Greek Drama Masks

Many people believe that the origin of play acting or what is better known as drama, typically the blend of both comedy and tragedy in one skit or play is Greece. This was done in the early days by using what was known as Greek drama masks to capture emotion to large crowds in amphitheaters all across the Roman and Greek Empire. Actors wore these with great pride as they were in ancient time utilized to portray moods quite effectively and did a better job than the human face. Actors often changed their Greek Masks based on a scene in the play and the mood or emotion they were supposed to be in.

What is amazing however is that Greece has the earliest dated uses of drama masks as a prop. Though many other cultures were using masks long before the Greek civilization existed. The origin of playacting and drama and masks in playacting had its genesis in Greece.

Greek Drama Masks History

The reason for masks in Greek play acting came from their mythology. Beginning with the god Dionysus. A Greek mythological god that was often symbolized by wine, or the fruit of the vineyards. As drunkenness led to erratic behavior or in essence acting. Now because of the fact that the Greek mythological god wore a mask is how the Greek drama masks history began and became a new fixture in the amphitheaters and was normally written into plays now by Greek playwrights. The excitement of not knowing who was acting added to the fervor of the Greeks as they filled up ancient theaters to watch masked actors perform. This leads to prime examples of what are known as ancient Greek drama masks.

Ancient Greek Drama Masks

Despite the fact that we know how and why actors in Greece wore this mask, most information sources have never listed or shown what these masks look like. In this section we will show a prime example (seen here on the left) of what an ancient Greek drama mask looks like and what it depicted to the actor and the audience in early Greek playacting. Based on what one can see here the masks were all ‘full face’, they incorporated hair, bearded and this also was the same for women who wore masks that revealed womanly facial features. There were masks for anger, joy, despair made all into the Greek face. One major point was that their was a wide opening left for the mouth and two small openings for the eyes. This masquerade type activity made drama in Greece extremely popular. However how would someone ever be able to replicate these masks.

How to make a Greek drama masks

This is a bit more tricky that what many believe. As most of the masks in ancient days were made from clay and not other materials then it was easier to utilize. In today's world you really don’t need to go through this ardous process you can just buy a mask. However if you do (and this can be fun) you will need a small amount of white construction paper, some bright red pens, a pair of scissors, coloring crayons, blue and green markers, ordinary paper a lot of paper scraps, some ordinary clear glue and a few paper reinforcements.

First use the one sheet of the construction paper and hold it against your face and make a mouth piece and eyeballs. Its always better if you used someone else to this, it makes it much more accurate. You must also add two ears. This means two ears much like what is in the diagram.

Next you must choose the emotion that you want the mask to have. Using the plain paper draw the eyebrows and the mouth to reflect this emotion. Both the eyes and the mouth are the first to show emotion.

Cut out the eyebrows and mouth from the plain paper and cut a hole in the paper for your mouth to speak through. Then paste it to the area on the construction paper that has the mouth and paste the eyebrows over the eyeball section on the same construction paper. Then just round the mask to fit your face and cut holes in the mouth and eyeball areas.

Once this is done cut the mask (rounded) from the construction paper. You are well underway to making a Greek drama mask. Next use all the drawing and coloring material to make hair, ears and other facial features that you want your mask to have.

Finally cut holes in the two ears and run a bit of string to each side that will hold up the mask. The best type of thread to use is actually yarn used in knitting.