Classical Greek tragedy and Elizabethan tragedy are separated by roughly 2000 years, and they still share some common characteristics despite the huge differences between them with the improvements in drama. The reason they are quite different has some significant bases such as the purpose of the theatre, the structure of the theatre itself, and the time periods in which the plays are performed. 

First of all, Greek tragedy started out as rituals made for the sake of Dionysus. “From the earliest times Greeks worshipped Dionysus in a theatrical form -through masks, costumes, miracle plays, music and dance.” (Foley 1) As a result, the tragedies were highly religious with their choruses singing songs to praise gods. Quite the opposite, the Elizabethan tragedies were free from the effects of religions and thanks to which, their sole purpose was to entertain people and make a profit out of this sector.

 

            Secondly, the structures in which the Greek tragedies performed were huge amphitheaters that could seat up to 20.000 people. These two myriad numbers of people could, of course, not see or hear the actors in detail and to minimize this inability, the actors wore stilts, huge masks and vibrantly colored costumes. The whispers and complex dialogues could not be implemented easily and there was also the unity of action, time, and place. This unity limited the play with one main plot and action that happens in just one place within 24 hours, or within a daytime. As for the Elizabethan tragedies, they were performed in closed buildings with an open ceiling, there still was no artificial illuminating. However, these playhouses were much smaller compared to those of Greeks and there was a class distinction inside the buildings. The poor used to stand afoot under any kind of weather conditions including rain or heavy sunlight in a place called pit and they were called groundlings while the upper and middle class were seated under roofs. Also, the small capacity of these theaters allowed the playwrights to write more complex tragedies because they now could employ whispers and detailed gestures that could easily be heard and seen by the close audience.

 

            Therefore, although both of these bear the name of tragedy, they were quite different from one another because so much changed during those 2000 years that separate them. These changes include religious changes, scientific advancements, the changes in ideologies, the changes in politics and more, all of which lie within the center of drama because these factors make up societies. Lastly, the aim of the tragedy shifted from achieving a catharsis to even satirizing politics and governments, though the latter has its own specific form called “satirical drama”.

 

References

Barkas, Nikos. “The Contribution of the Stage Design to the Acoustics of Ancient Greek Theatres.” Acoustics, vol. 1, no. 1, 2019, pp. 337–353., https://doi.org/10.3390/acoustics1010018. 

Deh, Tabitha Harriet. “TO CALL IT TRAGEDY OR NOT TO CALL IT TRAGEDY: THE CULTURAL POLITICS INVOLVED.” European Journal of Literature, Language and Linguistics Studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 28 Jan. 2018, pp. 1–8., https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1161798. 

Foley, Helene P. “The Masque of Dionysus.” Transactions of the American Philological Association (1974-), vol. 110, 1980, pp. 107–133., https://doi.org/10.2307/284213. 

Sokolova, A. V. “Theater in England: From Elizabethan to Restoration Theater.” The European Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 2021, pp. 8–14., https://doi.org/10.29013/ejhss-21-6-8-14.