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____How It Began____	City Dionysia	Greek Chorus	_Home_
Plays	Aristotle	Theatres	Technical Innovations

Performers No women were allowed to perform in Greek theatre. This was not uncommon throughout theatre history (i.e.: Shakespeare's time). Men were expected to play all female parts.
The First Actor Thespis (also a poet) stepped out of the chorus to say a line and became the first actor in 6th century BC Thespian, derived from his name, is a synonym for actor This helped to develop dithyrambs (choral odes) into the form of tragedy
More on Actors The Greek word for "actor" is "hypokrite", which literally means "answerer". This implies the give and take nature of dialogue between actors and the chorus.
How it Worked Only one actor was utilized until Sophocles implemented a new rule--the use of 3 actors So, naturally actors wound up playing more than one part... EUREKA! That's why they wore masks! (So the audience could tell which character they were supposed to be).
What did it LOOK like? Acting was not realistic: Large gestures Dance like movement Chanting