This new form of dramatic entertainment demanded a
proper setting, and soon every Greek city owned a theatre, cut
out of the rock of a nearby hill. The spectators sat upon
wooden benches and faced a wide circle (our present orchestra
where you pay three dollars and thirty cents for a seat).
Upon this half-circle, which was the stage, the actors and the
chorus took their stand. Behind them there was a tent where
they made up with large clay masks which hid their faces and
which showed the spectators whether the actors were supposed
to be happy and smiling or unhappy and weeping. The Greek
word for tent is ``skene'' and that is the reason why we talk
of the ``scenery'' of the stage.
When once the tragedy had become part of Greek life, the
people took it very seriously and never went to the theatre to
give their minds a vacation. A new play became as important
an event as an election and a successful playwright was
received with greater honors than those bestowed upon a general
who had just returned from a famous victory.
THE PERSIAN WARS
HOW THE GREEKS DEFENDED EUROPE
AGAINST ASIATIC INVASION AND DROVE
THE PERSIANS BACK ACROSS THE AEGEAN
SEA
THE Greeks had learned the art of trading from the
AEgeans who had been the pupils of the Phoenicians. They
had founded colonies after the Phoenician pattern. They had
even improved upon the Phoenician methods by a more general
use of money in dealing with foreign customers.
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