The Tragic Buskin

Ask anyone and they will know a little bit about ancient Greek theatre. Some people will insist upon giving you long interpretations of costumes, masks and stages… But I have yet to hear more than the slightest mention of the shoes, the oh so important foot wear of the time, despite their significance and contributions to the costumes and general feel of all the characters in a particular play. The Buskin or the Kothurnus plays a significant role in Greek Tragedy. The designs on them were connected to the times. The sizes were connected to the role. The styles correspond to shoes we wear today. However the Buskin is not to be confused with the Sock of Greek Comedy. The Buskin itself proves so much.

The patterns on the shoes tell a lot about the role, setting, and situation. Some of them had specific colors depending on the playscript and costume choices. There are colors that indicate wealth or royalty and more still that show lack of resourses or peasant life. A diplomat’s shoes may be a golden yellow while a vagabond’s is a dirty gray. There were Buskin with imprints of plant life, palace items, or even dirt and grime on the rims beneath the heal toto again show setting, time and social standing. The foot wear showed most of the foot which shows a comfort, amoung these people at this time, with showing this area of the body, as well as the possibility of high temperature. In heat it was unnecessary to close off the feet for the usual cold and snow related protection. Their toes would be just fine in hot sun. The Buskin laces climbing from the toes to right below the knee ensured they stayed on the feet, which was of coarse important while scurrying around on stage. The look is important but so is the size.

Another important detail is the height of the foot wear. Actors’ shoes in Greek Tragedy were generally higher than an average person’s shoe walking around town. The soul ranged from four to ten inches high. As every thing else involved in the costumes, those Buskin needed to be large to put off a larger than life feel from the actors to the audience. Along with all of them being abnormally big, they would very in sizes depending on the character, and the relationship between there of, or the natural gifts of the actor. A king, who stands up strait, will have higher shoes next to a beggar, which stands up strait, to apear taller. If too actors were different heights but were playing the role of two men who would be the same height, the shorter of the two would have longer Buskin rims than the other so that on the stage they would have apeared equal in size. The dedication to size differences tells how much the foot wear mattered in Greek Tragedy, and have a direct correlation to the shoes of today.