the City Dionysia

• Held in late March – symbol of spring and reopening of the sea lanes
• Appropriate to worship Dionysus – he encouraged new growth, in the springtime 
• Start of the sailing season – allowed the Athenians to show off their city and its festival to visitors 
• Public businesses ceased, law courts closed, prisoners given day release to watch the plays 
• Later 5th c., the festival ran for 5 days 
• Contained theatrical contests, processions, sacrifices and choral competitions 
• Festival was organised by the eponymous archon
• Athenian citizens could take part in various ways – for the people by the people
• Prep started the summer of the year before
• Any competing tragic playwright presented a synopsis of 4 plays (3 trag. and 1 satyr)
• Don’t know how the archon made his choice 
• He selected 3 playwrights to write the plays, and 5 comics to write a comedy
• The archon had to select a choregos for each playwright – input was vital
• He was drawn from the city’s wealthy elite
• Required to fund various public services called liturgy – serving as a choregos was one way
• A choregos needed a lot of money to make a success of the position 
• In 410, a choregos for tragedy spent 3,000 drachmas
• 402, for comedy, the choregos spent 1,600 drachma  (1 drachma = days wage for a skilled worker in Athens)
• Choregos paid for almost everything: costumes, props, masks, special effects, payment of chorus and musicians
• had to select members of the chorus and provide them with food, a place to rehearse and even accommodation
• Choregos had to hire a professional trainer if the playwright couldn’t train his own chorus
• Many wealthy Athenians must’ve welcomed the opportunity – sponsoring a major public event
• Pericles, leading statesman, early in his career, financed Aeschylus’ plays at the CD of 472
• If his playwright won, he could pay for a victory monument – inscribed with his own name, eponymous archon, main actors and musicians 
• a few days before

  proagon
• evening before 


  torchlight procession
• day 1


  pompe; dithyrambic contests; komos
• day 2


  opening ceremony, 5 comedies
• day 3 


  3 tragedies; 1 satyr play
• day 4


  same as day 3
• day 5


  3 tragedies; 1 satyr play; judging and prize giving
• few days later


  the review
• The proagon, 1 / 2 days festival start, was held in the Odeion – covered concert hall next to the Theatre of Dionysus
• The plays were announced and each playwright said a short synopsis 
• He might introduce his choregos, actors and musicians
• Could have an actor read a short passage to give the audience a foretaste of the play 
• Only time that actors would appear in character without masks – chance for the audience to see who they were
• Evening before it began – a wooden statue of Dionysus was brought into the city from a shrine just outside the city on the road to Eleutherae 
• Statue was escorted to the theatre of Dionysus – sacrifice made 
• Statue remained in the theatre throughout performances – symbol of his presence at his festival