Auswahl der wissenschaftlichen Literatur zum Thema „Athens (Greece). Theater of Dionysius“

The author, President of the al Chalabi Group (ACG), Ltd., Chicago, USA, is an architect, graduate of the Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, and of the Graduate School of Ekistics of the Athens Technological Institute, Greece, and also a member of the World Society for Ekistics (WSE). Ms al Chalabi has over 30 years of experience as an urban and regional economist. In addition to her work on the 16-year planning effort for the Third Airport for Chicago, she was instrumental in saving and rehabilitating the landmark Chicago Theater. Ms al Chalabi has developed numerous corridor development strategies; designed and conducted innovative market surveys for long-distance travel; and has written extensively for the Urban Land Institute. The text that follows was distributed to the participants at the WSE Symposion on "Defining Success of the City in the 21st Century," Berlin, 24-28 October, 2001, which the author was finally unable to attend.

The common 4th century B.C. view according to which Homer was regarded as a poet and a wise man, the leading and most honorable, to the point of being considered “the educator of Greece” (Pl. Resp. 606e-607a), is strongly supported by the Pla-tonic dialogues. The works of Plato are the main available source to get to know not only the great pedagogical esteem for Homer, but also the several educational traditions that used or relied on Homeric poetry in Classical Athens. We are certainly used to thinking of Socrates as standing out for contesting or blaming such customs and methods provided by rhapsodes, sophists and common people (Pl. Resp.; Ion; Hp. mi.). But conversely, he is also often depicted quoting, alluding to or remaking on Homeric passages when presenting his own views. Socrates even claims to feel a certain friendship or reverence for the poet and declares to be charmed by contemplating things through him, whom he con-siders to be amongst the few deserving to be called “philosophers” (Pl. Resp. 595b; 607c-d; Phdr. 278b-279b). The puzzling twofold nature of the Socratic attitude towards Homer, coupled with the fact that Plato would become a figure as honored as the poet was, led ancient literary criticism to focus on the Platonic use and sharing of material and techniques proper to Homeric poetry. Works like those of Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Maximus of Tyre, Longinus and above all Proclus, not only pointed out the philosopher’s debt to the poet, but even consid-ered him to be an admirer of the Homeric genius unlike anyone else, and whose emulation basically attempted to reach and out-perform the pedagogical power that the legendary poet had (Dion. Hal. Pomp. I, 13; Max. Tyr. Or. 26; [Longinus]; Subl. XIII, 2-3; Procl., In R. VI, 163.13-164.7; 202.7-205.23). With an analogous spirit, studies of contemporary Platonists suggest that the dialogues were shaped using the Homeric text, especially the Odyssey, as a template, and making Socrates ap-pear as going through equivalent experiences to those of Odys-seus’ “νόστος”. With respect to Protagoras, previous attempts focused on explicit references to books X and XI, placing the dispute with the sophist and the events at Callias’ house in the symbolic context of Odysseus’ encounter with Circe and the fol-lowing journey into the underworld. I attempt to bring that read-ing one step further, paying special attention to the narrated character and the dramatic context for the singing of those epi-sodes and the parallel ones in Protagoras. In first place, I consider the whole dialogue refiguring the epi-sode in the Odyssey that works as a dramatic frame for the sing-ing of Odysseus’ past adventures, the arrival at Phaeacia and the reception at Alcinous’ court. I regard Odysseus’ need to sing the Apologue as a call for hospitality to secure a safe passage home, working as a pattern for Socrates’ need of a tale at his own ap-pearance in Athens to fulfill and secure a philosophical education in the city. In second place, I take into consideration the metanar-rative dimension of such remaking. Since Socrates’ narration comes in response to a certain “Ὁμήρου ἐπαινέτης”, a “praiser of Homer” (Pl. Prt. 309b1), as Odysseus’ Apologue is to Demo-docus the “ἀοιδὸς”, I examine how the dialogue could evince a dispute for pedagogical primacy amongst the different narratives and uses of poetry in Athens, a dispute that the Platonic narrative would attempt to surpass precisely by imitating Homer.

The PhD dissertation here presented concerns the political significance and function of the theatre and the sanctuary of Dionysos Eleutherios in Athens in a chronological period which runs from the fifth to the first century B.C. Its primary aim is to investigate the practice of displaying inscriptions in the area of the theatre, in order to recognize the ideological value of the documents there exposed and, consequently, to understand the socio-cultural and political meaning of this specific site as an appropriate place for the publication of official texts within the city. This problem is the focus of the first part of the dissertation, which comprises a classification of all the inscriptions displayed in the area of the sanctuary of Dionysos during the Classical and Hellenistic periods. The selection and identification of the documents has been carefully conducted on the basis of the excavation data (fundamental for this research, though not always accurate in recording the precise provenance) and an analysis of their content (in those cases where the texts are not too fragmentary). It should be noted that we are dealing with texts which are often incomplete while other inscriptions which may once have been displayed in the area of the theatre have not survived. However the study of all the surviving inscriptions located in the site – together with an appreciation of each of them in its proper cultural and historical context – has enabled me to investigate in depth the political use and value of the theatre. I drew up a catalogue deploying categories to classify the different inscriptions (for example, decrees, catalogues, dedications, etc…) before arranging the texts within each section into chronological order. The most represented categories are honorific decrees and dedications, exhibited in the area to express gratitude to benefactors or citizens whose activities were linked in various ways to the sacral or theatrical practice of the site and whose behavior served as a model for Athenians. This catalogue provides the following information for each inscription: physical description, provenance, conservation status, dating, text with apparatus, current published editions, brief comment on the most remarkable aspects (concerning palaeography, language, chronology and content) of the document. The readings have been verified thorough autopsy of the texts at the Epigraphical Museum or at the Archaeological Site of the Acropolis. This compilation is complimented by two more sections concerning other inscriptions found in the area of the sanctuary whose original setting in the site is either plausible (section VI) or has to be definitively excluded (section VII); the reasons for the inclusion of each document in these two last sections are detailed in the accompanying notes. Some of the decrees collected in the catalogue explicitly indicate that the decisions handed down by the city were taken during an assembly held in the theatre of Dionysos. This theme lies at the heart of the political significance of the theatre and is the central concern of the second part of the dissertation. The political use of the theatre is attested for in many cities of the Greek world and must be analyzed with an understanding of the diverse values and functions which typified theatrical buildings in Greek society. However, this phenomenon becomes more complex in Athens, because of the presence in the city of a dedicated ekklesiasterion on top of the Pnyx, whose construction saw three different phases between the fifth and the fourth century B.C. and whose activity is documented in the written sources. The custom of assembling in the theatre – seldom documented in the fifth century before becoming more frequently attested to from the second half of the fourth century – is testified not only for the theatre of Dionysos, but also for that of Munichia at Piraeus, which was similarly used for the meeting of the ekklesia in this period. Therefore the second part of the thesis provides a detailed, diachronic examination of all the literary and epigraphic Greek texts mentioning the use of these two theatres as assembly places. Here the purpose is to investigate which factors determined why Athenians chose these sites for assemblies over the Pnyx and to understand how across time the theatre gradually came to supplant the role of the ekklesiasterion. In this regard, particular attention has been paid to the political use of the theatre in the fifth century – a time when the Pnyx was still in use as an assembly place, and the theatre had yet to assume its current monumental form in stone. The literary passages are analyzed individually, while the inscriptions are tabulated according to the formula used to indicate the place of the meetings. The evidence examined include a far more up-to-date survey than previous studies – which though few remain essential – thanks especially to the excavations conducted in the area of the Agora by the American School of Classical Studies in Athens from the 1930s. These sources are analyzed in parallel with an appreciation of the archaeological data pertaining to the Pnyx and the theatre of Dionysos: these data complement the evidence of the written sources, providing information about the shape and size of these sites and, consequently, on the number of people who could be accommodated there. In conclusion, the analysis of the broader material evidence together with historical sources suggests that – while political and ideological contexts remained always significant – changing practical needs after the fifth century were crucial to the changing location of political assemblies.
La tesi di dottorato qui presentata riguarda il significato e la funzione politica del teatro e al santuario di Dioniso Eleutereo ad Atene in un lasso cronologico intercorrente tra il V e il I secolo a.C. Scopo principale della ricerca è quello di analizzare la consuetudine di esporre epigrafi nell’area del teatro, al fine di comprendere il valore ideologico dei documenti ivi pubblicati e, di rimando, di approfondire il significato socio-culturale e politico che tale sito acquisì nel tempo in quanto spazio scelto all’interno della città per la pubblicazione di testi ufficiali. Questo tema costituisce il fulcro della prima parte della dissertazione, che comprende una catalogazione di tutte le iscrizioni pubblicate nell’area del santuario di Dioniso durante le età classica ed ellenistica. La selezione e l’identificazione dei documenti epigrafici raccolti è stata meticolosamente effettuata sulla base dei dati di scavo (fondamentali per questa ricerca, ma non sempre precisi nel registrare con esattezza il luogo di rinvenimento) e l’analisi del loro contenuto (nei casi in cui il testo non è troppo frammentario). È necessario porre l’attenzione sul fatto che tali testi documenti sono spesso lacunosi e che costituiscono un campione certamente limitato rispetto all’insieme di tutte le iscrizioni che potrebbero essere state pubblicate nell’area del teatro nel periodo in oggetto. Ad ogni modo, lo studio complessivo di tutte le epigrafi superstiti collocate nel sito – associato ad un riesame di ognuno di questi testi nel contesto storico-culturale che gli è proprio – ha consentito di approfondire l’uso e il significato politico del teatro. Le iscrizioni sono classificate nel catalogo in base alla tipologia epigrafica dei testi in diverse sezioni (decreti, cataloghi, dediche ecc.), all’interno delle quali i documenti sono organizzati in ordine cronologico. Le categorie epigrafiche più rappresentate sono i decreti e le dediche onorarie, ivi esposti per esprimere gratitudine verso personaggi legati a vario titolo all’attività teatrale o cultuale svolta nel sito e il cui lodevole comportamento nei confronti della città diventa modello per gli Ateniesi. Per ogni epigrafe inserita nel catalogo si forniscono le seguenti informazioni: descrizione e tipologia del manufatto, provenienza, stato di conservazione, datazione, testo con apparato critico, edizioni, commento puntuale sugli aspetti paleografici, testuali, linguistici e storico-cronologici ritenuti più rilevanti per l’esegesi del testo. Le iscrizioni, conservate nel Museo Epigrafico di Atene o nel sito archeologico dell’Acropoli, sono state riesaminate tutte autopticamente. Il catalogo è inoltre completato da due sezioni, in cui sono riunite altre epigrafi trovate nell’area del santuario, la cui pertinenza ad esso è tuttavia solo ipotizzabile (sezione VI) o da escludere (sezione VII); le ragioni che hanno determinato l’inclusione di tali iscrizioni in queste due ultime sezioni sono chiarite nelle note che corredano i singoli testi. Alcuni dei decreti raccolti nel catalogo indicano esplicitamente che la decisione varata dalla città e registrata per iscritto sulla stele fu presa durante un’assemblea tenuta nel teatro di Dioniso. Questo aspetto è molto significativo per l’indagine sulla valenza politica del teatro e rappresenta il tema centrale della seconda parte della tesi. L’uso assembleare del teatro è attestato per molte città del mondo greco e deve essere analizzato alla luce di quella pluralità di valenze e funzioni che contraddistinsero la natura stessa dell’edificio teatrale. Tuttavia, l’analisi di questo fenomeno per il caso ateniese è particolarmente interessante, poiché la città era di fatto dotata di un proprio ekklesiasterion sulla collina della Pnice, la cui costruzione vide tre diverse fasi edilizie tra il V e il IV secolo a.C. e la cui attività è documentata dalle fonti. La consuetudine di riunirsi nel teatro – raramente attestata nel V secolo a.C. e poi sempre più di frequente a partire dalla seconda metà del IV secolo a.C. – è testimoniata non solo per il teatro di Dioniso, ma anche per quello di Munichia al Pireo, che fu analogamente usato per le riunioni dell’ekklesia in quel periodo. Dunque la seconda parte della tesi è dedicata ad un dettagliato esame diacronico di tutti i testi letterari ed epigrafici che menzionano l’uso di uno di questi due teatri come luogo di assemblea. Il fine è di indagare sui fattori che determinarono la scelta di questi luoghi per le riunioni al posto della Pnice e di comprendere in che modo nel tempo il teatro arrivò a sostituire il ruolo dell’ekklesiasterion cittadino. In questo senso, è analizzato con particolare attenzione l’uso politico del teatro nel V secolo a.C., periodo in cui la Pnice era ancora in uso come luogo di assemblea e il teatro doveva ancora assumere una forma monumentale. I passi letterari sono analizzati individualmente, mentre le iscrizioni sono catalogate in base alla formula utilizzata per indicare il luogo di svolgimento dell’assemblea. La quantità dei documenti epigrafici che attestano lo svolgimento di riunioni politiche nel teatro è notevolmente più consistente rispetto a quella presentata negli studi precedenti – che non sono numerosi, ma restano essenziali per questa ricerca – grazie soprattutto al consistente incremento di materiale dovuto agli scavi condotti nell’area dell’agorà dall’American School of Classical Studies in Athens dagli anni Trenta del Novecento. Le testimonianze epigrafiche e letterarie sono esaminate parallelamente ai dati archeologici che riguardano la Pnice e il teatro di Dioniso, dati che completano le notizie desumibili dalle fonti scritte, fornendo informazioni su forma e dimensioni dell’auditorium della Pnice e del theatron e, di conseguenza, sul numero di persone che poteva essere ospitato in tali spazi. In conclusione, l’analisi delle fonti e dei dati archeologici induce a concludere che – pur essendo rilevanti i motivi politici e ideologici – si deve dare il giusto peso a diversi fattori di ordine pratico che, dopo il V secolo a.C., furono senz’altro determinanti per il cambiamento del luogo di svolgimento delle assemblee.

Depuis plus d'un siècle, la Grèce antique ne cesse d'éblouir philosophes et hommes de lettre en Occident. La tragédie occupe une place éminente dans cet émerveillement venu de l'Athènes du Ve siècle avant Jésus-Christ. C'est pour matérialiser cette fascination que ce théâtre a donné lieu à des interprétations de tout genre : philosophique, humaniste, politique et morale... Il s'agit de lectures idéologiques dont la tragédie en général et Sophocle en particulier a fait l'objet. Dans cette perspective, il importait d'effectuer un panorama des lectures de cette tragédie devenue un mythe contemporain. L'oeuvre de Sophocle a servi d'illustration à la visée idéologique d'un théâtre qui s'intégrait à l'origine dans le cadre des manifestations culturelles en l'honneur de Dionysos à Athènes. Y avait-il lieu d'universaliser et d'immortaliser ces interprétations, fruits de l'imaginaire occidental ? Fallait-il continuer la réincarnation des personnages de Sophocle qui aurait avec son Antigone et son OEdipe-roi réussi à élaborer des modèles inimitables de la tragédie et de l'existence de l'homme ? C'est pour questionner cette vision de Sophocle qu'il semble nécessaire d'exploiter les éléments esthétiques (chant, musique) de cette tragédie qui offrent de nouvelles pistes de réflexion en porte-à-faux avec la lecture idéologique observée dans la critique contemporaine.

Abstract Athens’ principal urban festival for Apollo, the Thargelia, has been aptly described as ‘a festival of the arts . . . second only to the City Dionysia’. Although much about the festival remains a mystery, it has received none of the sort of integrated historical and sociopolitical analysis that has been so productive for our understanding of the urban festivals of the Dionysia and Panathenaia. This chapter will initiate such analysis, with an emphasis on the performance practice of the festival as evidenced principally through epigraphy.

Abstract Athenian tragedy of the Fifth century BCE became an international and a canonical genre with remarkable rapidity. There are plenty of reasons for expecting that tragedy might not have had such an impact with such speed. The performance of tragedy is closely linked to the city of Athens both through the festival of the Great Dionysia and through the scripts of the plays themselves, which set its stories of calamitous civic breakdown in the other cities of Greece, and praise Athens when the opportunity arises. The cost of mounting a tragedy was large, not least since it takes a good while to train and equip a chorus, actors, and musicians. A theatre may often have been a temporary site, but even so to seat a large audience and stage a trilogy required considerable eVort and material resources.

EPIPHANIES OF SIGNIFICANT MYSTERY: NOTES FROM THE PEREGRINATION ALONG THE ROUTE FROM ATHENS TO EMMAUS In the presented article, I discuss the relationship between the Greek tragedy of the classical epoch and the medieval liturgical drama. They are commonly regarded as the roots of European theater. The ritual of Dionysus, present in the Greek tragedy, and the soteriological sacrifice of Christ, present in the liturgical drama, have the power of purification/redeeming of the human being. Aristotle described it as catharsis (κάθαρσις). Tragedy and liturgical drama also testify to the dialogical and dramatic relationship between God and Man. This cultural and religious experience is anthropological in nature, it is an important element of human existence. The article also discussed the nature of theater in early Christian writings, and focuses on how the barriers to performative activity were broken, and liturgical drama became an important element of the religious culture of the Latin Middle Ages. During the Resurrection Mass, it served as a visualization of the Significant Mystery, the essence of the Christian drama of Salvation.

Abstract The tragedies and comedies composed for production at the Athenian dramatic festivals in the fifth and early fourth centuries sc are priceless historical documents. For much of the period they are, apart from inscriptions, the only contemporary documents we possess emanating from Athens itself. Their historical interpretation is problematic, of course, in many ways, some of which are discussed elsewhere in this volume. The particular issue that I am going to take up may be approached by considering the question which, it has been said, historians should. always put to themselves in respect of every document they use: who wrote it, for whom, and why? In the case of Greek tragedy and comedy, we usually know the answer to the first question, and we also know the answer to the third: the plays were composed with a view to being successful in a competition, before a small panel of judges whose identity was not known at the time of composition but was known at the time of performance, and who thus, even if their actual voting was secret, in practice (as many remarks in comedy make clear2) were very liable to be influenced by the attitude of the mass of the audience. And as to the remaining question- ‘for whom ‘-we know the answer to that too. Essentially the plays were written to be seen, to be heard, to be judged, to be appreciated by those who sat in the Theatre of Dionysus when they were first staged. There might be other audiences later. Plays seem often to have been reperformed at deme theatres in various parts of Attica. They had begun to be performed abroad, too, as early as Aeschylus ‘ time, and convincing arguments have recently been advanced3 that in the second half of the fifth century there were frequent productions of Athenian tragedy at least in southern Italy.

Abstract In the major cities of the ancient Mediterranean world, much of life unfolded in public settings-theaters, amphitheaters, hippodromes, odeums, stadiums, and circuses. Whereas large installations like stadi ums and circuses tended to be limited to cult centers (Greece) and large cities (Rome), theaters and odeums (small covered lecture halls) were much more common.Depending on the size of the building, crowds could vary considerably: several hundred in small theaters; several thou sand in larger theaters, such as the one at Pompeii; perhaps 50,000 in the Roman Colosseum and the stadium of Herodes Atticus at Athens; and as many as 250,000 (almost one-quarter of the city’s population) for chariot races in the Circus Maximus at Rome.