Note 118 — INTRODUCTION

It is unfortunate that there is at present no satisfactory book dealing with the Greek theater on the structural side. English readers are practically restricted to Haigh’s The Attic Theatre, revised by Pickard-Cambridge in 1907, which devotes nearly one hundred pages to a summary and criticism of the different views. But this work has already been off the press for a decade and on the main issue, viz., as to whether the Greek theater of the classical period was provided with a raised stage for actors, makes too many concessions to the traditional view. For German readers, on the other hand, the situation is not a great deal better. Dörpfeld’s book has been before the public for over twenty years, and in the interim his opinions have necessarily changed on many points. He has promised a thoroughly revised second edition, which is demanded also by the excavation of additional theaters and by the publication of numerous special articles. But it is hardly likely that this promise will ever be redeemed. The only comfort is to be derived from the fact that, as works of major importance have appeared, Dörpfeld has promptly published critiques which have often been of such length as to furnish convenient restatements of his views. These more recent works in German, however, have attempted merely to force a modification of certain details in Dörpfeld’s position; they are in no wise calculated to serve as independent presentations of the whole matter or as a means of orientation for the uninitiated.

From the extensive bibliographical material which is available it is manifestly impossible to cite more than a fraction here. The outstanding books are Dörpfeld-Reisch, Das griechische Theater (1896), defended against reviewers and partially modified in “Das griechische Theater Vitruvs,” Athenische Mittheilungen, XXII (1897), 439 ff., and XXIII (1898), 326 ff.; Puchstein, Die griechische Bühne (1901), answered by Dörpfeld in Athenische Mittheilungen, XXVIII (1903), 383 ff.; and Fiechter, Die baugeschichtliche Entwicklung des antiken Theaters (1914), summarized by its author and criticized by Dörpfeld in Jahrbuch d. arch. Instituts, Anzeiger, XXX (1915), 93 ff. and 96 ff., respectively. Other important publications are von Wilamowitz-Möllendorff, “Die Bühne des Aischylos,” Hermes, XXI (1886), 597 ff.; Todt, “Noch Einmal die Bühne des Aeschylos,” Philologus, XLVIII (1889), 505 ff.; Capps, “Vitruvius and the Greek Stage,” University of Chicago Studies in Classical Philology, I (1893), 3 ff.; Bethe, Prolegomena zur Geschichte des Theaters im Alterthum (1896), and “Die hellenistischen Bühnen und ihre Decorationen,” Jahrbuch d. arch. Instituts, XV (1900), 59 ff. (answered by Dörpfeld in “Die vermeintliche Bühne des hellenistischen Theaters,” ibid., XVI [1901], 22 ff.); Petersen, “Nachlese in Athen: Das Theater des Dionysos,” ibid., XXIII (1908), 33 ff.; and Versakis, “Das Skenengebäude d. Dionysos-Theaters,” ibid., XXIV (1909), 194 ff., answered by Dörpfeld, ibid., pp. 224 ff. Still other titles will be cited as they are needed in the discussion. See also p. 221, below. For reports on the excavations of various theaters the reader should consult the bibliographical references given by Dörpfeld-Reisch and Fiechter in their footnotes.