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Sophocles is one of three ancient Greek tragedians whose plays have survived. His first plays were written later than or contemporary with those of Aeschylus, and earlier than or contemporary with those of Euripides.

Aeschylus was an ancient Greek tragedian. He is often described as the father of tragedy. Academics' knowledge of the genre begins with his work, and understanding of earlier tragedies is largely based on inferences from his surviving plays.

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Thespis of Icaria was the first person to ever “play a person” on stage. Thespis was also the singer of “Dithyrambs”, songs about stories from mythology. Thespis introduced the style of a greek “tragedy”. Thespis also invented theatrical tours banking on his success.

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The mask-makers were known as skeuopoios or “maker of the properties,” Which implied that their role included many roles and tasks.

Today, there are no longer any remains of the ancient Greek masks, as they were made out of organic materials (such as hardened linen, leather, wood, etc.) and were not considered permanent objects.

The actors had megaphones built into their masks to amplify their voices. However these sometimes caused trouble as they were a bit muffled.

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Costumes, along with masks and props, helped to show the social status, gender, and age of a character.

Athenian characters wore more complex, decorated versions of everyday clothing, such as a tunic or undergarment. Costumes for characters that were non-Athenians tended to be more bizarre. Tragic actors wore buskins (which are raised platform shoes) to symbolize superior status, while comic actors wore plain socks. When acting as women, actors wore body stockings a to make their bodies appear feminine. Some actors even wore animal skins as their costumes.

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Although little is known about the Greek acting styles, there tended to be no forth wall between the actors and the audience.

While acting, the actors may describe what they are doing or the emotions they are trying to portray.

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“Ancient Greek Costumes, Masks And Theater In Focus.” Ancient Pages, 3 Mar. 2018, www.ancientpages.com/2016/11/25/ancient-greek-costumes-masks-and-theater-in-focus/.

ma-work.co.uk, content: Headlong website: M/A. “Ancient Greek Theatre.” Idea | Ancient Greek Theatre | Headlong, headlong.co.uk/ideas/ancient-greek-theatre/.

PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, www.pbs.org/empires/thegreeks/background/24c.html.

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Actors were semi-professionals, as they were paid for their performances but acting was not their full time career.

There were no actresses in Greek plays. If a woman character was used in a play, then it would be played by a man.

The maximum number of actors needed on stage for a Greek Tragedy was three. This allowed the actors to quickly change their masks and costumes.

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As plays progressed, actors began to wear costumes and masks. These helped to express the different types of emotions that they wanted to portray.

The greek term for mask is persona and was an important element in the worship of Dionysus at Athens.

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The first plays were very simple and mainly consisted of popular songs that were acted out in a rude manner. Later on they became more elaborate as the actors liked to act out the local tales told by storytellers.

Some people disapproved of the plays, especially Solon because he said that Thespis of Icaria was teaching the Athens to love a lie since plays were sometimes unrealistic and untrue.

Most plays were only really shown one time.

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There were three types of plays in Ancient Greece:
1.) Comedy
2.) Satyr
3.) Tragedy

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The origins of comedy is unknown but early forms appeared in pottery, poems, and songs.

The first comedic plays were of a very sexual nature and based off of old poems from poets such as Hipponax.

Aristophane's "The Wasp" was one of the first comedies preformed and involved elaborate costumes resembling wasps.

Later comedies involved improvisation and debate or witty banter between characters.

Comedies often focused on situations happening at the time with politicians or even common people.

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Masks also served the purpose of imitating gods in early tragedies.