Someone Finally Got The Bright Idea
To Put The Actors On A Stage...
The Greeks were the first to do many things, but they truly moved theater into an artform by creating the stage, the house...
and the very first formal actor.
Thespis
The first Poet to step out of the Chorus
and claim the role of "Actor"
RISE OF THE ACTOR’S PROFESSION
an article in “The Attic Theatre” –by A.E. Haigh 1898
At first the whole performance was a choral one, and consisted simply of the songs and hymns chanted at the festivals of Dionysus.
There were no actors and there was no dialogue.
The history of the early development of the drama is in other words the history of the gradual introduction of actors and dialogue into the choral entertainment, and the gradual increase in the importance of the dialogue, until eventually it overshadowed the choral part altogether.
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1.) The first step in the process by which a lyrical performance was converted into a dramatic one was as follows:
a.) The custom arose of filling up the intervals between the different portions of the choral songs with recitations by the leader of the chorus, and dialogues between him and the other members.
b.) The leader of the chorus used to mount upon a small table. The subject of the recitations and the dialogues would be the same as the subject of the ode, and would in most cases refer to the adventures of the god Dionysus. In these interludes by the leader of the chorus lay the germ of the drama.
The performance as a whole was still essentially lyrical, but the practice of inserting dialogue had been established.
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2.) In the case of tragedy the next step forward was taken by Thespis (a poet).
Not much is known about the drama of Thespis except that it was essentially lyrical.
b.) He is said to have employed masks.
It is clear that the single actor might appear in different characters in successive scenes, and in this way some approach might be made to a dramatic representation of a story.
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3.) The actors and the chorus were entirely distinct from one another.
a.) The chorus was chosen and paid by the
choregus, and performed in the orchestra.
b.) The actors were hired by the state, and their
proper place was upon the stage.
The term "hypokrites," or "actor," was never applied to the members of the chorus. It was not even applied to all the performers upon the stage, but only to such of them as took a prominent part in the dialogue.
The various mute characters, such as the soldiers and attendants, and also the subordinate characters who had only a few words to say, were not dignified with the title of "actor."
WORD ORIGIN
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The original Greek word for an actor was "hypokrites." Etymologically the word seems to have meant "one who answers." According to the old grammarians the origin of the term was due to the fact that in the early drama, when the chorus played the principal part, the main function of the actor was to "reply to the chorus." This derivation of the word is very likely the correct one. In the times before Aeschylus, when there was only one actor, all the dialogue was necessarily carried on between the actor and the chorus. It is therefore not improbable that the duty of replying to the questions and remarks of the chorus may have been regarded as the salient feature in the performance of the actor, and have given rise to his name. In the course of the fourth century the old Attic word for an actor went out of use, and a new one was substituted. Henceforward actors were generally called "artists," or "artists of Dionysus."
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4.) The Greek actors invariably wore masks, and were consequently able to appear in several parts in the course of the same performance. a.) The chorus was chosen and paid by the
choregus, and performed in the orchestra.
b.) The actors were hired by the state, and their
proper place was upon the stage.
The term "hypokrites," or "actor," was never applied to the members of the chorus. It was not even applied to all the performers upon the stage, but only to such of them as took a prominent part in the dialogue.
The various mute characters, such as the soldiers and attendants, and also the subordinate characters who had only a few words to say, were not dignified with the title of "actor."
WORD ORIGIN
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The original Greek word for an actor was "hypokrites." Etymologically the word seems to have meant "one who answers." According to the old grammarians the origin of the term was due to the fact that in the early drama, when the chorus played the principal part, the main function of the actor was to "reply to the chorus." This derivation of the word is very likely the correct one. In the times before Aeschylus, when there was only one actor, all the dialogue was necessarily carried on between the actor and the chorus. It is therefore not improbable that the duty of replying to the questions and remarks of the chorus may have been regarded as the salient feature in the performance of the actor, and have given rise to his name. In the course of the fourth century the old Attic word for an actor went out of use, and a new one was substituted. Henceforward actors were generally called "artists," or "artists of Dionysus."
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a.) The early history of Greek tragedy- only a single actor was employed in each play, this does not imply that the number of characters was limited to one. All it implies is that only one character could appear at a time.
The number of actors in a Greek play never exceeded three, even in the latest period.
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5.) But the effect of this regulation upon the capacities of the Greek drama was less cramping and restrictive than might have been supposed.
a.) There was no limitation to the number of mute and subordinate characters which might be introduced at any time upon the stage.
b.) There was no restriction upon the number of more prominent characters, provided they were not brought upon the stage simultaneously.
The only limitation was this -- that not more than three of the more prominent characters could take part in the dialogue in the course of the same scene.
The principal function of the actors:
- To carry on the dialogue and work out the action of the play.
The principal function of the chorus:
- To sing the odes which filled up the pauses in the action.
Of course very frequently the chorus took part in the dialogue; but, speaking in general terms, the dialogue was the business of the actors.
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6.) The decisive innovation was due to Aeschylus. He introduced a second actor, and effected a total change in the character of the performance.
Henceforward the intervals between the choral odes were filled with dialogues between the two actors upon the stage, instead of dialogues between the single actor and the leader of the chorus.
a.) At the same time Aeschylus cut down the length of the choral odes, and made the dialogue the essential and prominent feature of the performance.
b.) The result was a radical change in the nature of tragedy: it became a dramatic instead of a lyrical form of art.
During the greater part of his career Aeschylus was contented with two actors. Three at least out of his seven extant plays are written for performance by two actors only.
c.) This limitation upon the number of performers necessitated great simplicity in the construction of the play, since it was impossible for more than two personages to take part in the dialogue at the same time.
d.) Hence the earlier plays of Aeschylus, though essentially dramatic in comparison with anything which preceded them, are simple in plot and lyrical in tone when compared with the tragedies of his successors.
e.) The different scenes rather serve to unfold a series of pictures than to develop a complicated plot. Descriptive speeches take the place of animated dialogue.
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7.) Sophocles added greatly to the capacities of the drama by introducing a third actor. He was thus enabled to give much greater variety and spirit to the dialogue.
In his hands for the first time tragedy became essentially dramatic, and the lyrical element was thrust still further into the background.
a.) The innovation of Sophocles was adopted by Aeschylus in his later years, and the Orestean trilogy -- the last and most elaborate of his works -- requires three actors.
b.) Under Sophocles tragedy received its full development. The number of actors in tragedy was henceforward limited to three.
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Thus the Cyclops of Euripides, the only extant satyric play, requires three actors. In the Naples vase-painting, which represents the performers in a satyric play, three actors are depicted.
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9.) In regard to comedy, very little is known as to the steps by which it was developed.
a.) The source of comedy lay in the phallic songs performed at the festivals of Dionysus. The dramatic element originated in the interludes by the leader of the chorus.
b.) The process of development must have been much the same as in tragedy; but the names of the persons who introduced actors and dialogue into comedy were forgotten even in Aristotle's time.
c.) The only piece of information upon the subject is to the effect that Cratinus was the first to limit the number of actors to three, and that before his time there was no regulation as to the number of persons introduced upon the stage.
After the time of Cratinus there were no further innovations, and the number of actors in comedy was permanently fixed at three.This number was never exceeded either in comedy or in tragedy.
All the extant Greek plays could be performed by three actors.
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a.) It made it impossible for life to be represented upon the stage with the realism of a modern play.
b.) Mute personages -- such as officers, soldiers, and servants -- might be introduced in any number; but the characters taking part in the dialogue could never at any one time exceed three.
c.) The realistic effect produced by a promiscuous conversation between a large group of persons was impossible upon the Greek stage.
d.) Sometimes a certain awkwardness was caused by this limitation in the number of performers. In the extant Greek dramas occasions are not infrequent where a fourth actor might have been a great advantage.
ONLY THREE Allowed
For instance.. there is the exciting scene at the end of the Orestesof Euripides. Orestes is seen upon the roof of the palace threatening to kill Hermione, and Pylades is standing beside him. Menelaus from below makes a piteous appeal to Pylades, but Pylades says not a single word in reply, but leaves Orestes to answer for him. His silence is very unnatural, and is only to be accounted for by the fact that there was no actor to spare, and therefore the poet could not put any words in his mouth. Two of the actors were already employed in playing the parts of Orestes and Menelaus, and the third was required for Apollo, who comes on the scene immediately afterwards. Consequently the part of Pylades had to be taken by a mute personage.
Then again... there is the scene at the end of the Electra of Euripides. Orestes has heard his fate, and as he leaves the stage he bids farewell to Pylades, and urges him to marry his sister Electra. Pylades maintains a stolid silence, and the Dioscuri reply on his behalf. Here again his silence is due to the necessities of the case. The three actors with whom the poet was supplied were all employed, and Pylades was merely a dumb figure.
Similar instances of awkward and almost ludicrous silence on the part of certain characters will occur to all readers of the Greek drama. But they are not so numerous as might have been expected, and it is astonishing to find how successfully the Greek drama, keeping within its own peculiar limits, was able to accomplish its ends with three actors only.
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a.) The dialogue gained in clearness and simplicity, owing to the fewness of the persons taking part in it.
b.) This simplicity was especially well suited to the severe and statuesque character of Greek tragedy, in which the rapid movement of a dialogue between a large number of persons would have been altogether inappropriate.
In the extant Greek tragedies even the three actors permitted by custom are used with considerable reserve.They are never allowed to join promiscuously in the dialogue for any length of time.
c.) Whenever three characters are upon the stage, it will be found that in most cases one of them stands by in silence, while the other two carry on the dialogue. The two change from time to time, but it is only on rare occasions and for brief periods that all three converse promiscuously together.
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12.) In the Greek drama, owing to the limitation upon the number of performers, a high standard of excellence maintained throughout the play.
It was all the more necessary, among the Greeks, to take some precaution of this kind, since the size of the theatre demanded unusual powers in the actor.
a.) In the vast open-air theatre at Athens it required a man with an exceptionally clear and powerful voice to make himself audible to the vast multitude of spectators.
b.) It cannot have been an easy task to find actors who combined histrionic talent with voices of sufficient power, and if a large number had been required, there would have been great difficulty in meeting the demand.
This consideration doubtless helped to ensure the continued observance of the rule as to the number of the actors.
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The art of acting may be said to have commenced in the time of Thespis. But actors did not come into existence as a separate classuntil many years afterwards.
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13.) Before the period of Aeschylus, when only a single actor was required, his part was taken by the poet. It is expressly said that Thespis was "himself acting, according to ancient custom," at the performance which excited the disapproval of Solon.
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14.) When a second actor was introduced by Aeschylus, then the actor's profession became of necessity distinct from that of the poet.
a.) For some time afterwards the poets continued to act occasionally in their own tragedies, side by side with the professional actors.
b.) The practice went gradually out of fashion in the course of the earlier part of the fifth century.
Aeschylus appears, from the statement in his Life, to have abandoned the stage even before the introduction of the second actor.
Sophocles was prevented from appearing as an actor by the weakness of his voice. It is true that he sometimes performed in public. In the Thamyris he played the harp, and in the Nausicaa he delighted the spectators by his skill with the ball. But it is not likely that on either of these occasions he took a regular actor's part. He probably appeared upon the scene merely as a mute character, in order to show his skill with the harp and the ball.
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15.) After the time of Sophocles there are no further instances of tragic poets performing in their own plays.
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16.) As to the early history of comic acting very little is known. Cratinus is mentioned as one of the old poets who were called "dancers," and it is therefore probable that he acted in his own comedies. Crates is said to have begun his career as an actor of Cratinus. But after his time there is no certain instance of a comic poet appearing upon the stage.
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17.) The professional actor was universally employed. It appears then that it was in the beginning of the fifth century that the profession of the actor came into existence as a distinct occupation.
a.) It grew very rapidly in importance. At first the actors who took part in the competitions were regarded as mere subordinates, and had no share in the honours and rewards.
b.) Towards the middle of the century a change was made, and prizes began to be instituted for the best actors, as well as for the best poets.
The names of the actors began to be recorded in the official lists of victors, side by side with those of the poets and choregi.
c.) In the fourth century the actors sprang into still greater prominence. The art of acting tended to outshine the art of dramatic writing. An age of great actors succeeded to an age of great poets.
The same phenomenon is not uncommon in the theatrical history of other nations.
d.) To such an extent had the importance of the actor's profession increased, that in Aristotle's time a play depended more for its success upon the skill of the actor than upon the genius of the poet. The effect upon dramatic writing was most pernicious.
The poets began to write their plays with a view to exhibiting the capacities of the actors. Scenes which had no connection with the plot were introduced for the sole purpose of enabling an actor to make display of his talents.
Sophocles is said by one of the old grammarians to have been guilty of the same sort of practice. But if there is any truth in the statement, the evil effects are not very apparent in the extant tragedies.
The charge might be brought with more plausibility against the monodies of Euripides, which are often feeble from a literary point of view, but would enable an actor with a fine voice to make a great impression. However it was not until the fourth century that the influence of the actors became so universal as to inflict distinct injury upon the art of dramatic writing.
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18.) The selection of the necessary number of actors for each dramatic performance was, except in very early times, undertaken by the state.a.) During the early part of the fifth century the poets chose their own actors. Certain poets and certain actors were permanently associated together.
b.) As the actors increased in importance, they were placed on the same footing as the poets and choregi, and were appointed by the state.
c.) They were then distributed among the poets by lots. In the course of the fourth century the use of the lot was discontinued in the case of tragedy, and a new arrangement was adopted, which was rendered possible by the fact that each tragic poet exhibited several tragedies at the same time.
Under the new system each tragedy was performed by a different actor, and in this way all the competing poets enjoyed in turn the services of all the actors.
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19.) In comedy, as each poet exhibited only a single play, the old system of distribution by lot was retained. If an actor was engaged for one of the great Athenian festivals, and failed to put in an appearance, he was fined by the state.
On one occasion Athenodorus, the great tragic actor, was hired to perform at the City Dionysia. But he failed to keep his engagement, as he preferred to be present and perform at the festivities held by Alexander the Great in Phoenicia, after his return from Egypt. A heavy fine was inflicted upon him in consequence, but the fine was paid by Alexander.
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