Explain how the origins of theater in Athens are tied to both religion and politics. Check out this resource.
When the early theater began, the favorite plays were tragedies. The people who went to the plays were very loud and were willing to let the actors know what they were thinking. Actors were hired and paid by the state. By the middle of the 5th century, at least three actors were needed to perform a tragedy. Women were not allowed to take part in the plays, so men played all the female roles. Actors had to play multiple roles, and this was made possible by using masks to portray the character. The main duty of the actors was to know their lines. Sometimes, however, they also had to sing solos or sing with the chorus.
The chorus was is not usually a part of modern tragedy. The modern parallel for tragedy is actually opera. The chorus were non-professionals who could sing and dance and were trained for the performance. The tragic chorus sings an opening number, and, sometimes, they sing as part of the closing act.
Tragedies are tied to religion and politics because sometimes the tragedies are based off of what happened during a certain religious or political event. For example, tragedies might have been performed about the gods and goddesses of Ancient Greece. A political tragedy could be about the wars that the Athenians lost. As you can see, there are a lot of ties between the tragedies and other plays with politics and religion. By doing this daily, I learned a lot about ancient theater and how it compares to the theaters of today.
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