GREEK PERIOD

Drama is generally thought to have started in Greece 500 BC, Greek drama In
Greece started from the Dionysus Festival. “Dionysus” is the “god of wine and
fertility”. Dramatic performances were associated with this festivals. The very
first actor to perform during the Dionysus festival is “Thespis” this is why
anyone who studied or who is a theatre practitioner is called “Thespian” The
Greek period produced different types of drama, mainly tragedy and comedy.
Famous Greek tragedians include Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides. The
best writer of comedy was Aristophanes.

ROMAN PERIOD
Roman Drama: The Romans inherited the drama traditions from the Greeks.
The expansion of the Roman Empire helped spread drama to many places in
Europe and the Mediterranean world. Seneca is the most important Roman
tragedian. The Romans borrowed Greek ideas and improved on them. They
were less philosophical, they practice more than drama, they had acrobatics,
gladiators, jugglers, athletics, chariots races, sea battles, boxing, animal fights.
Etc. To the Romans, Entertainment tended to be grandiose i.e. grand, imposing
sentimental, diversionary. Actors / performers were called "histriones"
An example of roman theatre
The battle with a retired gladiator
MEDIEVAL PERIOD
Medieval Drama: The Middle Ages start with the fall of the Roman Empire.
Most of Classical learning was lost in medieval times. The Middle Ages were
dominated by religion and the study of theological matters. The Christian
doctrine and Christian values were the measure of everything. During the
Middle Ages, drama was looked down upon as evil and a means of corruption.
However, faced with the need to spread the word of God to the illiterate
masses, the Church came to devise some form of dramatic performance to
help in teaching Christian beliefs and biblical stories in which the characters
personify moral qualities or abstractions and in which moral lessons are
taught. The three main types of medieval drama are
 Mystery play
 Morality plays
 Miracle plays
RENAISSANCE PERIOD
The Renaissance is the period that followed the Middle Ages. It started
in Italy in the fourteenth century and spread to other parts of Europe.
The word Renaissance is a French word which means rebirth. The
Renaissance period witnessed a new interest in learning and discovery of
the natural world. The works of the Greek and Roman writers were
rediscovered. The invention of the printing press helped make the
production of books easier and cheaper, hence, available to more
people. Renaissance period popularized Humanism: The humanist
movement stressed the role of man and reason in understanding the
world and rejected the predominance of religious thinking.