ABSTRACT
Greek tragedy springs from the Dionysiac cult. Aristotle in his Poetics writes that tragedy originated from the dithyrambic choruses, and comedy from the phallic.1 The main characteristics in the development from cultic drama to drama proper are as follows: first, the abandonment of the chorus’ exclusively satyric character: it is no longer only dithyrambs in praise of Dionysus, but also a celebration of the lives and achievements of other gods and heroes; second, the transition of the protagonist from being epic laudator of the events of others to himself representing the celebrated hero and reproducing his sufferings; and third, the introduction of a regular plot or action (δρᾶμα). “The number of actors was first increased to two by Aeschylus, who curtailed the business of the Chorus, and made the dialogue take the leading part in the play,” says Aristotle; “a third actor and scenery were due to Sophocles.2... Discarding short stories and ludicrous diction, through its passing out of its satyric stage, tragedy assumed, though only at a late point in its progress, a tone of dignity; and its meter changed then from trochaic to iambic.”3
