenge, or losange; the word also appears in Span. losanje, and Ital. losanga; perhaps derived from a word meaning a stone slab laid on a grave, which appears in forms such as Provencal lousa, Span. losa, the ultimate origin of whic

lozenge-shaped marble See also:

• PAVEMENT (Lat. pavimentu;n, a floor beaten or rammed hard, from pavire, to beat)

pavement .