DEME THEATERS in ATTICA and the TRITTYS SYSTEM Author(S): Jessica Paga Source: Hesperia: the Journal of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, Vol
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DEME THEATERS IN ATTICA AND THE TRITTYS SYSTEM Author(s): Jessica Paga Source: Hesperia: The Journal of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, Vol. 79, No. 3 (July-September 2010), pp. 351-384 Published by: The American School of Classical Studies at Athens Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40981054 . Accessed: 18/03/2014 10:15 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. The American School of Classical Studies at Athens is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Hesperia: The Journal of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 71.168.218.10 on Tue, 18 Mar 2014 10:15:29 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions HESPERIA 79 (2010) DEME THEATERS IN Pages 351-384 ATTICA AND THE TRITTY5 SYSTEM ABSTRACT Analysisof the physical form and geographic distribution of deme theaters in Atticademonstrates their multiplicity offunctions during the Classical period. A patternof one théâtral area per trittys per phyle is identified,pointing to the use ofthe trittyes as nodesof communication within the broader framework ofAthenian society and democratic organization. The authorargues that the multifunctionalnature of thetheaters is integrallylinked to theirrelation- shipwith the trittyes, and positsthat the théâtral areas facilitated both deme and trittyesgatherings. The preciserole of the trittyes in organizationaland administrativefunctions is furtherconsidered. INTRODUCTION Deme theaters,or théâtralareas, dot both the countryside ofAttica and ourepigraphical sources.1 In thisarticle, I examinethe evidence for 19 demetheaters in Atticaduring the 5th and 4th centuries b.c., combining disparatesources in orderto considertheaters attested in literatureand inscriptionsas well as thosefound in archaeologicalcontexts (Fig. l).The physicalremains of known deme theaters are discussed in detail to establish patternsof construction and form. The overarchinggoal of the first part of theinvestigation is to identify the distribution, shape, and functions of the demethéâtral areas, noting the hybridity oftheir form and the implications ofthe spatial dynamics of the areas. In thesecond part, this emphasis on formand function is developed with respect to the administrative and orga- nizationalmakeup of Athenian society and the democracy, with particular 1. An abbreviatedversion of this thisproject. The twoanonymous references,as well as to MargaretMiles, paperwas presentedin 2010 at the reviewersfor Hesperia provided in- JackDavis, and DenverGraninger. 111thAnnual Meeting of the Archaeo- sightfulcomments and critiques,as YukiFuruya and EmilyEgan lenttheir logicalInstitute of America in Ana- did editorTracey Cullen. Thanks and expertiseand aid in thedrawing of the heim,California. I would like to thank appreciationalso go to RonaldStroud, maps.All translationsof ancient T. Leslie ShearJr. and Josiah Ober for who generouslydonated his time sourcesare my own. theirinvaluable help and advicewith and providedhelpful comments and © The American School of Classical Studies at Athens This content downloaded from 71.168.218.10 on Tue, 18 Mar 2014 10:15:29 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 352 JESSICA PAGA Rhamnoûs^i Cholleidai? |kar¡on f Acharnai * V Eleusis I Phlya ' ^^r^^' Halai j^s AraphenideA Kollytos *f y^ - * y LowerPaiania ' <¿ Piraeus N. Euonymon Sphettos - ^^ ' A. Myrrhinous^• ' Aixone* # 'j' ' , Hagnous ^> CL Lamptrai / N ) «Anagyrous P* I ' Aigilia* eJ ■ ' Thorikos'P Figure 1. Map ofAttica showing all attesteddéme theaters.J. Paga emphasison the trittys system: the multiplicity ofpurposes implied by the demetheaters helps illuminate the structures and functions of Athenian societyand of the demokratia onboth a demeand trittys level. Rather than viewingthe trittyes interms of military organization and deployment, we canidentify a more administrative use.2 An explorationof the political organization of the Athenian democ- racymust, by necessity, involve an investigationofthe system of demes, partof the Kleisthenic reforms instituted inthe last decade of the 6th cen- turyb.c. One of the elementsthat may aid our understandingof the demesis thepresence, or lack, of theaters or théâtral areas. The geographic distributionofthe deme theaters represents a crucial link in ourconcep- tualizationof the division of the Attic countryside into bureaucratic or administrativesegments. Additionally, anevaluation of extant and attested demetheaters highlights the role of the théâtral areas and possibly of the festivalof theRural Dionysia in thefunctioning of thedemes, as well as in themore ofthe The of deme generalorganization polis. question 2. Forthe military use and function is in the ofthe Rural and theaters,therefore, tied up question Dionysia, ofthe trittyes, see Siewert1982; Hum- bothare connectedto theelaborate matrix of Athenianritual, society, phreys2008. The problemis discussed anddemocracy. in greaterdetail below, pp. 379-381. This content downloaded from 71.168.218.10 on Tue, 18 Mar 2014 10:15:29 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions DÉME THEATERS IN ATTICA 353 In the followingpages, I discussand evaluateall knownand attested deme theatersin Attica duringthe 5th and 4th centuriesb.c., also con- sideringthe likelihoodthat these demes celebrated the RuralDionysia. I subsequentlyanalyze the physical layout of the archaeologically identifiable deme théâtralareas, discuss the relationshipbetween form and function in the theaters,and demonstratehow a morenuanced understanding of thesespaces can have a profoundimpact on variousmodels for thinking aboutAthenian society and democracy.There followsa sectiondetailing the Rural Dionysia and the role of cultin extra-as tu activity.The article concludeswith an appraisalof the trittyssystem and, more specifically, of the roleof théâtralareas within the trittysnetworks of Attica. A more preciseadministrative and organizationalrole forthe trittyesis posited, highlightingtheir important,but frequentlyoverlooked, function in Atheniansociety. DEME THEATRAL AREAS: THE EVIDENCE It is an unfortunatecircumstance of preservationthat of the 139 Attic demes,only six have yielded archaeological evidence for a theateror thea- tralarea, and only threeof these extantsites have been thoroughlyand authoritativelypublished.3 It seemsnot onlypossible, but entirelyreason- able,however, to extrapolatebackward from texts to remainsin the case of the deme theaters:textual evidence for the celebrationof the Rural Dionysia,or epigraphic evidence for a systemoichoregoi, for example, could be an indicationof a theaterin those demes in which remainshave not yetbeen found.David Whiteheadtakes this approach in his discussionof the RuralDionysia, when he suggeststhat evidence regarding the staging of performancesand contestsimplies the existenceof a theater,and vice versa.4Given thispresupposition, then, it is possibleto identify19 demes in whicha theateris in someway attested(Fig. 1). There is currentlyno scholarshipthat synthesizesall of the most recenttextual and physicalevidence for theaters into a singlediscussion, butcombining the evidence of Pickard- Cambridge, Whitehead, and Jones withmore recent discoveries makes it possible to arriveat a comprehensive list of theaters.The literaryand epigraphicevidence indicates theaters 3. Thorikos,Ikarion, and Rhamnous ologicalevidence for attested théâtral havebeen extensively documented and areasbut lack definitive publication. published.Of thetwo theaters at Piraeus, The remainsat Euonymonhave been thelater theater in Zea (ca. 150 b.c.) publishedin briefreports in BCH and has beenexcavated and published,but Ergon,and aresummarily treated in theearlier one nearMounychia (ca. variousother publications (see nn.42- 450 b.c.),although known since at least 47, below),whereas the theater at the19th century, was coveredover Acharnaihas onlybeen briefly men- byan apartmentbuilding in theearly tionedin Kathimeriniand inArchaeo- 20thcentury and itsremains are no logicalReports. longervisible. Euonymon (modern 4. Whitehead1986, p. 219. Trachones)and Acharnaihave archae- This content downloaded from 71.168.218.10 on Tue, 18 Mar 2014 10:15:29 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 354 JESSICA PAGA in the followingdemes: Acharnai,Aigilia, Aixone, Anagyrous, Eleusis, Euonymon,Hagnous, Halai Araphenides,Ikarion, Kollytos, Myrrhinous, Paiania,Piraeus, Phlya, Rhamnous, andThorikos.5The demes of Cholleidai and Lamptraiare occasionallyposited as demes with theaters,although the evidenceremains problematic and positiveidentification is doubtful.6 Sphettosis likewiseconsidered a candidatefor a théâtralarea by some, althoughthe assignationis tenuousand unlikely.7There is also evidence fora theateron Salamis.8This list,if we are to trustin thevalidity of the propositionthat an epigraphiclisting of, for example, a grantoìproedria in a specificdeme impliesthe presence of a theater,is helpfulin plottingthe locationsof deme theaters and seeingtheir geographic distribution (Fig. 1). Of thedemes with textual evidence for a theater,there