City Dionysia

• City of Great Dionysia


  Five-day festival held in Athens in March
• Dionysus


  Trixie God, breaking boundaries between human and divine, male and female, even young and old, connected to wine
• Organizing the festival


  1. Eponymous archon elected from Athenian citizens

  2. Archon commissions playwrights

  3. Archon chooses a group of men called caregia responsible for putting on each of the plays including the sets, costumes and choruses
• Festival events


  1. Procession of the Statue of Dionysus to his Sanctuary

  2. Dithyrambic competitions held in the theater, one for men, one for boys, singing and dancing performances

  3. Performance of plays, first a day of Comedy, then three days of tragedies
• Festival


  • Honored the god of wine and drama
  • Demonstrated Athenian prowess to the wider world
• Rewards for winning performances

  • Bronze tripod
  • Crown of Laurel leaves
• Some victors set up monuments to record their event, some of which survive even now