Antigone and The Tragedy of Julius Caesar are two tragic masterpieces written by playwrights Sophocles and Shakespeare in two completely different time periods, but, more importantly, in two cultures completely different. In light of this, we must ask ourselves to what extent culture has influenced Antigone and The Tragedy of Julius Caesar. These tragedies are as much a creation of Greek and Elizabethan culture as they are of Sophocles and Shakespeare. Both Greek and Elizabethan cultures greatly influenced drama and theater as we know it today, but the two periods were very different. Part of understanding the influence of Greek culture on drama is understanding why Greek audiences of the 5th century BC even went to see tragedies to begin with. with. Tragedies were then commonly performed during religious festivals. The City Dionysia (also known as Great Dionysia) had a theater of 17,000 people. Because these tragedies were performed for such large audiences, lessons and/or reinforcement of cultural values ​​were often hidden in a playwright's work. Elizabethan audiences went to see plays specifically to be entertained. This forced Shakespeare and other playwrights of the time to give audiences exactly what they wanted to see. Judging by the success of The Tragedy of Julius Caesar and other Shakespeare plays, death and violence must have been high on their list of demands. Setting and staging are essential to a play, and once again the Greek and Elizabethan eras differ in how they are done. The Theater of Dionysus was, like all ancient Greek theaters, an open-air auditorium and, due to the lack of adequate artificial lighting, performances took place during the day. Scenes set at night had to be identifiable... in the center of the paper... their influence on modern theater is more or less the same. Without these two cultures, theater as we know it would not be what it is today. Works Cited Shakespeare, William. The tragedy of Julius Caesar (p. 822-912). Prentice Hall Literature: Platinum Level, 2005. Sophocles. Antigone (p. 773-808). Prentice Hall Literature: Platinum Level, 2005 Henslin, James M. Sociology: A Down to Earth Approach. 2nd ed. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1995. Lesky, Albin. A history of Greek literature. New York: Methuen and Co., 1996. Roger Dunkle. "The Classical Origins of Western Culture". Introduction to Greek tragedy. Brooklyn College Core Curriculum Series. April 11, 2011. Web. http:// Depthome.brooklyn.cuny.edu/classics/dunkle/studyguide/tragedy.htm Cahn, Victor L. The Works of Shakespeare: A Subject Guide. Westport: Greenwood Press, 2001.