Sophocles’ Oedipus Trilogy forms part of a theater tradition that encompasses much more than just entertainment. In fifth century B.C., Athens theater represented an essential public experience—at once social, political, and religious.
For Athenians, theater served as an expression of public unity. Ancient Greek myth—the theme of most tragedies—not only touched members of the audience individually, but drew them together as well. The dramatization of stories from a shared heritage helped to nurture and preserve a cultural identity through times of hardship and war.
But beyond its social and political importance, Greek drama also held a religious significance that made it a sacred art. Originally, the Greek theater tradition emerged from a long history of choral performance in celebration of the god Dionysus.
The Festival of Dionysus—whose high point was a dramatic competition—served as a ritual to honor the god of wine and fertility and to ask his blessing on the land. To attend the theater, then, was a religious duty and the responsibility of all pious citizens.
Drama began, the Greeks say, when the writer and producer Thespis separated one man from the chorus and gave him some lines to speak by himself. In 534 B.C., records show that this same Thespis produced the first tragedy at the Festival of Dionysus. From then on, plays with actors and a chorus formed the basis of Greek dramatic performances.
The actual theater itself was simple, yet imposing. Actors performed in the open air, while the audience—perhaps 15,000 people—sat in seats built in rows on the side of a hill. The stage was a bare floor with a wooden building (called the skene) behind it. The front of the skene might be painted to suggest the location of the action, but its most practical purpose was to offer a place where actors could make their entrances and exits.
In Greek theater, the actors were all male, playing both men and women in long robes with masks that depicted their characters. Their acting was stylized, with wide gestures and movements to represent emotion or reaction. The most important quality for an actor was a strong, expressive voice because chanted poetry remained the focus of dramatic art.
The simplicity of production emphasized what Greeks valued most about drama—poetic language, music, and evocative movement by the actors and chorus in telling the story. Within this simple framework, dramatists found many opportunities for innovation and embellishment. Aeschylus, for example, introduced two actors, and used the chorus to reflect emotions and to serve as a bridge between the audience and the story.
Later, Sophocles introduced painted scenery, an addition that brought a touch of realism to the bare Greek stage. He also changed the music for the chorus, whose size swelled from twelve to fifteen members. Most important, perhaps, Sophocles increased the number of actors from two to three—a change that greatly increased the possibility for interaction and conflict between characters on stage.
