Ancient Greek Theater Architecture Essay -- Architecture History

Ancient Greek Theater ArchitectureMany aspects of ancient Greek theaters have long been studied and debated. such(prenominal) of the information about these theaters is based on speculation due to the fact that so little of them still exist today. This lack of remnants especially applies to the architecture of the primeval Greek Theaters. However, through archeological finds and years of studying the people, the plays, and the architecture of the time, we are able to make many conclusions about these early structures.Greek Theaters are separate into trine categories The early Athenian Theaters, Hellenistic Theaters, and Graeco-Roman Theaters. Like most new inventions or creations, the initial theaters built by the Athenians were very simple. In the fifth part century B.C., it became popular to build theaters on the slope of a large hill, or an acropolis, the most famous, being in Athens. These early theaters could be divided into three parts. The theater consisted of the t heatron (or auditorium), the orchestra, and the skene (or scene building) (Betancourt).The Greeks would eventually perfect a technique that would fit as many spectators into the theatron as possible. At first the spectators sat on the foothold until wooden bleachers were installed. After it was discovered that the wooden bleachers were prone to collapsing, permanent stone seating was built. The architects created concentric tiers of seats that followed the circular shape of the orchestra and hugged the rising ground of a hillside, following the natural contours of the land. Usually, theatrons were symmetrical however, there do remain examples of irregularly shaped theatrons. A horizontal passage called the diazoma separated the theatron into halves, thu... ...heater of the fifth century B.C. has been lost forever due to changes made by the Romans. This leaves scholars of today with scant evidence of ancient Greek Theater architecture.Works CitedAllen, James T. The Greek Th eater of the fifth part Century Before Christ. Berkeley, California University of Californioa Press, 1924.Betancourt, Philip P. The Ancient Greek Theater. CD-ROM. New York Pseudo News Films & CD-ROMS, 1996.Brockett, Oscar G. History of the Theatre. 8th ed. London Secker & Warburg British Broadcasting Corporation, 1984.Harwood, Ronald. All the dry lands A Stage. London Secker & Warburg British Broadcasting Corporation, 1984.Nicoll, Allardyce. The Development of the Theater. 6th ed. London George G. Harrap & Company Ltd, 1966Corrigan, Robert W. Classical Tragedy Greek and Roman. New York Applause, 1990.