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BIOGRAPHY

Thespis: (/ˈθɛspɪs/; Greek: Θέσπις; fl. 6th century BC) According to ancient tradition, Thespis was the first actor in Greek drama. He was often called the inventor of tragedy, and his name was recorded as the first to stage a tragedy at the Great (or City) Dionysia (c. 534 bc).

Life The name “Thespis” (THEHS-puhs) comes from a word that means “divinely speaking” or from a similar word that means “divinely singing.” According to one tradition, Thespis’s home was Icarios, or Icaria, in northern Attica, near Marathon. Yet an extant ancient source refers to him simply as “Athenian.” He is credited with inventing the first actor, a character separate from the chorus performing at the festivals in honor of the god Dionysus. Perhaps his first dramatic efforts were rather crude representations of the doings of satyrs, lustful, mischievous goat-men. The etymology of the word “tragedy” can be traced to a word meaning “song of goats.”

HIS BIRTH: Thespis was an Ancient Greek poet. He was born in the ancient city of Icarius. According to certain Ancient Greek sources and especially Aristotle, he was the first person ever to appear on stage as an actor playing a character in a play.

His career: His claim to be regarded as the inventor of tragedy in the true sense of the term depends upon the extent to which this person was really an "actor" (see Drama). Suidas gives the titles (of doubtful authenticity) of several of his plays (not confined to the legends of Dionysus, but embracing the whole body of heroic legends), but the fragments quoted in various writers as from Thespis are probably forgeries by Heracleides of Pontus. The statement of Horace (Ars Poetica, 276) that Thespis went round Attica with a cart, on which his plays were acted, is due to confusion between the origin of tragedy and comedy, and a reminiscence of the scurrilous jests which it was customary to utter from a wagon (QKC,µuara aµdEns) at certain religious festivals. A. and M. Croiset (History of Greek Literature, Eng. tr., 1904), who attach more importance to the part played by Thespis in the development of tragedy, accept the testimony of Horace.

According to them, Thespis, actor and manager, transported his apparatus on a cart to the deme in which he intended to produce his drama, formed and trained a chorus, and gave a representation in public.

Thespis’ name is recorded as the first to win a prize for tragedy at the Great Dionysia, Athens’ major dramatic competition, around 534 bc. The term thespian, meaning actor, is derived from his name.

Thespis's song: THESPIS or THE GODS GROWN OLD

HIS DEATH: Died: After 501 b. c.e.; probably Athens, Greece Category: Theater and drama