Puppetry

• Puppetry is a theatrical production that uses puppets in human or animal form, which are operated by a puppeteer.
• Puppetry existed in Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece and Rome.

Puppets in Ancient Egypt

• Puppets made from clay and wood with articulated limbs have been found in Ancient Egyptian tombs.
• Hieroglyphs describe walking statues used in religious plays.

Puppets in Ancient Greece

• Puppetry started with Puppetry Plays in fifth century BCE in Ancient Greece, according to Xenophon and Herodotus.
• Homer’s the Iliad and the Odyssey were presented as puppet shows.
• Aristotle referred to pulling of strings to move heads and legs.
• Plato referred to Puppetry.
• From the third century BCE onwards, Puppetry was performed in the Theatre of Dionysus in the Acropolis.

Puppets in Ancient Rome

• As early as 500 BCE, in both Ancient Greece and Rome, the Tombs of children have revealed clay and ivory dolls with articulated limbs.
• Some puppets had strings attached, others had a rod rising from the head, a method still used today, in puppetry in Sicily.