Ancient Greece | Gender And Perform 1

Ancient Greek
Theater & Folklore

The time is 534 BCE... the place? Ancient Greece, in the city-state of Athens. The poet Thespis was credited for inventing the form of tragedy and becoming the first-ever actor, who brought his troupe on wagons, to perform in the central agora (or Greek meeting place) (Bay, et al. 2023).

Image found at https://www.athenskey.com/agora.html

"Theater... or Performance? Or both?"

The word "theater" conjures many images to mind. The word itself comes from the Greek "theatron," "a place of seeing." Today, it's defined as "a building or space in which a performance may be given before an audience" (Bay, et al., 2023). Ancient Greeks began the tradition of using space for performance as expression, as social commentary, and more.

Verbal art as performance folklore

"the dramatic actor is understood first of all in his role as a speaker, or, more precisely, in his role as an impersonator whose impersonations consist of speech acts" (Bassi 1999).

Image taken from https://nypl.getarchive.net/media/theater-auffuhrung-des-trauerspiels-agamemnon-e38681

Ritual Masking:

"the facial mask is the essential tool of transformation and transcendence found in numerous parts of the world" (Sheppard 2001).

Image by Alex-David Baldi. Used under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 DEED. https://www.flickr.com/photos/alex-david/50408932506

Customary folklore:

every gesture and action played an important role; masks allowed for more expression in the body.

Image taken from https://artsandculture.google.com/story/owVxhnC0PB0A8A

The Gender:

males are performing as female and male characters. The space of theater allows for multiple genders to be performed, a ritualized space "to be any character."

Image taken from https://www.ancientpages.com/2016/11/25/ancient-greek-costumes-masks-and-theater-in-focus/

Spectacle as theater:

"theater maintains a framed separation between the "show" and external reality throughout the duration of the performance. In spectacle, performers present themselves as representative of a larger group or a larger reality.
Symbolic reality serves to differentiate theater and spectacle from performance" (Beeman 1993).

Ancient Greek Theater & Folklore

"Theater... or Performance? Or both?"

Ancient Greek
Theater & Folklore