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#0462
290
MYTHOLOGY AND MONUMENTS
DIV. C
The worship of many a Greek god began in the dance ; a
ritual dance was a charm to waken the slumbering earth ; Pan
and the Graces, Hermes and Apollo, all loved the dance. But,
for some cause it is hard to trace, the mimetic element was
developed in the Dionysiac dance more than in any other wor-
ship, and out of the chorus developed the drama. Comedy kept
much of the simple, festive, religious buffoonery of early days, but
tragedy purged itself more and more into a pure morality. The
development of all this literary side of the drama is not a part of
the mythologist’s business ; it is only important to note how,
down to the best days of Greek tragedy, the ritual necessity of
the circular orchestra conditioned dramatic representation. The
circular orchestra itself was of course again conditioned by the
central altar. There is no trace of an altar in the orchestra of the
present theatre, but a large stone altar (fig. 31), with a dedicatory
inscription and fine sculptured decorations of wreaths and masks,
may be seen lying some distance behind the stages. As long
as the Greek drama was worth anything at all, it was an
act of worship; only in its days of decadence did the stage
encroach on the orchestra. In many an outlying place, such as
Oropus or Epidaurus (fig. 33), the complete circle remains intact
to this day.
The Greek word σκηνη (scene) tells its own tale. It is no fixed
immemorial stone structure ; it is simply a tent. When ritual
was perfectly simple, when all the country folk danced about the
altar, when all were worshippers, then none were actors, none
spectators. But as bit by bit, first the dancer separated from the
spectator, then the actor from the dancer, there grew up the
necessity for the theatron (the spectator’s place) on the one hand,
the skene (the tent for the actor) on the other. The spectator
wanted to sit and rest, the actor to dress himself unseen and
make thereby the more impressive entry. Scenery in our
sense at first there would be none. Actors and dancers were one
company, and the mimetic representation took place wholly on the
orchestra, the only stage.47 It is quite possible that the principal
actor leapt upon the altar-steps and there declaimed. Gradually
the skene or tent became, not only a place to dress in, but an
effective background from which to emerge—a king’s palace, a
temple, or the like. Some temporary structure was set up, and
though the chorus and the spectators too entered by the parodoi,
the principal actor might on occasion enter from the temporary
skene. But never, in the days of the three great tragedians, must
MYTHOLOGY AND MONUMENTS
DIV. C
The worship of many a Greek god began in the dance ; a
ritual dance was a charm to waken the slumbering earth ; Pan
and the Graces, Hermes and Apollo, all loved the dance. But,
for some cause it is hard to trace, the mimetic element was
developed in the Dionysiac dance more than in any other wor-
ship, and out of the chorus developed the drama. Comedy kept
much of the simple, festive, religious buffoonery of early days, but
tragedy purged itself more and more into a pure morality. The
development of all this literary side of the drama is not a part of
the mythologist’s business ; it is only important to note how,
down to the best days of Greek tragedy, the ritual necessity of
the circular orchestra conditioned dramatic representation. The
circular orchestra itself was of course again conditioned by the
central altar. There is no trace of an altar in the orchestra of the
present theatre, but a large stone altar (fig. 31), with a dedicatory
inscription and fine sculptured decorations of wreaths and masks,
may be seen lying some distance behind the stages. As long
as the Greek drama was worth anything at all, it was an
act of worship; only in its days of decadence did the stage
encroach on the orchestra. In many an outlying place, such as
Oropus or Epidaurus (fig. 33), the complete circle remains intact
to this day.
The Greek word σκηνη (scene) tells its own tale. It is no fixed
immemorial stone structure ; it is simply a tent. When ritual
was perfectly simple, when all the country folk danced about the
altar, when all were worshippers, then none were actors, none
spectators. But as bit by bit, first the dancer separated from the
spectator, then the actor from the dancer, there grew up the
necessity for the theatron (the spectator’s place) on the one hand,
the skene (the tent for the actor) on the other. The spectator
wanted to sit and rest, the actor to dress himself unseen and
make thereby the more impressive entry. Scenery in our
sense at first there would be none. Actors and dancers were one
company, and the mimetic representation took place wholly on the
orchestra, the only stage.47 It is quite possible that the principal
actor leapt upon the altar-steps and there declaimed. Gradually
the skene or tent became, not only a place to dress in, but an
effective background from which to emerge—a king’s palace, a
temple, or the like. Some temporary structure was set up, and
though the chorus and the spectators too entered by the parodoi,
the principal actor might on occasion enter from the temporary
skene. But never, in the days of the three great tragedians, must