Theater of Syracuse

The Theaters

The great theater of Syracuse, a city of Magna Graecia (Megale Hellas) settled by Colonists from Corinth, was built under tyrant Hiero I (r. c. 478-466 B.C.) by architect Democopus Myrilla and hewn from the local stone.

• 5th Century Timeline
• List of the Tyrants of Syracuse

Hiero was a patron of the arts. The Athenian poet Aeschylus composed a play called "The Women of Aetna" for Hiero, in 471 B.C., in honor of the tyrant's creation of a new town at the base of Mt. Aetna. The play prophesied future greatness for the new city. Aeschylus also performed his Persian Women trilogy at the theater of Syracuse, perhaps for the first time. Even if not, the trilogies were not routinely repeated. Epicharmus, who may have been a Syracusan, wrote his comedies for performance at the Theater of Syracuse.

• Maps of Southern Italy

Hiero II (r. 270-215 B.C.) enhanced the approximately 138 meters-wide theater of Syracuse. He increased the number of rows to 67. Hiero also divided the theater of Syracuse into 9 wedges, each named for an important figure, including himself. It may have held up to 20,000 spectators. Early emperors removed the lowest rows of seats for the gladiatorial games.

References

• _{"The Astronomical Orientation of Ancient Greek Temples," by Alun M. Salt}
  
• _{Sicily in Fable, History, Art, and Song, by Walter Copland Perry}
  
• _{Syracuse: Theater}
  
• _{"Euripides in Megale Hellas: Some Aspects of the Early Reception of Tragedy," by William Allan. Greece & Rome, Second Series, Vol. 48, No. 1 (Apr., 2001), pp. 67-86.}
  
• _{Teatro Greco}
  
• _Syracuse
  
• _{Syracuse, Sicily - 1911 Encyclopedia}
  
• _{"Cicero in Verr. Act. II.4" from "Transactions of the Royal Society of Literature of the United Kingdom By Royal Society of Literature (Great Britain)" and translated at Perseus - Cicero}
• _{"Two Notes on Syracuse," by F. Haverfield. The Classical Review, 3.3 (Mar., 1889), pp. 110-112}