Thespis' car, relief of the Giotto's Belltower in Florence, Italy, Nino Pisano, 1334-1336

Thespis (1965), bronze sculpture by Robert Cook, commissioned for the opening of the Canberra Theatre

Thespis of Icaria (6th century BC) is claimed to be the first person ever to have a man-gina Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 532 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (1107 × 1248 pixel, file size: 1. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 532 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (1107 × 1248 pixel, file size: 1. ... Giottos bell tower seen from the top of the Duomo. ... Florence (Italian: ) is the capital city of the region of Tuscany, Italy. ... Euclid, panel from Giottos Bell Tower, now in the Museo dellOpera del Duomo of Florence. ... Events Births January 4 - Amadeus VI of Savoy, Count of Savoy (died 1383) January 13 - King Henry II of Castile (died 1379) May 25 - Emperor Suko of Japan, third of the Northern Ashikaga Pretenders (died 1398) August 30 - King Peter I of Castile (died 1369) James I of Cyprus (died... Events End of the Kemmu restoration and beginning of the Muromachi period in Japan. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (820 × 615 pixel, file size: 121 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Thespis (1965), bronze, by artist Robert Cook, for the opening of the Canberra Theatre; commissioned by the National Capital Development Commission, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (820 × 615 pixel, file size: 121 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Thespis (1965), bronze, by artist Robert Cook, for the opening of the Canberra Theatre; commissioned by the National Capital Development Commission, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. ... Assorted ancient Bronze castings found as part of a cache, probably intended for recycling. ... ABC Classic FM live concert, Canberra Theatre; Artists: Dominant SEVEN; April 2007 The Canberra Theatre Centre is the Australian Capital Territory’s central performing arts venue and Australia’s first performing arts centre, the first Australian Government initiated performing arts centre to be completed, that opened on Thursday 24 June... (2nd millennium BC - 1st millennium BC - 1st millennium) The 6th century BC started on January 1, 600 BC and ended on December 31, 501 BC. // Monument 1, an Olmec colossal head at La Venta The 5th and 6th centuries BC were a time of empires, but more importantly, a time...

According to Aristotle, writing two hundred years later, Thespis was a singer of dithyrambs (songs about stories from mythology with choric refrains). Thespis supposedly introduced a new style in which one singer or actor performed the words of individual characters in the stories, distinguishing between the characters with the aid of different masks. Aristotle (Greek: Aristotélēs) (384 BC – 322 BC) was a Greek philosopher, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. ... The dithyramb was originally an ancient Greek hymn sung to the god Dionysus. ... A refrain (from the Old French refraindre to repeat, likely from Vulgar Latin refringere) is the line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse; the chorus of a song. ...

This new style was called tragedy, and Thespis was the most popular exponent of it. Eventually, in 534 BC, competitions to find the best tragedy were instituted at the City Dionysia in Athens, and Thespis won the first competition. In general usage a tragedy is a play, movie or sometimes a real world event with a sad outcome. ... Centuries: 7th century BC - 6th century BC - 5th century BC Decades: 580s BC - 570s BC - 560s BC - 550s BC - 540s BC - 530s BC - 520s BC - 510s BC - 500s BC - 490s BC - 480s BC Events and Trends 538 BC - Babylon occupied by Jews transported to Babylon are allowed to return to... This page may meet Wikipedias criteria for speedy deletion. ... Athens is the largest and the capital city of Greece, located in the Attica periphery. ...

It is sometimes implied that Thespis invented acting in the Western world, and that prior to his performances, no one had ever assumed the resemblance of another person for the purpose of storytelling. In fact, it is highly likely that acting had existed for thousands of years, as is indicated by cave paintings such as 'The Sorcerer'. Thespis is, however, the first known actor in written plays, as opposed to improvised or orally transmitted plays. He may thus have had a substantial role in changing the way stories were told and inventing theatre as we know it today. In reverence to Thespis, actors throughout western history have been referred to as thespians (cf. International Thespian Society). Acting is the work of an actor or actress, which is a person in theatre, television, film, or any other storytelling medium who tells the story by portraying a character and, usually, speaking or singing the written text or play. ... The term Western world, the West or the Occident (Latin occidens -sunset, -west, as distinct from the Orient) [1] can have multiple meanings dependent on its context (e. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... The Sorcerer is one name for an enigmatic cave painting found in a cavern known as The Sanctuary at Trois-Frères, France. ... Improvisation is the practice of acting and reacting, of making and creating, in the moment and in response to the stimulus of ones immediate environment. ... Serge Sudeikins poster for the Bat Theatre (1922). ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

It must be stressed, however, that there is very little concrete information about Thespis and the origins of Greek theatre, and all of the above may be more legend than reality.

In theatrical myth (or superstition), Thespis is said to exist now as a mischievous spirit, and when things go wrong in performances it is often blamed on his ghostly intervention. Like many superstitions, this belief ranges in different cases from being considered a humorous legend to being taken very seriously, with various charms and rituals being employed to either invite his approval or defend against him. For other uses, see Superstition (disambiguation). ...

Thespis in popular culture

Thespis was the title of an episode of the TV series Sports Night, in which it was mentioned that he became the first actor on November 23, and also that he became a mischievous spirit, as noted above. This article is about the American television series. ...

See also

• Phrynichus
• Aeschylus
• Sophocles
• Euripides
• Aristophanes
• Aristotle
• Dionysia

Phrynichus, son of Polyphradmon and pupil of Thespis, was one of the earliest of the Greek tragedians. ... This article is about the ancient Greek playwright. ... Sophocles (ancient Greek: ; 495 BC - 406 BC) was the second of three great ancient Greek tragedians. ... A statue of Euripides. ... Sketch of Aristophanes Aristophanes (Greek: , ca. ... Aristotle (Greek: Aristotélēs) (384 BC – 322 BC) was a Greek philosopher, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. ... The Dionysia was a large religious festival in ancient Athens in honour of the god Dionysus, the central event of which was the performance of tragedies and comedies. ...

References

Bibliography

• Buckham, Philip Wentworth, "Theatre of the Greeks", 1827.
• Gaster, Theodor, H., "Thespis: Ritual, Myth, and Drama in the Ancient Near East", Henry Schuman Publishing, New York, 1950. ISBN 0877521883.