Classical Greek Theatre: New Views of an Old Subject

3. The Shape of the Orchestra: A History and Critique

THE SHAPE OF THE ORCHESTRA A History and Critique The Greek theatres which first became known to scholars had partially circular orchestras with a wrap-around hillside viewing area: The theatres at Priene, Sikyon, Eretria, and the Theatre of Dionysos at Athens were among the first excavated, and all exhibited this part-circular pattern. However, it was the theatre at Epidauros, also excavated in mid-nineteenth century, that had the greatest impact upon early researchers; extolled since the time of Pausanias as an example of beauty and architectural harmony , Epidauros became an early model for the quintessential Greek theatre . The orchestra here was a complete circle defined by a stone curbing, and this led to the speculation - which was ultimately elevated to a conclusion - that the full circle was the primitive orchestra shape, that all primordial theatres had been constructed with totally circular orchestras. Further conjecture established a neat and orderly progression of orchestra shapes: first the full circle, then a gradual paring-down ofthe portion nearest the scene house until the semicircular orchestra of the Roman theatre resulted. Casting about for an ancestor of the complete circle, classicists seized upon the ancient threshing circle, still a ubiquitous sight throughout the Greek world. Here again a logical progression was posited: first, happy peasants linking arms and treading out the grain in the threshing circle, with song and dance lightening the monotony of their task; second, spectators assembling on a hillside to watch the merry threshing crew; third, soloists (actors) added to what by now had become a performance. This scenario dominated most Greek theatre studies until the early part of the twentieth century. It not only served to explain the remains which had been uncovered, but also predisposed archaeologists to discover a similar pattern in new excavations. The circular shape became the hallmark of the ancient theatre; any excavated structure that lacked a rounded orchestra could not possibly be a theatre. There are some fundamental objections to this pattern of development. 1. Theatrical dance tends toward a rectangular pattern, not a circular one. "Where dancing is concerned, the most natural setting for it is a circular space," wrote O. A. W. Dilke in 1948; 1 given such a sweeping dictum, one envisions dancers swirling around a circular orchestra. A group of musicians sitting at an altar is usually added at the hub of this circle, providing an inward focus for the dancers; this embellishment is somewhat supported by the writings ofVitruvius and Pollux. While the dance-in-a-circle chorus is still a commonly held concept, it does not acknowledge the essential difference between folk and theatrical dance. Round dancing is not intended for exhibition; its participants dance for their own pleasure, not for that of spectato~s. If onlookers are present, they usually surround the dancers on all sides. Dance-as-performance is another matter: as soon as important spectators, priests, princes, or elders assemble in a certain location, the dancers turn toward them, and the center focus is abandoned. The dance has now become a presentation done for others. There is little evidence of round dancing in Classical times. Vase paintings usually picture dancers in-line, often with hands linked, typically following a god, a priest, or a flutist. If contemporary folk patterns are to be evoked in determining the dances of the past, it should be noted that present-day Greek dance is serpentine, not circular; a leading dancer guides followers through various seemingly random patterns, much like the figures on the vases. Line dancing does not fit into a circular arena. Sir Arthur Evans, after excavating the "theatral area" at Knossos, organized a performance in that rectangular space using some of his Cretan laborers; he found that "the sinuous meandering course of the dancers was in fact quite appropriate to the Knossian tradition."2 For many years, the Dora Stratou dancers appeared each summer in a varied program of Greek dances on the slopes of the Pnyx; they performed in a rectangular space. 2. The threshing circle is an unlikely progenitor. Threshing in ancient times was much more easily accomplished by teams of cattle or donkeys driven around the circle, not by dancing peasants.3 There is little evidence to suggest that, in the Classic period, monotonous thresh-walking was done by THE S HAP E 0 F THE 0 RC H EST RA 25 people when beasts were available. Xenophon has a dialogue...