Greek Amphitheatre At Delphi.docx

GREEK AMPHITHEATRE AT DELPHI, PHOCIS, GREECE 

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The theater at Delphi is build further up the hill from the Temple of Apollo and it presented the seated audience with a spectacular view of the entire sanctuary below and the valley beyond. The first stone theatre was built of local limestone from Mount Parnassus in the 4th c. BC. In 160/159 BC, Eumenes II of Pergamon funded repairs to the theatre, which acquired a more monumental form. The modern form of the theatre dates to the early Roman period (1st c. AD). Its 35 rows can accommodate around 5,000 spectators who in ancient times enjoyed plays, poetry readings, and musical events during the various festivals that took place periodically at Delphi. The removal of earth and the first excavations in the area of the theatre were originally undertaken in 1895, by the French School of Archaeology at Athens under the directorship of T. Homolle.

ACOUSTICS: o

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Greeks designed theaters to have excellent acoustics. Sound quality is greatest at the performance area and bounced off the hard pavement of the orchestra and skene to disburse evenly and clearly throughout the audience. By not enclosing the walls there is no reverberation from outside sources so there is no loss of sound quality. The design became standard to create excellent hearing conditions, good speech quality, and a still atmosphere that enabled a clear and successful projection of sound to the audience.

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SPECIAL FEATURES: o Inscriptions located on the theater retaining walls can be correlated to the emancipation of slaves. Located on the stage was a relief that depicted the Labors of Heracles. o Many seats bear incised letters, a form of seat numbering in Roman times. There are also official titles in the genitive case, such as amphictyonon (“belonging to the members of the amphictyonian council”) and symboulon (“belonging to the counsellors”), as well as proper names of distinguished individuals.

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PLAN:

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The deep, amphitheatral cavea, circular in plan and with a total capacity of 5,000 spectators, is divided laterally into two zones of uneven size by a horizontal passageway, the diazoma, which facilitates the spectators’ movement within the cavea. The lower cavea, or theatron (theatre) has 27 rows of seats and is divided by radiating symmetrical staircases into 7 wedge-shaped cunei, while the upper cavea, or epitheatron (epitheatre), has 8 rows of seats and is divided into 6 cunei. The lower tiers of seats were built during the Hellenistic and Roman periods. The orchestra, 18.50 m in diameter, is encircled by a 2.20-metre-wide passageway allowing the spectators to move around, below which runs a rainwater drainage duct, the euripos. The horseshoe shape and paving of the orchestra floor with unevenly-sized slabs are modifications of the Roman period. Opposite the cavea and orchestra rose the stage of the theatre. Of this rectangular stage building only the foundations remain, at a level lower than that of the orchestra. To the north of the main stage rose the proscenium, a small stoa with columns or half-columns, facing the orchestra. In the 1st c. AD the proscenium façade was decorated with a marble frieze carved in relief.

(EXTRA INFO- In modern times the stage is larger and is the focus of attention, similar to later Roman theaters, but the stage of the Greek theater was less dominant. The depth of the stage was roughly 7 to 12 feet, hardly enough room for any actor to perform his part, so actors also used the chorus as a performance area. Single acts were generally performed by one actor who stood in the center of the orchestra, on the steps, or around the vicinity of the altar. Within the orchestra, actors and chorus members danced, walked, and acted out their parts, in the view of everyone in the amphitheater. Making the orchestra among the most dynamic spaces in the theater.) 

REFERENCES: o https://www.ancient-greece.org/architecture/delphi-theater.html o https://www.coastal.edu/intranet/ashes2art/delphi2/sanctuary/theatre.html o http://www.diazoma.gr/en/theaters/ancient-theatre-of-delphi/ o https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delphi#Temple_of_Apollo