| Term | Definition |
|---|
| religious festivals | happened before there were plays |
| tragoedia | the Greek word for tragedy meaning "goat song" |
| Thespis | a poet who stepped out of the chorus and recited in response to the rest of the group or a poet who first provided lines for a single member of the chorus |
| Thespians | actors called today in honor of Thespis |
| semi-circle | how the stone seats of an amphitheater were organized |
| skene | the hut/building behind the stage where actors would enter and exit and get changed |
| parados | the entrance in the theater for the actors and the audience |
| orchestra | where the chorus sang to the audience; the "Dancing Place" |
| theatron | the seating for the audience |
| mechane | a crane used to transport an actor through the air in the role of a god; the Roman term "deus ex machina" |
| Greek tragedies | performed in late March or early April at annual religious festivals in honor of Dionysus |
| trilogy | three tragedies prepared by a playwright for the contest |
| satyr play | an unrelated concluding comic piece prepared by a playwright for the contest |
| front rows | reserved for priests and guests of honor |
| theater-going | considered both a civic and religious activity |
| throwing rocks or vegetables | indicated displeasure from the audience |
| Dionysus | god of wine, revelry (partying), fertility, and theater |
| the city Dionysia | the biggest festival to Dionysus in Athens |
| the chorus | danced, sang, and described most of the action |
| masks | had open mouths and described tragedy and comedy |
| actors | male and used big shoes, padded clothes, and big gestures |
| off-stage | where all the fighting and violence occurred |
| size of the Theater of Dionysus | 350 ft from the last row of the theatron to the facade of the skene, could accomodate from 18 - 20 thousand people, largest facility created to watch a theatrical performance |
| special effects | open air, the sound of thunder created by a rock rolling through a tunnel built under the audience, mechane, walls of skene were decorated |
| Aeschylus | born in 525 BCE, added the second actor, and wrote The Oresteia (trilogy about 3 generations of Agammemnon's family) |
| Sophocles | born in 496 BCE, added the third actor, reduced the size of the chorus to 15, wrote plays about people with an excessive amount of one trait (usually hubris), and wrote the Oedipus trilogy |
| Euripides | born in 480 BCE and wrote about men who were ruled by their emotions (Medea) |
| the Oracle | a priest or priestess who would send messages to the gods from mortals who brought their requests |
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