This was especially vital due to the fact that all roles, including female, were played by males. The masks were traditionally crafted to be larger than life so they could be easily seen by the audience in the immense theater. Although masks served the same purpose throughout the years, the appearance of them changed markedly. An interesting comparison can be made between the masks of the early years of the Greek theater, approximately 400 B.C. to 300 B.C., and the masks of the later Greek theater, approximately 300 B.C. to 100 B.C.
There is some controversy as to when the huge masks that are typically related to Greek theater were used. According to Wiles, "the masks of Old Comedy, Aristotle tells us, are necessarily "ugly and distorted, while causing no pain to the spectator"" (Wiles 68). However, the Cambridge Guide to World Theater claims that vase paintings of the 5th century show tragic masks as realistic and undistorted (Cambridge Guide 412). The Cambridge Guide goes on to say that from the latter part of the fourth century, "the appearance of tragic masks became more stylized. The mouth opened wider and the forehead was unnaturally raised to make the actor appear taller" (Cambridge Guide 412).
In the ancient theater of the 3rd century B.C., actor's roles were characterized by a method dubbed "Aristotelian" thinking (Wiles 152). In Aristotelian thinking, the different roles were associated with the elements, such as hot, dry, cold, and wet. "The blood, which carries the breath of life to the heart, is naturally the most important fluid in Aristotelian thinking, and thick hot blood was seen as giving strength, thin cool blood intelligence and sensitivity, the ideal blood being hot and wet" (Wiles 151). This way of thinking seems to have had great influence over the way a character was represented in the Greek theater. .
The masks of old men in the Greek theater changed noticeably throughout the years.
