Pöhlmann E (2020)
Publication Type: Journal article, Review article
Publication year: 2020
Book Volume: 3
Pages Range: 137-166
Journal Issue: 1
DOI: 10.1163/22129758-12341005
New excavations give clear information about the Athenian Dionysus-Theatre of the 5th century b.c.; and the stage in Western Greece can now be reconstructed by analogy with it. Vase paintings depict wooden theatres in Sicily from 400 b.c. onwards, mainly for comedy. Tragedies were performed only after 476/5 b.c., but the lively tradition of comedy since the late 6th century b.c. must have had a stage. For Epicharmus' short comedies, which had no lyrics or chorus and were addressed to the elite of Hieron's court, the small theatre carved into the slope of the Temenites rock was sufficient. But the performances of Aeschylus' Aitnaiai and Persians were politically motivated productions addressed to the whole Syracusan demos; they required a chorus, and space for large audiences. The form of the theatre and its wooden stage building, designed by Damokopos Myrilla, can be hypothetically reconstructed by analogy with their Athenian counterparts.
APA:
Pöhlmann, E. (2020). Epicharmus and Aeschylus on Stage in Syracuse in the 5th Century. Greek and Roman musical studies, 3(1), 137-166. https://dx.doi.org/10.1163/22129758-12341005
MLA:
Pöhlmann, Egert. "Epicharmus and Aeschylus on Stage in Syracuse in the 5th Century." Greek and Roman musical studies 3.1 (2020): 137-166.
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