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Ancient : Greek Drama and Choregia by Matoula Scaltsa

1. INTRODUCTION

The main aim of this article is to address the issue of financial support of the arts in ancient Athens and especially during the 5th and 4th centuries which represent the most powerful and flourishing era of its history. One of the most characteristic forms of such support is the institution of "choregia", an institution which is uniquely related to the . More specifically, it is connected with the dithyrambic choruses and drama performances, and the contests organised for these performances during the religious festivals. Given the connection of "choregia" with the organisation of these festivals and the social and political structure of the Athenian democracy, there can not be avoided for some more general than strictly financial matters to be discussed. After all, every economical matter has always its roots in political decisions, depicting social structures and dynamic practices both in social and political levels.

The institution of choregia although related to the notion of patronage is quite distinct. The patronage, according to R. Williams1, follows 5 forms: (i) "From institution to patronage": which is marked by the transition from the instituted court artist to the artists of the nobility, who, although still highly attached to a household, he could be dependent on travelling between households. This is the beginning of a transition from the social relations of a regular institution to the social relations of conscious exchange. (ii) "Retainer and commission": where the artist is retained or commissioned by a court or powerful household as an individual professional worker. The

1 R. Williams, Culture, London, Fontana Press, 1989, pp. 38-44. 2

transition to full ecclesiastical patronage is a transition to those forms of professionalism, involving mobility and availability for hire. The patrons of the aforementioned categories offered hospitality, reward and in some cases -in the second category- direct monetary exchange but for work specifically performed for and owned by them. (iii) "Protection and support": there might be still some direct commissioning and some direct (retaining) support but the main function is social support, in uncertain social and legal conditions. It represents primarily a social recommendation and a hopefully mutual reputation and honour. The patron of the above category often worked within conditions where the work of art was being partly or wholly offered to a paying public (iv) "Sponsorship": it is marked by the existence of qualitative new social relations of art, where the works of art are faced as commodities for general use. It applies in conditions in which commodity and market relations are dominant and the works of art, either commissioned or supported, are judged as forms of investment or prestige advertising. (v) "The public patron": in the patronage of this form money are raised by taxation for the deliberate maintenance and extension of the arts as a matter of general public policy; the public body is held to have replaced the court or the household or the individual patron in the previous cases. The defining characteristic of all patronal social relations is the privileged situation of the patron; The patron can give or withdraw his support or commission.

The case of "choregia" , having many of the characteristics of the above categories of patronage, is also marked by others which make it unique and quite distinct from these. (i) the institution was obligatory for certain classes which represented a wide range of the Athenian population, almost 1/5. (ii) the person responsible for the funding could not withdraw his support. (iii) the support was not only monetary but included also a great deal of personal involvement and demanded managerial abilities on the part of the "". (iv) Choregia was thought to be a duty to the Athenian democracy. It was thought as a necessary "return" of the rich people to their city for the goods 3

provided by it to them and the community. Therefore no return could be expected for a choregos other than that derived strictly from the grade of the good execution of this duty.

So the term "choregia" (χορηγία) can not be replaced either by the word patronage nor by the word sponsorship. The word philanthropy can neither be used instead, because philanthropy can never be obligatory. Therefore it seems that a new term should be introduced, which not uncommonly has its roots to the same old language as the words patronage and philanthropy.

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2. RELIGIOUS FESTIVALS IN ATHENS

Religious festivals in and especially in Athens during the centuries of its power, 5th and 4th B.C, were thought to be some of the most important events, strongly connected with the general life of the community. The peak of those festivals were the drama performances and especially the competition for the best of them which started at about 440 B.C.2 It was hoped that the rites honouring the gods would encourage them to protect the (city-state) and its people. Socially and politically, the festivals were the major occasions when the citizens could gather and enjoy themselves viewing the drama performances, eating a rare meal of meat from the sacrificed animals, appreciate the values of the city on the community life and enjoy the privilege being citizens of such a powerful city. Although drama, for the Greeks, was part of a religious festival, this fact should not be equated with the modern religious congregation. For ancient Greeks religious worship was not passive as it happens in modern religious ceremonies, it was participatory and took many forms; the gods were honoured by human achievements: by athletic meets and boxing matches, by singing, dancing and acting3. One extremely prominent feature of the Greek religious festivals was the element of competition. Not for profit, but for prestige, repute, fame, glory and "philotimia" (φιλοτιμία: concern for one's honour). The competitive side of the dramatic festivals played a large part in shaping their organisation.

2.1 The case of the "Great "

2 H. C. Baldry, The Greek tragic , London, Chatto and Windus, 1971, p.3.

3 P. D. Arnott, Public performance in the Greek theatre, London and N. York, Routledge, 1989, p. 5. 5

The greatest of all the Athens festivals was the "City Dionysia" for the warship of god (Bacchus), god of wine and joy, of fertility and growth, and whose animal incarnations were the bull and the goat4. The "City Dionysia" were also known and as "Great Dionysia" or simply as "Dionysia". Dionysia were taking place during the end of March, which was called Elaphebolion5 and was the period when the sailing season started. Athens, if war did not prevent it, was crowded with visitors-merchants, of "allies" bringing tribute, travellers eager to see the wonders of the finest city of Greece, or drawn by festival itself. Dionysia was an event of Pan-Hellenic importance which brought people from all over the Greek-speaking world into the theatre; this was the setting for Greek drama which consisted of tragedy, comedy and play. Looking back on the origins of Greek drama one has to look at the dithyrambic chorus, where a body of dancers and singers performed honouring the god Dionysus. (Fig...../...... ) The real transformation of a simple chorus performance to a dramatic one occurred when first one actor was added and then more - added the second actor and the third- creating in that way complex possibilities of dramatic action. First there was the or choric hymn, a pre-dramatic form. Then there were added (i) the innovation of dialogue between a single figure (the actor) and the chorus; (ii) the innovation of dialogue, now in a more developed sense, between the first actor and the second which was added; (iii) the addition of a third actor. This new mature form, the drama, consisted of a chorus, a chorus-leader

4 The Greek word for goat is tragos (τράγος). The word tragos also meant people who were wearing the goat- skins and were singing and dancing honouring Dionysos, hence the word tragedy (τραγωδία).

5 The Elaphebolion month, meaning the month when somebody chases deers, was between 15 of March and 15 of April being the 9th month of the year, the first being the Ecatombaeon month lasting between 15 of July and 15 of August. During this first month of the year, Panathenaia were celebrated, honouring the goddess protector of Athens Athena (Minerva). A very important part of that celebration was the procession to on the which was depicted by in the frieze of Parthenon. Part of this frieze is located in known as the " 6

(κορυφαίος), who was one form of the originally emergent single figure; a first actor (protagonist:πρωταγωνιστής) who was the more developed form of this same figure; two other actors (δευτεραγωνιστής αnd τριταγωνιστής); and attendant mutes. The chorus sang and danced as in the dithyramb but also in a new deliberate relations with the actors; the chorus leader used a mode between speech and song, in transitions between the choral singing and the actors' dialogue; the actors spoke in formal metres and they shared between the three of them all the speaking parts (often eight individual characters). (Fig...... /...... ) The element of competitiveness and the importance of the actors in the evolution of the plot presented quite different relations of audience to the religious element of drama than the formal relations of the priest and the body of worshipers in the pre-dramatic mode. The transformation of a received form (choral singing) into a new formal type (drama) depicted changes in social relations connected more to general social developments than to mere local social conditions. It marked the shift from a clear collective mode and religious concern to changing levels of collectivity6. The dramatic and dithyrambic contests, the latter continuing to exist, held the most important part of the festival lasted five days in the 5th century, limited in three in the 4th, when the Athenian power declined and tribute from the "allies" were diminished. During the three days that drama was performed, every poet (playwright) had to present one drama and an afterpiece, a satyr play, each day, which lasted about 2 hours each. (Fig...... ) Since the tragedies had always sad -tragic- plot the satyr play at the end was a need for the audience to cheer themselves up. A comedy, added in the end of 5th century, closed the day's performance. (Fig...... ) It meant that the spectators stayed in the theatre for at least ten hours, if we consider that, in a twelve hours day, not more than two hours at most can have been available for intervals between the plays for the changing of the scenery (skenographia). The Dithyrambic contests included a competition between choruses from the ten Athenian tribes in the performance of "" sung and danced in

6 R. Williams, op.cit., pp. 149-151.

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honour of the god Dionysus. Ten choruses of men took part, and ten of boys with 50 members each. The performers did not wear masks7. People took their seats early in the morning, bringing with them cushions and umbrellas. During the performances they could drink and eat.

7 H. C. Baldry, op. cit., pp. 26, 27. 8

3. THE INSTITUTION OF CHOREGIA

During the 6th century B.C. the monetary support of dramatic performances of the religious festivals by wealthy citizens of Athens was already a reality. By the end of this same century it became compulsory by legislation introduced by Clesthenes, the founder of the Athenian democracy. It was known by the name "χορηγία" ("choregia") which comes out from the verb "χορηγώ", meaning to be the leader of a chorus (band of dancers and singers who narrated in verse stories) and metaphorically to provide the means for the chorus' performance. The example of Athens was followed by other Greek cities as Aegina, Thebes, Orhomenos, Ceos, Mytiline and others. In the Greek cities of Asia Minor the institution of choregia was voluntary. Choregia was an institution among other compulsory ones, such as eisphora8 which called liturgies (λειτουργίες) and which obliged wealthy Athenians to contribute to their city's welfare and the values involved in the city. Choregia, like eisphora, was another form of super-tax imposed by the city to the rich and leisured class; it consisted of the obligation of choregoi to finance and organise the teams for dramatic or musical events which composed the most

8 "Eisphora" was a special war tax levied after vote of the Assembly usually in times of war. Those liable were those whose capital exceeded a certain sum, probably 2,500 drachmae and they paid a proportion of that decided on each occasion; 1% or 2% appears normal in 4th century B.C. Those liable were about 6.000 people, which represents the 1/5 of Athens' male population. One kind of eisphora, which was conducted by the generals of Athens, was the "trierarchy" (τριηραρχία) which involved the command of war-ship (trireme:τριήρης) for a year. The city (polis:πόλις) provided the hull and -in theory- its equipment and the trierarch had to to keep the ship, its equipment and crew -the latter being recruited and paid by the trierarch, though theoretically the crew's salary was the responsibility of the city- in a condition apt for fight. The trierarch had to command the ship, though contracting out the command was possible. Athens depending primarily on her navy's efficiency for her power, thought the function of eisphora and the trierarchs' role of great importance. See N. R. E. Fisher (ed.), Social values in , London and Toronto, Dent and Hakkert, 1976, p. 24, 25.

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important events of a religious festival. The choregoi were appointed eleven months before the opening of the next year's festival in order to have enough time available for an efficient and competitive preparation. Another form of was gymnasiarchy , where the gymnasiarch financed and organised athletic games. Other liturgists of certain festivals provided feasts (hestiasis: εστίασις) for their fellow-tribesmen. There seem to have been about 100 liturgies a year supporting the religious festivals which were distributed through fixed dates of the calendar9 In Athens more than ten annual important festivals were taking place. People liable to liturgies were essentially those liable to eisphorai (about 6.000 people) whose annual income was an amount close to 4-6 talents, i.e. 24,000-36,000 dracmae (1 talent= 60 minas= 6,000 drachmae= 36,000 obols). It is quite difficult to define the worth of a talent in modern currency. Very roughly 1 talent could be equated with £82,500 in contemporary value, hence 4-6 talents with £330,000-493,00010 . A rough idea of its value can be also perceived if we consider that one talent could keep 15 or more Athenian families of four for a year at the subsistence level11.

9 H. W. Parke , Festivals of the Athenians, London, Thames and Hadson, 1977, pp. 23, 24.

10 E. Touloupa, "Choregia in Ancient Greece", in The Modern Sponsor and The Arts, proceed. of the International Symposium for Business, the Arts and Society, held in Athens (27-28 September 1990) and organised by OMEπO (Association for the Support of Cultural Activities), p. 5.

11 H. C. Baldry, op. cit., p. 33. In order to get an analogy with the cost of life in Athens there should be added that unskilled men working in the Erectheum on Acropolis got 3 obols a day and skilled 1 drachma(409-7 B.C.). About a century later, in 329-8, unskilled men working in Eleusis got 1.5 drachmae a day and skilled 2 or 2.5 drachmae. In 320 B.C. public slaves were allowed 3 obols a day for food. Dole for disabled citizens or hindered from working was 1 obol a day in the early 4th century B.C. and 2 obols in the late. From 425 on jurors received 3 obols a day and during the 4th century B.C., councillors were paid 5 obols a day. Assembly pay rose from 3 obols in the 390's B.C. to 1 or 1.5 drachmae in the 320's B.C. The sum alloted for clothes of public slaves was 7 drachmae at minimum for a tunic and 10 drachmae for a cloaks. Elaborated and thick ones cost considerable more. 10

It was quite normal for a budget of 6 talents to spent on the City Dionysia, one of the greatest religious festivals of Athens. Parallel to choregoi's expenditures the city, from the Periclean era on, funded the seats for its citizens at an amount close to 3 talents, minus any payment that was made by the lessee of the theatre to the treasury. This fund which from the mid-fourth century received much of the surplus of the city's income was called theoricon (θεωρικόν: spectacle-fund)12 A sum of 11 talents (£900,000), provided both by the state and the choregoi supporting only the contests of the City Dinysia festival, seems to be close to the reality. The total of the festival which lasted many days as a whole must have cost a great deal more13. 4. THE ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE OF DRAMA CONTESTS AND THE ATHENIAN DEMOCRACY

The community was involved from the the first in the organisation of the festival and more specifically through its nominal head, the "Archon" who gave his name to the year for which he held office. Archon was not a leading politician or professional civil servant (though he was paid), but an ordinary citizen chosen by lot from all except the lowest- income class. We could say that an analogy to his

Wine cost about 4-5 drachmae per metretes (40 litres). Slaves might cost perhaps average 150-200 drachmae for an adult, more or much more for skilled specialists. Most Athenians owned at least one or two slaves and rich men had many. See N. R. E. Fisher, op. cit., p. XI.

12 N. R. E. Fisher, op. cit., p. 26.

13 It has been estimated that the direct Athenian state expenditure on all its festivals had been reached the 25-30 talents a year For reasons of comparison should be added that the state outlay for the police was 40 talents a year, and in the eve of the Peloponnesian War the defence expenditure of the state was amounted to about 1,000 talents a year. See H. C. Baldry, op.cit., p. 33.

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post would be that of a modern Mayor. Running the city's festival was one of his duties. The playwritghts (poets) who wished to compete "applied for a chorus" to Archon. Archon was the person to select the three poets whose drama plays would be presented in the festival. Each has to put forward a group of new plays, 3 tragedies and a satyr drama. It is not known how the Archon made his choice or whose advice he sought. It is cited in Laws of that each poet may have read to him speciments of his work. But it seems unlikely that such a busy official had the time to read plays or the experience to distinguish among bad and good plays. Nevertheless the Archon was accountable to the Assembly either for his choices or for the management of the festival. Probably he chose playwrights rather than plays, and largely by repute. Athenian population belonged in 10 tribes. Each tribe had to present to the city's magistrates a list of 120 of its wealthiest people. Those 1200 individuals consisted 4 groups of 300 members each, being obliged when the generals or the archon asked for, to provide the money and the means for the liturgies. Each of the 10 Athenian tribes had to provide one choregos for each festival. It meant that for every festival at least 10 individuals, the choregoi, provided the means for events to be presented in that festival. Those events might be either dramatic performances or dithyrambic choruses14. An individual, after having been included in the above list, could object his participation claiming two reasons: (i) if he had performed that particular liturgy before or another liturgy one or two years previously; (ii) if he declared financial inadequacy. In the second case the procedure of "antidosis" (αντίδοσις: exchange of properties) had to be followed. It meant that the challenger of this particular liturgy had to find another man richer than himself doing less than his due of liturgies; he would then challenge him either to perform the liturgy in his place or to carry out a complete exchange of properties with him, after which the challenger would do the liturgy out of the property formerly belonging to the challengee. The challengee might either agree to perform the liturgy, or accept the exchange; or he might contest the issue, and

14 E. Touloupa, op. cit., p. 5. 12

leave it to a court to decide which had the more property, and hence which should do the liturgy. In the case that the challengee accepted the "exchange of properties" the challenger could not withdraw15. It was a self-protected system of taxation where the people subjected to it were responsible for its just operation in a city where no land register and no body of civil servants dealing with taxation existed. In this way a choregos could not easily deny his obligations to the city and he was prevented from frivolous challenges, having to take the risk of either leaving himself and his family with less property or being humiliated himself and his (ancestors) in a trial. The contributions of the rich were essential to the survival of the city and the functioning of its democratic system; the liturgy system can be seen as an important attempt to reconcile conflicting interests of rich and the whole community; it was one of the major ways in which the classes in power tried to preserve the democracy without excessive alienation of the propertied class. Instances of "exchanges may have been rare although , the well-known orator, advocate and writer of ancient Greece, had in a similar case to defend one of his customers against a claim of such an "antidosis". It was judged to be so important for an individual, his personal pride (τιμή:teme), his family's and tribe's honour to operate as a liturgist and especially as a choregos in dramatic contests that people rarely denied their nomination and their duties derived from this. It has been cited by Lysias, the famous speech- writer, in a court case of the end of 5th century B.C., that his client as choregos had spent in four cases 11,100 drachmae. Lysias analysed the whole amount of his client's expenses as following: 30 minas (3,000 drachmae) for the mounting of a tragedy, 16 minas (1,600 drachmae) for a comedy, 50 minas (5,000 drachmae) for a men's chorus and 15 minas ( 1,500 drachmae) for a boy's chorus in two different dithyrambic contests16. The expenses needed for the dramatic performance in a ceremony were related to the latter's importance. It is cited again by Lysias that this amount was between 2,000 and 5,000 drachmae (about £25,000 - £55,000 in present value) for each performance.

15 N. R. E, Fisher, op. cit., p. 27.

16 H. C. Baldry, op. cit., pp. 32, 33. 13

The responsibilities and duties of choregoi were of various kind, and they did not consist only of providing the money. They were responsible for the selection of the members of the chorus17, the actors, who never surpassed the number of three, the trainer of the chorus, who was called daskalos (δάσκαλος: teacher), the musician, who was called aulitis (αυλητής: piper) and the poet (ποιητής), who was the playwright who acted also as director and choreographer of the performance18. The choregoi had to provide a place for the rehearsals19 and the money for the costumes and the masks which were either especially ordered or rent. (Fig...... ) It is not known if the members of chorus were paid; most probably they were unpaid volunteers who undertook service as part of their public civic duty. The actors seemed to be non full-time professionals although they were paid for their festival appearances. Several of them are known to have taught public speaking, one of the major component of Greek education. During the 4th century B.C. and in the following centuries when a great deal of the spectators' interest was laid on the actors, some star actors demanded a spectacular fee. The poet was paid for being selected to present his drama but he did not get extra money either for directing the performance or when after the contest won the prize. The first playwrights had also acted in their own plays and later they employed actors of their own choosing.

17 The word chorus is applied equally to the dancers and the singers and to their performance. See E. Simon, The Ancient Theatre (trans. C. E. Vafopoulou-Richardson), London and N. York, Methuen, 1975, p. 8.

18 The earliest generation of dramatists taught their own choruses and devised appropriate choreography. Both and Aeschylus were famous for this. was the first to separate the functions of author and director. See P. D. Arnott, op. cit., p. 23.

19 There is information by an ancient lexicographer that the chorus was worked to chalk lines on the floor. See P. D. Arnott, op. cit., p. 24. 14

The trainer of the chorus was paid his fees, which were relevant to the choregos willing to gain the prize, and most probably so was the aulitis, the piper. Everybody related to the performing team was provided by the choregos the everyday food.

Due to the limited numbers of exceptional choruses' trainers, musicians and actors, and given both the importance of the needed high standard of a performance when entering transactions of contest and the provision on the part of the city of equal opportunities for the contesters, during the middle of the 5th century the following priority system was followed: The ten choregoi, nominated for a certain religious festival by the ten Athenian tribes and appointed by the Archon who presided this group, through a lottery system, decided who would be the first among the choregoi to select the chorus trainer, who would be the second and so on. The same process was followed for the selection of the "first actor" (prodagonistis). The latter in collaboration with the playwright would choose the second (deuteragonistis) and the third (tritagonistis) actor. Those three actors played all the characters of the plays, male and female. This system depicted another view of how democracy was functioning in Athens, where a citizen could not use his power or money unrestrictedly or at least without the existence of some factors challenging them both, having to prove continuously and in more than one case his ability to gain power, influence and money or to be successful. In the Athenian democracy there were always factors which challenged the established order of things and people even in the upper classes and in positions of power could never rely on their established power or wealth.

4.1 The dramatic contest: the selection of the judges

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A day or two before the festival an official ceremony, the proagon, was held which in effect gave the public full details of the programme. During the second half of the 5th century, this ceremony was taking place in the Odeum (Odeion), the ' new hall, next to the in the south-east slope of the Acropolis. In this ceremony the selected poets with their choregoi, actors, musicians and chorus members without their costumes and masks were parading, splendidly dressed(Fig...... ) Each poet presented on the platform his actors and announced the titles of his plays and some cases a summary of the plot. Since a strong competition among the presented performances was to close the ceremony, a democratically selected body of judges (κριταί: critai, hence the word "critic") had to be elected in advance and after the selection of the poets who would participate: A number of prospective judges were proposed οn a representative "tribe" basis, both by the members of the Council (Bουλή) and the ten choregoi of the certain festival. On what ground individuals were put on the list is not known. Once the names were decided they were put in ten urns, one for each tribe which were sealed by the presidents of the Council and by the choregoi and deposited with the public treasurers in Acropolis. Those vases stayed there until the contest was due. To tamper with them in the meantime was a capital offence. The day that the first performance was due the ten urns were brought to the theatre from the Acropolis, the Archon unsealed them, drew one name from each and then ten thus chosen swore to give an impartial verdict. After the end of all the performances each of the ten judges wrote his order of preference on a tablet. Those tablets were put in an urn and the Archon drew out five of them whose verdict, on a majority basis, decided for the victorious poet and choregos20 .

20 L. Aylen, The Greek Theater, London and Toronto, Associated University Press, 1985, p. 47. 16

5. MORE ABOUT CHOREGIA : THE VICTORIOUS CEREMONIES

After the end of the contest, victors' celebrations followed, during which the Archon awarded a tripod and a garland to the choregos and the poet. A triumphant procession escorted choregos dressed in purple robe and crowned with the ivy garland, the poet and protagonist home. In the procession the chorus trainers, the chorus members, and the actors, appearing for the first time after the end of the performance without their masks and costumes, were participating The choregoi, winners either in drama or dithyrambic contests, were put on the head of the parade. During the ceremony the choregoi were treated like holy persons alongside the members of the choruses, and a victory of the performance they had funded was judged as a victory of the whole tribe they belonged. It might be the only publicity and the only return, except of the good fame, honour and reputation, that was offered to them. The willingness to spend lavishly for the good of all -as in the dramatic and dithyrambic performances, where almost all the city was benefited- was worthy of great honour and to win the prize in the contest was praise-worthy. Thanks and honour were frequently claimed and presumably given in more practical ways, at elections, in assemblies and above all in the law courts where a choregos' contributions to the city might be taken into consideration by the juries in cases of his involvement.

The awarded choregos had to erect a suitable structure -built stall which ended to be a monument and in some cases an entire building- in the city for the tripod to be put on. On the stall the names of choregos and its tribe, the poet, the chorus trainer, the musician and the Archon were engraved. Furthermore the names of choregoi who had won in drama competitions were included in the lists of the city's victories which were kept in its official archives. Many honorific inscriptions have survived in which city and tribe record their thanks to choregoi for all to see. 17

In Athens there was a street named "tripodon" (the street with the tripods) after the structures erected in that particular place for the tripods. This street still exists in Athens in the quarter of below the Acropolis where the choregical monument of Lycicrates (Fig...... ) can still be seen. It is a circular structure with cornice and frieze in relief where deeds of god Dionysus are depicted, and which is ornated with semi-columns crowned with Corinthian capitals. Choregical monuments were erected even inside the Temples or near the where the drama performances were taking place. In the collection of Athens Epigraphic Museum there is a decree on stone slab (late 4th centurey B.C.), which conveys thanks of the Aixone demos (municipality) to the demarch (mayor) and two choregoi of drama contests. (Fig...... ) It is adorned with a relief of Dinoysus and satyr cup-bearer, and, above five comic masks used in drama performances21.1 A copy of this slab is on permanent show in Athens Concert Hall, first in a row of slabs with the names of donors and benefactors of the Hall.

One of the days immediately after the Dionysia, a meeting of people was held in the theatre of Dionysus presided over by the Council of the Five Hundred at which an open inquest was held into the conduct of the festival. This could end in the council proposing a vote of a crown to be offered to the Archon for his management but it could equally end by a complaint which any member of the public could raise against the Archon's conduct. Considering the character of the Athenian democracy and the Athenians claim of freedom of speech the latter does not seem unlikely to have happened. During the 5th century B.C. the audience expected with great anxiety for the new plays of the three great tragic poets Aeschylus, Sophocles and to be presented in the religious festivals. (Fig...... ) During the following century, the 4th B.C., the revival of earlier tragedies was even allowed in the Dionysia and at last it was systematically arranged that a certain proportion of the festival would be devoted to "old tragedies" of the aforemetioned poets22. Parallel to that the interest

21 A. W. Cambridge-Pickard, The dramatic Festivals of Athens, 2nd ed. revised by J. Gould and D. M. Lewis, Oxford, 1968, p. 49. 1

22 The restaging of "old tragedies" was officially initiated in 386 B.C. and that tradition continued up to the later centuries. Between 330 and 292 B.C. 38 to 70 tragedies must have been restaged in Athens, most 18

of the audience began to concentrate more to the actors than to the playwrights23.

of them belonging to Euripides .See A. Γ. Kατσούρης (A.G. Katsouris), "Staging of Παλαιαί τραγωδίαι in relation to 's audience", ανάτυπο του Γ' τόμου της "Δωδώνης", επιστημονικής Eπετηρίδας της Φιλοσοφικής Σχολής Iωαννίνων, 1974, s. 179, 180.

23 H. W. Parke, op. cit., p. 133. 19

6. DEMOCRACY'S CARE FOR ITS CITIZENS

One of the first amphitheatric stone-paved theatre to be built in Athens for the performances in the religious festivals of Dionysos was that below the Acropolis and near the Dionysos shrine. It had been erected by the Athenian orator and politician Lycourgos in 330 B.C. and its capacity was of 17.000 people. Greek theatres were, by modern standards, enormous. 15,000-17,000 people meant almost half the male population of Athens. The size was not peculiar to Athens. The theatre of Corinth held some 16,000 people. The theatre of , built in the 4th century on 5th century principles, held about 20,000 spectators when first constructed, 14,000 today. The largest known theatre in mainland Greece was that of Megalopolis which is said to held 46,000 people. The largest theatre in the wide Greek-speaking world, was at , in Asia Minor, with a capacity of 55,000 spectators. In this respect, there is no comparison between an ancient theatre and a modern one when for us a large theatre's capacity as of the Metropolitan Opera of New York or of the Olivier in Southbank is about 2-3,000 people24. An entrance fee was charged, the same for all the seats; it cost about two obols for a day's performances, amount that represented a low paid one day's wages; small coins like discs of lead have survived which may be seat-tokens25 . There were also free of charge seats -"complimentaries", the front ones, which were offered to priests, Archons, and other holders of public office, benefactors of the city, ambassadors of other Greek states and the sons of citizens died in the battle. The latter, maintained by the democracy till they came of age, dressed in full armour, marched on the orchestra (dancing-floor) while a herald proclaimed their identity. In a similar ceremonious way all the aforementioned honoured spectators were conducted to their seats.

24 P. D. Arnott, op. cit., pp. 60-61.

25 H. C. Baldry, op. cit., p. 31.

20

From the time of Pericles the state treasury paid for the seats of the citizens. The two obol payment from the treasury has often been regarded as a form of "dole", but it has another aspect: the assumption that drama was the community's concern, as we think education is today. The money went to a lessee who was responsible for the theatre's maintenance and repair. Special areas were reserved for the member of the Council and for the epheboi the young men under military training. Before the drama performances start a suckling-pig was sacrificed to purify the theatre and libations were poured26. This was the time of year when the "allies" brought their tribute to Athens; a line of young Athenians marched in front of the audience, each carrying one silver talent in a jar to show the balance tribute over expenditure for the past year. Announcements were made of honours conferred on citizens or strangers for services to the city. Demosthenes, the famous orator, mentions that even announcements of liberations of slaves were made by their owners. Since there were no state records of freed slaves the best security for a freed slave was to be able to call on a sufficient number of witnesses. It is not known if women and children were accepted in the performances, although it is known that certain rites confined to one or other sex. Women excluded from shrines of Heracles and men from rites related to Demeter. If it happened they might have been excluded from the comedy performances where heavy sexual jokes and gestures were taken place27. But it is cited that the trilogy drama of Aeschylus was so horrific -the chorus represented Furies- that it caused some women spectators to miscarry.

6.1 Skenographia

26 It has been pointed out by R. Williams that while within the organisation of the festival the religious signals were dominant, within the actual performances the dramatic signals were dominant, the latter marking shifts in the organisation of the Athenian society and in the individuals' perception of their role in that society. See, R. Williams, op. cit., p. 149.

27 A. W. Cambridge-Pickard, op. cit., p. 266.

21

The 5th century theatre seems to have had nothing like scenery in our sense of the word28. It had no backdrops, no realistic stage pictures, no scenic illusion. The only backdrop was the facade of the skene building, decorated perhaps in architectural perspective.29 Our first evidence of movable panels to create different sets comes from a century later. According to scene-painting was introduced by Sophocles in the second half of 5th century, although Vitruvius, the Roman architect and historian of architecture, tells us that the great Greek painter Agatharhos from Samos "made a scene" for a production of Aeschylus who lived in the first half of the 5th century. In reality, Agatharhos painted a perspective back-cloth for a revival of an Aeschylus' play in 438 B.C. (Aeschylus had died in 457 B.C.) which is recorded as one of the earliest painted back-drops. (Fig...... ) According to Vitruvius, commentary left by Agatharhos on that "scenery" inspired Demokritos and to work out the rules of perspective so that a building painted on scenery could show convincing recession and projection30. (Demokritos was born about 460 and Anaxagoras about 428 B.C)

28 H. C. Baldry, op. cit., p. 47.

29 A quite similar idea can somebody get from the built backdrop of "Theatro Olympico" by Palladio in Vizenza.

30 T. B. L. Webster, Greek theatre production, 2nd ed., London, Methuen, 1970, pp. 13, 14.

22

7. THE DECLINE OF A CITY: THE DEATH OF A DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTION

The organisation of religious ceremonies continued even during the Roman occupation (2nd century B.C.) but already by the end of 4th century B.C. it was becoming more and more difficult for the cities to find people willing to spend enough money for being choregoi. Although the institution of co-choregia had been introduced for more than one person to share the financial burden of a drama performance it is always hard for a city in decline to inspire its citizens persuading them to spend money for its questionable glory. In the choral drama and participatory democracy coexisted; when one declines, so does the other. After the shattering defeat of the Peloponnesian war (404 B.C.) an increasing apathetic public removed itself from the decision-making process, and with the ascent of King Philippos a centralised government imposed itself upon the city-states. A parallel manifestation occurs in the theatre. Aristophanes, the great comedian, in his "Ekklesiazusae" (The Parliament of women), attacks against the voters' apathy. The institution of choregia in ancient Athens was based on the demands of a strong and wealthy city from its wealthy citizens; a city which, in return for the welfare it secured for them, was asking the funding of religious ceremonies which would honour their gods, glorify their city and finally bring fame and reputation to themselves. The citizens of such a city, as it was Athens of 5th century B.C., had every reason to identify themselves with it. The identification of the citizens with their city ceases from the moment the latter has nothing to offer to them in return for their giving and the former has nothing worthwhile for its citizens to be identified with; and Athens of 4th century B.C is no more a city of importance; the Greek strength has been moved towards the north to the cities of the Macedonian King Philippos and his son .

Figures 23

A dancer from a black-figure Ionian hydria -hydria of " Caere"- painting, 540-520 BC., Paris, Louvre, fig. 54 in P. Devambez, Greek Painting, London, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1962.

Donysiac Feast from a red-figure stamnos painting, 450-425 BC., Paris, Louvre, fig. 133 in P. Devambez, Greek Painting, London, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1962.

Flute player and meanad from a tragic chorus. Red-figure vase painting, Athens, c. 470 B.C., Berlin Charlottenburg, Staatliche Museum, Antiquities section, Inv. 3223, height 36 cm, Photo J. Tietz-Glagow.

Tragic chorus, red-figure vase painting, Athens, c. 500-490 B.C., Basle, Antikenmuseum, Inv. BS 415, height 40.5 cm, Museum photo.

Chorus from Aeschulus' satyr play The Sphinx, which was performed in 467 B.C. as the final part of this Theban tetralogy of which The Seven against Thebes survives. Shoulder scene on a red-figure hydria, painted in Athens soon after the play's performance. Private collection Takuhito Fujita, Tokyo, photo D. Widmer, Basle.)

A comic chorus. Red-figure cup by the Sabouroff painter, Athens, c. 460 B.C., diameter 22.6 cm, photo D. Widmer, Basle.)

Actors rehearsing: Red-figure vase painting, Athens, c. 460 B.C., Ferrara, National Museum, Museum photo, neg. no. 2139.

Mask of a hetaire from New Comedy. Terracotta, , 3rd century B.C., Würzburg, Martin von Wagner Museum, Inv. H 4683, height 11.1 cm, photo K. Ohrlein.

Stone slab with a decree on it which conveys thanks of the Aixone demos (municipality) to the demarch (mayor) and two choregoi of drama contests, Athens, late 4th centurey B.C, Epigraphic Museum of Athens, height 92 cm, Museum photo [13262, Athen. 7Mitt. 66 (1941) no 1, p. 218]. See also A. W. Cambridge-Packard, The Dramatic Festivals of Athens, 2nd ed., 1968, fig. 25.

24

Actor carring mask of tragic king, probably that of Tereus, from Sophocles' tragedy under the same name. Vase painting in several colours, Taranto, c. 340 B.C., Würzburg, Martin von Wagner Museum, height of the fragment 18,5 cm.

Backdrop for a tragedy, Vase painting in several colours (detail), Taranto, c. 350 B.C., Würzburg, Martin von Wagner Museum, height of fragment 22.5 cm.

The choregic monument of Lysicrates erected the year 335 B.C., (height c. 12m) for the choregical tripod to be set on. It is adorned with Corinthian capitals that crown its half-columns and a relief frieze that illustrates the adventures of Dionysus where he turned the pirates into dolphins. Fig. 75 in K. Schefold, La Grèce classique, Paris, éditions Albin Michel, 1968, p. 210.

25

8. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Adrados, F. R., Festival, comedy and tragedy: the Greek origins of theatre, (trans. from Spanish by C. Holme), Leiden, E. J. Brill, 1975.

Arnott, P. D., Public performance in the Greek theatre, London and N. York, Routledge, 1989.

Aylen, L., The greek theatre, Lonoon and Toronto, Associated University Press,1985.

Bain, D., Actors and audience: a study of asides and related connections in Greek drama, Oxford, 1977.

Baldry, H. C., The Greek tragic theatre, London, Chatto and Windus, 1971, p.3.

Beede, G. L. (ed.), Greek drama: a collection of festival papers, (Festival Papers, 2), Vermillion, 1967.

Bieber, M., The history of the Greek and Roman theatre, 2nd ed., Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1961.

Cambridge-Pickard, A. W., The dramatic festivals of Athens, 2nd ed. (revised by J. Gould and D. M. Lewis), Oxford, 1968.

Congress: Anthropologie et théatre antique: actes du colloque international de Montpellier, 6-8 mars 1986. (Ed. P. Ghiron-Bistagne et B. Schouler, Cahier du GITA, 3), Montpelier, Université Paul Valéry, 1987.

Congress: Théatre et spectacles dans l' antiquité: actes du colloque de Strasbourg, 5-7 nov. 1981. (Ed. L. Polacco et al, Travaux du centre de recherche sur le Proch- Orient et la Grèce antiques, 7), Leiden, 1983. 26

Finley, M. I., The idea of theatre: the Greek experience, London, The British Museum, 1980.

Fisher, N. R. E. (ed.), Social values in classical Athens, London and Toronto, Dent and Hakkert, 1976.

Gentili, B., Theatrical performances in the ancient world: Hellenistic and early Roman theatre, Amsterdam, J. C. Gieben, 1979.

Katsouris, A. G. (Kατσούρης, A. Γ.), "Staging of Παλαιαί τραγωδίαι in relation to Menander's audience", ανάτυπο του Γ' τόμου της "Δωδώνης", επιστημονικής Eπετηρίδας της Φιλοσοφικής Σχολής Iωαννίνων, 1974.

Parke, H. W., Festivals of the Athenians, London, Thames and Hadson, 1977.

Roberts, J. W., City of : an introduction to classical Athens, London, 1983.

Sifakis, G. M., Studies in the history of Hellenistic drama, London, University of London, Classical Studies, 4, 1967.

Simon, E., The ancient theatre (trans. by C. E. Vafopoulou-Richarson), London and N. York, Methuen, 1975.

Sinclair, A., The need to give: The patrons and the arts, London, Sinclair and Stevenson, 1990.

Taylor, D., Acting and the stage, Greek and Roman topics, 6, London, 1978.

Touloupa, E., "Choregia in Ancient Greece" in The Modern Sponsor and the Arts, proceed. of the International Symposium for Business, the Arts and Society, held in Athens (27-28 September 1990) and organised by OMEπO (Association for the Support of Cultural Activities).

Wallace-Hadrill, A. (ed.), Patronage in ancient society, Lodnon and N. York, 1990.

27

Walton, J. M., Greek theatre practice (Contributions in drama and theatre and theatre studies, 3), Wesport, Conn. and London, 1980.

Webster, T. B. L., The Athenian culture and society, London, 1973.

Webster, T. B. L., Everyday life in classical Athens, London, 1972.

Webster, T. B. L., The , London, 1970.

Webster, T. B. L., Greek theatre production, 2nd ed., London, Methuen, 1970.

Webster, T. B. L., Potter and patron in classical Athens, London, Methuen, 1972.

Winkler, J. J. and Zeitlin, F. I. (ed.), Nothing to do with Dionysos? Athenian drama in its social context, Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1990.

Williams, R., Culture, London, Fontana Press, 1989.

28

CONTENTS

1. Introduction: ...... 2

2. Religious festivals in Athens ...... 5 2.1 The case of the "Great Dionysia"...... 6

3. The institution of choregia...... 9

4. The organisational structure of drama contests and the Athenian democracy...... 12 4.1 The dramatic contests: the democratic selection of the judges 16

5. More about choregea: the victorious ceremonies...... 18

6. Democracy's care for its citizens...... 20 6.1 Skenographia...... 22

7. The decline of a city: the death of a democratic institution...... 23

8. Bibliography...... 24 29

CONTENTS

1.Introduction

2. Religious festivals in Athens 2.1The case of the "Great Dionysia"

3. The institution of "choregia"

4. The organisational structure of drama contests and the Athenian democracy 4.1 The dramatic contests: the democratic selection of the judges

5. More about "choregea": the victorious ceremonies

6. Democracy's care for its citizens 6.1 Skenographia

7. The decline of a city: the death of a democratic institution

8.Bibliography 30

CONTENTS

1. Introduction: ...... 1

2. Religious festivals in Athens ...... 2.1The case of the "Great Dionysia"......

3. The institution of choregia......

4. The organisational structure of drama contests and the Athenian democracy...... 4.1 The dramatic contests: the democratic selection of the judges ..

5. More about choregea: the victorious ceremonies......

6. Democracy's care for its citizens...... 6.1 Skenographia......

7. The decline of a city: the death of a democratic institution......

8. Bibliography......

31

MA, Museums and Gallery Management, 1990-91, (Full-time) Matoula Art, Design and Commerce (4th essay) Scaltsa Dr Eric Moody

Ancient

Athens:

Greek

Drama

and

Choregia 32

More about choregia: The victorious ceremonies