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Theater also had its beginnings in ancient Greece. Like the Olympic Games, theater grew out of important religious festivals. Each spring thousands of Greeks gathered to honor Dionysus (di an eye ses), the god of pleasure. As many as 20,000 people met at an outdoor theater carved into the slope of the Acropolis. Sitting close together on steep rows of stone seats, they watched a festival of plays.

As it is today, the theater in ancient Greece was a magical place. For an entire week, people returned every morning to their seats on the slopes of the Acropolis. They wondered who had written the best play. Would it be sad or funny? Like the Olympic champions, the best writer received special honors.

TRAGEDY AND COMEDY

Theaters were carved into hillsides all over the "Aegean World." (See graphic at bottom off page.) Though the festival was held in Athens, every Greek polis had a theater and developed plays. Many of these theaters are still in use, as the photograph below shows.

One of the most famous writers of Greek plays was Aeschylus (es'ka las). He was well known because he won first prize in the festival 13 times in a row. Aeschylus loved Athens and wrote plays to honor it. He had fought with his countrymen against the Persians on the plains of Marathon and later in the battle at Salamis. His experiences in war caused him to write plays called tragedies. A tragedy is a play in which life is treated seriously and usually has a sad ending.

Aeschylus is known as the "father of tragedy." Tragedies were performed only in the morning at the festivals. Perhaps the audience liked to get the sad plays behind them.

Comedies, or plays that are funny and usually have happy endings, were performed late in the day. One of the most famous writers of comedy was Aristophanes (ar is tof' a nes). His comedies were loud, happy events. Aristophanes liked it when the crowds at his comedies talked and roamed around the theater. Sometimes they would shout at the actors. A comedy in ancient Greece was always full of jokes. Comedies were also written to make fun of famous people.

Did you hear that Aeschylus was a savage-creating, stubborn-pulling fellow, uncurbed, unfettered, uncontrolled of speech, and downright ridiculous!

As you see in these lines, Aristophanes even made fun of Aeschylus, the "father of tragedy."
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Greek amphitheaters, such as this one in Delphi, were designed so that even a whisper could reach the seats farthest from the stage.   Some of these theaters are over 2500 years old and still used today for outdoor plays.   The ancient Greeks are credited with inventing the theater. Without theater, we would not have movies or TV shows. We owe a lot to the Greeks.

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