Theatre
Theatre
The ancient Greek theatre (lit. [Note: literally, literature.] a place of spectacle, a beholding place) was regularly a building of semicircular ground-plan, open to the sky. On the diameter were the stage and everything pertaining to it. The inner part of the semicircle below the level of the stage had an altar in the middle on which incense was burnt. Around this central part the tiers of stone seats rose to the top, intersected at regular intervals by passages to enable the spectators to reach their places. The entrances for spectators were at the ends of the stage. In origin theatrical exhibitions were in honour of the god Dionysos, and were held only on the days of his festivals. Attendance at the theatre on such occasions was an act of worship. Only in course of time did the theatre become a place of amusement entirely, divorced from all connexion with religion. The size of a theatre varied according to the size of the population of the city in which it was. As a general rule it was of necessity the largest building in the city, and, as on most days of the year it was not required for play-acting, it was available for public meetings. In Athens the meetings of the public assembly () took place in the theatre. So at Ephesus (Acts 19), when the disturbance aroused by Demetrius took place, it was the most natural thing in the world that a rush should be made to the theatre (v. 29).
Literature.-A. E. Haigh, The Attic Theatre2, ed. A. W. Pickard-Cambridge, Oxford, 1907.
A. Souter.
Fuente: Dictionary of the Apostolic Church
Theatre
(). The Greek term, like the corresponding English one, denotes the place where dramatic performances are exhibited, and also the scene itself, or spectacle, which is witnessed there.
1. It occurs in the first or local sense in Act 19:29, where it is said that the multitude at Ephesus rushed to the theatre, on the occasion of the excitement stirred up against Paul and his associates by Demetrius, in order to consider what should be done in reference to the charges against them. It may be remarked also (although the word does not occur in the original text or in our English version) that it was in the theatre at Cassarea that Herod Agrippa I gave audience to the Tyrian deputies, and was himself struck with death, because he heard so gladly the impious acclamations of the people (Act 12:21-23). See the remarkable confirmatory account of this event in Josephus (Ant. 19:8, 2). Such a use of the theatre for public assemblies and the transaction of public business, though it was hardly known among the Romans, was a common practice among the Greeks. Thus Valer. Max. 2, 2, Legati in theatrum, ut est consuetudo Graeci, introducti; Justin, 22:2, Veluti reipublicae statum formaturus in theatrum ad contionem vocari jussit; Corn. Nep. Timol. 4, 2, Veniebat in theatrum, cum ibi concilium plebis haberetulr.
2. The other sense of the term theatre occurs in 1Co 4:9, where the Common Version renders, God hath set forth us the apostles last, as it were appointed to death; for we are made (rather, were made, ) a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men. Instead of spectacle (so also Wycliffe and the Rhemish translators after the Vulgate), some might prefer the more energetic Saxon gazing- stock, as in Tyndale, Cranmer, and the Geneva version. But the latter would be now inappropriate, if it includes the idea of scorn or exultation, since the angels look down upon the sufferings of the martyrs with a very different interest. Whether theatre denotes more here than to be al object of earnest attention ( ), or refers at the same time to the theatre as the place where criminals were sometimes brought forward for punishment, is not agreed among interpreters. In Heb 12:1, where the writer speaks of our having around us so great a cloud of witnesses ( ), he has in mind, no doubt, the agonistic scene, in which Christians are viewed as running a race, and not the theatre or stage where the eyes of the spectators are fixed on them.
Among the Greeks and the states of Greek origin, the theatre the proper appropriation of which was for the celebration of the public games was also used as the place of assembly for every kind of public business; and served for town-hall, senate house, forum, etc., and harangues to the people were there delivered. Indeed, all important public business was transacted in these places-war was declared, peace proclaimed, and criminals were executed. Antiochus Epiphanes introduced public shows and games in Syria (2Ma 4:10-16); and in a later age theatres and amphitheatres were erected by the Herods in Jerusalem and other towns of Syria (Josephus, Ant. 15:8,1; 16:5,1; 19:7,5; War, 1, 21, 8), in which magnificent spectacles were exhibited, principally in honor of the Roman emperors. The remains of Ione of these near Caesarea are still clearly traceable (Thomson, Land and Book, 2, 237). For the history and construction of such buildings in that day, see Smith, Dict. of Class. Antiq. s.v. Wettstein well observes that the very situation of the theatre at Ephesus would not a little promote and increase the tumult in the case of Paul, since, as we find from the accounts of those who have surveyed the situation of the Temple of Diana, it was within view of the theatre. See Ephesus. The shell of this theatre remains unmistakably to be recognised on Mount Priar, though the marble seats have been removed. Its ruins are described by Fellows (Asia Minor, p. 274) as a wreck of immense grandeur, and it is said to be the largest of any that have come down to us from ancient days. See Lewin, St. Paul, 2, 328; Wood, Discoveries in Ephesus (Lond. 1877), ch. 4.
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Theatre
only mentioned in Acts 19:29, 31. The ruins of this theatre at Ephesus still exist, and they show that it was a magnificent structure, capable of accommodating some 56,700 persons. It was the largest structure of the kind that ever existed. Theatres, as places of amusement, were unknown to the Jews.
Fuente: Easton’s Bible Dictionary
Theatre
The theater was anciently in the open air; semicircular; the seats in tiers above one another the stage on a level with the lowest seats. Besides the performance of dramas, public meetings were often in the theater, as being large enough almost to receive “the whole city” (Act 19:29); so at Ephesus the theater was the scene of the tumultuous meeting excited by Demetrius. The remains of this theater still attest its vast size and convenient position. (See EPHESUS; DIANA.) In 1Co 4:9 “spectacle” is literally, “theatrical spectacle,” a spectacle in which the world above and below is the theater, and angels and men the spectators. Heb 10:33, “made a “gazing stock” (theatrizomenoi) by afflictions”; as criminals often were exhibited to amuse the populace in the amphitheater, and “set forth last” in the show to fight with wild beasts (Tertullian, de Pudicitia, 14): Heb 12:1. In the theater Herod Agrippa I (Act 12:21-23; Josephus, Ant. 19:8, section 2) gave audience to the Tyrian envoys, and was struck dead by God.
Fuente: Fausset’s Bible Dictionary
Theatre
THEATRE.The name is Greek (lit. a place for viewing [a spectacle]), and the thing appears to be of Greek origin also. From the cities of Greece proper, theatres spread all over the Greek and Roman world. The auditorium consisted regularly of a semicircular cavity cut on the side of a hill, much broader at the upper end than the lower. The seats were placed concentrically, being commonly carved out of the rock. The part level with the ground, the orchestra, was occupied by the choir. The stage and scene were on the diameter, and were of artificial construction, being very often like the front of a temple. The theatres were used for public meetings, as being generally the largest buildings in the cities (Act 19:29; Act 19:31; cf. also art. Ephesus).
A. Souter.
Fuente: Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible
Theatre
thea-ter (Act 19:29, Act 19:31). See GAMES.
Fuente: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Theatre
A place built for dramatic and other public entertainments, and for meetings of the people. At the uproar at Ephesus they rushed into the theatre. Act 19:29; Act 19:31. The word is , and is translated ‘spectacle’ in 1Co 4:9; the apostles were gazed upon both by angels and by men.
Fuente: Concise Bible Dictionary
Theatre
Theatre. For the explanation of the biblical allusions, two or three points only, require notice. The Greek term, like the corresponding English term, denotes the place where dramatic performances are exhibited, and also, the scene itself , or spectacle, which is witnessed there. It occurs in the first, or local, sense in Act 19:29. The other sense of the term “theatre” occurs in 1Co 4:9.