The Greek theatre of Syracuse lies on the south slopes of the Temenite hill, overlooking the modern city of
Syracuse
Syracuse may refer to:
Places Italy
*Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa''
*Province of Syracuse
United States
*Syracuse, New York
**East Syracuse, New York
**North Syracuse, New York
*Syracuse, Indiana
* Syracuse, Kansas
*Syracuse, Miss ...
in southeastern
Sicily
(man) it, Siciliana (woman)
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title =
, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 = Ethnicity
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographi ...
,
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
. It was first built in the 5th century BC, rebuilt in the 3rd century BC and renovated again in the
Roman period
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Roman Republic, Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings aro ...
. Today, it is a part of the
Unesco World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
of "Syracuse and the Rocky
Necropolis of Pantalica".
Ancient theatre
![Greek theater of Syracuse AvL](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/86/Greek_theater_of_Syracuse_AvL.JPG)
The existence of a theatre at Syracuse is attested by the end of the fifth century BC by the
mime author,
Sophron, who names the architect as Damokopos, called "Myrilla" because he made heavy use of perfume ("myrrha") at the inauguration. It has not been proven, however, that the passage records this monument and some think that it refers to another theatre in another location. However it is certain that a theatre was used in Syracuse from the early classical period and in it, it seems, the theatrical activities of the
playwright
A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays.
Etymology
The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...
s
Epicharmus
Epicharmus of Kos or Epicharmus Comicus or Epicharmus Comicus Syracusanus ( grc-gre, Ἐπίχαρμος ὁ Κῷος), thought to have lived between c. 550 and c. 460 BC, was a Greek dramatist and philosopher who is often credited with ...
,
Phormis and
Deinolocus took place. At Syracuse,
Aeschylus
Aeschylus (, ; grc-gre, Αἰσχύλος ; c. 525/524 – c. 456/455 BC) was an ancient Greek tragedian, and is often described as the father of tragedy. Academic knowledge of the genre begins with his work, and understanding of earlier Greek ...
put on "The Aitnans" (a
tragedy
Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a main character. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy ...
written to celebrate the re-foundation of
Catania
Catania (, , Sicilian and ) is the second largest municipality in Sicily, after Palermo. Despite its reputation as the second city of the island, Catania is the largest Sicilian conurbation, among the largest in Italy, as evidenced also by ...
with the name
Aitna, or of a centre with the name of Aitna where the Catanian exiles had found refuge after the destruction of Chalcidean
Katane at the hands of
Hieron I
Hiero or hieron (; grc, ἱερόν, "holy place") is a holy shrine, temple, or temple precinct in ancient Greece.
Hiero may also refer to:
Places and jurisdictions
* Hieron, Caria, an Ancient city and former bishopric in Asia Minor, now Avs ...
), probably in 456 BC. Also ''
The Persians'', which had already been performed at Athens in 472 BC, may have been performed at Syracuse. This latter work survives to this day, while the former has been lost. At the end of the fifth century or the beginning of the fourth, the plays of
Dionysius I were probably performed here, along with those of the playwrights hosted at his court, such as
Antiphon.
It has been theorised by Polacco that in this period the theatre did not yet have the semicircular form that became canonical in the course of the third century, but might instead have been made up of straight banks of seating arranged in a trapezoid.
Diodorus Siculus
Diodorus Siculus, or Diodorus of Sicily ( grc-gre, Διόδωρος ; 1st century BC), was an ancient Greek historian. He is known for writing the monumental universal history ''Bibliotheca historica'', in forty books, fifteen of which su ...
refers to the arrival of Dionysius at Syracuse in 406 BC as the people were exiting the theatre.
Plutarch
Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''P ...
recounts the escape of an angry bull during a citizen assembly in 355 BC and the arrival of
Timoleon in a carriage in 336, while the people were meeting here, testifying to the importance of the building in public life.
Hellenistic theatre
![Greek theater of Syracuse front AvL](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0f/Greek_theater_of_Syracuse_front_AvL.JPG)
It seems that the theatre was renovated in the third century, after 238 BC and certainly before the death of Hieron II in 215 BC, transforming it into the form seen today. Its structure was extended, taking into account the shape of the Temenite hill and the best possibilities for
acoustics
Acoustics is a branch of physics that deals with the study of mechanical waves in gases, liquids, and solids including topics such as vibration, sound, ultrasound and infrasound. A scientist who works in the field of acoustics is an acoustician ...
. Another typical characteristic of Greek theatres is the celebration of the panoramic view, also applied to the theatre of Syracuse, offering a view of the bay of the port and the island of
Ortygia.
The
theatron
Ancient Greek theatre was a theatrical culture that flourished in ancient Greece from 700 BC. The city-state of Athens, which became a significant cultural, political, and religious place during this period, was its centre, where the theatre was ...
had a diameter of 138.6 metres, one of the largest in the Greek world, and originally had 67 rows of seating, mostly cut into rock, and divided into nine sectors (''cunei'') by access stairs. A pathway (''diazoma'') runs around the theatre halfway up the cavea, dividing it in two. On the walls there are inscriptions for each of the cunei, with the names of divinities (
Olympian Zeus,
Herakles) and of members of the royal family (Hieron II himself, his wife
Philistis, his daughter-in-law Nereis, daughter of
Pyrrhus, and his son
Gelo II), which has encouraged some authors to consider the inscriptions valuable for dating the monument's construction or renovation. The upper portion of the seating, now destroyed, was built up on top of an embankment held up by a retaining wall. On the central axis of the cavea, a platform was cut into the rock, perhaps a place for particularly important people to sit.
![Iscrizione-teatro-greco](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/70/Iscrizione-teatro-greco.jpg)
The
orchestra
An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families.
There are typically four main sections of instruments:
* bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...
was originally bounded by a wide ''euripos'' (drain), with a space on the outside before the beginning of the steps, by which the public entered.
The
skené is entirely destroyed and only the cuttings in the bed rock for its foundations are now visible. These belong to multiple phases and are difficult to interpret. A passage dug under the orchestra, accessible by a staircase from the stage and ending in a small room probably belongs to Hieron II's time: it is hypothetically identified with the "Stairs of
Charon
In Greek mythology, Charon or Kharon (; grc, Χάρων) is a psychopomp, the ferryman of Hades, the Greek underworld. He carries the souls of those who have been given funeral rites across the rivers Acheron and Styx, which separate the wo ...
," which allowed the actors sudden entrances and exits. A ditch for the
front curtain probably belongs to this phase too (in ancient theatres these did not fall from above, but rose from below). The traces of an element on which columns and pilasters must have stood have been interpreted as the remnants of a small mobile stage for
Phlyax plays. A statue of a
caryatid now preserved in the
Museo archeologico regionale Paolo Orsi
The Museo Archeologico Regionale Paolo Orsi of Syracuse, Sicily is one of the principal archaeological museums of Europe.
History
In 1780 the Bishop Alagona inaugurated the ''Museo del Seminario'' which became the ''Museo Civico'' near the arch ...
, which contains material excavated and recovered in the theatre, probably formed part of the theatre's decoration.
Above the theatre there is a terrace, excavated in rock, accessible by a central stairway and by a recessed path, known as "Via dei Sepolcri" (Street of the Tombs). Originally, the terrace had a large portico at the left. In the centre of the foundation wall was a grotto, the
grotta del Ninfeo, excavated in the rock, bordered by niches probably designed to host statues and originally probably surrounded by architectural elements of the
Doric order
The Doric order was one of the three orders of ancient Greek and later Roman architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian. The Doric is most easily recognized by the simple circular capitals at the top of col ...
(of which only parts of a frieze survives). Inside the room (9.35 x 6.35 m, 4.75 m high) was a tub made of
Opus signinum
''Opus signinum'' ('cocciopesto' in modern Italian) is a building material used in ancient Rome. It is made of tiles broken up into very small pieces, mixed with mortar, and then beaten down with a rammer. Pliny the Elder in his '' Natural Histor ...
, into which water from the ancient Greek aqueduct flowed. From here the water flowed into the hydraulic system of the theatre. The whole thing might be identified with the ''Mouseion'' or sanctuary of
Muse
In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses ( grc, Μοῦσαι, Moûsai, el, Μούσες, Múses) are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the ...
s, seat of the company of actors. According to the anonymous ''Life of Euripides'', Dionysios dedicated objects belonging to the tragic poet
Euripides
Euripides (; grc, Εὐριπίδης, Eurīpídēs, ; ) was a tragedian
Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful e ...
acquired at great expense in Greece in this sanctuary.
Roman period theatre
Important modifications were made to the theatre, perhaps at the time when the
colonia was founded in the early
Augustan period. The cavea was modified to a semicircular form, typical of Roman theatres, rather than the horseshoe used in Greek theatres and corridors allowing access past the scene building (''
parodoi A parodos (also parode and parodus; grc, πάροδος, 'entrance', plural ), in the theater of ancient Greece, is a side-entrance to the stage, or the first song that is sung by the chorus at the beginning of a Greek tragedy.
Side-entrance to th ...
''). The scene building itself was reconstructed in monumental form with rectangular niches at centre and two niches with a semicircular plan on the sides, containing doors to the scene. A new ditch was dug for the curtain, with a control room. In the orchestra, the old ''euripos'' was buried, replaced by a new canal, much tighter and closer to the stairs of the cavea, expanding its diameter from 16 m to 21.4 m. The decoration of the scene probably underwent renovations in the
Flavian Flavian may refer to:
* A member of the Flavian dynasty of Roman emperors, during the late 1st century AD, or their works
* Flavian Zeija, a Ugandan lawyer, academic and judge. Principal Judge of Uganda, since December 2019.
* A person named Flavian ...
and/or
Antonine periods.
In the late Imperial period other modifications were conducted, designed to adapt the orchestra for water games and the scene was probably moved back. Traces of adaptations to allow the theatre to host gladiatorial battles and spectacles with beasts by the elimination of the first steps of the cavea to create a raised wall protecting the spectators do not exist. Instead, these spectacles probably continued to take place in the
amphitheatre
An amphitheatre (British English) or amphitheater (American English; both ) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ...
found in Syracuse since the Augustan period.
An inscription which is now lost mentioned a Neratius Palmatus as the one responsible for a renovation of the scene: if this was the same person who restored the
Curia
Curia (Latin plural curiae) in ancient Rome referred to one of the original groupings of the citizenry, eventually numbering 30, and later every Roman citizen was presumed to belong to one. While they originally likely had wider powers, they came ...
at
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
after the
Sack of Rome by
Alaric in 410, then the final works on the theatre at Syracuse can be dated to the beginning of the fifth century AD, by which time the building was nearly nine hundred years old.
Subsequent history
![Teatro greco Siracusa Houel](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/55/Teatro_greco_Siracusa_Houel.jpg)
Remaining abandoned for centuries, it underwent progressive
spoliation
Spoliation may refer to:
* Looting
* Spoliation of evidence in a criminal investigation
See also
* Spoliation Advisory Panel
*Nazi plunder
Nazi plunder (german: Raubkunst) was the stealing of art and other items which occurred as a result ...
at the hands of the
Spanish under
Charles V, who used the stone blocks to construct new fortifications on Ortygia. This process led to the destruction of the scene building and the upper part of the seating. After the second half of the sixteenth century, the Marchess of Sortino, Pietro Gaetani, reactivated the ancient aqueduct which brought water to the top of the theatre, allowing the creation of several
water mills in the cavea, of which the so-called ''casetta dei mugnai'' (Millers' Cottage) at the top of the cavea remains visible.
![Théatre de Syracuse, fine sec](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e0/Th%C3%A9atre_de_Syracuse%2C_fine_sec._XVIII.jpg)
At the end of the eighteenth century, interest in the theatre revived and it was mentioned and depicted by the erudites of the period (Arezzo,
Fazello
Tommaso Fazello (New Latin ''Fazellus'', 1498 – 8 April 1570) was an Italian Dominican friar, historian and antiquarian. He is known as the father of Sicilian history. He is the author of the first printed history of Sicily: ''De Rebus Sicu ...
, Mirabella, Bonanni) and by famous travellers (d'Orville,
von Riedesel,
[''"Although the stage has been destroyed, the grandness, prominence and majesty with which it was cut into the rock, demands respect and awe"''] Jean-Claude Richard
Jean-Claude Richard de Saint-Non (1727 – 25 November 1791) was a French painter and printmaker. He was born, and also died, in Paris. He is often rather misleadingly known as the "Abbé de Saint-Non"; although intended for the church by his ...
,
Houel,
Denon
is a Japanese electronics company started in 1910 by Frederick Whitney Horn, an American entrepreneur. Denon produced the first cylinder audio media in Japan and players to play them. Decades later, Denon was involved in the early stages of de ...
,
[''"...the theatre with its seating would have been prefectly preserved, if it had not been used by some as a quarry for stone and if they did not, even today, rip it apart without restraint"''] etc.). In the following century proper excavations took place, thanks to the interest of Landolina and Cavallari who busied themselves with freeing the monument from the dirt which had built up on top of it. Subsequently, archaeological investigation was carried out by
Paolo Orsi
Paolo Orsi (Rovereto, October 17, 1859 – November 8, 1935) was an Italian archaeologist and classicist.
Life
Orsi was born in Rovereto, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and now in the province of Trento in Italy. After studying at a g ...
and other archaeologists, ending with Voza in 1988.
In 1914, the Istituto Nazionale del Dramma Antico (INDA) began the annual performance of Greek drama in the ancient theatre (the first was the tragedy ''
Agamemnon'' of
Aeschylus
Aeschylus (, ; grc-gre, Αἰσχύλος ; c. 525/524 – c. 456/455 BC) was an ancient Greek tragedian, and is often described as the father of tragedy. Academic knowledge of the genre begins with his work, and understanding of earlier Greek ...
, directed by
Ettore Romagnoli).
The ancient Greek tragedies are performed at sunset, in Italian (with translations by famous writers such as
Salvatore Quasimodo), without sound systems because of the quality of the theatre's acoustics. Each theatre season begins in May and ends in July, attracting thousands of spectators from all over the world. Some of the most illustrious performed tragedies are ''
Antigone
In Greek mythology, Antigone ( ; Ancient Greek: Ἀντιγόνη) is the daughter of Oedipus and either his mother Jocasta or, in another variation of the myth, Euryganeia. She is a sister of Polynices, Eteocles, and Ismene.Roman, L., & Roma ...
'', ''
Oedipus Rex
''Oedipus Rex'', also known by its Greek title, ''Oedipus Tyrannus'' ( grc, Οἰδίπους Τύραννος, ), or ''Oedipus the King'', is an Athenian tragedy by Sophocles that was first performed around 429 BC. Originally, to the ancient Gr ...
'', ''
Electra
Electra (; grc, Ήλέκτρα) is one of the most popular mythological characters in tragedies.Evans (1970), p. 79 She is the main character in two Greek tragedies, '' Electra'' by Sophocles and '' Electra'' by Euripides. She is also the centra ...
'', ''
Medea
In Greek mythology, Medea (; grc, Μήδεια, ''Mēdeia'', perhaps implying "planner / schemer") is the daughter of King Aeëtes of Colchis, a niece of Circe and the granddaughter of the sun god Helios. Medea figures in the myth of Jason an ...
'' and ''
The Bacchae
''The Bacchae'' (; grc-gre, Βάκχαι, ''Bakchai''; also known as ''The Bacchantes'' ) is an ancient Greek tragedy, written by the Athenian playwright Euripides during his final years in Macedonia, at the court of Archelaus I of Macedon. ...
''.
Aside from this, the theatre has enjoyed use for concerts and official prizegivings, like the Premio Vittorini, but such use has been tightly limited for conservation reasons.
Since 2010 the theatre has been one of the monuments of the Servizio Parco Archeologico di Siracusa and of the archaeological area of the surrounding ''comuni'', an organ of the Regione Siciliana, Assessorato Regionale dei Beni Culturali e dell'Identità Siciliana. In 2014, the Assessorato authorised the use of the theatre for summer events like music, singing and dance performances.
See also
*
List of ancient Greek theatres
This is a list of ancient Greek theatres by location.
Attica and Athens
*Theatre of Dionysus, Athens
*Odeon of Athens, Athens
* Theatre of Oropos, Oropos, East Attica
* Theatre of Zea, Piraeus, Athens
* Theatre of Thoricus, East Attica
* Theatre ...
*
List of Roman theatres
*
Ancient theatre of Taormina
The ancient theatre of Taormina ( it, Teatro antico di Taormina) is an ancient Greek theatre in Taormina, Sicily, built in the third century BC.
History
A Hellenistic theatre stood at Taormina from around the third century BC. The remains of an ...
Footnotes
;Notes
;References
Bibliography
* B. Pace, ''Arte e cività della Sicilia antica'', Roma 1938
* F.S. Cavallari, ''Relazione sullo stato delle antichità di Sicilia, sulle scoperte e sui restauri dal 1860 al 1872'', Roma 1958
* C. Anti, ''Guida per il visitatore del teatro antico di Siracusa'', Firenze, 1948.
* C. Anti, ''Il teatro greco trapezoidale ad ali convergenti'', in Dioniso, Bollettino Ist. Naz. Dramma antico, 1948, pp. 152–162
* P.E. Arias, ''il teatro greco fuori di Atene'', Firenze, 1934, pp. 139–142
*Kathryn G. Bosher. 2021. ''Greek Theater in Ancient Sicily''. Cambridge University Press.
* G.V. Gentili, ''Siracusa'', in EAA, Roma 1966, pp. 329–330, 333-334
* L.Bernabò Brea, ''Studi sul teatro greco di Siracusa'', Palladio, XVII, 1967, pp. 97–154
* G. Traversari, Tetimino e Colimbétra, ''ultime manifestazioni del teatro antico'', in Dioniso, Bollettino Ist. Naz. Dramma antico, 1950, pp. 21–22
* L.Polacco, C. Anti, I''l teatro antico di Siracusa'',
ars 1con la collaborazione di M.Trojani; rilievi di I. Gismondi e A.C. Scolari, Rimini 1981
* L. Polacco (a cura di), ''Il teatro antico di Siracusa pars altera'', con scritti di L. Polacco, S.L. Agnello, G. Lena, G. Marchese, Padova, 1990
* L. Polacco, ''la posizione del teatro greco di siracusa nel quadro dell’architettura teatrale antica in Sicilia'', in APARCHAI, studi sulla Magna Grecia e la Sicilia antica in onore di PE Arias, Pisa 1982, pp. 431–443
* D. Mertens, ''Recensione a Polacco ''Anti 1981, Gnomon. 91, 1984, pp. 263 s.
* K. Mitens, ''Teatri greci e teatri ispirati all’architettura greca in Sicilia e nell’Italia Meridionale'', Roma 1988, pp. 116–120
* L. Polacco, M. Trojani, A.C. Scolari, ''Ricerche e scavi nell'area del teatro antico di Siracusa'', "Kokalos", XXX-XXXI, 1984–85, ii,2, pp. 839–846, tavv. CLXXXVI-CLXXXIX
* H.P. Isler, ''Siracusa'' in Teatri greci e romani, alle origini del linguaggio rappresentato- censimento analitico, Roma 1994, V, III
* D. Mertens, ''Città e monumenti dei Greci d’Occidente: dalla colonizzazione alla fine del V sec. a.C.'', Roma, 2006, p. 313.
* U. Pappalardo, Daniela Borrelli, ''Teatri greci e romani,'' Verona, 2007, pp. 46–49.
* M.A. Mastelloni, “''Syracuse. The “via sacra” and the Ancient Theater of Neapolis” description and demands''. In “Architettura e archeologie dei paesaggi della produzione” Erasmus Intensive Programme - “Archaeology’s places and contemporary uses” in “Archaeology’s places and contemporary uses” design Workshop 3, pp. 172-177
* M.A. Mastelloni, Cave e materiali utilizzati in alcuni monumenti di Siracusa, in ''Arquelogía de la Construcción IV, Le cave nel mondo antico: sistemi di sfruttamento e processi produttivi, Conv Int. Padova 22-24/11/2012'', Merida 2014, pp. 223-245
External links
''Teatro Greco'' on the comune's websiteby A. Salerno, on the site Arkeomania.
''Ultime scoperte nel teatro greco di Siracusa'' article by
Eva Cantarella
Eva Cantarella (born 1936 in Rome) is an Italian classicist. She is professor of Roman law and ancient Greek law at the University of Milan, and has served as Dean of the Law School at the University of Camerino.
Biography
Cantarella is known for ...
in the ''Corriere della Sera''
Site of the Istituto Nazionale del Dramma Antico (INDA) on Galleriaroma.
Photo galleryon Siciliafotografica.
Euripides’ Bacchae at the Greek Theatre in Syracuse Didaskalia.
{{Authority control
5th-century BC establishments in Italy
Archaeological sites in Siracusa
Syracuse
Syracuse may refer to:
Places Italy
*Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa''
*Province of Syracuse
United States
*Syracuse, New York
**East Syracuse, New York
**North Syracuse, New York
*Syracuse, Indiana
* Syracuse, Kansas
*Syracuse, Miss ...
Ancient Syracuse
Theatres in Sicily