DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4266#0125
40 ON THE FORM, ARRANGEMENT, AND
firmation of the principles for the echea and their cellsa laid down by Vitruvius in his work, to which
we must refer the reader for more minute particulars.
The Orchestra derives its nameb from h^yjo^ai (to dance), as being the province of the choral
dance, and was that second division of the theatre lying between the coilon and logeion or proscenium,
entirely enclosed by the podium of these two divisions. The chorus, whose number at a very early
period of the tragic art, was limited to fifteen in tragedy, and twenty-four in comedy, during the pre-
sence of the performers on the logeion, stood0 in rows on lines marked for them on the floord:
when divided into tjfuxogia, each of the two divisions flanked the proscenium and joined in the dia-
logue, as though only one person, by means of its xogvtycuog, or leader, who stood in the centre of his
respective division. The tragic chorus assumed also the division of three rows with five each, or five
rows with three each, the former being called zarcc a-rot^ovg, the latter xccra, £vya: in comedy, how-
ever, they were ranged in rows of four each ; and thus, during the absence of the performers from the
scene, they went through their recitations accompanied by the measure of the pipe, and the graceful
movements of the varied dance, by the strophe and antistrophe figuring the courses of the moving
planets, and by the epode representing the character of the fixed orbs. Horace in his " De Arte
Poetica", thus defines the attributes of the chorus :
" Ulc bonis Faveatque ct concilietur amice,
Et regat iratos ct amet pacarc timcntcs :
Ille dapes laudet mensffi brevis; ille salubrem
Justitiam, legesque, et apertis otia portis;
Ille tegat commissa ; Deosqne precetur et oret,
Ut redeat miseris, abeat Fortune superbis."
But instead of adhering to these grave rules, their evolutions too frequently degenerated into
indecent combinations, calculated to inflame the worst passions of the spectators, a vice attributable
probably to their Corinthian origin6, and severely reprobated by Basilius, who stigmatises the orches-
tra as the " school of immodesty "f.
In a central part of the orchestra was placed the S-u//Jx?j, which gave its name to this region
on account of the altar on which were offered the sacrifices to Dionysus, and around which were
placed the tripods5, crowns, and other prizes, to excite the emulation of the competitors. From the
thymele there were steps which led on to the logeion, but as the chorus do not appear to have entered
on the stage, these steps were not for the purpose of affording access for the chorus to the orchestra.
From the ruins of the theatres of Syracuse, Miletus, and Ephesus, it would appear that there was a
distinct entrance for the chorus from the porticos behind the parascene, in the diverging enclosure
walls of the coilon. In the theatre of Syracuse, (PI. IV.) at the top of the steps flanking the scene,
on the right hand is a vaulted passage cut in the rock, which probably admitted the chorus into the
" We understand that W. J. Banks, Esq. has discovered, tervals, quite round the circular part of the cavea. The lesser
at the theatre of Scythopolis, in Syria, a very complete ex- theatre (perhaps the Odeum) has the scene entire with the ex-
ample of the echeic chambers under the seats, with a gallery ccption of the marble decorations: the exterior of the cavea re-
of communication affording access to each chamber, for the presents an elegant corridor.
purpose of arranging and modulating the vases. It is to bo b OnaccountofitscircularformitwascalledinlatertimesEIy^a,
hoped that this indefatigable and learned traveller will soon com- from its resemblance to the form of that letter. Photius: 'Oq^no-T^a.'
municate to the public the results of his interesting researches. ttjjwtov wtoSri it t» ayo^a, i7t« xa.) to£ Ssar^ou to rara hiAx.vy.^ot, oi
At Nicopolis are the ruins of two Roman theatres, both of x«) oi x°& ^Qt *a' uzx°v*T0, '^>^X^'a~r?°'-> T° '" r°" §s<*t%ov Xiylipimt
which are in a very fair state of preservation, as far as regards erlty**.
the walls, but the marble decorations are utterly removed. In c Phrynici Eclog. p. 64, cum notis Paw.
the larger, the podium of the centre pra;cinctio has eight niches, d Ilesychius : rga^juai lv rn o^w-t^k \aa,i, i; tov x°c,<" e'" oroip^w
apparently adapted for the reception of vases, and there are also iorao-Sai.
three wells sunk in the body of the cavea, made probably for e Phornuthus, who is quoted by Rhodiginus, in his Antiquit.
the advantage of the sound, on the principle of Aristotle, noticed Lib. IV. Cap. viii. says, Tu^nxoi; u.ym«.t; ■uiftx&xivct^ovo-i 'HXsioi,
"7 Alberti, Lib. VIII. Cap. vii. The scene has the hemicycle Su^eAixouj Kog/nSioi, o-xijuxoi; 'aSdiusioi.
111 the centre and the three doors, and was about 110 feet wide. ' Lib. IV. in Exam.: ^oVion S^aurxaT^eiot ao-eXysia;.
■The postscenium had seven chambers in the same length, and « Aristid. Orat. de Concord, ad Rhod. 'A-xoGhQars $\ xa.) ir^o?
was sixteen feet six inches wide. The blocks of stone, with rovq TgiVoo'aj tov; li^imlcrow; rovrovtr), irutras St xakir£ aurou? T^otr-
circular holes for the masts of the velarium, are at various in- oywro?, k. r. A.
firmation of the principles for the echea and their cellsa laid down by Vitruvius in his work, to which
we must refer the reader for more minute particulars.
The Orchestra derives its nameb from h^yjo^ai (to dance), as being the province of the choral
dance, and was that second division of the theatre lying between the coilon and logeion or proscenium,
entirely enclosed by the podium of these two divisions. The chorus, whose number at a very early
period of the tragic art, was limited to fifteen in tragedy, and twenty-four in comedy, during the pre-
sence of the performers on the logeion, stood0 in rows on lines marked for them on the floord:
when divided into tjfuxogia, each of the two divisions flanked the proscenium and joined in the dia-
logue, as though only one person, by means of its xogvtycuog, or leader, who stood in the centre of his
respective division. The tragic chorus assumed also the division of three rows with five each, or five
rows with three each, the former being called zarcc a-rot^ovg, the latter xccra, £vya: in comedy, how-
ever, they were ranged in rows of four each ; and thus, during the absence of the performers from the
scene, they went through their recitations accompanied by the measure of the pipe, and the graceful
movements of the varied dance, by the strophe and antistrophe figuring the courses of the moving
planets, and by the epode representing the character of the fixed orbs. Horace in his " De Arte
Poetica", thus defines the attributes of the chorus :
" Ulc bonis Faveatque ct concilietur amice,
Et regat iratos ct amet pacarc timcntcs :
Ille dapes laudet mensffi brevis; ille salubrem
Justitiam, legesque, et apertis otia portis;
Ille tegat commissa ; Deosqne precetur et oret,
Ut redeat miseris, abeat Fortune superbis."
But instead of adhering to these grave rules, their evolutions too frequently degenerated into
indecent combinations, calculated to inflame the worst passions of the spectators, a vice attributable
probably to their Corinthian origin6, and severely reprobated by Basilius, who stigmatises the orches-
tra as the " school of immodesty "f.
In a central part of the orchestra was placed the S-u//Jx?j, which gave its name to this region
on account of the altar on which were offered the sacrifices to Dionysus, and around which were
placed the tripods5, crowns, and other prizes, to excite the emulation of the competitors. From the
thymele there were steps which led on to the logeion, but as the chorus do not appear to have entered
on the stage, these steps were not for the purpose of affording access for the chorus to the orchestra.
From the ruins of the theatres of Syracuse, Miletus, and Ephesus, it would appear that there was a
distinct entrance for the chorus from the porticos behind the parascene, in the diverging enclosure
walls of the coilon. In the theatre of Syracuse, (PI. IV.) at the top of the steps flanking the scene,
on the right hand is a vaulted passage cut in the rock, which probably admitted the chorus into the
" We understand that W. J. Banks, Esq. has discovered, tervals, quite round the circular part of the cavea. The lesser
at the theatre of Scythopolis, in Syria, a very complete ex- theatre (perhaps the Odeum) has the scene entire with the ex-
ample of the echeic chambers under the seats, with a gallery ccption of the marble decorations: the exterior of the cavea re-
of communication affording access to each chamber, for the presents an elegant corridor.
purpose of arranging and modulating the vases. It is to bo b OnaccountofitscircularformitwascalledinlatertimesEIy^a,
hoped that this indefatigable and learned traveller will soon com- from its resemblance to the form of that letter. Photius: 'Oq^no-T^a.'
municate to the public the results of his interesting researches. ttjjwtov wtoSri it t» ayo^a, i7t« xa.) to£ Ssar^ou to rara hiAx.vy.^ot, oi
At Nicopolis are the ruins of two Roman theatres, both of x«) oi x°& ^Qt *a' uzx°v*T0, '^>^X^'a~r?°'-> T° '" r°" §s<*t%ov Xiylipimt
which are in a very fair state of preservation, as far as regards erlty**.
the walls, but the marble decorations are utterly removed. In c Phrynici Eclog. p. 64, cum notis Paw.
the larger, the podium of the centre pra;cinctio has eight niches, d Ilesychius : rga^juai lv rn o^w-t^k \aa,i, i; tov x°c,<" e'" oroip^w
apparently adapted for the reception of vases, and there are also iorao-Sai.
three wells sunk in the body of the cavea, made probably for e Phornuthus, who is quoted by Rhodiginus, in his Antiquit.
the advantage of the sound, on the principle of Aristotle, noticed Lib. IV. Cap. viii. says, Tu^nxoi; u.ym«.t; ■uiftx&xivct^ovo-i 'HXsioi,
"7 Alberti, Lib. VIII. Cap. vii. The scene has the hemicycle Su^eAixouj Kog/nSioi, o-xijuxoi; 'aSdiusioi.
111 the centre and the three doors, and was about 110 feet wide. ' Lib. IV. in Exam.: ^oVion S^aurxaT^eiot ao-eXysia;.
■The postscenium had seven chambers in the same length, and « Aristid. Orat. de Concord, ad Rhod. 'A-xoGhQars $\ xa.) ir^o?
was sixteen feet six inches wide. The blocks of stone, with rovq TgiVoo'aj tov; li^imlcrow; rovrovtr), irutras St xakir£ aurou? T^otr-
circular holes for the masts of the velarium, are at various in- oywro?, k. r. A.