Ben Ifshin

Greek Tragedies

11\23\07

Tragedies and The City Dionysia

Introduction   

         The City Dionysia was a religious festival held in ancient Greece.  The festival was held in Athens on the 9th to 13th days of Elaphebolion, or around March 24-28.   The festival honored Dionysos Eleuthereus or Dionysus Free.  City Dionysia was the most splendid of the Greek festivals, so it was also sometimes refferred to as the Great Dyonysia.  The first Great Dionysia was put on by Peisistratos in the sixth century BCE.  All of the extant Greek tragedies were performed at Dramatic competitions at the festival.  There is some dispute about the content and the exact activities that took place at the City Dionysia.  It is common to find many interpretations of the same event, so do not be surprised to hear conflicting information about this festival.  The purpose of this document is to provide a basic understanding of  what the festival may have been like, and what it meant to the Ancient Greeks.

Dionysus as a God

         Dionysus is sometimes seen as a god with two origins.  On one hand Dionysus was the god of wine, as well as the patron diety of agriculture and theatre.  On the other hand, he represented the mysterious rituals of secret religions and cults.  Dionysus represented the beneficial, social influences of wine, and was viewed as a promoter of civilization and lover of peace. 

General Character of the Festival

         The festival was held at the start of spring, when the seas were just becoming navigable again.  The festival was organized, put on, and paid for by the city of Athens.  During the time of Athenian dominance, it was at the time of the festival that allies came to Athens to pay their annual tribute, and ambassadors often chose this time to conduct other business.  The festival also attracted scores of visitors causing the streets of Athens to be packed with strangers and Athenians.  Athenians took this opportunity to display the maginficance of their city to all the visitors.  Sacrifices to gods, religious ceremonies, comedies and tragedies served as a display of wealth as well as a display of literature and art. 

         Every year, a magistate was chosen by lot and named the archon.  The archon was the primary official in charge of the organization of the festival.  The festival began with a grand procession in which a statue of Dionysus was paraded through the streets.  The procession was one of the most fantastic parts of the festival.  People packed the streets as members of the parade came by in brightly colored garments and gold ornaments.  Part of the show was a train of victims who were to be sacrificed to Dionysus.  Sacrifices generally consisted of goats, pigs, or bulls, with each animal having a different significance. 

        

The Theatre of Dionysus

         The Theatre of Dionysus was the theatre in which all of the dramatic performances occured, and also the scene of many of the other festivities.  Built at the foot of the Athenian Acropolis, the theatre could seat as many as 17000 people.  The remains of a restored, Roman version still exist at the site today.

Tragedies at the Festival

         Tragic performances were the most important of the dramatic competitions.  Three poets were allowed to participate in each competition, with each poet producing three tragedies and a satyric play.  Playwrites applied to the archon for actors and a chorus.  The archon approved three playwrites and would then select producers to pay for the production of the plays.  The producers were private citizens whoÕs money would be repaid by an honorable place in the amphitheatre, as well as important functions in the festivals ceremonies.  Once granted a spot in the festival, the playwrites had the task of choreographing the play, as well as composing the music and directing the actors. 

         Ten judges were chosen from ten different tribes, by lot, to choose the winning play.  At the end of the festival, the winning play write was given a wreath and paraded around the city.

         According to one story, the first tragedy performed at the festival was put on by playwrite and actor Thespis.  The story goes on to say that Thespis was awarded a goat for this play, thus leading to the name tragedy, which literally means Ògoat-song.Ó  The only ancient greek tragedians with surviving plays are Aeschylus, Euripides, and Socrates.  There were many other prominant greek Tragedians.  Choerilus, who has no surviving works was said to have written over fifty plays. 

Notable Tragedy Winners and their Plays

472-Aeschylus - The Persians

468-Sophocles - Triptolemus

467- Aeschylus - Seven Against Thebes

463 - Aeschylus - The Suppliants

458 - Aeschylus - The Oresteia

428 - Euripides -  Hippolytus

409 - Sophocles - Philoctetes

406 - Euripides -  The Bacchae

Other Dramatic Competitions and Entertainment

         Along with the tragedy competition there was also a choral, and a comedy competition.  Five comedies were performed on the sixth day of the festival.  The choral competition consisted of two Òciclic choruses.Ó  One chorus, composed of men, competed against one composed of boys.  The choruses both had fifty members and stood in a circle.  The winner of this competition was also chosen by the ten judges.

Theater-related pictures

Annotated Bibliography

Encyclopedia Mythica, ÒDionysus,Ó http://www.pantheon.org/articles/d/dionysus.html, Rachel Gross and Dale Grote, September 2, 2003

        

         Informative article about the origins of Dionysus as well as a little bit of information  about the festivals in his namesake.  There is no work cited as it is an online encyclopedia about mythology and folklore.

 

ÒDionysia,Ó Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dionysia, Nov 1, 20006

        

         This article provides some good basic information about the City Dionysia, as well as a few pictures of the theatre.  Its information about tragedy and drama at the festival is limited, and because it is Wikipedia, so most information comes from other sources. Most of the other sources are cited and appear to be from a reputable place.  A good starting point if trying to learn about the festival

 

ÒThe City Dionysia,Ó The Theatre Database,  http://www.theatredatabase.com/ancient/city_dionysia_001.html,

 

         This is an article published almost 100 years ago about the City Dionysia.  Some of the information is outdated, however most is still relavent.  Good Website about many different types of theatre. 

 

Notes, http://www.uvm.edu/~jbailly/courses/tragedy/notes/tragedyAndPolitics.html

        

            University of Vermont website maintained by classics professor Jacques Bailly (of spelling bee fame). Good information about everything related to tragedy. Reliable, and sources usually cited.