Durham E-Theses The Pre-Play Ceremonies of the Athenian Great Dionysia: A Reappraisal GIANNOTTI, ANDREA How to cite: GIANNOTTI, ANDREA (2019) The Pre-Play Ceremonies of the Athenian Great Dionysia: A Reappraisal, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/13065/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk 2 Abstract The Pre-Play Ceremonies of the Athenian Great Dionysia: A Reappraisal Andrea Giannotti This doctoral thesis focuses on the dramatic festival of the Great (or City) Dionysia and its related pre-play ceremonies, for which the role of democracy has been intensely debated. Scholars have explored the socio-political value of the festival’s pre-play ceremonies which took place in the theatre before the dramatic performances, in front of the audience: the libation to Dionysus poured by the ten generals, the display of the allies’ tributes, the Athenian war-orphans’ parade and the public proclamation of honours and crowns. The prevailing view still relates the celebration of these rituals to democratic ideology. However, this assumed situation masks a number of issues. Through four chapters, each dedicated to one pre-play ceremony, first I show that the four pre-play ceremonies did not occur simultaneously, and thus should not be understood as part of a holistic and democratically-oriented propaganda programme. As a second step, an exhaustive investigation into the historical sources and socio-political value of the ceremonies is provided: it will be shown that democracy and the ideology related to it were less involved than one might suppose. Lastly, I highlight that the Dionysia and its pre-play ceremonies were not exclusively Athenian prerogative: from a thorough examination of the available evidence, I demonstrate that many attestations of the Dionysia outside Athens occur and need to be considered. This problematises the Athenocentric interpretations of the Dionysia’s pre-play ceremonies, since many cities which were not democracies (as Athens was) provide testimonies of dramatic festivals with comparable pre-play ceremonies. In light of these crucial details, the premier dramatic festival of Athens — and the academic discussion surrounding its ideological value — need to be re-examined. The Pre-Play Ceremonies of the Athenian Great Dionysia: A Reappraisal Andrea Giannotti (Ustinov College) This thesis is submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy to the Department of Classics and Ancient History Durham University Year of submission: 2018 Table of Contents Page List of Abbreviations 1–2 Declaration and Statement of Copyright 3 Acknowledgements 4–5 Introduction 7–45 i – Introducing the problem 7 ii – The status quaestionis 9 iii – The scope of the thesis 38 iv – Approaching the problem 41 1. Religion, State or Democracy? The Libations to Dionysus in the Theatre 46–76 1.1 – The religious aspect 46 1.2 – The political aspect 54 1.3 – Practices beyond Athens 65 2. Athenian Pomposity: Displaying Treasures Publicly 77–96 2.1 – The display of the tributes during the Dionysia: its sources and diverse ideological implications 77 2.2 – Public displaying at the Panathenaia: an useful parallel 88 3. Marching for the State: the War-Orphans’ Parade 97–147 3.1 – War-orphans and ephebes: a preliminary distinction 97 3.2 – ‘…these have to be paid [as] the orphans’: Theozotides’ decree, its date, sources and value 102 3.3 – The war-orphans’ oath: an intriguing hypothesis 122 3.4 – ‘Helping behaviour’ as democratic feature? 132 3.5 – Thasos’ war-orphans: a parallel outside Athens 139 Chapter 4. Something to Do with the City: the Proclamations of Honours 148–214 4.1 – Reassessing the socio-political value of the Athenian proclamations of honours 148 4.2 – Being good towards the democracy? Considerations on the formulaic language of fifth-century B.C. Athenian honorific decrees 171 4.3 – Appendix. The Athenian honorific decrees from the fifth century B.C. to Aeschines’ and Demosthenes’ dispute 191 4.4 – Appendix 2. The proclamations of honours outside Athens: starting points 195 Conclusions 215–227 Bibliography 228–243 List of Abbreviations AIO Attic Inscriptions Online (https://www.atticinscriptions.com) Bernard, Mus. du Louvre Inscriptions grecques d’Égypte et de Nubie au Musée du Louvre Clara Rhodos Clara Rhodos Corinth 8,1 Corinth VIII,1. The Greek Inscriptions 1896-1927 Didyma Didyma Inscriptions. Texts and List Ephesos Ephesos Inscriptions. Texts and List Erythrai Erythrai Inscriptions. Texts and List Fayoum Recueil des inscriptions grecques du Fayoum FD III Fouilles de Delphes, III. Épigraphie Halikarnassos Halikarnassos Inscriptions. Texts and List HGK Heilige Gesetze von Kos I. Aeg. Thrace Epigraphes tēs Thrakēs tou Aigaiou: metaxy tōn potamōn Nestou kai Hevrou (nomoi Xanthēs, Rhodopēs kai Hevrou) Iasos Iasos Inscriptions. Texts and List ID Inscriptions de Délos I.Eleusis Eleusis. The Inscriptions on Stone. Documents of the Sanctuary of the Two Goddesses and Public Documents of the Deme. IG Inscriptiones Graecae IGBulg Inscriptiones graecae in Bulgaria repertae IK Byzantion Die Inschriften von Byzantion IK Knidos I Die Inschriften von Knidos I !1 IK Laodikeia am Lykos Die Inschriften von Laodikeia am Lykos IOlbia Inscriptiones Olbiae (1917-1965) IosPE I2 Inscriptiones antiquae orae septentrionalis Ponti Euxini graecae et latinae IScM Inscriptiones Daciae et Scythiae Minoris antiquae. Series altera: Inscriptiones Scythiae Minoris graecae et latinae Iscr. di Cos Iscrizioni di Cos Magnesia Magnesia Inscriptions. Texts and List MDAI(A) Mitteilungen des deutschen archäologischen Instituts. Athenische Abteilung (Berlin) Mylasa Mylasa Inscriptions. Texts and List OGIS Orientis Graeci Inscriptiones Selectae OR Osborne - Rhodes Peek, Attische Inschriften Attische Inschriften PHI Packard Humanities Institute (Searchable Greek Inscriptions) Philae Les inscriptions grecques de Philae: I-II Priene Priene Inscriptions. Texts and List Prose sur pierre La Prose sur pierre dans l'Égypte hellénistique et romaine RO Rhodes - Osborne SE Supplementum Ephesium SEG Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum Sinuri Sinuri Inscriptions. Texts and List Teos Teos Inscriptions. Texts and List Theangela Theangela Inscriptions. Texts and List Tit. Calymnii Tituli Calymnii Tit. Cam. Tituli Camirenses !2 Declaration I confirm that no part of the material offered has previously been submitted by me for a degree in this or any other University. This thesis is exclusively based on my own research. Material from the work of others has been acknowledged, and quotations and paraphrases suitably indicated. Statement of Copyright The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be published without the author’s prior written consent and information derived from it should be acknowledged. Total word count: 86.619 !3 Acknowledgements The first person to whom I am infinitely grateful is my first supervisor, Phillip S. Horky. He took on the responsibility of supervising a project that, in my first year of Ph.D., was ‘enormous’ and chaotic. His professionalism, help, strength, enthusiasm have encouraged me to correct and develop my ideas. He has allowed me to grow as a young scholar, and has immeasurably benefited my learning, teaching and writing skills. Working with Phil has been one of the greatest experiences I have had, and I cannot thank him enough for his kindness. The topic of this Ph.D. thesis developed over my first and second years in Durham, under the advice and guidance of Peter J. Rhodes: he has helped me chart the direction of my work, and provided me with myriad useful suggestions and comments. I will miss our monthly epigraphic discussions over coffee in front of Durham Cathedral. Working with him has been an honour. I want also to thank my second supervisor: Andrea Capra, a friendly Italian soul. Although he supervised me for only one year, he has offered excellent insight and advice to further my research. I must thank my lovely Durham-family, with which I spent many memorable moments of fun: sincere thanks to Giulia De Cesaris, Carlo Cacciatori, Blaz Zabel and Federico Petrucci. Without them, my experience in Durham would not have been so beautiful. Thanks to my love, Benedetta, who constantly supports me with patience, my lovely wise grandmother Clia, and the rest of my family. Also, many thanks to all the excellent and efficient staff of the Department of Classics & Ancient History: I am delighted to have made the right choice by coming here to Durham. !4 This thesis is dedicated to my parents, Doretta and Raffaele, always by my side. There will never be enough words to express my love for them. !5 ἡµ#ῖς &’ οἷά *# +,--. +,#/ 0'-1)23#µ'% ὥ56 / ἔ.5'%… (Mimn. fr. 2W, 1–2) !6 Introduction i. Introducing the problem. When one thinks about ancient Athens, democracy is likely to be the first