THE MASKS

• masks are man's aspiration to a divine countenance/desire to astonish and terrify others. 
• In the I.C. masks were used because everyday man with no imagination prefers familiar things to novelty. People prefer to see the well known actor acting in a familiar role rather seeing a new face. The mask is therefore the best and simplest means of giving an illusion of permancency to a favourite character! This meant that the actor had to "play the mask" as it deprived
  
  him of facial expression
• The mask (unlike Chinese/Japanese masks) didn't express any emotion, they had an indefinable expression, full of possibilities like the Mona Lisa.
• The feeling each mask conveys varies according to the angle from which it is seen: it can range from teh most comic effects to disturbing/tragic. The body in a way is supplement to the mask.
• Nonnus of Panopolis "gestures that speak a language, hands that have a mouth, fingers that have voices."
• The masks were made of bark, or leather lined with cloth, light wood. The mask was proportioned to the size of the amphitheatre.
• Strips of brass attached to the masks were widened and exaggerated/ the lips of the masks were exaggerated to form a megaphone. 
• The masks all look kinda terrifying but they were so crudely fashioned to not make them look bland at a distance.