How are the origins of Greek theater echoed in theater and democracy today?
At its best, drama engages you with different characters reacting and dealing in different ways with the challenges they face. There’s no guiding narrator. You’re invited to step outside yourself and listen to and think with the different voices in the play. That’s a very democratic process, and I think that’s part of nature of Greek drama as a democratic institution. Theater today can still play that role. It doesn’t always happen that way, but it can. People also wonder if other media can play the same role that theater did in ancient Greece. Where is the Internet leading us? On a good day, we think it can revolutionize structures and allow every citizen to participate in national discussions. On a bad day, we think it’s simply dumbing us down. The answer is something that has to come from us. Only our own will and hard work can insure the persistence of vigorous, informed and thoughtful democratic dialogue in our media. Q. So then, what was special about ancient Athens — why then an
