Abstract
Parodos are the side entrances to orchestra, the performing space, in the ancient Greek theatre. It is worth noting that Parodos were the only structural component that maintained the original shape, while others-orchestra, theatron (auditorium), skene (platform stage and multi-functional storage)-experienced gradual or abrupt changes in shape over the years. For that reason, this research suggests a possibility that Parodos should be the most essential element in the construction of Greek theatre building. For evidence, this paper points out that procession tradition was the key event in the civic festival such as City Dionysia, and that single-direction passageway was the easiest and most efficient road type to realize the objective of the procession, that is the civic participation. This paper adds another possibility that the passageway in the procession could be the archetype of Parodos. For evidence, this paper finds that this type of passageway was ubiquitous in the ancient city of Athens--especially in Agora, the hub of city life and the gateway to the procession for Dionysian Cult as well as the space for earliest Greek theatricalities. This paper argues that Parodos is the theatrical version of the processional passageway in civic festival, sharing the social purpose that is civic participation and engagement, and concludes that Parodos played double roles satisfying theatrical and societal and ultimate necessities: 1) the passageway to stage, 2) the processional passageway to relate theatre space to civic participation.
Author Information
Jungman Park, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, South Korea
Paper Information
Conference: ACAH2013
Stream: Arts & Humanities
This paper is part of the ACAH2013 Conference Proceedings (View)
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To cite this article:
Park J. (2013) Passageway and Its Double: Reconsideration of Function of Parodos in Ancient Greek Theatre ISSN: 2186-229X – The Asian Conference on Arts and Humanities 2013 – Official Conference Proceedings https://doi.org/10.22492/2186-229X.20130288
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.22492/2186-229X.20130288
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