DOI chapter:
Division C: The road immediately east and south of the Acropolis, from the street of Tripods to the shrine of Demeter Chloe
DOI chapter:Section XII
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.61302#0444
272
MYTHOLOGY AND MONUMENTS
DIV. C
books. It will be sufficient here briefly to consider the general
character of the theatre, and to note («) such points as throw
light on mythological questions, (U) certain discoveries made
in the recent excavations of 1886, which go far to revolutionise
previous conceptions. It will be convenient to take the theatre
under three heads, somewhat in the reverse order of their import-
ance :—
(1) The koilon or theatron proper—i.e., the place where the
spectators sat ;
(2) The skene, or stage ;
(3) The orchestra, or dancing-place ;
FIG. 18.—VIEW OF THE CAVEA.
bearing in mind always that each is considered only so far as
it bears on mythology or recent discovery.
(1) The koilon (cavea and choreion), or place where the
spectators sat.
The present cavea (fig. 18), with its seats of poros stone and
honorary marble chairs, dates from the time of Lycurgus. Its shape
is of course conditioned by the orchestra, to be considered later.
The seats extend right up to the monument of Thrasyllus, and
MYTHOLOGY AND MONUMENTS
DIV. C
books. It will be sufficient here briefly to consider the general
character of the theatre, and to note («) such points as throw
light on mythological questions, (U) certain discoveries made
in the recent excavations of 1886, which go far to revolutionise
previous conceptions. It will be convenient to take the theatre
under three heads, somewhat in the reverse order of their import-
ance :—
(1) The koilon or theatron proper—i.e., the place where the
spectators sat ;
(2) The skene, or stage ;
(3) The orchestra, or dancing-place ;
FIG. 18.—VIEW OF THE CAVEA.
bearing in mind always that each is considered only so far as
it bears on mythology or recent discovery.
(1) The koilon (cavea and choreion), or place where the
spectators sat.
The present cavea (fig. 18), with its seats of poros stone and
honorary marble chairs, dates from the time of Lycurgus. Its shape
is of course conditioned by the orchestra, to be considered later.
The seats extend right up to the monument of Thrasyllus, and