The texts and depictions of the vessels testify that in the ancient performances there must have a kind of scenography. However, we should imagine this “scenery” as very different from what we have in mind today.

The natural environment surrounding the theatre and the building of the skene served as auxiliary elements for the action. For instance, the planted with trees sanctuary in front of the theatre of Dionysus, where the tragedy Oedipus at Colonus by Sophocles was presented for the first time, symbolized the sacred grove of Eumenides, the place where the plot took place. Since the middle of the 5th century B.C., a central door was added to the initially wooden scene building through which the hypocrites went in and out. Later on, the doors were usually three. In the tragedy, the skene usually depicted a palace or a temple, while in comedy one or more houses, where resided the characters of the play.

Among the most essential parts of the scenery of an ancient performance were the wooden paintings, placed on the façade of the skene. Depending on the place of action of the play, landscapes or buildings were depicted. Even a simple symbol drawn on the painting might have been enough, such as a tree which reminded of a grove or a fish which made the spectators think of the sea. In any case, the same paintings were used in several plays.

Fragment of a vessel which is probably depicting a scene of an unknown tragedy performance. Two hypocrites are performing in front of a portico with columns, part of the skene building (ca 350 B.C.), Martin von Wagner Museum Würzburg.

The scenic equipment also included theatrical mechanisms. One of them was the ekkyklema, a wooden platform on wheels. It was kept in the interior of the skene and it was pulled out when necessary. It presented to the audience the victim of a murder which had taken place out of the skene. Its use was required because violent scenes in front of the audience were forbidden in ancient theatre. Another mechanism was the mechane or crane. It lifted the hypocrites who impersonated gods and whose appearance was decisive for the plot, and transported them to the orchestra. The actors hovered over the orchestra thus giving the impression of flying. This mechanism was often used in the tragedies of Euripides for the appearance of humans, as well as gods.

Later on, during the Hellenistic period the scenery had to change more quickly because the action evolved in different places. A special device was thus invented, the periaktos. It was composed of three joined paintings which formed a triangle and revolved around a wooden shaft. Each painting depicted a different subject, and by revolving the periaktos a mountain landscape or a coastal area was shown to the public. Normally, the periaktoi were placed at the two ends of the logeion, so that the spectators would know from where came the characters of the play.

Two more auxiliary technical means were used in the performances, the keraunoskopeio and the vronteio. The keraunoskopeio was a wooden shaft with metal surfaces that reflected the sunlight giving the impression of a lightning. The vronteio was a stretched piece of leather, on which lead pellets were emptied with force from a bronze container to simulate the sound of a thunder.

The scenography of the performances was completed by movable structures which reminded of altars of graves, as well as items of different kinds, such as fabrics and god statues.