theatres (Greek and Roman), structure
theatres (Greek and Roman), structureThe Greek theatre consisted essentially of the orchestra, the flat dancing-place for the choral song and dance out of which grew tragedy and comedy; and the auditorium (the theatron proper, Latin cavea), normally a convenient slope on which spectators could sit or stand. In early theatres wooden seating was constructed, though it is not clear how this was done. Seats were sometimes cut in the rock; by the time theatres reached a more definitive form, in the 4th cent. bc, seats consisted of stone benches of simple form, rising in tiers. These were curved, reflecting the normal circular shape of the orchestra. A rectangular orchestra survives at the well-preserved theatre at Thoricus, in the territory of Athens, partly faced by seats in a straight line, curving only at the ends. The orchestra consisted of hard earth—paving was not introduced till Roman times. The skēnē (tent or hut) was in origin a...
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