How Did Greco-Roman Culture Influence Ancient Greek Theatre
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Greco-Roman culture and advancements triggered a continuous period of growth in the sciences, arts, and mathematics. Ideas and customs that began in the Greco-Roman time period continue today such as the marathon and democracy. Furthermore, Greco-Roman mythology and allegories have a considerable influence upon the modern world. Specifically in theatre, Greco-Roman mythology played a direct role in the roots of theatre, shapes the way scripts are written, as well as impacts the plot and content of a script.
Dionysus, a Greek mythical god, is the reason theatre was created and still exists today. Through worship of Dionysus in festivals such as the "Dionysa" or simply putting on a play, a new form of self expression was created. A new way of…show more content… Archetypes such as the “Damsel in Distress” or the “Evil Villain” are ubiquitous in all literature and most theatrical performances. An example would be “Shrek; The Musical” where Fiona is a damsel in distress, locked away in a tower until her true love comes to rescue her. The evil villain of the story is Lord Farquaad, a halfling that pretends he is just short and hates all mythical creatures. These characters fit right into the archetypes they were based on, in fact most disney princesses are based on the greek damsel in distress archetype. This constant use of archetypes not only forms a comforting similarity in most stories to make them easy to understand and enjoying to watch preformed, but also connects current theatre with that of the Greco-Roman…show more content… For instance, the song “Defying Gravity” from “Wicked” is intertextually related to the story of Icarus. Icarus and Elphaba decided to fly away from a negative situation. From their hard work and dedication to either making wings, or learning a spell, both were able to eventually fly, forming an intertextual relationship between the two stories. Another example is the trident from “The Little Mermaid.” The trident could be a consciously placed mythological symbol to make the King of the mer-people similar to Poseidon, and more powerful. The trident was in the possession of a king of the sea and had powers resembling Poseidon's, so there is an intertextual relationship between the two through the use of objects. A final example of how interactions can be an intertextual relationship is through the use of the “Damsel in Distress” and “Hero” archetypes. In most fairy tales, damsel is rescued by a hero and when they return to the prince’s home, they are married. Since this is a recurring theme, there is an intertextual relationship between all of the original Disney princesses, whose stories were made into musicals, and the story of Andromeda and Perseus. Due to these intertextual relationship there is a connection between many Greco-Roman characters, actions, and props and those of modern theatrical