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He when one the greek stage and introduced the mask. and movement. Where before they would just talk

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A number of different things might pop to mind when we hear the word . Maybe it's a politician caught in a scandal; maybe it's a religious leader doing something counter to their creed; maybe it's a scheming and conniving character featured in soap operas. But it's likely that the one thing that doesn't come to mind is the theater.

The word hypocrite ultimately came into English from the Greek word hypokrites, which means "an actor" or "a stage player." The Greek word itself is a compound noun: it's made up of two Greek words that literally translate as "an interpreter from underneath." That bizarre compound makes more sense when you know that the actors in ancient Greek theater wore large masks to mark which character they were playing, and so they interpreted the story from underneath their masks.

The Greek word took on an extended meaning to refer to any person who was wearing a figurative mask and pretending to be someone or something they were not. This sense was taken into medieval French and then into English, where it showed up with its earlier spelling, ypocrite, in 13th-century religious texts to refer to someone who pretends to be morally good or pious in order to deceive others. ( Hypocrite gained its initial h- by the 16th century.)

It took a surprisingly long time for hypocrite to gain its more general meaning that we use today: "a person who acts in contradiction to his or her stated beliefs or feelings." Our first citations for this use are from the early 1700s, nearly 500 years after hypocrite first stepped onto English's stage.

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A number of different things might pop to mind when we hear the word . Maybe it's a politician caught in a scandal; maybe it's a religious leader doing something counter to their creed; maybe it's a scheming and conniving character featured in soap operas.

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the second most important character.

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The term protagonist has come to be used for the principal character in a novel, story, or drama. The protagonist is the first or leading actor in a play. These leading actors, were responsible for selecting the supporting actors, the deuteragonists and tritagonists.

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Protagonist: Protagonist, in ancient Greek drama, the first or leading actor. The poet Thespis is credited with having invented tragedy when he introduced this first actor into Greek drama, which formerly consisted only of choric dancing and recitation. The protagonist stood opposite the chorus and engaged in

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The tritagonist is the third main character. An example of a tritagonist can be Hermione from Harry Potter.

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Unless you've spent time studying Ancient Greek drama tropes and terminology, the words 'deuteragonist' and 'tritagonist' may sound like a load of old tosh. And in truth, they're not used all that often-but they exist in pretty much every story you've ever read, to varying degrees of strictness. But let's start off with that first one, the one we all recognise.

protagonist (noun)-the leading character in a story

Identifying your protagonist is normally very easy. If you're looking at a movie poster or a book cover, it's probably the face that's the biggest and in the middle. Think of your Luke Skywalkers, Harry Potters, James Bonds, Elizabeth Bennetts, Jessica Joneses and Katniss Everdeens.

A protagonist isn't always 'the good guy', however, as many famous stories can attest-Hamlet, Heathcliffe from Wuthering Heights, Alex from the first part of A Clockwork Orange and Dr Sheppard from The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, for instance.

And a story isn't limited to a single protagonist either-just think of The Lord of the Rings being told from multiple different story angles (Frodo, Sam, Aragorn, Faramir, Eowyn, Merry and Pippin), as well as the more recent A Song of Ice and Fire series, which, despite GRRM's best efforts, still has enough characters left alive to tell a story (such as Jon, Tyrion, Arya, Daenerys, Sam, Cersei, Jaime, Bran, Theon and many others come and gone-not all of them 'goodies').

What defines a protagonist, therefore, does have a lot to do with the story that's being told. It's hard to sit down and think who is the main character in The Lord of the Rings. Yes, Frodo probably comes to mind, because he's the one with the Ring, but in terms of who has the most 'important' chapters, that's not so readily obvious, especially after the Fellowship parts ways. Equally true is the case with A Song of Ice and Fire, where each character follows their own storyline for much of the series, none of which seems to be the 'most' important. Yes, you may think perhaps Jon is the 'main' character because he's the one who's been facing the White Walkers for the longest, but like with Frodo, he shares his chapters with so many others equally.

Which brings me to the deuteragonist.

deuteragonist (noun)-the secondary or second most important character in a story

The role of the deuteragonist is often identifiable as a sidekick-like character to the protagonist. If The Lord of the Rings were simply a story about Frodo and Sam and Sauron, disregarding all the (in my opinion) best bits of the series, then Sam would be the deuteragonist. The sidekick role is the helpful companion, someone who aids the protagonist in their struggle in some capacity-perhaps physically, but often intellectually. Take Dr Watson as the deuteragonist to Sherlock Holmes' protagonist, for example, or Ron Weasley to Harry Potter, Robin to Batman, Eleven to Mike (in Stranger Things) and Spock to Captain Kirk.

Like with the protagonist, however, it really does depend on the story. Not all sidekicks are substantial enough to be worthy of the label of deuteragonist (think Snowy from Tintin compared with the more substantial Captain Haddock, or Abu from Aladdin compared to the Genie).

Nor are all deuteragonists supportive of the protagonist. Many secondary characters who appear to be the protagonist's friend or a supportive character actually turn out to be hindering them in some way (out of jealousy is a common reason), or reveal themselves to be the antagonist. As some examples, Iago from Othello, Prince Hans from Frozen and Talia al Ghul from The Dark Knight Rises.

In fact, depending on how the story is told, the deuteragonist could very well be the antagonist in plain sight. In Heat, Robert DeNiro plays a thief (our protagonist) and the secondary character in the film is Al Pacino who plays the detective in pursuit. Similarly, it could be argued that the Joker in The Dark Knight is the secondary character in the film, rather than Rachael or Harvey Dent. Also, Hans Gruber in Die Hard fills this role, as does Hannibal Lector from The Silence of the Lambs and Darth Vader.

Now, to the third of our '-ist' trio.

tritagonist (noun)-the third main character in a story

As with the deuteragonist, the tritagonist's role in the story is very much a case-by-case situation, depending on the story.

Examples of the tritagonist being a secondary sidekick character could be Hermione from Harry Potter (forming a trio of good guys), as could Jessie from Toy Story with both Woody and Buzz, and both Princess Leia and Han Solo from Star Wars.

Tritagonists, however, can also be the antagonist, the evil that the two main characters (and their lesser friends) must fight against. Think LeChiffe from Casino Royale, Doctor Evil from Austin Powers, Kahn from Star Trek: Into Darkness and Gothel from Tangled.

Of course, stories are so beautifully varied that characters don't really have to adhere to any of the above 'rules' or trends, so if you can't label characters... well, good!

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Unless you've spent time studying Ancient Greek drama tropes and terminology, the words 'deuteragonist' and 'tritagonist' may sound like a load of old tosh. And in truth, they're not used all that often-but they exist in pretty much every story you've ever read, to varying degrees of strictness.

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They practiced a song to sing at certain times during the play and they sung it in harmony whenever their time came to sing. It consisted of citizens of the society that could sing well and fluently. Many choral performances consisted of 50 men who danced and sung dithyrambs, which were lines that praised the goddess Dionysus.

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Style, Voice and Authority in the Choruses of Greek Drama

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My concern in this article is with the choral lyrics of Greek drama - tragedy, comedy and satyr play - but especially with those of tragedy. The function and significance of the Greek chorus,...

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Sophocles was born in 496 BCE outside of the walls of Athens. He was a great tragic playwright. He was one of the three great tragedians of the ancient Greek world. He wrote about 120 different plays. Outside of theatre he was an active member of the Athenian polis. He suddenly died in 406 BCE in Athens.

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Music was considered an "abstract science". Everyone was expected to learn how to play and instrument, because it related to education. Music in Greece related to dance, rhythm, and the meaning behind the words.

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The masks were to represent the actors expressions they wished to express. The masks were to worship Dionysus at Athens. The masks were also made of organic ingredients.

There is not much information of greek drama costumes because they were made of perishable materials.

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AncientPages.com - What did ancient Greek costumes, masks and theatre look like? Theater played an important role in ancient Greece. History of the Greek theatre started with festivals held in honor of their gods honoring their gods. A god, Dionysus, was honored with a festival called by "City Dionysia".

In the days of Solon, people were often to be seen wandering around the streets during the festival of Di-o-ny´sus, god of wine. They were clad in goatskins, were smeared with the dregs of wine and danced and sang rude songs in honor of their god.

These songs were called tragedies. It is interesting to note that tragedy means in Greek mean "goat song," because the goat was sacred to the god whom they thus worshiped. The people were greatly amused by the rude songs and dances.

The birth of theater in ancient Greece

Thespis of Icaria, a Greek poet and first Greek actor, noticed how popular these amusements were. To please the public taste he set up the first rude theater. In the beginning it was only a few boards raised on trestles to form a sort of stage in the open air. However, Thespis of Icaria soon built a booth, so that the actors, when not on the stage, could be hidden from public view.

The first plays, were very simple, and consisted of popular songs rudely acted. Later, the plays became more and more elaborate, and the actors tried to represent some of the tales which the story-tellers had told.

Some people disapproved of this kind of amusement. One of them was was Solon, who said that Thespis of Icaria was teaching the Athenians to love a lie, because they liked the plays, which, of course, were not true.

However, the plays continued. New actors started playing and great poets wrote works for the stage.

Soon, a huge amphitheater was built. It was so large that there were seats for thirty thousand spectators. Theatre buildings were called a theatron. The theaters were large, open-air structures constructed on the slopes of hills. They consisted of three main elements: the orchestra, the skene, and the audience. Theater in ancient Greece became very popular.

Tragedy, comedy, and satyr plays were the theatrical forms. Tragedy and comedy were viewed as completely separate genres.

Three well-known Greek tragedy playwrights of the fifth century are Sophocles, Euripides and Aeschylus.

Ancient Greek masks and costumes

The Greek actors soon dressed in costume, and all wore masks expressing the various emotions they wished to represent. The Greek term for mask is persona and was a significant element in the worship of Dionysus at Athens. The mask-makers were called skeuopoios or "maker of the properties," thus suggesting that their role encompassed multiple duties and tasks. Unfortunately, there are no physical remains of ancient Greek masks as they were made of organic materials and not considered permanent objects.

Nevertheless, the mask is known to have been used since the time of Aeschylus, an ancient Greek tragedian and considered to be one of the iconic conventions of classical Greek theatre.
See also: Solar Eclipses And A New Attempt To Date Homer's Iliad And Odyssey Truly Bizarre And Most Fearsome Ancient Helmets Ever Seen Mysterious African Grebo Masks With Tubular Multiple Eyes
From statues and paintings of ancient Greek actors, it is possible to picture what kind of masks and costumes were used. The actors were so far away from the audience that without the aid of exaggerated costumes and masks, they would be difficult to see.

Tragic masks carried mournful or pained expressions, while comic masks were smiling or leering. In a large open-air theatre, like the Theatre of Dionysus in Athens, the classical masks were able to bring the characters' face closer to the audience, especially since they had intensely over-exaggerated facial features and expressions.

They enabled an actor to appear and reappear in several different roles, thus preventing the audience from identifying the actor to one specific character. Their variations help the audience to distinguish sex, age, and social status.

Actors who played tragic roles wore boots called cothurneses that elevated them above other actors.

When playing female roles, the male actors donned a ' prosterneda' which is a wooden structure in front of the chest to imitate breasts.

There are little information on theatrical costumes. This is due to the perishable materials they have been made of. Still we have some information drawn from depictions on ancient pottery.

An actor's entire head was covered by his mask, which included hair. It has been theorized that the shape of the mask amplified the actor's voice, making his words easier for the audience to hear.

The cast of a Greek play in the Dionysia was comprised of amateurs, not professionals and all were male.

Ancient Greek actors were forced to gesture grandly so that the entire audience could see and hear the story, but most Greek theatres were cleverly constructed to transmit even the smallest sound to any seat.

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Ancient Greek Costumes, Masks And Theater In Focus | Ancient Pages

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What did ancient Greek costumes, masks and theatre look like? Theater played an important role in ancient Greece. History of the Greek theatre started with festivals held in honor of their gods honoring their gods. A god, Dionysus, was honored with a festival called by "City Dionysia".

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Parodos is the singing performed by a chorus in Greek theatre. Parodos is also how actors entered and exited the stage.

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Parodos definition and meaning | Collins English Dictionary

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Parodos definition: the chanting or singing performed by a chorus in an ancient Greek tragedy | Meaning, pronunciation, translations and examples

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Also called the okribas, as its surface consisted of a wooden platform. The orchestra gradually lost its role as an acting place, and in later plays, the action takes place on the proskenion, an area which projected in front of the skene (the word proskenion means something that is set up before the skene).

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Pachynum - Pamphylia Pamphylus - Paralus Parammon - Patreus Patro - Pelopidas Pelopium - Perioeci Periopis - Phalarus Phalces - Pherenicus Pheres - Philolaus Philomela - Phorcides Phorcus - Phylonomus Phylus - Pisistratus Pison - Plynus Podaleirios - Polydora Polydorus - Poseidonius Posidium - Prodomos Prokonnesos - Protogenia Protolaus - pupil and teacher Puppies - Pythiads pythian games - Pyxis

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* wrote over 92 plays
* made his characters fates from their own flaws.
*his only surviving play satyr play is cyclops.

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Euripides | Ancient Greek Tragedy & Plays

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Euripides was the last of classical Athens’s three great tragic dramatists, following Aeschylus and Sophocles. It is possible to reconstruct only the sketchiest biography of Euripides. His mother’s name was Cleito; his father’s name was Mnesarchus or Mnesarchides. One tradition states that his

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Aeschylus/ben
he wrote
*Agamemnon
* the Libation Bearers
* and the Eumenides
He only wrote about difficut choices the MEN had

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Biography of Aeschylus

Aeschylus (ESS-kill-us) is the earliest playwright in any language whose plays survive today, though other Greek men did write plays a little earlier. Aeschylus lived in Athens in the late 500s and early 400s BC, so he saw the birth of Athenian democracy under Cleisthenes. He fought in the battle of Marathon. He lived at the same time as Sophocles, though Sophocles was a few years younger.

Aeschylus's plays

Aeschylus wrote tragedies about the difficult choices men (not, in his view, women) have to make, and what happens as a result. His most famous plays are the three plays Agamemnon, the Libation Bearers, and the Eumenides. In Agamemnon, the king Agamemnon faces the consequences of his decision to keep his promise to the other kings, even though it meant killing his own daughter ( Iphigeneia). In Libation Bearers, Agamemnon's son Orestes has to decide whether to kill his own mother, because she killed his father. And in Eumenides, a jury has to decide whether Orestes, having killed Clytemnestra, is guilty of murder.

Aeschylus's tombstone

When Aeschylus died, his tombstone did not even mention his plays. It just listed what he himself considered his greatest achievement: "I fought at Marathon."

Bibliography and further reading about Aeschylus:

Greek Theatre, by Stewart Ross (1999). Easy reading.

Greek and Roman Theater, by Don Nardo. For teenagers.

The Oresteia, by Aeschylus, translated by Robert Fagles (Penguin Classics). The most famous of the plays Aeschylus wrote. Fagles is a great translator! Includes a version for performance.

Aeschylus, by John Herington (1986). A discussion by a specialist about the life of Aeschylus and why his plays are written the way they are.

Greek Tragedy: A Literary Study, by H. D. F. Kitto (reprinted 2002). A classic discussion of the meaning of Greek tragic plays, by a specialist.

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Biography of Aeschylus Aeschylus (ESS-kill-us) is the earliest playwright in any language whose plays survive today, though other Greek men did write plays a little earlier. Aeschylus lived in Athens in the late 500s and early 400s BC, so he saw the birth of Athenian democracy under Cleisthenes.

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A skene is a structure that faces the audience and gives background during the performance for the actors and actresses to perform in front of. It was frequently the background of the play and it gave a perspective to the audience of where the show is being performed and the setting of the show. It was changed a lot during the play because it was such a lightweight structure and easy to maneuver. It was used in every performance and it made a big impact on the way the audience say these performances. Modern skenes are more advanced and creative than they were in the ancient Greek times.

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Skene definition, (in the ancient Greek theater) a structure facing the audience and forming the background before which performances were given. See more.

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Thespis was the first person to perform in a Greek play. He was also called the inventor of tragedy. He introduced the prologue. He transformed the presentations of stories.

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Solon was elderly and living a leisurely life and in addressing Thespis after his performance he asked, "if he was not ashamed to tell so many lies before such a number of people; and Thespis replying that it was no harm to say or do so in a play, Solon vehemently struck his staff against the ground: 'Ah," he said, 'if we honor and commend such play as this, we shall find it some day in our business.'"

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It is a platform in the orchestra. actors in would use it for dialogues, and the leader in the choir would also use it.

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Greek - Roman Theatre Glossary (Ancient Theatre Archive Project)

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steps, the columns, and the . These three elements in turn have three parts: three steps (uppermost being thestylobate), three parts to a column (normally thebase, shaft, and capital), and three parts to anentablature (an architrave, a frieze, and a cornice). These architectural elements are further classified by their particular style of design (Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian).

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Alex - religious festivals in honor of Dionysus

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Alex - religious festivals in honor of Dionysus

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An ancient dramatic festival in which tragedy, comedy, and satyric drama originated; it was held in Athens in March in honor of Dionysus, the god of wine.

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Table of Contents

This article was most recently revised and updated by

Great Dionysia, also called City Dionysia, ancient dramatic festival in which tragedy, comedy, and satyric drama originated; it was held in Athens in March in honour of Dionysus, the god of wine. Tragedy of some form, probably chiefly the chanting of choral lyrics, was introduced by the tyrant Peisistratus when he refounded the festival (534/531 bc), but the earliest tragedy that survives, Aeschylus' Persai, dates from 472.

The festivals were attended by all Athenian citizens (likely women as well as men) and visitors from throughout Greece. In the tragic competition, each of three tragic poets wrote, produced, and probably acted in three tragedies on a single theme. Each poet also presented a satyr play, which treated some heroic subject in burlesque fashion. Judges, chosen by lot, awarded a prize to the best poet. In comedy, introduced in 486, five poets competed for the prize, each with one play. The satyr play was always the work of a tragic poet, and the same poet never wrote both tragedies and comedies. In 440 comedy was also introduced into the Lenaea, the minor festival of Dionysus held in January, and tragedy was added 10 years later.

Chelsey Parrott-Sheffer.

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Great Dionysia, also called City Dionysia, ancient dramatic festival in which tragedy, comedy, and satyric drama originated; it was held in Athens in March in honour of Dionysus, the god of wine. Tragedy of some form, probably chiefly the chanting of choral lyrics, was introduced by the tyrant Peisistratus when he refounded the festival (534/531 bc), but the earliest tragedy that survives, Aeschylus' Persai, dates from 472.

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Theatrons are a seating area in ancient Greek theaters and is arguably the most significant part of Roman structures. The theatron is where the audience sits during a play.

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The theatron (plural theatra) is the word referring to the seating area section of an ancient Greek, Roman, and Byzantine theater. The theatron is one of the earliest and most pronounced parts of ancient theaters. In fact, some scholars argue it is the most significant part of Greek and Roman theatrical structures, the part that defines them. Theatra in Classical Greek and Roman theaters are spectacular forms of architecture, built of circular or semi-circular rows of seating in stone or marble, each row increasing in height.

The earliest Greek theaters date to the 6th to 5th centuries CE, and they included theatra in rectangular sections of seating made of wooden bleachers called ikria. Even in this rudimentary state, the theatron was a crucial part of a theater, drawing attention to the audience and providing a place where many people could be housed to be addressed or entertained. The Greek playwright Aristophanes mentions the theatron in each of his extant plays, particularly when the actors address the audience directly.

Other definitions of theatron include the people themselves. Like the word "church," which can refer to both an architectural structure or the people who use it, the theatron can mean both the seats and the seated. The word theatron also refers to seating or standing areas built over springs or cisterns, so spectators could come and view the waters and watch the mysterious vapors rise.

Whether or not you consider the theatron a defining part of a theater, the seating area is certainly why those ancient theaters are so recognizable to every one of us today.

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The theatron (plural theatra) is the word referring to the seating area section of an ancient Greek, Roman, and Byzantine theater. The theatron is one of the earliest and most pronounced parts of ancient theaters. In fact, some scholars argue it is the most significant part of Greek and Roman theatrical structures, the part that defines them.

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Literally meaning "dancing space". It was a space where the chorus would dance, sing, and interact with the actors. The orchestra was normally made on hard floor and plain but later was more designed.

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This page is designed to provide a brief introduction to Ancient Greek Theater, and to provide tools for further research. Click on any of the following topics to explore them further. 1. Timeline of Greek Drama 2. Origins of Greek Drama 3. Staging an ancient Greek play 4. Greek Theaters 5.