It is undeniable that theater is truly a link between all civilizations. It comes in many forms of spiritual rituals, stories, hymns, odes and performances. It was used during the many falls of civilizations as a means of communication and was truly shaped by the Greeks. The origins of theater can be traced back to the Greeks as a religious ritual dedicated to their gods, to their implementation of the technical aspects of theater, through their plays and also through the stages they built. These aspects have proven to have a lasting effect even in today's society and without the influence of the Greeks on theater, theater as we know it would cease to exist (Schanker and Ommanney 298). The origins of Greek theater began as a religious ritual to honor their gods, although the best known is the Greek god Dionysus, god of fertility of wine and revelry (Wilson and Goldfarb). Two major rituals took place twice a year in the city of Athens (Fiero 90) and were performed by the choir. The choir danced and sang songs, in the orcoastra around an altar where a goat was sacrificed to commemorate the death of the god. (Schanker and Ommanney 298). When the first actor, Thespis, left the chorus, it proved to be a monumental change within the theater and he was known as the first actor, with the term "thespian" now given to every actor since (Schanker and Ommanney 298 ). These rituals later developed into dramatic competitions and became part of a festival that lasted about five to six days. On each of the last three days, four plays were presented, each by a different playwright (Schanker and Ommanney 298). It is reported that in 534 BCE, Thespis was not only the first playwright and actor...... middle of paper ... of humans themselves. Human desires such as wants, needs, imagination, the desire to question, understand and analyze others and oneself. Although many levels of entertainment emerged and transformed following the Greeks, all forms of entertainment present in modern society can be traced back to Greek theater. As Walter Benjamine said, “memory is not an instrument for exploring the past but its theater. It is the environment of past experience, as the ground is the environment in which dead cities rest. The contributions made by the Greeks through the origins of theater, their plays, their technical aspects of theater and the construction of the stage itself have been found to have left a lasting effect on civilizations around the world and remain evident in entertainment modern, from singing to dancing, YouTube to television, and from cinema to theater.