I hope you enjoyed the podcast, if you haven’t listened to it yet you can do so below or just look up the Ancient History Hound podcast wherever you download from.
I hope the below gives you more information which I detail in the podcast.
The Rural Dionysia.
An image from a black figure Attic cup (circa 550 BCE) showing what is thought to have been part of the procession, or alluding to it.
Thespis ended up featuring on a stamp performing from a wagon. Note the flute players which shows the role of music in this.
The known deme theatres according to J. Paga (see in reading list).
The theatre at Thorikos can be seen below. The picture is from an excellent website dedicated to it.
The Athenian Agora.
The central civic space at Athens, thanks to Athenian Agora Excavations for their model. It was a space which could well accommodate the early procession and the choral performances. But as I outline in the podcast it wasn’t ideal for a nuanced static performance.
Theatre of Dionysus at Athens.
The ruins you’ll visit today are of much later developments. In order to get some idea I jumped back in time using Assassin’s Creed Odyssey and got a few shots for you. That’s what you call dedication.
The one on the left is from the skene (stage), I’m not sure this was in place in the early phase of the theatre, but AC Odyssey is based towards the end of the 5th century BCE. In any case the image on the right is more aligned with the real one I’ve included.
Reading List/Bibliography.
Inventing the Barbarian, Edith Hall
A guide to Greek Theatre and Drama, Kenneth McLeish
The Earliest Phase of ‘Comic’ Choral Entertainments in Athens. The Dionysian Pompe and the ‘Birth’ of Comedy. Eric Csapo
The Dionysian Parade and the Poetics of Plentitude. Professor Eric Csapo
Choregic Monuments and the Athenian Democracy, Hans Rupprecht Goette
The Archaeology of the ‘Rural’ Dionysia in Attica, Hans Rupprecht Goette.
Public spending in democratic Athens, David M Pritchard
Deme Theatres in Attica and the Trittys System, Jessica Paga, Hesperia Vol. 70 (2010).
Out of Athens. Ritual Performances, Spaces and the Emergence of Tragedy, Manuela Giordano,
Costing the Great Panathenaia in the early fourth century BC, David M. Pritchard
Public spending in democratic Athens, David M Pritchard
Judging Athenian Dramatic Competitions, CW Marshall and Stephanie van Willigenburg, Journal of Hellenic Studies Vol 124 (2004).