Daily Life of the Ancient Greeks

Pleasure and Leisure 275
Stage Equipment
Because theatrical performances took place in broad daylight,
there was no opportunity to focus the audience’s attention on a
particular spot through lighting effects. Only two items of stage
equipment were in regular use. One was the ekkyklêma, or “object
that is rolled out.” This was a low platform on wheels that was
projected into the orchêstra from the central doors of the scene
building to reveal the interior of a place or temple. The ekkyklêma
was undoubtedly used by Aeschylus in Agamemnon in order to
display the bodies of Klytaimnestra and her lover Aigisthos after
they had been murdered by Orestes. The other device was the
mêchanê, a word that simply means machine. The mêchanê was a
kind of crane that enabled a character to be transported on or off
stage by being swung through the air. The Latin phrase deus ex
machina, (literally “a god from a machine”), which has entered our
language, is a reference to the overworking of this device by dramatists
who used it to extricate their characters from an otherwise
insoluble plot.
The Chorus
The Greek word chôros, which to us suggests collective singing,
literally means dance (as in the word choreography ). Most choruses
(in the Greek sense) were a combination of music, dance, and song.
The central importance of the chorus in Greek drama is indicated by
the fact that it was the orchêstra that formed the focus for a theatrical
production. In earlier times, choruses numbered about fifty, but,
around the middle of the fifth century b.c.e., they were reduced in
size to fifteen or twelve. The training of a chorus was a lengthy and
expensive undertaking. Costumes were often costly and elaborate.
We are told that when the chorus of Furies entered in Aeschylus’s
Eumenides, their appearance was so frightful that pregnant women
miscarried on the spot. However, since we are not even sure that
women attended the theater, the anecdote may be apocryphal. In
comedy, the costumes worn by the chorus were often extremely
exotic, as suggested by the names of some of Aristophanes’ comedies,
such as Birds, Wasps, Clouds, and Frogs.
The chorus entered the orchêstra at the end of the first scene and
remained there throughout the performance. During the choral passages,
its members would sing and dance to the accompaniment of
the aulos, a double pipe with reeds. The chorus leader might converse
with the actors from time to time. One of the primary functions