Ancient Greeks flocked to amphitheaters to watch tragedies, seeking purgation.
The art of drama, a story presented by actors impersonating characters and performing the dialogue and action, originated in Ancient Greece. More than 2,500 years ago, the Greeks evolved in performance from lyric songs in honor of the god Dionysus while wearing goat-skins ("tragoedia" in Greek literally means "goat song") to the structured theatrical play, according to Grand Valley State University.
First Actor
Tragedy (τραγωδια) initially referred to songs honoring the gods or narrating mythological and heroic stories. As Greek rhetorician Themistius suggested during the 4th century CE, Aristotle acknowledged that tragedy was completely choral (chorus was the singing group) until the arrival of the first actor, Thespis. Thespis introduced the prologue as well as the speeches between parts of the chorus' song. He also initiated the dialogue between the actor and the leader of the chorus.
Evolution
According to Professor of Theatre Arts Scott R. Robinson from Central Washington University, Greek drama evolved with the introduction of the second actor by the tragic writer Aeschylus to interact with the first actor; another famous tragedian, Sophocles, added the third actor. Plays then started resembling the form of art the audience still witnesses in theaters today. In addition to structural changes, Sophocles was also the first to introduce scene painting in Ancient Greek theaters, while cranes were used to lift and lower actors to resemble gods' descent to Earth; the Latin phrase deus ex machina (απο μηχανης θεος, or "god out of the machine") derives from this technique.
Purgation
Purgation, or as Greeks called it, "katharsis" (καθαρσις), was a central point of the Ancient Greek tragedy. As Aristotle puts it in the last sentence of his definition, "tragedy is an imitation of an action ... by means of pity and fear effectuating its purgation of these emotions." Tragic writers introduced the audience to the hero's downfalls and personal disasters and exposed spectators to strong emotions they wouldn't have experienced during their everyday life, leading to an "emotional cleansing." In addition, according to Scott R. Robinson, playwright Euripides questioned traditional values on stage and explored the psychological motivations of his characters' actions.
Famous Ancient Greek Tragedies
The three Ancient Greek tragedians whose plays---albeit not all of them---have survived are Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides. Sophocles is famous as the creator of "Antigone," the story of the fictional princess Antigone who decides to resist the new ruler of Thebes, Creon, and bury her dead brother with all due honors. Euripides' "Trojan Women" (Τρωαδες) follows the story of the women of Troy after their city has been sacked and their husbands killed. Aeschylus described another tragic chapter of the mythical Trojan War in "Agamemnon" ('γαμεμνων), part of the "Oresteia" trilogy, where king Agamemnon returns to Argos only to be murdered by his wife, Clytemnestra, for the sacrifice of their daughter, Iphigenia. Emory University has a complete list of the surviving Ancient Greek Tragedies (see Resources).
