1.1 - Drama and Theatre in Ancient Athenian Society

The Lenaea Festival

held in Late January c.440 tragedy and comedy was more in important Athenian only

The City Dionysia

festival to Dionysus held in march and heralded the coming of spring reopening of the sea lanes after winter / start of sailing season public business ceased and law courts were closed / even prisoners released for the day to watch the plays chance to show off the city to foreigners

The Rural Dionysia

held mid-winter local festival held by the rural communities of Attica, a deme

What is a deme?

a village or district of Athens there were 139 in the 5th Century

What does Oliver Taplin say about the role of Dionysus in the Athenian theatre?

"there is nothing intrinsically Dionysiac about Greek tragedy"

What does Goldhill say about the importance of Dionysus in tragedy?

“He is the god of subversion”

What is an eponyous archōn?

A leading politician of Athens who was responsible for running the City Dionysia. He is referred to as the eponymous because the Athenian civil year was named after him. he would pick three tragedians and five comic playwrights for the festival after they presented him with their synopsis'

What is the Chorēgos?

the financial backer attached to a playwright to support the production of the plays. drawn from the city's wealthy elite. record shows a chorēgos in 410 spending 3000 drachmas. He paid for everything so he could gain personal prestige for doing it - Pericles backed Aeschylus' plays in 472

What is liturgy?

A tax on the super rich requiring them to contribute to the functioning of Athens.

What is a proagōn?

An event which acted as a preview and introduction to the festival a day or two before the event. It was held in the Odeion, a covered concert hall next to the theatre - playwrights would present their plays with the actors (without masks)

What are the likely outline of events of the City Dionysia?

A few days before - proagōn eve of festival - torchlight procession day 1 - pompē / dithyrambic contests / kōmos day 2 - opening ceremony / 5 comedies day 3/4/5 - three tragedies and 1 satyr day 5 - judging and prize giving a few days later - review

What were the three important presentations before the plays started on day 2?

1. parade of tribute - the money and tribute from the Delian League was brought into the theatre and paraded for the audience to view

2. Proclamation of honours - a herald announced the names of those who had done outstanding service for the city and awarded them with a crown

3. Parade of orphans - the boys and youths whose fathers had died fighting for Athens paraded into the theatre. The state paid for their education as a mark of respect for their father's sacrifice. Those who had turned eighteen that year were awarded a suit of armour and declared independent citizens.

What is the importance of the three presentations before the plays started on day 2?

They emphasised the civic nature of the City Dionysia and suggest that the plays reflect the Athenian polis

What is a pompē?

a grand religious procession morning of day 1 of the festival started outside the city and made its way to the agora, then on to the Temple of Dionysus, where it accumulated in the sacrifice of a bull with other animals

What is a dithyramb?

afternoon of day 1 of the festival a choral dance sung in honour of Dionysus each tribe entered choruses

What is a tribe?

a political division in Athens. All Athenians citizens were members of one of ten tribes a regiment in the Athenian army had religious duites

What is a kōmos?

evening of the day 1 of the festival loosely organised revel through the streets with song and dance

What is the Theoric fund?

a fund provided by the Athenian state which ensured that poorer citizens could afford to attend the City Dionysia

• emphasised the democratic nature of the festival

• probably wasn't in place originally

How much was entry to the theatre?

2 obols - like the joke in Frogs roughly the day's wages for an unskilled worker

The Spectators

the seats in the front rows were reserved for the important officials of Athens:

• 500 members of the city's council / generals / foreign and allied dignitaries / magistrates / priests of Dionysus

people sat in their demes they were loud and opinionated - booed / hissed / hooting when unimpressed - has to introduce the theatre police force, the 'rod-bearers'

The Judging

before the festival started, the council drew up a list of names from the 10 tribes and stored in urns on the acropolis on the first morning of the plays the 10 urns were placed in the theatre and the eponymous archōn would draw out one name from each urn - these 10 people would swear and oath of impartiality and sat as judges on the fifth day of the festival each judge wrote down his order of merit on a tablet. The tablets were places in an urn and the eponymous archōn picked 5 out, the play with the most votes was declared the winner.

What does Aristophanes' 'Assembly Women' [1154-62] tell us about the judging process?

"judge us by the fun we've given you" "keep your oath, always to judge the the choruses fairly" "Judge our play by its wit and wisdom"

The Review

a few days later, the Athenian assembly met in the theatre of Dionysus to review the festival If a complaint was upheld, then the eponymous archōn could be fined Or the archōn could be rewarded if the festival was a success.

The Structure / Location of the Theatre of Dionysus

theatres were built in wood before the late c4th BC so little trace of them remain built in stone in the 320s under Lycurgus

• capacity of 17,000 after this (maybe 6,000 before)

the ruins which remain today are form the Roman period and occupation of Greece south-east side of the Acropolis - protected from cold northern winds and was directly between the temple of Dionysus and the Acropolis - religious hearts of the city Street of Tripods led from the agora to the theatre - bonze tripods of victors set up here

What is the theatron?

the seating area in the Greek Theatre normally built on a hillside allowed a steep viewing area - stage was visible to all In the Lycurgan and Epidaurus theatres, the very semi-circular theatron created outstanding acoustics divided in 13 wedges / 10 for tribes / 3 for slaves, maybe women and foreigners front row of important people = prohedria central seat for the priest of Dionysus sat 6000 in c5th they sat on wooden benches on the tiered steps

What is the prohedria?

the front row of seating in the theatron reserved for VIPs

What does Aristophanes say in Frogs which shows a breaking of the fourth wall?

297 - "Priest save me - I'll but you a drink after the show."

What is the Orchēstra?

the 'dancing-area' below the theatron where the chorus performed the seats wrapped around half of it meant that the chorus were in between the actors and the audience - mediating the action to them might have had an alter in it to Dionysus or near maybe scholars argue that before the Lycurgan theatre was put in place it was rectangular and not circular

What is the Eisodos / Parados?

the entry way into the orchestra from each side of the theatre

What is the skēnē?

the wooden hut used as a backdrop and for actors to change costumes and props were stored there Inside, a ladder led to a trap-door in the roof which could be used as a third acting area There may have been painted or decoration on the front wall of the skēnē to give more character to the setting

What is the significance of the theatre of Thorikos?

example of a local theatre in the demes for the Rural Dionysia in south-east Attica capacity of about 3000 shows example of what the one in Athens may have looked like before Lycurgus in the c4th doesn't have circular shape - rectangular maybe this shape to replicate the terrain around it.

What does Oliver Taplin say about the special effects in Greek Theatre?

"the theatre of the mind"

What is the wheel platfrom / ekkyklēma?

a wooden platform on wheels brought on stage which showed a scene which had happened off-stage in tragedy it often presented the body of a character who had died off-stage. some sources speak of it as revolving - the main door revolved around on a circular piece of floor beneath it to reveal an indoor scene.

What is the scholion? Where is it seen in Aristophanes?

a comment inserted into a manuscript by an ancient commentator: Aristophanes' Archarnians 1.408

• "it would show things which appear to be happening indoors, eg. in a house, to those outside as well (I mean the spectators)"

What is a crane?

a device which raised an actor above the level of the skēnē building hoist characters into the air a god might be elevated to make an appearance at the end of a play to work out human affairs

• 'deus ex machina'

Aristophanes' Peace (dung beetle) - "you down there, the crane-handler" Euripides' Medea - the chariot of Helios at the end

Topic Review: What similarities and what differences can you find between the three Athenian festivals of Dionysus an a modern arts festival of your choice?

Topic Review: In what ways could an Athenian citizen be involved in the City Dionysia festival?

Topic Review: How different would it have been to watch a play in an ancient theatre space compared to a modern one?

Topic Review: To what extent can the visual and material record give us evidence for the performance of ancient Greek theatre?