The comedy and tragedy masks, also known as the drama masks, are a pair of masks, one crying and one laughing, that have widely come to represent the

performing arts The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which involve the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. P ...

. Originating in the

theatre of ancient Greece A Theatre, theatrical culture flourished in ancient Greece from 700 BC. At its centre was the Polis, city-state of Classical Athens, Athens, which became a significant cultural, political, and religious place during this period, and the theatre ...

, the masks were said to help audience members far from the stage to understand what emotions the characters were feeling. The crying mask is often ascribed the name

Melpomene Melpomene (; ) is the Muse of tragedy in Greek mythology. She is described as the daughter of Zeus and Mnemosyne (and therefore of power and memory) along with the other Muses, and she is often portrayed with a tragic theatrical mask. Etymolog ...

, after the

Muse In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, the Muses (, ) were the Artistic inspiration, inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the poetry, lyric p ...

of tragedy, sometimes abbreviated as ''Melpo'', while the laughing mask is named for Thalia, the Muse of comedy, with the Muses often depicted holding their respective masks. Melpomene and Thalia were daughters of

Zeus Zeus (, ) is the chief deity of the List of Greek deities, Greek pantheon. He is a sky father, sky and thunder god in ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, who rules as king of the gods on Mount Olympus. Zeus is the child ...

. ''Melpomene'' means a celebration of dance and song, while ''Thalia'' comes from the Greek ''thallein'' meaning to flourish or be verdant. They are often depicted wearing the sock and buskin, which have also come to represent comedy and tragedy, and the masks are thus sometimes referred to as Sock and Buskin. The masks have also sometimes been associated with the Greek god

Dionysus In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, myth, Dionysus (; ) is the god of wine-making, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, festivity, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, and theatre. He was also known as Bacchus ( or ; ...

(the god of wine, for the exaggerated emotions wine-drinking can bring on) and the Roman god

Janus In ancient Roman religion and myth, Janus ( ; ) is the god of beginnings, gates, transitions, time, duality, doorways, passages, frames, and endings. He is usually depicted as having two faces. The month of January is named for Janus (''Ianu ...

(a god with two faces).

References

{{reflist Ancient Greek theatre Masks in theatre