The word σκηνή is used in the inscriptions in two senses. It denotes (1) the stage-buildings as a whole, e.g. τοὺς κρουνοὺς τοὺς ἐν τῇ σκηνῇ, (2) the wall at the rear of the stage, or the boards by which that wall was covered, e.g. τὴν σκηνὴν τὴν μέσην καὶ τὰ παρασκήνια, τὰς σκηνὰς καὶ τὰ παρασκήνια. This wall or boarding is called ἡ μέση σκηνή as opposed to the παρασκήνια on each side, and αἱ ἐπάνω σκηναί in opposition to the προσκήνιον underneath (so Homolle, l.c., p. 165). Apparently the whole building was only two stories, and the back-scene rose one story above the stage. Bethe, however (Prolegomena, p. 234), suggests that there were three stories; that ἡ μέση σκηνή denoted the middle story, and αἱ ἐπάνω σκηναί the top story, of the back-scene; the bottom story being concealed behind the προσκήνιον. But as only two stories are mentioned in connexion with the side-wings (τὰ παρασκήνια τά τε ἐπάνω καὶ τὰ ὑποκάτω), it seems unlikely that the central part of the building should have had more than two. Some of the technical terms are new. The lines of seats in the early theatre are called ὁλκοί, as resembling furrows dug in the slope of the auditorium. The horizontal passage dividing the upper belt (διάζωμα) of seats from the lower is the δίοδος. The word περιοικοδομία seems to denote the wall by which the outside of the auditorium was enclosed and supported where necessary. The ἐπιθέατρον must have been the upper belt of seats. The ὀρθοστάτης and καταληπτήρ are explained by Homolle as a sort of balustrade and coping by which the top of the auditorium was finished off. The κλῖμαξ and κλιμακτῆρες may have been the steps leading up from orchestra to stage; but this is not certain. See on these points Homolle, l.c., pp. 163 ff. FOOTNOTES [1] Dem. Androt. § 68, and schol. ad loc.; Meid. § 10, &c. [2] Dem. Meid. §§ 51-3. [3] See below, p. 9. [4] C. I. A. iii. 240-384. Hesych. s.v. νεμήσεις θέας. [5] Dem. Meid. §§ 8-10. [6] Ibid. § 180. [7] Ibid. § 178. [8] See esp. Aristoph. Ran. 1008 ff., 1054 ff.; Plat. Rep. 598 D, E. [9] Plut. Solon, p. 95 B. ἀρχομένων δὲ τῶν περὶ Θέσπιν ἤδη τὴν τραγῳδίαν κινεῖν, καὶ διὰ τὴν καινότητα τοὺς πολλοὺς ἄγοντος τοῦ πράγματος, οὔπω δὲ εἰς ἅμιλλαν ἐναγώνιον ἐξηγμένου κτλ. [10] Aristot. Poet. c. v. [11] For dramatic exhibitions in other parts of Greece, see The Tragic Drama of the Greeks, p. 436.