The Ancient Greek Tragic Actors And Their Era

The Greek tragic actors were developed from the dithyramb chorus members in Dionysus ritual. At the early time tragic actors were mainly in charge of the communicating with the chorus and speaking solo choral part. The tragedy poet also played the roles himself. As the procession of tragedy developed, the actors were seperated from the poet and grew up in quantity. Almost three actors play all roles in Greek tragedy. Some of them need to play part-time roles.In 449 B.C the best actor prize was set in the tragedy contest of Great Dionysus festival, and a new era existed from then on. The gesture, voice and costume were considered as the judging standard. The tragedy performance began to combine every part to a whole presentation. The prize implicated the upgoing tendency of tragic actor's value. Winning poets and actors' names were carved on the triumphal monument. As the end of the Classical period, the tragedy production fell down to the bottom, thanks to the tragic actors' effort, the tragedy expanded influences to a larger scale. More regions had their own theatre, and local actors were trained. In the Hellenistic period, the Artists of Dionysus travelled and performed tragedys around the Mediterranean regions. The tragedy was disseminated to everywhere.The actors wear tragic costume and mask on stage. Besides the action and voice, any other personal features are concealled. The excellent actors must possess many performe skills, including graceful voice and vivid action. In Greek tragedy,the actor always play multiple roles. Although the change of masks and costumes help the actors to transform identities, the differences between characters' voices and gestures make a lot of troubles. All actors are male,they confront the same troubles when they play female characters. They have solved these troubles with their superb skills. In the historical materials, the criticism against histrionic performances barely exist.The tragic masks were worthy of more attention. Dionysus is the god of mask. The meanings of tragedy mask evoke some discussion. Mask had some religious significances and effects of performance. It covered the performers' real identity and entrusted several characters' features. Mask was helpful to attract audiences' focus, and it made some arena ambiances. In the grand theatre, mask did some favor to actors' performance.The emergence of tragic actros was interrelated with the ancient Greek culture. From the Cretan times,performance was the core of Greek culture. Musical and physical performe activities emerged one after another. The enthusiasm of Greek people on religious festivals and competitions was reflected on performing their individual talent. The tragic performance elements were embodied in all the performances. Tragic actors summarized them and mixed together.Classical civilization was promoted by city-states. For tragic actors, city-states provided several necessities. City-state always enhance the qualities of the masses. Therefore, city-state attached importance to education, and established the competitions attracting more people to participate in. When democracy politics were setted up, citizens took part in more public activities. The aristocrat no longer monopolized public affairs. Because of all the factors above, more and more tragic actors appeared on classical period.