. The life of the Greeks and Romans. Fig-. 165. rama had attained its artistic 122 THE THEATRE. development. Originally they were destined for the performanceof the choric dances and songs appertaining to the worship ofDionysos, but soon they obtained public importance, and becameboth a means of artistic culture for youths and maidens and asource of public enjoyment. Theatres were even used for quitedifferent purposes. Pageants of all kinds could take place inthem, and at the same time they offered a convenient point for thecommunications made to the people on the part of the
. The life of the Greeks and Romans. Fig-. 165. rama had attained its artistic 122 THE THEATRE. development. Originally they were destined for the performanceof the choric dances and songs appertaining to the worship ofDionysos, but soon they obtained public importance, and becameboth a means of artistic culture for youths and maidens and asource of public enjoyment. Theatres were even used for quitedifferent purposes. Pageants of all kinds could take place inthem, and at the same time they offered a convenient point for thecommunications made to the people on the part of the public meetings were held in theatres, as was, forinstance, commonly the case at Athens in the great theatre ofDionysos, even after the dramatic performances had reached a Fig. 167. The form and construction of the buildings were here againadapted to local circumstances, natural risings of the ground beinggenerally chosen for the purpose. Differently from the hippodromeor stadion, the action here had to be fixed to a certain point,round which the spectators seats had to be arranged, so as toenable them to direct their eyes to this centre of action. Hencethe form of a greater or smaller segment of the circle was chosenas most convenient. The oldest theatres consisted of two chief divisions \ the stagefor the dancers {yopos, ofr^rjarpa) and the place for the former was levelled in the simplest manner; in the centre THE ORCHESTRA. 123 stood the altar of the god to be celebrated, most frequentlyDionysos, whose worship was connected with dancing. Bound theorchestra rose on the one side the seats of the spectators, in theform of a semicircle or of a large segment, mostly on the slope ofa hill. Originally the people sat on the hill itself, after
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, bookpublisherlondonchapmanandha
