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Ancient Theatres - Festivals
Festivals – there were 2 major ones held in Athens – and many minor
ones. Drama was NEVER presented outside a festival
Festivals – there were 2 major
ones held in Athens – and many
minor ones. The festivals were
sacred to Dionysus – the god of
wine and theatre.
The two major ones were the City
Dionysia (held in spring each
year) when winter storms were over,
thus foreigners could come to visit for
the festival, and yet before most of the
spring military campaigns were
underway) and the Lenaea (held in
February – winter – each year).
Ancient Theatres – Festivals
Attendance at the dramatic festivals was not compulspory, but they
were very popular: most people attended for at least some of the
time.
FAQ
Could slaves attend?
Only with their masters.
Could women attend?
Possibly – there is conflicting
evidence in the ancient sources.
Did it cost anything?
Probably not – if it did, the cost
was very small. There were
tickets to indicate what section
to sit in.
Ancient Theatres – Festivals
Preparations for the competition (and they were competition) began
several months before the staging. Consider the preparations for the
City Dionysia.
The City Dionysia was held in MARCH…but before that
June: proposals from playwrights are submitted, from which are
selected
3 tragic "tetralogies" (collections of 3 tragedies and a satyr play),
thus 3 tragic writers;
5 comedies (later in the 5th century this was reduced to 3).
Ancient Theatres – Festivals
The presiding official (the eponymous
each writer:
archon) would then allow
•a choregos, a wealthy sponsor who would pay 3000 drachmas or
more (a huge sum!) for
•costumes,
•masks,
•props,
•3 principal actors,
•musicians,
•chorus
•rehearsal for 6 months (!), from September to March
Topics of the plays were secret until the first day of the festival, when they
were announced by the playwright.
Ancient Theatres – Festivals
Judging the contest
Ancient Athens was a democracy, and
it was the audience that judged the
dramatic contest.
•The process of judging the contest was deliberately complicated, to
avoid corruption:
•10 tribes each proposed 3-4 judges, from which 1 was chosen by lot
•each of the resulting 10 judges would rank the plays first-secondthird
•of these 10 votes, 5 would be discarded by lot, the rest then would
determine the winner
Ancient Theatres – Festivals
Programme of Events
Day 0 (night before festival): evening procession of Dionysos in a ‘ship car’
Ancient Theatres – Festivals
Programme of Events
Day 0 (night before festival): evening
procession: statue of Dionysus brought
from outside the city to the temple of
Dionysus: the statue of Dionysus then
overlooks the performances
Ancient Theatres – Festivals
Programme of Events
Day 1: proagon:
announcement of titles and
topics for the plays;
preparations for the grand
procession
Day 2: pompe: the grand
procession
women & children
participated, also foreigners:
revelry!
wineskins,
phalloi,
bulls to sacrifice (in 333 BC
240 were sacrificed!),
Ancient Theatres – Festivals
Programme of Events
Day 3:
•theatre purified
•by sacrifice of piglet;
•display of tribute;
•citizen honors;
•manumission (freeing of
slaves)
Ancient Theatres – Festivals
Programme of Events
Days 4-6: each day 3 tragedies + 1 satyr play by a given playwright
(picture of satyrs, picture of Dionysus with satyrs)
Day 7: 5 comedies (by 5 different playwrights; later in the fifth century
only 3 comedies); voting and crowning of victors