Ancient theater of God Dionysus on Acropolis Athens
The birthplace of tragedy and comedy: this first theater of the Western world was built on the site of a sanctuary of Dionysus. The archaic temple, containing a wooden image of Dionysus, dates from around 540 BC. The classical temple was built and the gold and ivory statue of the god by Alcamenes, sculpted in the 4th century BC. The theater was built at the end of the 6th century BC around an already existing circular orchestra, which is still (albeit barely) distinguishable among the ruins of the stage. It was on this stage that plays by Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides and Aristophanes, which still inspire theatergoers today, had their world premieres. The stone tiers were built in 333 BC by the orator and politician Lycurgus. The theater could hold a crowd of 17,000 spectators; or 30,000 when the surrounding grounds were filled. The ancient walk, or "peripatos", divided the theater into two parts: the theater proper and the higher "epitheater". Under the Emperor Nero (67 AD), the stage and the orchestra took on the Roman form they maintain to this day. The Phaidros Bema "pulpitum" (platform) was built in the 3rd century AD.
Size: 5380px × 3572px
Location: Acropolis, Athens, Greece, Europe
Photo credit: © Vaios Vitos / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
Keywords: aeschylus, ancient, aristophanes, circular, comedy, dionysus, euripides, god, greece, greek, hellas, hellenic, orchestra, premieres, ruins, sophocles, stage, stone, theater, theatergoers, tiers, tragedy
