What Do the Happy and Sad Masks of Theatre Represent?
Comedy and Tragedy
Even though you may not be a drama or theatre fan, chances are that you may have come across the two masks with contradictory expressions, the “happy” and “sad” masks. However, though you may have never pondered the significance of the masks but they are fascinating. While the two masks represent the popular dramatic genres of “Comedy” and “Tragedy”, that is a superficial meaning. To understand the actual significance of the masks, it is important to understand the significance of Greek mythology for Literature and the other arts.
The Influence of Greek Mythology on Literature
The influence of Greek mythology on English Literature is extremely patent. There are numerous allusions to Greek and Roman mythical heroes, Gods, Goddesses, stories and more in popular texts that might leave you clueless while studying them if you do not know the context.
Drama, as we know today, has descended from the Greeks. During the celebration of feasts, the Greeks would dress up in costumes and wear masks while singing hymns known as “dithyrambs” in honour of the God of Pleasure, Dionysus. Most of the Greek and Roman drama has its origins in religious ceremonies. Religion played an important motivational factor in the introduction of the drama in the English language as well. The common folk could not understand the Bible which was written in Latin and so, with the intent of propagating the religious teachings of the Bible, the Church used to hold performances with actors enacting scenes from the Bible in the vernacular language. This gave birth to the Mystery, Miracle and Morality plays which gradually led to the development of modern drama. Hence, religion played a major role in the development of drama.
With the Greeks having such a rich history of art and culture, it is no wonder that their mythology continues to influence and shape art and literature.
The Muses
The Greeks used to pray to the nine muses for inspiration in creating art. The muses were the daughters of Zeus, king of the gods and Mnemosyne, Titan goddess of memory. These muses were believed to cause forgetfulness of pain and they were also associated with the springs of Helicon and Pieris which were considered to be the springs for artistic inspiration. Even today, the term “Muse” refers to artistic inspiration. The nine muses were Calliope, Clio, Euterpe, Thalia, Melpomene, Terpsichore, Erato, Polyhymnia and Urania. They were all the muses for different art forms. Hence, a person seeking inspiration for a particular art form had to pray to the muse associated with it. Calliope was the muse of epic poetry, Clio was the muse of history and lyre playing, Euterpe was the muse of flutes, music and lyric poetry, Thalia was the muse of comedy and pastoral poetry, Melpomene was the muse of tragedy, Terpsichore was the muse of dance, Erato was the muse of love poems and lyric poetry, Polyhymnia was the muse of hymns and sacred poetry and Urania was the muse of astronomy.
Hence, the “happy” and “sad” masks represent the Muses of Comedy and Tragedy, Thalia and Melpomene, respectively. Thalia is often depicted crowned with ivy, holding a comic mask in her hand. She is also sometimes portrayed with a bugle or a trumpet (which were often used as accompaniments in ancient comedies) or a shepherd’s staff or a wreath of ivy (symbolizing her as the muse of idyllic or pastoral poetry). While Melpomene traditionally was the goddess of singing and dance, she later came to be known as the muse of tragedy. Befittingly, she is depicted with a tragic mask in her hand and wears cothurnus, boots which were traditionally worn by tragic actors.
As Comedy and Tragedy were the major forms of drama before, the masks came to symbolize theatre. Though drama has evolved to include many other genres including hybrid genres such as Tragi-Comedy, the masks continue to remain the major symbols for drama and theatre.
Thus, the two masks have their roots, back in ancient Greece.
