The beginning of Greek drama also marks the official beginning of drama for the Western world. Greek Drama consisted of three genres: tragedy (originating around 534 B.C.), satyr-plays (c. 500 B.C.), and comedy (486 B.C.). Drama saw a period of tremendous growth in Athens from 479-404, due largely to the performances at the City Dionysia; from this Golden Age of Drama, 30 tragedies, one satyr-play, and nine comedies have been recovered. Although the Golden Age ended around 400 B.C., drama continued in the fourth and third centuries.

However, in spite of theatre’s popularity, a large problem exists with studying Greek drama of the fifth century Golden Age: lack of material evidence. The Theatre of Dionysus at Athens is one of the most researched in Greece, and yet much debate still surrounds its structure and history. Many people do not realize that the theatre they see today at Athens has undergone numerous reconstructions since its use during theatre’s Golden Age, rendering it difficult to know the conditions of drama under which Aeschylus, Aristophanes, and other playwrights had to work in the fifth century. With the presence of well-preserved theatres such as that of Epidauros, the image of a huge, rounded stone theatre becomes the standard, when in fact most ancient playwrights wrote their works for a much different space. Hundreds of other theatres are known throughout Greece, but most of them have been rebuilt during the Hellenistic and Roman periods.

One aspect of Ancient Greek theatre that especially demonstrates the lack of material evidence is the subject of Costume, including Masks. This scant knowledge of costumes can attribute itself largely to the ephemeral nature of costumes; while the study of the physical theatre runs into trouble due to reconstructions, but still exists, it would be impossible for costumes to survive, making study of costumes all the more difficult. Much of the evidence for costume design characteristics comes indirectly from artwork, primarily Pottery Depicting Drama, which is not always a trustworthy or accurate representation due to each individual’s artistic vision.

However, the lack of direct physical evidence is not the only reason that knowledge of theatre costume is sparse. In addition to lack of evidence, there is also lack of interest. This neglect is a shame because not only did costumes play an important role in the performance of ancient Greek theatre, but examining Greek theatre through the lens of costumes offers New Insights Into Theatre, insights which would expand the current knowledge and understanding of ancient theatre and are thus worth further research.

References

---

Goetsch, Sallie. "And What About Costume?" Didaskalia 2 (1995). 27 Nov. 2005 <http://didaskalia.open.ac.uk/issues/vol2no2/Goetsch.html>.

Storey, Ian C., and Arlene Allan. A Guide to Ancient Greek Drama. Malden: Blackwell, 2005.

---

Greek Archaeology