陳蕙雅思教材 - 雅思閱讀精選 (The Beginning of Drama)

The Beginning of Drama

There are manytheories  about the  beginning of drama in ancient Greece.

The one  most widely accepted today is based on theassumption that drama

evolved from ritual. Theargument for this view goes as follows. In the

beginning,     human beings viewed the natural forces ofthe world - even the

seasonal changes - asunpredictable, and they    sought throughvarious means

to control  these unknown  and  feared powers.  Those  measures   which  

appeared  to bring    the desired results werethen retained and repeated

until they hardened intofixed rituals. Eventually stories         arosewhich

explained or veiled themysteries of the rites. As time passed some rituals

were abandoned, but the    stories, later called myths, persisted andprovided

material for art anddrama.

Those who believe thatdrama evolved out of ritual also argue that those

rites contained theseed   of theater    because   music, dance,  masks,

and  costumes were  almost  always used. Furthermore, a suitable site had

to be provided forperformances and when the entire community

did  not participate,  a  clear division  was  usually made  between

the    "acting  area" and  the

"auditorium."  In addition,  there  were  performers,  and,  since  

considerable  importance was attached to avoiding mistakes in the

enactment of rites,religious leaders usually assumed that task. Wearing

masks and costumes, theyoften  impersonated  other people, animals, or

supernatural beings, andmimed the desired effect        -- successin hunt or

battle, the coming rain,the revival of the Sun --  as an  actor might.

Eventually such       dramatic representations were separatedfrom religious

activities.

Another theory traces thetheater's origin from the human interest in

storytelling. Accordingto this view tales (about the hunt, war,or other

feats) are graduallyelaborated, at first through the use of impersonation,

action,           and dialogue by a narrator and thenthrough the assumption of each

of the roles by adifferent person. A closely       relatedtheory traces theater

to those dances thatare  primarily  rhythmical   and  gymnastic  or that

are imitations    of  animal movements  and sounds.

戲劇的起源  關於古希臘戲劇的起源存在著多種理論，其中一個最普遍為人接受的理論 假設認為戲劇從儀式演化而來。  

這個觀點是這樣進行論證的：一開始，人類把世界上的自 然力量，甚至季節的變化都看成是不可預料的。 他們試圖通過各種方式去控制這些未知的、

令人恐懼的力量。  那些似乎帶來了滿意結果的手段就被保留下來並且重複直到這些手段固 化為不變的儀式，最後產生了能夠解釋或者掩蓋這些儀式神秘性的故事。

隨著時間的推移， 一些儀式被廢棄了，但這些後來被稱作神話的故事流傳下來並且為藝術和戲劇提供了素材。

認為戲劇從儀式演化而來的人們還認為那些儀式包含了戲劇的基本因素，因為音樂、舞蹈、

面具和服裝幾乎經常被使用，而且，必須為演出提供一個合適的地點；如果不是整個社區共 同參加演出，經常在"演出區"和"觀眾席"之間劃分出明顯的分界。  

另外，儀式中還有演員， 而且宗教領袖通常承擔演出任務，因為在儀式的執行中避免錯誤的發生被認為有相當大的重

要性；他們經常帶著面具，穿著服裝象演員那樣扮演其它人、動物或超自然的生靈，用動作

來表演以達到所需要的效果，比如打獵的成功或戰鬥的勝利、將至的雨、太陽的復活。  最 後這些戲劇性的表演從宗教活動中分離了出來。  

另一個追溯戲劇起源的理論認為它來自人 們對敘述故事的興趣。  根據這個觀點，故事(關於狩獵、戰爭或者其它偉績)是逐漸豐富起 來的。

首先通過一個講解人來運用模仿、表演和對話，然後再由不同的人扮演各自的角色；

另一個與之緊密相關的理論將戲劇的起源追溯至舞蹈，這些舞蹈大體上是有節奏感的和體操 式的那一類，或者是對動物動作和聲音的模仿。