1JLAYS OF MEN AND pATE n

significance in Greek religion, even as the lives of the saints
and martyrs have come to have a significance in the Christian
religion. As the Theatre was also a temple., it would have
been inappropriate to present murders and deeds of violence
on the stage. These were always supposed to happen 'off3,
and were reported by a narrator, although the screams of the
victims might be heard.

With the plot known, the interest which comes from sur-
prise was barred, and other interests were introduced. In
the first place, the performances were always made a public
holiday, and the huge crowd had a sense of the unity and
greatness of their own nation when, as a body, they witnessed
the greatest scenes of their history re-enacted before them.
With this was the interest which comes from watching a
competition, for different playwrights presented plays on the
same story, and there was a prize at the end for that adjudged
to be the best.

These conditions greatly affected both the manner of
performance and the kind of play which was performed.
The actors had to be seen by this huge crowd of people, and
they moved on a stage which was wide, but shallow. To
make them more easily visible, and as a sign that they were
more than human, they wore high-soled boots called; buskins;^
and to emphasize their part in the story they wore a mask'
which represented their typical mood throughout the play.
Along with the actors, who were always very few in number,
there was a group of people known as the chorus, who acted
as a sort of guide to the spectators, commenting on the
action, pointing out the significance of what was happening,
and sometimes taking part in the play. These actors did not
perform on the stage, but on the 'orchestra', a semicircular
space in front of the stage, on which was placed the altar to
Dionysus. They accompanied their words with a kind of