DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4266#0126
CONSTRUCTION OF THE GREEK THEATRE. 41
orchestra, without traversing the logeion. From Pollux we learn that the staircase of Charon {Xugumoi
x,Xipctv.eg), which gave entrance to the Manes, was placed under the seats of the spectators, and must
have led into the orchestra, as well as the steps by which the Furies ascended: there seems every pro-
bability that a future excavation in some perfect example may disclose an access to the orchestra,
from the lateral chambers of the parascene, similar to those now perceptible in the theatre of Tauro-
menium.
Bulengerus, and consequently Boindin, and his translators, have supposed that the orchestra
was divided into two parts, and that the thymele* as one of them was a platform, more elevated than
the other, immediately in front of the logeion, and appropriated to the chorus ; whereas the lower
space, which must have been the xov'urrgu,*, they do not seem to have applied to any specific purpose,
nor do they define how great was the portion of the orchestra occupied by the thymele. Mr. Wilkinsc
observes, that " in support of such an opinion, it may be urged that the evolutions of the few who com-
posed the chorus of the ancient drama, could not have required a space so extensive as the orchestra of
the Greek theatre. It may be remarked likewise, that by admitting the existence of a stage in front
of the scene, virtually encreasing the extent of the proscenium, we should identify the ancient thymele
with the Roman pulpitum." A further argument in favour of this supposition is derived from this
second stage diminishing the immense elevation of twelve feet from the plane on which the chorus
stood, to the level of the logeion, on which were the principal actors; as otherwise the height from
the conistra to the logeion would too much disconnect the performers from the chorus, and for which
height there does-not appear any necessity.
We have now to consider the Scene, (2«wd,) the third, and by far the most difficult division
of the theatre, devoted especially to the principal performers. As the greater portion of the decora-
tions of this division were composed of wooden machines and timber platforms, time has, of course,
left us no vestige of these perishable materials ; and the accumulation of ruins in those few examples
that still remain to us of the solid constructions, prevent that minute investigation so necessary to
enable us fully to understand the arrangement of the hyposcene. The scene may be classed into
three principal partse: the hyposcene, vvro<rx7iviov, was the stage on which the principal performers,
or scenici, only recited ; to this stage there was an access from the thymele by means of stairs, called
xXipa,%r}jgs$. At the time of the general assemblies of the citizens upon public affairs, the logeion
was occupied by the orators. The scene itself was the wall exhibiting the tragic, comic or satiric
decorations. The parascenia, (ww^cwwijh* fj) was the enclosure behind, and on each side of the
scene, appropriated to the convenience of the actors, when retired from the stage, with magazines
for the preservation of the scenic property, and to which were attached the porticos where the
choragists arranged the processions of the chorus.
The hyposcenium was composed of the logeion s and proscenium h; the elevation of which, to-
wards the audience, was adorned with enrichments of columns, niches and statues. In most theatres
the logeion, or stage, was of wood, though sometimes formed of blocks of marble. Under it, as with
us, there were various machines employed to produce thunder and other sounds calculated to heighten
the effect and interest of the drama, and from it the ancients drew up an a.v'haiu, or wzgiKirixirpcLTec,
8 Scapula on 8^,, says " altare, a Suw: quoniam super eo Daniel Barbaro on the same word says, " Logeum a Polluce
sacra nunt. Item pulpitum altum pedes quinque, in quo chorus bomon sive vima, hoc est aram seu pulpitum, dicitur."
tragcediarum et comcediarum caeterique personam non habentes b Bulengerus, p. 48, b.; and Suidas^Era l\ tw SvfxsXriv xona-r^a.
fabulse subserviebant, histrionibusque in scenam abditis, populum c Civil Architecture of Vitruvius, p. 188.
gesticulatione retinebant. Suid. etymologus verd Sv^ix-nt mensse d ixnni, umbraculum, quodolim sub arborum urnbraculis prima
formam habere tradit, supra quam stantes in agris cantarent, dramata fuerint acta. Schol. in Hor.
quum nondum in ordinem suum tragcedia distributa esset." In e Which include the columns, episcenia, machines, &c.
explanation of the word ' pulpitum', Fabcr in his Thesaurus, f Suidas p'.rcc ™ cntuw su&u? xai to irocgao-xwla.
thus writes : " Vet. Gloss. Pulpitum, Svpfori, lawX/^a tVtwiSov." s Theatre of the Greeks, ut supra, p. 135, called also m{»/S««,
»*trov. Lib. V. vi. Philander, one of the ablest commentators l<p' ou o! r^ayalo) 'nyuntpno. Hesych.
oi Vitruvius, gives this note on the word Sv^iX*, " theatri pars, b Proscenium (ait Isidor.) locus patens et liber fuit in fronte
ubi histriones suas actiones perficiunt. Julius Pollux in orchestra scenes, by us called the stage, and also pulpitum by the Romans,
dicit esse g^a sjve ^^oti hoc est sive pulpitum sive aram."
VOL. IV. M
orchestra, without traversing the logeion. From Pollux we learn that the staircase of Charon {Xugumoi
x,Xipctv.eg), which gave entrance to the Manes, was placed under the seats of the spectators, and must
have led into the orchestra, as well as the steps by which the Furies ascended: there seems every pro-
bability that a future excavation in some perfect example may disclose an access to the orchestra,
from the lateral chambers of the parascene, similar to those now perceptible in the theatre of Tauro-
menium.
Bulengerus, and consequently Boindin, and his translators, have supposed that the orchestra
was divided into two parts, and that the thymele* as one of them was a platform, more elevated than
the other, immediately in front of the logeion, and appropriated to the chorus ; whereas the lower
space, which must have been the xov'urrgu,*, they do not seem to have applied to any specific purpose,
nor do they define how great was the portion of the orchestra occupied by the thymele. Mr. Wilkinsc
observes, that " in support of such an opinion, it may be urged that the evolutions of the few who com-
posed the chorus of the ancient drama, could not have required a space so extensive as the orchestra of
the Greek theatre. It may be remarked likewise, that by admitting the existence of a stage in front
of the scene, virtually encreasing the extent of the proscenium, we should identify the ancient thymele
with the Roman pulpitum." A further argument in favour of this supposition is derived from this
second stage diminishing the immense elevation of twelve feet from the plane on which the chorus
stood, to the level of the logeion, on which were the principal actors; as otherwise the height from
the conistra to the logeion would too much disconnect the performers from the chorus, and for which
height there does-not appear any necessity.
We have now to consider the Scene, (2«wd,) the third, and by far the most difficult division
of the theatre, devoted especially to the principal performers. As the greater portion of the decora-
tions of this division were composed of wooden machines and timber platforms, time has, of course,
left us no vestige of these perishable materials ; and the accumulation of ruins in those few examples
that still remain to us of the solid constructions, prevent that minute investigation so necessary to
enable us fully to understand the arrangement of the hyposcene. The scene may be classed into
three principal partse: the hyposcene, vvro<rx7iviov, was the stage on which the principal performers,
or scenici, only recited ; to this stage there was an access from the thymele by means of stairs, called
xXipa,%r}jgs$. At the time of the general assemblies of the citizens upon public affairs, the logeion
was occupied by the orators. The scene itself was the wall exhibiting the tragic, comic or satiric
decorations. The parascenia, (ww^cwwijh* fj) was the enclosure behind, and on each side of the
scene, appropriated to the convenience of the actors, when retired from the stage, with magazines
for the preservation of the scenic property, and to which were attached the porticos where the
choragists arranged the processions of the chorus.
The hyposcenium was composed of the logeion s and proscenium h; the elevation of which, to-
wards the audience, was adorned with enrichments of columns, niches and statues. In most theatres
the logeion, or stage, was of wood, though sometimes formed of blocks of marble. Under it, as with
us, there were various machines employed to produce thunder and other sounds calculated to heighten
the effect and interest of the drama, and from it the ancients drew up an a.v'haiu, or wzgiKirixirpcLTec,
8 Scapula on 8^,, says " altare, a Suw: quoniam super eo Daniel Barbaro on the same word says, " Logeum a Polluce
sacra nunt. Item pulpitum altum pedes quinque, in quo chorus bomon sive vima, hoc est aram seu pulpitum, dicitur."
tragcediarum et comcediarum caeterique personam non habentes b Bulengerus, p. 48, b.; and Suidas^Era l\ tw SvfxsXriv xona-r^a.
fabulse subserviebant, histrionibusque in scenam abditis, populum c Civil Architecture of Vitruvius, p. 188.
gesticulatione retinebant. Suid. etymologus verd Sv^ix-nt mensse d ixnni, umbraculum, quodolim sub arborum urnbraculis prima
formam habere tradit, supra quam stantes in agris cantarent, dramata fuerint acta. Schol. in Hor.
quum nondum in ordinem suum tragcedia distributa esset." In e Which include the columns, episcenia, machines, &c.
explanation of the word ' pulpitum', Fabcr in his Thesaurus, f Suidas p'.rcc ™ cntuw su&u? xai to irocgao-xwla.
thus writes : " Vet. Gloss. Pulpitum, Svpfori, lawX/^a tVtwiSov." s Theatre of the Greeks, ut supra, p. 135, called also m{»/S««,
»*trov. Lib. V. vi. Philander, one of the ablest commentators l<p' ou o! r^ayalo) 'nyuntpno. Hesych.
oi Vitruvius, gives this note on the word Sv^iX*, " theatri pars, b Proscenium (ait Isidor.) locus patens et liber fuit in fronte
ubi histriones suas actiones perficiunt. Julius Pollux in orchestra scenes, by us called the stage, and also pulpitum by the Romans,
dicit esse g^a sjve ^^oti hoc est sive pulpitum sive aram."
VOL. IV. M