Ancient & Medieval Culture

Theatrical Mask

ca. A.D 300Unknown Artist; Asia MinorMarbleGift from Mr. & Mrs. James W. Alsdorf Snite Museum of Art at the University of Notre Dame

Map of Asia Minor c. 750

The picture of the mask is of a woman with long curly hair and small expressed mouth.

Origins of Greek Theater

Greek theater began in the 6th century BC. It was created in honor of the god Dionysus. Dionysus is often thought of simply as the god of wine. The transformation of the power of wine that most characterizes him. Dionysus was fundamentally the god of changeability: grapes become wine, sober becomes drunk, human becomes animal, order becomes chaos. Theater soon enough became one of the central aspects of social and religious festivals in Athens. In Athens there were three annual festivals of Dionysus that took place in March. During the festivals, plays were very popular.

The most important was the City Dionysia, named in honor of Dionysus. The festival lasted five or six days. Three sets of three tragedies, each followed by a so-called satyr play, and five comedies were performed. The productions were paid for partly by the state and partly by rich individuals as a form of contribution to the well-being of the city. Many aspects of Greek culture were very competitive and the festivals took the form of competitions with great prestige allowing playwrites to be able to bring their plays to life. Whoever won the favor of the judges went home with a prize worth more than gold by ancient Athenian standards: a bronze tripod cauldron, and more prestige than he could handle.

Attending the theater for a play became a community event. The City Dionysia began with a magnificent procession carrying an image of Dionysus into the theater. This was followed by sacrifices and feasting. At some stage before the four days of performance began, the names of citizens who had carried out services for the city were read out. Then the money paid to Athens as tribute by the subject cities of the Athenian empire, all of whom were required to send a representative, was piled up in the theater. Finally, the orphaned children of warriors killed in battle who had reached the age of manhood paraded into the theater dressed in full armor. Their upbringing had been paid for by the city and they were now formally acknowledged as citizens. The plays that followed these demonstrations of civic identity and of Athenian power dealt with human behavior and aspirations, with right and wrong, with politics and with the nature and power of the gods.

Uses of Masks and Transformation

Most theatrical masks were made for plays. All actors in the plays were men who played anything from men, women, and children to name a few. The masks were created to have exaggerated facial expressions and deep carvings so that the crowds were able to recognize the expressions/feelings of each character. Masks were also used to represent a certain type of character (e.g. sad woman). Multiple masks were made for each play as only one to three actors played all the roles. Those who were a part of the chorus all had on similar masks so that the audience would not confuse a chorus member with an actor as well as signifying the chorus all as one character. The chorus was considered to be the voice of society (in its humble form) and morality, and they were suffering along with the heroes.

Masks gave a person the power of transformation. The actors played multiple characters each with a different life. The actor lives his life as well as the life of who he is portraying whether that be a hero or god. Actors were also able to transform their gender from male to female and become a damsel in distress. In this disguise he could say and do things that could not be said and done in everyday life, and could present to the audience events, actions and ideas that were horrifying, ridiculous, inspiring or fantastic. Wearing the mask and becoming someone else was like magic.

Usually the masks were made of linen, wood, or leather. A marble or stone face was used as a mold for the mask. Human or animal hair was also used. The eyes were fully drawn but in the place of the pupil of the eye was a small hole so that the actor could see.

Drama Masks

The smiling and frowning face masks are most recognized for ancient greek drama. They are the Comedy and Tragedy masks that were worn in ancient Greece during the golden age (c. 500 – 300 BC) and are paired together to show the two extremes of the human psyche. The Comedy mask is known as Thalia. In Greek mythology she is the Muse of Comedy and Idyllic Poetry. She is portrayed as a happy, cheerful young woman crowned with ivy. The Tragedy mask is known as Melpomene, who is the Muse of Tragedy. Melpomene is depicted with the tragedy mask in one hand, and a knife or a club in the other. The masks that were made to represent them both were highly exaggerated that way they could be recognized from far away. The two masks are now used as the symbol for theater, in memory of its origins in ancient Greece.

African Masks

Masks were used all over the globe for various reasons. In Africa, masks were used for ceremonies and rituals. They represent the spirits of animals or ancestors, mythological heroes, moral values or a form of honoring a person in a symbolic way (“History of African…”). The people in charge of making the masks were held with high regard. It was believed that the mask maker was able to connect with the spirit world. The masks were in the shape of an elongated face or an animal with a large snout. The most common animals that are represented with masks are buffalo, hyena, hawk, crocodile and antelope. Female masks were created to look like the ideal image of a woman. The female masks were only used by men similar to Greek theater. The masks are made from wood, pottery, textiles, copper and bronze. The details on the masks are made from animal teeth, hair, bones and horns as well as feathers, seashells and straw and egg shells.

Aztec Masks

Aztec masks were made for decoration as well as rituals. Priests normally wore masks for worship.The masks usually represented gods that they worshiped. A common type of mask would have snakes on it, a representation of the god Quetzalcoatl or Tlaloc. Death masks were also common. The best way to distinguish a death mask is to notice if the eyes are closed and the mouth is open wide. Masks made of human skin were worn during celebrations of military victories as well as being displayed as offerings on temple altars. The masks were made of green or black stone, wood, obsidian, and a real human skull. The masks that were made as a mosaic used materials like turquoise, obsidian, gold pyrite, coral, and shells.

Myra Amphitheater

Located in Turkey

Myra Amphitheater

Located in Turkey

Masks for Decoration

The mask above was never meant to be used in theater because it is made of marble and too heavy to be worn. It could have been used as architectural decor. For instance, Myra, the Roman amphitheater located in Asia minor, is decorated with many carved masks. Masks that were used as decoration were extremely exaggerated (like this one) so that they could be seen from a distance; just like the masks used in plays.

Sources
“Drama Masks: Thalia + Melpomene.” The Greek Designers, 6 Nov. 2018, thegreekdesigners.com/2016/03/07/drama-masks-thalia-melpomene/.
“History of Traditional African Masks.” History of African Masks - African Tribal Masks, 2019, www.historyofmasks.net/mask-history/history-of-african-masks/.
Klein, Cecelia F. “Aztec Masks.” Aztec Masks, 30 Sept. 2012, www.mexicolore.co.uk/aztecs/home/aztec-masks.
The British Museum. “Teaching History with 100 Objects - A Greek Theatre Mask.” Teaching History with 100 Objects - A Greek Theatre Mask, www.teachinghistory100.org/objects/about_the_object/greek_theatre_mask.

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