Theater in ancient Greece developed from the ceremonial worship of the god Dionysus, the God of Fertility and Wine. It is believed that it evolved gradually from a musical ritual in which a group would form a circle and worship Dionysus through song and dance. Ancient Greek Theater and drama took form around 500 BC with the creation of the tragedy.  Plays in this time depicted and glorified the concept of a hero. Most plays were the very common means by which values and morality were spread throughout the ancient Greek society. It is believed that Greece began the concept of the theater, which has sense been used in every major Western culture and even remains a large part to this day.
	Dionysus was an earthly God, conceived from both human and God. Born from Zeus and Semele, who was but a mortal, Dionysus is the only Greek God to have a mortal parent. Dionysus invented wine, and the art of tending grapes (Jacobus 157). Therefore, his dual nature reflects that of wine. He is known as a Bringer of Joy and divine ecstasy, and also of brutal, irrational rage. Being the actual wife of Zeus at the time of Dionysus’s conception, Hera felt rather hatefully toward him. After having the Titans brutally dismember him, Zeus was able to obtain his heart, which had been saved. The heart was ground up, and discreetly inserted into a beverage of Semele's, impregnating her with Dionysus (“GreekMythology” net). Other versions of this myth state that Semele was directly impregnated, rather than after Persephone, and under the influence of Hera, implored Zeus to show himself in his true form, incinerating her on sight. Zeus then saved the embryo, which was left intact, and placed it into his thigh, for the remainder of its development. (Jacobus 160) For this, Dionysus was associated with rebirth after death. Dionysus is loaded with paradoxes, as he condones both happiness and madness, but above all, he condoned worldly pleasures, which might explain his popularity with the Greek people.
	The worship of Dionysus was primitive and barbaric. The worshipers often consisted of women, dressed in lion skin. One of them usually carried a thyrsus, which was a staff wrapped in ivy and vine branches. They sang and danced themselves into a frenzy, through the depths of the forest. Indulging themselves in sensual pleasures, they were known to tear apart and eat live animals with their bare hands in sacrifice to Dionysus. Even some people who were believed to have displeased Dionysus were dismembered by the ravenous worshipers. Through festive singing, dancing and many sexual encounters, Dionysus was a God worshiped by many (Easterling 277-285).
	It was through this worship of Dionysus that the concept of the theater began. Throughout the year existed periods of Dionysia, which were annual periods of emphasized worship. As the worshiping of Dionysus gained momentum throughout Greece during the late 6th century B.C., the festive dancing and singing became more of a public spectacle. Through this spectacle, it is believed that the theater was born. As enthusiastic worshipers danced in a circle and sang in an open clearing, thousands watched from the mountainside. These performers, singing dithyrambs, or songs about stories from mythology were the earliest known instances of a chorus in Greek theater. It is Thespis who is known for breaking away from the chorus to form the first defined character. Through the use of masks, he was identified as a separate character from the chorus, creating the first ever dialogues in what was becoming the Greek Theater.
	As the concept of the theater grew in popularity, several great playwrights emerged, leading the new theatrical movement with their newly created genre of tragedy. The most popular tragic playwrights included Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides. In light of the theater’s new popularity, Athens began to host annual festivals during an annually emphasized period of worship known as Great Dionysia (Freund 24-25). This event was an astounding public spectacle, for which thousands would travel to Athens to see, and it lasted five days. For this festival, three playwrights were chosen, typically Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides, to submit four plays. Three of these would be tragedies, and one would be satyr (Ridgeway 104). In a satyr, the actors are dressed as beasts in human form, with a tone far lighter than that of a tragedy. The popularity of the theater soared in light of the festival in Athens, and soon a theater was an important asset to any major city in Greece.
	As the first genre to be created in theater, Tragedies were the foundation of Greek plays. depicts the downfall of a basically good person through some fatal error or misjudgment, producing suffering and insight on the part of the protagonist and arousing pity and fear on the part of the audience. (Simpson net) Those that were admired by the ancient Greeks are known as Aristotelian tragedies. Aristotle defined three characteristics vital to a tragedy. true tragedy should evoke pity and fear on the part of the audience. tragic hero must be essentially admirable and good.And finally, in a true tragedy, the hero's demise must come as a result of some personal error or decision. (Hutton 44)
There is a specific structure prevalent throughout ancient Greek tragedies. For example, each play begins with a prologue, which is a monologue or dialog preceding the entry of the chorus, giving the topic of the play. Following the prologue is the parode, which is a Choral Ode that starts the play off. The chorus has three divisions: The Strophe, Antistrophe, and Epode, each moving different directions and reciting different parts of the ode. Following the parode are episodes, during which the actor interacts with the chorus. There are typically 3-5 episodes in a Greek tragedy. In between episodes are the stasimon. A stasimon is a choral ode, through which the chorus may demonstrate a reaction, or comment on the episode before it. Following the last episode is the exode. This is the final ode, through which the chorus sums up and concludes the play. (Ridgeway 66-80)
	Later in the century, the comedy gained popularity. In some respects, the comedy can be viewed as an exact negative of the tragedy. According to Aristotle in his poetics, ancient comedy originated with the K, a spectacle in which a group of festive males were said to have dance and sang around the image of a large phallus. (Hutton 88) The comedy shifts the focus of the powerful and noble figures seen in tragedies to an average person, with whom most of the audience can sympathize. As the comic hero prevails, the likely outcome of a Greek comedy was a revealing of his natural nobility. (Norwood 60)
	The Greek comedy is set on a structure similar to that of the tragedy. For example, the play begins with a prologue, followed by a parode. In a comic parode, the chorus takes a stance, choosing to side either for or against the hero. Following the parode is the Agôn, in which two characters debated the issue until the argument is won. After the agôn comes the parabasis. Once the characters exit the stage, the members of the chorus remove their masks and address the audience, stepping out of character. Next, the chorus leader sings about some important topical issue, usually ending in a tongue twister, and out of breath. Following this, the chorus sings, usually consisting of four parts: The ode, epirrhema, antode, and antepirrhema. Done in the same fashion as the strophe and antistrophe, the two sections of the chorus address a God, and sing about a topical issue. The episodes to follow are similar to those of a tragedy, but tend to focus on the outcome of the agôn. At the conclusion, the exode incites a more festive feeling throughout the crowd. (Norwood 90-105) By the time comedies were in wide circulation, a theater was one of the greatest assets a town could have. 
Theaters varied from city to city, and there were different types of theaters which served different purposes. Described here is a standard model of a theater, most dominantly used by the Greeks. It is difficult to determine the style of theaters predating the classical era, as the structures of the theaters were often modified and rebuilt. The standard model for a Greek theater took form in the fifth century B.C. In their early use, theaters served the purpose of worshiping Dionysus. For this reason, the theaters were more set up for this, equipped with a Thymele (an altar), and a tithing house. As time went on, and the focus of theaters shifted from religious to entertainment purposes, modifications were made to accompany this. For example, the Thymele was made smaller, and the tithing house was turned into a treasury. Theaters also contained a small structure in the back of the stage known as a Skene. The structure, used as a changing room, contained several entrances to the stage, and represented the front of a palace or temple (
Greek theaters were typically set up in an open-air style, leaving a beautiful view of the surrounding landscape. The seating was arranged in a semi-circle, consisting of many tiered rows, much like a stadium. This seating arrangement is known as the Koilon. Like most modern-day theaters, the seating is divided into vertical sections known as Diazoma. The front seats are known as the Proedria, and were reserved for officials and priests. The most honorable seat was a marble throne, reserved for the priest of Elefthereos Dionysus. Given that the seats were typically made of concrete, it is believed that the patrons often brought their own cushions to sit on, given that the plays often lasted all day (
The plays were often performed on a circular courtyard known as the Orchestra. This area was encompassed half way by the Koilon. Early on, the Skene was to be decorated as a Palace or Temple, to provide an idea for the location. As the theater developed, so did theatrical painting. Painted panels were utilized to show a greater variety of backgrounds. Between the skene and the seating were two more entrances called Parodoi, located on the left and right sides. Through these entrances arrived the chorus, as well as those coming from the outside. An entrance from the right parodos signified that the character was coming from the city or port, while the left side would signify coming from the fields or abroad (
Machines were frequently used during plays to allow the physical ascension of a God. The machine acted as a crane, and was referred to as “deus ex machina”, which translates to “God from a machine” (Cohen 77). These machines would contain a dummy which represented a God, as they would emerge to or from the Heavens. Greek theater also utilized Periaktos, which allowed the changing of the background several times throughout the play. Working similarly to modern day multi-message boards, periaktos consisted of prism-shaped pieces, most commonly triangular, which were rotated in unison. With different pictures painted on each face, the play now had several backgrounds to work with (Cohen 79-80).
	Evolving from the praise and worship of the god Dionysus, Greek theater began as a simple choral performance, in a rather primitive theatrical setting. After Thespis created the concept of the character, the first dialect was formed in these performances. This movement was a rather powerful one, resulting in the creation of playwrights. As these plays were shown more in festivals of Dionysus worship, their popularity grew immensely. This development has greatly influenced not only Greek society, but any major western society throughout history since, including our own.

Work Cited:

Cohen, Robert. Theatre. Fourth Edition. California: Mayfield, 1997.

Freund, Phillip. The Birth of Theatre. London, Chester Springs: Peter Owen, 2003.

Easterling, P.E., Muir, J.V. Greek Religion and Society. Cambridge, Cambridge 	University press. 1985 

GreekMythology.com. 24 November 2008.
	<http://www.greekmythology.com/Other_Gods/Dionysus/dionysus.html>

Hutton, James. Aristotle’s Poetics. New York: W. W. Norton & Company Inc, 1982.

Jacobus, Lee A. The Compact Bedford Introduction to Drama. Sixth Edition. Boston, 	New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2008.

Karayannakos, Elias.”Ancient Greek Theater”. 2007. “Greektheatre.gr” 1 December 2008.

Norwood, Gilbert. Greek Comedy. New York: Hill and Wang, 1963.

Ridgeway, William Sc. D., F.B.A. The Origin of Tragedy. New York: Benjamin Blom 	Inc, 1966

Simpson, David. “Comedy and Tragedy”. 1998. DePaul University. 1 December 2008.
	<http://condor.depaul.edu/~dsimpson/tlove/comic-tragic.html>