the actors in ancient greek theatre wore masks because
Theatre of ancient Greece
In a large open - air theatre , like the Theatre of Dionysus in Athens , the classical masks were able to create a sense of dread in the audience creating large scale panic , especially since they had intensely exaggerated facial features and expressions . They enabled an actor to appear and reappear in several different roles , thus preventing the audience from identifying the actor to one specific character . Their variations help the audience to distinguish sex , age , and social status , in addition to revealing a change in a particular character 's appearance , e.g. Oedipus after blinding himself . Unique masks were also created for specific characters and events in a play , such as The Furies in Aeschylus ' Eumenides and Pentheus and Cadmus in Euripides ' The Bacchae . Worn by the chorus , the masks created a sense of unity and uniformity , while representing a multi-voiced persona or single organism and simultaneously encouraged interdependency and a heightened sensitivity between each individual of the group . Only 2 - 3 actors were allowed on the stage at one time , and masks permitted quick transitions from one character to another . There were only male actors , but masks allowed them to play female characters . 
In a large open - air theatre , like the Theatre of Dionysus in Athens , the classical masks were able to create a sense of dread in the audience creating large scale panic , especially since they had intensely exaggerated facial features and expressions . They enabled an actor to appear and reappear in several different roles , thus preventing the audience from identifying the actor to one specific character . Their variations help the audience to distinguish sex , age , and social status , in addition to revealing a change in a particular character 's appearance , e.g. Oedipus after blinding himself . Unique masks were also created for specific characters and events in a play , such as The Furies in Aeschylus ' Eumenides and Pentheus and Cadmus in Euripides ' The Bacchae . Worn by the chorus , the masks created a sense of unity and uniformity , while representing a multi-voiced persona or single organism and simultaneously encouraged interdependency and a heightened sensitivity between each individual of the group . Only 2 - 3 actors were allowed on the stage at one time , and masks permitted quick transitions from one character to another . There were only male actors , but masks allowed them to play female characters .
In ancient Greek theaters, the masks helped create a sense of dread in the audience, and enabled actors to reappear in different roles, which helped the audience distinguish between characters. Masks also helped reveal change in a particular character, permitted quick transitions from one character to another as only 2-3 actors were allowed on the stage at one time and unique masks were created for specific characters and events in a play. In addition, masks allowed playing female characters when there were only male actors.
In a large open - air theatre , like the Theatre of Dionysus in Athens , the classical masks were able to create a sense of dread in the audience creating large scale panic , especially since they had intensely exaggerated facial features and expressions . They enabled an actor to appear and reappear in several different roles , thus preventing the audience from identifying the actor to one specific character . Their variations help the audience to distinguish sex , age , and social status , in addition to revealing a change in a particular character 's appearance , e.g. Oedipus after blinding himself . Unique masks were also created for specific characters and events in a play , such as The Furies in Aeschylus ' Eumenides and Pentheus and Cadmus in Euripides ' The Bacchae . Only 2 - 3 actors were allowed on the stage at one time , and masks permitted quick transitions from one character to another . There were only male actors , but masks allowed them to play female characters .