Ohrid

Coordinates: 41°07′01″N 20°48′06″E / 41.11694°N 20.80167°E / 41.11694; 20.80167

Ohrid (/ɒx.rid/, Macedonian: Охрид [ˈɔxrid]) is a city in the Republic of Macedonia and the seat of Ohrid Municipality. It is the largest city on Lake Ohrid and the eighth-largest city in the country with over 42,000 inhabitants as of 2002. Ohrid is notable for once having had 365 churches, one for each day of the year, and has been referred to as a "Jerusalem (of the Balkans)". The city is rich in picturesque houses and monuments, and tourism is predominant. It is located southwest of Skopje, west of Resen and Bitola. In 1979 and in 1980, Ohrid and Lake Ohrid were accepted as Cultural and Natural World Heritage Sites by UNESCO. In fact, Ohrid is one of only 28 sites that are part of UNESCO's World Heritage that are both Cultural and Natural sites.

Name

In antiquity the city was known under the ancient Greek name Λύχνιδος (Lychnidos) and Latin Lychnidus, probably meaning "city of light", from λυχνίς (lychnis, gen. lychnidos), "a precious stone that emits light", from λύχνος (lychnos), "lamp, portable light". By 879 AD, the town was no longer called Lychnidos but was referred to by the Slavs as Ohrid, possibly from the Slavic words vo hrid, meaning "on the hill", as the ancient town of Lychnidos was at the top of the hill. In Macedonian and the other South Slavic languages, the name of the city is Ohrid (Охрид). In Albanian, the city is known as Ohër or Ohri and in modern Greek Ochrida (Οχρίδα, Ωχρίδα) and Achrida (Αχρίδα).

Theatre of ancient Greece

The Ancient Greek drama, is a theatrical culture that flourished in ancient Greece from c. 700 BC. The city-state of Athens, which became a significant cultural, political, and military power during this period, was its centre, where it was institutionalised as part of a festival called the Dionysia, which honoured the god Dionysus. Tragedy (late 500 BC), comedy (490 BC), and the satyr play were the three dramatic genres to emerge there. Athens exported the festival to its numerous colonies and allies in order to promote a common cultural identity.

Etymology

The word τραγῳδια (tragoidia), from which the word "tragedy" is derived, is a compound of two Greek words: τράγος (tragos) or "goat" and ᾠδή (ode) meaning "song", from ἀείδειν (aeidein), "to sing". This etymology indicates a link with the practices of the ancient Dionysian cults. It is impossible, however, to know with certainty how these fertility rituals became the basis for tragedy and comedy.

Origins

The classical Greeks highly valued the power of spoken word, and so it was their main method of communication and storytelling. Bahn and Bahn write, "To Greeks the spoken word was a living thing and infinitely preferable to the dead symbols of a written language." Socrates himself believed that once something was written down, it lost its ability for change and growth. For these reasons, among many others, oral storytelling flourished in Greece.

Ancient Theatre of Ohrid

The Ancient theatre of Ohrid of the Hellenistic period is located in Ohrid, Republic of Macedonia. It was built in 200 BC and is the only Hellenistic-type theatre in the country as the other three in Scupi, Stobi and Heraklea Lynkestis are from Roman times. It is unclear how many people the original theater used to seat, as only the lower section still exists. The open theater has a perfect location: the two hills that surround it keep it protected from winds that could interfere with acoustics during performances.

During Roman times, the theater was also used for gladiator fights. However, since the theater was also a site of executions of Christians by the Romans, it rapidly turned to a highly disliked site by the locals. In fact, as a result of this dislike, the theater was abandoned and buried by the locals after the demise of the Roman Empire. Fortunately, this allowed for most of the structure to be well preserved, only to be uncovered accidentally in the 1980s. Namely, during construction work around some of the houses in the area, large stone blocks with carvings of the Greek god Dyonisius and the muses were showing up, which led archaeologists to believe that a Greek theater (Dyonisius and the muses were related to the performance arts) must have been located nearby.