Technitai Dionusou

In ancient Teos (Asia Minor), a an actors' guild formed, called the "Artists of Dionysus" (Technitai Dionusou in Greek, informally referred to as hoi technitai), which eventually expanded to include other artists and musicians (kitharists, auletes, aulodes, singers, composers, poets, costumers, etc.). They staged complete concerts and plays, taught music and travelled from town to town. They were treated as privileged and favored. The guildsmen also served Dionysus, and their duties included performing his liturgy and festivals. They were headed by a priest of the god. They were, appropriately, regarded as rowdy troublemakers, and were eventually expelled from every place they visited. Top

History

According to legend, theatre began in the late sixth century BCE, when a man named Thespis first had the idea to add speaking actors to performances of choral song and dance (hence the word 'thespians'). Plays were performed outdoors, in daylight, before audiences of 10,000 or more at festivals in honor of Dionysus. Comedy and tragedy flourished in Athens in the fifth and fourth centuries BCE.

When the Romans conquered Greece they brought Greek literature back to Italy and set about making it their own. The Romans soon took over the existing theaters in Greece and began renovating and rebuilding them for their own spectacles. The remains of the Theater of Dionysus which we can see in Athens today date to Roman times and not the fifth century BCE. -- from Didaskalia

For more information, see the Greek Theatre section of my bibliography.

http://www.winterscapes.com/dionysus/theatre.htm#technitai