The City Dionysia, which is also called the Great Dionysia, is a traditional ancient drama festival held in Athens. At the festival, they had a variety of theatrical festivities such as comedy, suspense, tragedy, and satyric drama as well. The festival was always in March to honor and tribute to Dionysus, the god of wine. This festival was the second-most important festival after Panathenaia. The Panathenaia Games were held every four years and were games that included religion, ceremony, physical competitions such as the Olympics, and other cultural events. The festival was established after Eleutherae, a town on the border between Attica and Boeotia had chosen to become part of Attica. When the Eleuthereans brought over a statue of the god of wine Dionysus to Athens, it was initially rejected by the Athenians. Because of that, Dionysus punished the Athenians with a plague.
The festivals were welcomed by all Athenian citizens and visitors throughout Greece. The opening of the festival showed a parade and opening ceremony to the Theatre of Dionysus bearing a wooden statue of the god. During the first day, men and boys represented the ten political tribes of Athens and had dithyrambic competitions. The day ended with everyone coming together and the sacrifice of a bull alongside a huge feast.
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Alongside that, there were other competitions happening in the process as well, especially for theatrical performances. Over the course of three days, each would present a list of acts. In the tragic competition, each poet had to create three tragedies, produce them and sometimes even act on a theme. Each poet also presented a satyr play as well. The judges would then proceed to award the best poet. Later in the years, comedy was introduced and five poets competed for a prize with one play. Around 487 BCE, an additional day of competitions was created with five plays including one comedy each. A couple of known winners of the City Dionysia were Aeschylus, who is also known as the father of tragedy, and Hermippus, a one-eyes Athenian writer of comedy.
The festival continuously started to develop and grow more and more. It inspired so many people and also brought so many people together to celebrate. The festival was to some, an opportunity for a meeting with the Athenian legislative body. During the meeting, the citizens of Athenia observed and evaluated the festival, performances, and overall behaviors of the citizens to improve and plan for the next year’s Dionysian festival.
Citation Page:
- “Dionysia.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 11 Feb. 2021, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dionysia.
- “Great Dionysia.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc., www.britannica.com/topic/Great-Dionysia.
- “Panathenaic Games.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 19 Jan. 2021, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panathenaic_Games.
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