In addition to the Panathenaia, Athens had another great festival: the Dionysia. This was a festival celebrated in spring in honour of the god Dionysos, with a dramatic competition as its centrepiece – going to the theatre was part of a religious festival. In this lecture Dr Heather Sebo looks at the structure of the festival, the nature of dramatic performances in Athens, and the links between the dramatic festival and Athenian society, democracy and politics.

Copyright 2013 La Trobe University, all rights reserved. Contact for permissions.

In addition to the Panathenaia, Athens had another great festival: the Dionysia. This was a festival celebrated in spring in honour of the god Dionysos, with a dramatic competition as its centrepiece – going to the theatre was part of a religious festival. In this lecture Dr Heather Sebo looks at the structure of the festival, the nature of dramatic performances in Athens, and the links between the dramatic festival and Athenian society, democracy and politics. Copyright 2013 La Trobe University, all rights reserved. Contact for permissions.

The Dionysia, Drama and Democracy

This subject deals with the cultural history of the ancient Greek world through both textual sources and the material evidence of art and archaeology. The period covered runs from the Iron Age world of Archaic Greece through to the late Classical period (roughly from the 8th century to the 4th century BCE). We will concentrate mainly on Athens and mainland Greece, but we will also focus on the Greek expansion into other parts of the Mediterranean world (Sicily and South Italy) in the process of colonisation. Historical texts will be combined with literary sources and archaeology to explore the physical nature of ancient Greek cities and social issues such as the position of women, ethnicity, sexuality and slavery in the ancient Greek world.

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The Dionysia, Drama and Democracy

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