§ 2 The Old Wooden Theatres at Athens
The type of theatre described above was of course only developed very gradually by the Athenians. It came into existence side by side with the growth of their drama. At first there was no permanent theatre. Attic tragedy grew out of the dithyrambs performed by choruses in honour of Dionysus. For such exhibitions all that was required was an orchestra, or circular dancing-place. The chorus performed in the middle, the spectators ranged themselves all round the ring. The first innovation was the introduction of a dialogue between the coryphaeus and the choreutae in the intervals of the choral odes. For the purpose of carrying on this dialogue the coryphaeus used to mount upon the sacrificial table which stood beside the altar in the centre of the orchestra.306 Such sacrificial tables are often found in ancient vase paintings by the side of the regular altars, and were used for cutting up the victims, or for receiving various bloodless offerings such as cakes and vegetables.307 Both the table and the altar were called by the same name, Thymele.308 This table, on which the coryphaeus took his stand, surrounded by the choristers, was the prototype of the stage in the later Greek theatre. The next step in the development of the drama and of the theatre was the introduction of a single actor by Thespis. This actor took the part in the dialogue previously played by the coryphaeus. But the part was now much expanded and developed. The actor, instead of remaining in the centre of the orchestra throughout the performance, used to come and go, and appear in many roles in succession, using a different costume on each occasion. A booth was erected just outside the orchestra, for him to change his dress and mask in. The platform on which he stood during the delivery of the dialogue was removed from the centre of the orchestra, and placed immediately in front of the booth, to facilitate his exits and entrances. This change led inevitably to others. The chorus, which had previously stood in a circle round the coryphaeus, now drew themselves up in lines facing the actor’s platform, so as to converse with him in a natural manner. The spectators, instead of being ranged all round the orchestra, were confined to two-thirds of it. The remaining portion was taken up by the stage.
Such then was the arrangement of the theatre in the latter part of the sixth century. There was a booth with a small platform for the actor. In front of it lay the orchestra, occupied by the chorus. The audience sat in rows round the orchestra, facing the platform. At this early period the seats provided for the audience were only temporary erections. They were called ‘ikria’, and consisted of wooden benches rising in tiers one above the other, and resting on wooden supports.309 The booth and platform were also mere temporary constructions of wood. But in these rude erections, hastily put up each year for the annual performances, were already to be found all the essential parts of the later Greek theatres. Nothing more was required than to change the material from wood to stone, and to introduce greater elaboration into the design. In course of time the old wooden benches developed into the magnificent amphitheatres of which the remains still survive. The booth and platform were converted into imposing stage-buildings. The recollection of their origin was preserved in their name. Even in the latest times, when the stage-buildings of a Greek theatre had come to be elaborate structures of stone, they were still called by the name ‘skene’, which means properly a booth or tent.
In this sketch of the early history of the Greek theatre one point deserves especial notice. The most important part of the whole building, and that which formed the starting-point in the process of development, was the orchestra, or place for the chorus. The auditorium and the stage-buildings were only later additions. In all theatres of purely Greek origin the orchestra continued to maintain its prominent position. All other parts were subordinated to it. The general conception of a Greek theatre was that of a building with a circular dancing-place in the centre, and with tiers of seats arranged round two-thirds of the ring, while the remaining side was occupied by the stage. The result was that all the spectators had an equally good view of the orchestra, while many of them had only a very poor view of the stage. This arrangement was no doubt quite natural at first, when the chorus was still the most conspicuous feature in the drama. But it may seem remarkable that it should have been retained in later times. We should remember, however, that ancient theatres were built, not only for the drama, but also for choral and musical competitions of the most various kinds. Among the Greeks these latter were held solely in the orchestra, and had nothing to do with the stage. As they far exceeded the dramatic performances in number, it was essential in a Greek theatre that every member of the audience should have a clear and direct view of the orchestra; the view on to the stage was a matter of secondary importance. In Roman theatres the case was different. Here all performances, choral, musical, and dramatic, were transferred to the stage; the orchestra was given up to the spectators. The arrangements were, therefore, considerably modified. The orchestra and auditorium were reduced in size to a semicircle.310 The consequence was that the stage became a much more prominent object, and that all the spectators had a fairly good view of it.
To return to the wooden theatres of the sixth century. As regards the place in which they were erected, there is some difficulty. The remains of an old orchestra belonging to the sixth century were discovered not many years ago in the enclosure of Dionysus Eleuthereus at the foot of the Acropolis. It follows, therefore, as a matter of practical certainty that the dramatic performances at the City Dionysia must have been given from the first in this orchestra, within the enclosure of the god of the festival. No doubt in the same way the Lenaeum was the original site of the performances at the Lenaea;311 but the site of the Lenaeum itself is much disputed. The most probable view is that it was in or adjoining the market-place: but it is not certain where the market-place itself lay.312 There was an old proverb in use at Athens, by which a bad seat at any spectacle was called the ‘view from the poplar’. The grammarians, who apparently follow Eratosthenes, give the following explanation. They say that at the old dramatic exhibitions the wooden benches for the spectators reached as far as a certain poplar; and that the people who could not get seats on the benches used to scramble up the poplar.313 It is possible that the story is an attempt to account by conjecture for a current proverbial expression; but it may represent a genuine tradition.
Till the end of the sixth century the Athenians were contented with the rough temporary erections just described. But in 499, the year in which Aeschylus made his first appearance, there was an accident at one of their dramatic performances. The wooden benches on which the spectators were sitting collapsed. In consequence of this accident, as Suidas tells us, they resolved to build a more permanent theatre.314 It was generally supposed, until quite recent times, that the theatre here mentioned was the great stone theatre still in existence. But Dörpfeld has made it certain that at least a great part of this building is not earlier than the middle of the fourth century; and though Puchstein is possibly right in seeing traces of a stone theatre dating from the end of the fifth century, this does not take us back to the time of Aeschylus.315 What then was the building to which Suidas refers? The answer to this question has been supplied by a recent discovery of a very interesting kind. On digging down into the earth foundations of the present auditorium it has been ascertained that these foundations consist of two layers. The upper one belongs to the fourth century, as is shown by the fragments of pottery embedded in it; the lower one is proved by similar evidence to be not later than the fifth.316 It follows, therefore, that the Athenians must have built earth embankments for the support of the auditorium as early as the fifth century, and it is doubtless to this work that Suidas alludes. The innovation adopted in 499, in consequence of the accident, was not the erection of a stone theatre, but the substitution of solid earth foundations for the ‘ikria’ or wooden supports on which the seats had previously rested. The new theatre still resembled the old one, in that the benches and the stage-buildings were made of wood; but greater security and permanence were afforded by the erection of the embankments. The site chosen for this new theatre was the enclosure of Eleuthereus, where the City Dionysia, the most important of the dramatic festivals, was held. From this time forward all theatrical performances were transferred to the same enclosure. The Lenaeum was abandoned as a place of dramatic entertainment. The contrary opinion, that the old wooden theatre at the Lenaeum continued to be used for the Lenaean festival until the erection of the stone theatre in the fourth century,317 is most improbable. The need for a secure auditorium in place of the previous ‘ikria’ would be felt just as much at the Lenaea as at the City Dionysia. But there is no trace or record of a permanent theatre at the Lenaeum. The recurrence of the expression ‘contests at the Lenaeum’ down to the latter part of the fourth century proves nothing.318 The phrase might easily have been retained, after its local significance was gone, by a kind of survival common in all languages. In just the same way the performances at the City Dionysia were still distinguished from all others as performances ‘in the city’, when the reason for the distinction had long since disappeared.
A few faint traces of this theatre of the fifth century are still to be discerned amid the remains of the later building, and will be found indicated in the plan (Fig. 3).319 The orchestra was the same as that which had already existed in the sixth century. Its position is determined by two fragments of the border, marked q and r, and by some excavations in the rock at i. It lay a few yards to the south-east of the later orchestra. One peculiarity of this orchestra of the sixth and fifth centuries is that, when it was originally constructed, its southern portion stood about six feet above the level of the adjacent ground. It was, therefore, supported and enclosed on this side by a wall of the same height, to which the fragments q and r belong. Later on the inequality of level was removed by piling up earth along the border-wall. Probably this alteration was made towards the end of the sixth century, when stage-buildings began to be erected; though it is possible that at first the gap between the orchestra and the stage-buildings was merely covered over with a wooden flooring. A similar instance of an orchestra built on a slope, and ending on one side in a raised terrace, has been found at Thoricus.320 But in this case, as there were no stage-buildings, the inequality was allowed to remain. Very likely the theatre was not used for dramatic purposes. As regards the auditorium of the fifth century, the earth embankments for the reception of the seats have already been described. Three pieces of ancient masonry, marked k, l, and m in the plan, may perhaps be regarded as parts of the supporting walls which terminated these embankments on each wing. The stage-buildings, being made of wood, have left no trace behind them of any kind. Their probable character will be discussed later on.
It is evident, from the above description, that the theatre of the fifth century was a far less imposing structure than was once supposed. The result of recent excavations has been to modify largely all our previous notions as to the great period of the Athenian drama. In place of the majestic stone theatre, in which it was once thought that the plays of Sophocles and Euripides were produced, we have now to picture to ourselves a simple wooden building, resting on earth foundations, and devoid of all architectural ornament. The difference is no doubt a great one. Still, it is not perhaps so great as might appear at first sight. The impressiveness of the old Greek drama, regarded as a spectacle, depended on other considerations than the magnificence of the building in which it was exhibited. When the vast roofless amphitheatre was filled from end to end with the concourse of citizens and strangers, it would make little difference in the significance of the scene whether the benches were of wood or stone. The orchestra of a Greek theatre was always much the same in character, in the grandest as well as in the simplest theatres; and the graceful evolutions of the chorus under the open sky would be equally effective in both. The long scenic background, with its painted decorations, cannot have varied much in appearance, whether it rested on a wall of stone or on a wall of timber. Although, therefore, the theatre of the great Athenian dramatists was an unpretentious structure, as compared with those which were erected in after times, it is unnecessary to suppose that there was any corresponding inferiority in the outward splendour of the performances.