The ancient Greeks were a competitive bunch; and it wasn’t just in the Olympics! Every spring, the Great Dionysia was held in Athens. This yearly festival celebrated Dionysus (the Greek god of wine, fertility, agriculture, and theater), and to honor him, a theater contest took place.

This contest was special—only three poets were allowed to compete, and they were chosen by an Athenian official who was in charge of guaranteeing the quality of the event. Each poet wrote four plays, all about a single theme. Finally, at the end of the festival, judges declared the winning poet.

Three of the plays were known as “tragedies.” Almost every tragedy told a story from Greek mythology, stories that were religious to their Greek audiences. Because of this, the plays usually had grave tones and taught moral lessons.

For their fourth play, each poet wrote a satyr play to cheer up the audience. To do this, the poet borrowed many of the same characters and adventures from his tragedy—but he introduced a rowdy bunch of satyrs. These satyrs were part man and part beast; they loved wine and women, and they played tricks on the noble heroes in the play.

Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides were masters of creating tragedies and satyr plays. They are considered the three greatest Greek tragedians.

Comedy was the other type of Greek play. It was so different from tragedy that a Greek poet would only write one or the other. Comedies were colorful, rude, and comical, poking fun at everything from current events to religious practices.

Aristophanes is considered the greatest Greek comedian.

Even though ancient Greek comedies and tragedies were different in so many ways, they shared one specific group of characters: the chorus.

Only three actors were allowed in comedies and tragedies, but they shared the stage with a chorus—and choruses could include between 12 to 50 extra people!

The members of the chorus interacted with the main plot by singing and dancing. They helped interpret the events of the play, and they invited the audience to connect the play’s lessons to their own lives.

At first glance, Greek theater seems very different from its modern counterpart. Besides only having three actors, only men were allowed to perform. By wearing elaborate masks, the trio played multiple characters—including girls, women, and animals.

But if we look closer, some important things have stayed the same People still love excellent stories, funny jokes, and impressive costumes.
People are still curious about new worlds and mindsets. People still ask hard questions about history and society, and they still appreciate having a safe place to explore possible answers.