§ 8 Rural Dionysia and Anthesteria
The Rural Dionysia were provincial festivals, held about the end of December112 in the country districts of Attica. Originally they were very simple in character.113 The villagers, holding aloft the phallus, marched in procession to the altar of Dionysus, where a goat was sacrificed, and songs and dances performed in honour of the god. Then came various country sports; and the day ended in drinking and merriment. Later on, as the people advanced in wealth and refinement, the dignity of many of these festivals was much increased. Dramatic contests began to be introduced, in imitation of those already established in Athens. Eventually, by the end of the fifth century, all the larger Attic towns appear to have provided themselves with theatres and annual theatrical exhibitions. The most important of these local gatherings was that in the Peiraeeus, which was supported by contributions of money from the state treasury, and attended by large crowds from Athens and the neighbouring districts. The procession, with which the proceedings commenced, must have been a striking spectacle. The whole body of the ephebi took part in it. Then there were contests in tragedy and comedy. The fame of these contests is shown by the fact that even distinguished poets, such as Euripides, occasionally appeared as competitors; and that foreign ambassadors, if present in Athens at the time, were invited to attend as a matter of course.114 Among other festivals which seem to have acquired more than a local celebrity, we may mention those of Collytus where Aeschines acted the part of Oenomaus in the play of Sophocles,115 Eleusis,116 Salamis,117 and Icaria, and at these proclamation was made of crowns which had been bestowed on deserving citizens.118 At Aixone there were performances of comedies, but tragedies are not mentioned.119 At Phlya there were dramatic performances, probably of both kinds.120 The remains of a theatre have been found at Thoricus.121
The plays produced at these rustic Dionysia were mostly old ones, which had already been successful on the Athenian stage. The exhibition of new and original dramas was exceptional, and confined to a few important towns.122 Usually the proceedings took the form of a contest between troupes of actors, who competed with plays of established reputation. Prizes were offered by the different demes, and companies were formed in Athens for the purpose of touring the country, and contending against one another. Aeschines in his youth served as tritagonist in a troupe of this kind, having been hired for a provincial tour by ‘the ranters’, Simylus and Socrates.123 These constant revivals of old plays at the Rural Dionysia are a fact of some importance in the history of the Attic drama. It was in this way that the Athenian audience was familiarized with the masterpieces of the past, which might otherwise have been forgotten. In Athens itself there were not many opportunities of seeing them acted. There were only two dramatic festivals in the year, and these were mostly given up to original compositions. Yet the audience was obviously well acquainted with the older dramas. The frequent parodies and allusions in Aristophanes prove that this was the case.124 It was at the Rural Dionysia that they acquired their knowledge. The spectators in the Athenian theatre consisted partly of natives of Athens, partly of citizens from the country districts. For the natives there were the festivals of the adjoining demes, such as Collytus and the Peiraeeus; for the provincials there were their own local gatherings. Both classes therefore would have many chances of witnessing the reproduction of celebrated plays.
The Anthesteria had so little connexion with the drama that it is unnecessary to describe the manner in which it was celebrated.125 Regular performances of plays were apparently unknown there during the classical period. The only trace of anything theatrical is a certain contest between comic actors, which took place on the Chytri, the last day of the festival. The victor at this contest was allowed the undisputed right of acting at the forthcoming City Dionysia a month later.126 Probably the performance consisted in the recitation of selected portions of a comedy by the different competitors. The contest had fallen into disuse during the latter part of the fourth century, but was restored by the orator Lycurgus. In much later times, during the first century A.D., we hear of ‘tragic monodies’ and ‘comic parabases’ being performed at the Anthesteria.127 But the notice is too slight and vague to enable us to judge as to the general character of the exhibition.