Greek Tragedy and Comedy
Greek Tragedy
Greek tragedy was first developed in roughly 6th century BCE in Greece, although its exact origins were often debated among scholars. The most famous tragedy playwrights at the time were Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, and many of their plays continue to be performed in the modern day. Tragedy began as a dithyramb, a single actor reading poetry on stage, but evolved to consist of three actors and a chorus (typically a group of female characters). However, no women participated as actors, and as such, the female roles were represented by men wearing masks and costumes. Due to having only three actors, each may need to play multiple roles. While tragedy was mostly dialogue, the chorus often narrated the play's plot and may interact with the actors. In spite of the theater's limitations, any "special effects" (e.g. battles, deaths, natural events) will happen off-stage while being narrated in the script.
Greek Comedy
Comedy is another form of drama in Greek theater, and is first developed in roughly 5th century BCE in Greece. Classical comedy is divided into three periods, Old Comedy (around 5th century BCE), Middle Comedy (end of 5th century BCE to the middle of 4th century BCE), and New Comedy (mid-4th century BCE to mid-3rd century BCE). Two of the most famous comedy playwrights were Aristophanes and Menander. Although comedies cover subjects such as politics, governments, and religion like tragedy plays, their tones are much lighter and have numerous elements of satire and exaggerations. But like tragedies, the female roles were played by male actors.
References
Cartwright, Mark. "Ancient Greek Comedy." World History Encyclopedia. Last modified March 25, 2013. https://www.worldhistory.org/Greek_Comedy/.
Cartwright, Mark. "Ancient Greek Tragedy." World History Encyclopedia. Last modified March 16, 2013. https://www.worldhistory.org/Greek_Tragedy/.
Editors of GreekMythology.com. "Orestes." GreekMythology.com Website, January 30, 2020. https://www.greekmythology.com/Plays/Euripides/Orestes/orestes.html.
McIlvain, Lynnie. "The Art of Tragedy: Ancient Greek Theater." TheCollector. Last modified November 30, 2023. https://www.thecollector.com/ancient-greek-theater/.
New World Encyclopedia contributors, "Ancient Greek Comedy," New World Encyclopedia, Last modified July 26, 2023, https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/p/index.php?title=Ancient_Greek_Comedy&oldid=1118312.
Struck, Peter. "Greek & Roman Mythology - Greek Tragedy." Department of Classical Studies. n.d. https://www2.classics.upenn.edu/myth/php/tragedy/index.php?page=theater.