DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4593#0172
THE SHRINES OF ATTICA 151
of the orchestra, has been retained essentially in
the modern theatre. Musicians now play in that
deepened part of the orchestra once occupied by the
chorus, and have taken the name of the place where
they sit. In modern times, however, we build up the
stage half instead of lowering the other half. This
was also done in Roman days, and sometimes the
four lower seats of the auditorium were cut away.
Those who maintain that the proskenion in the Greek
theatre was used as a stage, are obliged to answer the
question why the Romans did not take this stage
already made and use it instead of making a logeion
out of the orchestra.
The changes brought about in the Greek theatre
by the Romans were many. In the Greek times the
audience had entered by the parodoi, or side entrances.
These entrances remained, but they were used exclu-
sively for the actors. Other entrances had to be
made for the audience. An archway was built under
the seats for this purpose. Different parts of the thea-
tre were brought into close relation. The actors' room
and the screen before it were united and developed.
The proscenium was built up into a high decorated
wall, and the wings of the skene were extended so as to
close in the logeion, which could also be roofed over.
This new structure furnished rooms and windows for
royal spectators. In the modern theatre the name
proscenium is limited mainly to the arch over the
stage and to the side-walls, fitted with boxes, before the
curtain. When the Romans began to build stone thea-
tres they no longer chose the site of a hill, but built
them on level ground, preserving the ascending audi-
torium. The halls and colonnades which the Greeks
of the orchestra, has been retained essentially in
the modern theatre. Musicians now play in that
deepened part of the orchestra once occupied by the
chorus, and have taken the name of the place where
they sit. In modern times, however, we build up the
stage half instead of lowering the other half. This
was also done in Roman days, and sometimes the
four lower seats of the auditorium were cut away.
Those who maintain that the proskenion in the Greek
theatre was used as a stage, are obliged to answer the
question why the Romans did not take this stage
already made and use it instead of making a logeion
out of the orchestra.
The changes brought about in the Greek theatre
by the Romans were many. In the Greek times the
audience had entered by the parodoi, or side entrances.
These entrances remained, but they were used exclu-
sively for the actors. Other entrances had to be
made for the audience. An archway was built under
the seats for this purpose. Different parts of the thea-
tre were brought into close relation. The actors' room
and the screen before it were united and developed.
The proscenium was built up into a high decorated
wall, and the wings of the skene were extended so as to
close in the logeion, which could also be roofed over.
This new structure furnished rooms and windows for
royal spectators. In the modern theatre the name
proscenium is limited mainly to the arch over the
stage and to the side-walls, fitted with boxes, before the
curtain. When the Romans began to build stone thea-
tres they no longer chose the site of a hill, but built
them on level ground, preserving the ascending audi-
torium. The halls and colonnades which the Greeks