Skene

Related Resources • Greek and Latin Prosody • Dochmiacs • Iambic Trimeter • Anapests • Tragedy: Setting the Stage • Terminology for Drama (especially tragedy) • Other Features on Drama

Modern screenplays consist of dialogues among individuals. Ancient tragedy began as a conversation between a single actor and a chorus. A second and third actor were added -- eventually.

Skene, the Greek word from which we get the word scene, was originally a flat-roofed stage building. Didaskalia says that Aeschylus' Oresteia is the first extant tragedy to use the skene. In the fifth century, the skene was a non-permanent building placed at the back of the orchestra. It served as a backstage area. It could represent a palace or cave or anything in between and had a door from which actors could emerge.

> > Terminology For Tragedy

Graphic courtesy of ArtToday