Paragraph on “Who built one of the first Theatres?” complete paragraph for Class 9, Class 10, Class 11 and Class 12
Who built one of the first Theatres?
King Minos built a theatre in his palace at Knossos in Crete. It was a very simple stone paved arena with tiers of steps on both sides which were used as benches. Here Minos would sit, with his court around him and watch dancing or receive foreign envoys or the tribute of his subjects. After the palace of Knossos was destroyed for the third time about 1400 BC by earthquakes, it was not rebuilt. However, many of the Minoan ideas used in the palace were copied by the Greeks living on the mainland. The first simple Greek theatres were built around altars, and as drama became more popular, theatres became more elaborate. A circular stage for the actors and dancers was constructed of beaten earth. with rising tiers of wooden seats built against a hillside for the audience. These seats usually extended around two-thirds of the stage, because at that time, dancing was more important than acting. Drama, however, soon became very popular, with writers like Aeschylus, Aristophanes, Euripedes and Sophocles representing the greatest Greek playwrights. During the festival held in honour of Dionysus in March, over seventeen thousand Athenians would sit jammed together to watch a series of plays. The theatres, like the temples, belonged to the public. Admission prices were low and poor citizens were given money to buy tickets.