The first person to invent the idea of a play was also the first actor, Thespis, who lived in the sixth century B.C. in the village of Icaria. He enacted events and improvised his actions to tell the story.

The first playwright from which we have actual plays is Aeschylus. He formed the concept of interaction between two people. His play "Persians" is the oldest surviving play, produced in 472 B.C. Originally, most plays were not written down. At the time they were meant to be seen and heard, not read. The plays were later written down, but when they were new they usually had to be memorized. This method of preserving material without writing it down is called oral tradition

As plays evolved, so did their composition. Playwrights began to experiment with the format, and a man named Sophocles added a third speaking character to the play. Another famous playwright, Euripides contributed considerably to the evolution of plays written in the fifth century BC. No Greek tragedy has more than three speaking actors.

As part of the Dionysian Festival, which was held yearly in the spring around the end of March at City Dionysia, plays began to have a real competitive nature to them. Playwrights would write a set of plays to be performed consecutively on the same day. These plays were usually in groups of four: three tragedies and one satyr play (comedy).

All of the actors and playwrights were men, because women were not allowed to participate. These plays took money to produce, so there was a man who was reponsible for producing certain plays. It was usually a rich aristocrat who supported the play. He also hired the chorus and it was a great honor for the producer if the play won at the Dionysian Festival. The playwright remains the focus of Greek theater at this time.

To see biographies of some important Greek playwrights, click here.

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