Ancient Greek drama: Is it a human world?

By Ben Porter/Classical Wisdom, Athens' two major theater festivals, Lenaea and Dionysus, the city's god of wine, were held in honor of the god Dionysus.

Call them plays, which, while not misleading, are not entirely illuminating, since they are only primarily, and not exclusively, about plays, Lenaea lasted four days in January/February, due At this time of year, as there is little winter shipping in the Mediterranean, the inhabitants of Athens attend almost exclusively Lenea. Originally a comedy festival (although tragedy was introduced in 488 BC), it was probably because of the political and social "joking" The space was larger, since the audience would have been composed of a small number of non-citizens.

Alternatively, the city (or large) Dionysia lasted 6 days and took place in the spring (March/April) Held.

Therefore, citizens of the Athenian colony (in addition to friendly travelers) could also attend this meeting, since shipping had resumed by this time.

In addition, Dionysus, the god of wine It appears to be "more religious" than the statue of Dionysus, or, rather, more focused on traditional religious practices.

Marble, 2nd century AD, found in Italy.

(Marie Lan Nguyen, supporting evidence comes from Oswyn Murray in his comprehensive early Greek work The Festival Included the Annual Statue of Dionysus***, from Otyhele (with Booti the northern mountain settlements bordering Asia) to Athens, which shows us that if one wanted to participate in the show, then, at least, one had to pretend to be interested in religious ***, those professors of classics who wanted to justify their tenure They made a big fuss about these two festivals.

However, what is really interesting, and what remains ambiguous, is the women who were allowed or forced to play a role in it, the ancient Greek women and the feasting objects Together.

(CC0) A woman is sure to play a role in the divine procession and is rewarded with a rare and delicious animal sacrifice.

Additionally, women are often A vital part of the Dionysian rites, whose official identity was that of his Master/Dionysian (specific female attendants).

Beyond that, things got a little sketchy, as Athenian women (who There is little reliable evidence that women's lives were private, domestic, and illiterate.

However, we do have reason to believe that even if women were allowed to attend theater festivals, as in Shakespeare's London, they would not Allowed to perform at theater festivals, we still have to look at Aristotle's comedy masterpiece "The Frogs" to confirm this: "Every decent woman or decent man's wife is fascinated by Euripides' Bellero The bust of Aristotle Finney in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy, shocked such dramas.

There is a school of thought (in the public domain) that women may be allowed to watch Tragedies, but comedies are not allowed.

The main argument for women being excluded from comedies is that comedies have a "bad effect" on "susceptible people" (i.e. women), while tragedies has an important moral message.

However, this does not stand up to closer scrutiny.

In Aristotle's comedies, women fare no worse than men (Normally worse than men), while in tragedies such as Medea we see a woman killing her child.

Furthermore, in Agamemnon we see a A woman kills her husband, and in Electra we see a woman kill her mother and show affection for her father***.

Cleteness Terra hesitates, then kills the sleeping Agamemnon.

On the left, Aegisthus urges her.

Pierre Narcisse· Guerin.

(Public *** domain), so it's hard to imagine that dirty jokes and toilet humor are more important than sex, murder, suicide

, stories of treachery and blasphemy were more damaging to the sensibilities of Athenian women, and if women could have participated in one branch of the play rather than another, then we might somewhere be told why (or At least as taught by the fun-loving Aristotle Finney) important lessons in theater? , most Athenian women (even those of the upper classes) had little or no formal education, so these infrequent theatergoers may have had their only chance at popular enlightenment.

, we This can be seen in plays such as Aristotle's The Councilor (396 BC), which attempts to convey the idea that women may never have had the freedom to think.

This play The main plot of the comedy is the women of Athens gaining power over the city through an elaborate plan in which they arrive on the *** in slippers.

The play may have been inspired by Aristotle Finney attempts to do this by suggesting that they were not only capable of creative/circumstantial thinking, but might also be suitable for political roles.

Likewise, in Athena (411 B.C.), Athenian women engage in sexual intercourse , Aristophanes might challenge the existing system of husbands being kuris (masters) over wives.

Such plot lines might be seen as subversive, however, if they were, any serious Would the message have less impact when hidden in comedy? Perhaps so, as detailed in a photo of a cast of Restala made in 1928 at the University of Wisconsin Experimental School, via UW Archives Meuer Collection.

(Public Domain) However, we must stay away from speculation, We have to address the very real possibility that women have little significance at all in both festivals, and that apart from the actual opening ceremony itself, women may not have much to do.

Even assuming that Women could take part in all the plays, and perhaps none of the plays were directed at them.

In Women in Parliament, the basic message of the play is that the current politicians in Athens were so poor that even a woman Will become a better leader! The fact that "Women Rule" was considered a suitable subject for a comedy suggests that the theme of the play was not directed at women but rather a scathing attack on low-level politicians.

Likewise, in "Leigh" Sistrata, where the theme seems to be more about achieving peace than sexual equality, it seems that the major and key advantageous role women play in comedy will be a rare education in theater at these festivals.

However, this was not an official or even planned act but rather an accidental tool for individual playwrights to spread their influence further, so we cannot really conclude with certainty that theater was a tool of liberation that transformed Athenian female society.

However, it is the finishing touch in a repetitive and mediocre life, a culmination of elegance, art, culture and beauty that serves to liberate and elevate a social class, a society class had less potential for social advancement than the slaves who kept Athens running, even for a brief moment Mosaic Source: Public Domain, Ben Porter, Classical Wisdom Ltd. is an online publishing company dedicated to promoting and Preserving the classics of ancient Greece and Rome.

Our goal is to bring ancient wisdom to modern minds.

You can visit our website at: classicalwisdom Ben Potter is a A writer and university lecturer.

He has lived and taught in several countries, notably Japan, China, Thailand, England and Italy.

He holds an MA in Classics from the University of Edinburgh Degree.