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Greek plays were performed as contests
for the Greek gods Apollo (the god of the
sun, music and poetry) and Dionysus
(the god of revelry).
These contests were called agons which
is the root form from which we derive the
following words:
Protagonist: literally, the first contestant. The
main character or hero.
Antagonist: literally, the anti-contestant or
opponent. The villain or the character who gets
in the way or tries to stop the protagonist from
obtaining his or her goal.
The antagonist isnt always a person.
The Antagonist
Greek plays were performed in
amphitheaters which are similar to Red
Rocks.
The performing area was called the
orchestra.
In the back of the orchestra was a
building called the skene.
In the doorways of
the skene hung the
actors costumes and
masks which allowed
a small number of
players to perform
many different rolls.
In addition, the
importance of a
character was
marked by his height
which was
accomplished by the
actor wearing high-
heeled shoes or
stilts.
Behind or to the side of the orchestra was
an apparatus used to fly characters
called the mechane.
Greek plays were performed by no more
than three actors who were assisted by
the chorus, a group who assumed minor
roles and commented on the action of the
play.
The first actor was named Thespis.