Greek Drama in the Hellenistic Period

Abstract

Abstract This study deals with a period of the Greeco-Roman history related to theatre. Hellenism is a period which is often overlooked by theatre scholars although it is an immensely important and rich transformatory and revolutionary period from a historical point of view. Hellenism is not only marked with the encounter of two worlds, but also with their mutual enrichment. In the world of diverse peoples, theatre and drama turn to lighter themes (comedy is more popular than tragedy), show preference for entertaining theatre forms, gradually divert their attention from serious textual levels and turn to non-verbal genres. Menandros is a typical representative of Hellenistic drama. Unfortunately, a great number of texts and files, which would contain at least mentions of drama production at that time, have been lost.