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 (present-day Icaria) (6th century BC) is claimed to be the first person ever to appear on stage as an actor in a play, although the reality is undoubtedly more complex. In other sources, he is said to have introduced the first actor in addition to the chorus.^[1]

According to Aristotle, writing nearly two centuries 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.

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 documented competition.

It is 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, Thespis is the first known actor in written plays. He may thus have had a substantial role in changing the way stories were said and inventing theater as we know it today. In reverence to Thespis, actors throughout western history have been referred to as thespians (cf. International Thespian Society).

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 and 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.

See also

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

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 0877521882.

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