The southeastern slope of Acropolis in Athens boasts by its two theaters - the Odeon of Herodes Atticus and the Theater of Dionysos. The first theater is more preserved but the second is a more important because is the oldest theater in the world.
Theater of Dionysos is a place where were played the first spectacles.
The theater’s art originates from the special fest which was in Athens and which was dedicated to the Dionys. In the Greek pantheon of gods Dionys was responsible for the winemaking. According to the legends one day he had arrived to the Athens and attempted to treat Athenians with the wine. Athenians were unfamiliar with wine and decided that Dionys tried to poison them. In place of accept this precious gift they killed the Dionys. Of course it’s was biggest mishap from their side. Some of them had tried the wine and shared among them info that the wine is not as bad as they thought. To revoke this mistake and to pacify Dionys Athenians started celebrate special fest in honor of the god.
These fests were far away from the modern theater’s performance. It were rather chaotic celebrations with a lot of wine. Eventually Athenians started contrive some stories for celebrations with heroes and gods. But even these stories were the improvisations.
First man, who started prepare a plot for the fests was the poet Fespid who came to the Athens in the middle of the 6 century BC. Fespid also made a real revolution in the performance – he added actors to the show. Also Fespid introduced the costumes and began to write the plots not only about the Dionys but also about the others persons.
I think it would be pertinent to mention that the theater from the beginning of existence had a great impact to the Athens political life. Even more, most of the ancient performance in Athens were about politics. Thus when Persians started war against Greek cities in the Asia Minor these events were presented to the Athenians in the Theater of Dionysos. And when Athens lost its political independence the repercussions for the theater were worse. It’s began to fade.
First seats at the place of the Theater of Dionysus were built in the middle of the 6 century BC. It was the wooden benches. With the lapse of times they were changed to the marbles. First seats at the theater were for the most honorable citizens of Athens. And in the center of the first raw was the throne of the main priest of the Dionys temple.
In the first and the third century the Theater of Dionysus has been rebuilt by the Romans (the current frieze on the scene it’s their work).
