§ 3 The Distribution of the Seats
When the theatre was full the audience numbered nearly twenty thousand persons. As to the arrangement of this enormous mass of people some few facts are known, and some inferences may be made; but the information is not very complete. The great distinction was between the dignitaries who had reserved seats in the front, and the occupants of the ordinary two-obol seats at the back. A gradation of seats with descending prices was, as previously stated, unknown to the ancient Athenians. The privilege of having a reserved seat in the theatre was called ‘proedria’, and was conferred by the state.1018 From the large number of persons who enjoyed the distinction it is clear that several of the front rows must have been reserved; and this conclusion is confirmed by the inscriptions in the theatre, which show that seats were assigned to particular individuals as far back as the twenty-fourth tier from the front.1019 The recipients of the honour, or at any rate the more prominent of them, were conducted in a solemn procession to the theatre each morning by one of the state officials.1020
Foremost among the persons who had seats in the front rows were the priests and religious officers connected with the different divinities. That they should be distinguished in this manner was only in keeping with the essentially religious character of the ancient Greek drama. An inscription referring to the theatre at the Peiraeeus, and belonging to the third or fourth century B.C., mentions the priests specially by name as the most conspicuous members of the class who had the ‘proedria’.1021 The inscriptions upon the seats in the theatre at Athens, which represent for the most part the arrangement that existed during the reign of Hadrian, place the matter in a very clear light. They enable us to determine the occupants of sixty out of sixty-seven seats in the front row; and it is found that of these sixty persons no less than fifty were priests, or ministers connected with religion. Similarly, in the rows immediately behind the front row, a large number of places were set apart for the different priests and priestesses.1022 Such was the arrangement in the time of Hadrian, and there can be little doubt that it was much the same in its general character during the period of the Athenian democracy.
Among state officials the nine archons and the ten generals had distinguished places in the theatre. In Hadrian’s time the archons occupied seats in the front row, and it is probable that this position was assigned to them from the earliest period.1023 The generals were in some prominent part of the theatre, but the exact place is not known. The snob in Theophrastus was always anxious to sit as near to them as possible.1024 Ambassadors from foreign states, as was previously pointed out, were generally provided with front seats, on the motion of some member of the Council. Demosthenes is taunted by Aeschines for the excessive politeness which he showed to Philip’s ambassadors on an occasion of this kind. The lessee of the theatre at the Peiraeeus, as appears from an inscription still extant, was ordered to provide the ambassadors from Colophon with reserved places at the Dionysia. The Spartan ambassadors were sitting in ‘a most distinguished part of the theatre’ when they considerately gave up a place to an old man for whom no one else would make room.1025 The judges of the various contests sat together in a body, and would naturally be provided with one of the best places in the theatre.1026 The orphan sons of men who had fallen in battle received from the state, in addition to other honours, the distinction of ‘proedria’. The same privilege was frequently conferred by decree upon great public benefactors, and was generally made hereditary in the family, descending by succession to the eldest male representative. An honour of this kind was bestowed upon Demosthenes.1027
With the exception of the reserved places in the front rows, the rest of the auditorium consisted of the ordinary two-obol seats. Concerning the arrangements adopted in this part of the theatre a few details have been recorded. It appears that special portions of the auditorium were set apart for the different classes of the community. There was a particular place for the members of the Council of Five Hundred, and another place for the Ephebi, or youths between the age of eighteen and twenty.1028 The women were separated from the men, and the courtesans sat apart from the other women.1029 It is probable that all the women sat at the back of the theatre, at a long distance from the stage. Foreigners also seem usually to have had a special place.1030 The amphitheatre of seats was divided into thirteen blocks by the passages which ran upwards from the orchestra. It is very probable that in the arrangement of the audience each tribe had a special block assigned to it. The blocks of seats were thirteen from the first. The tribes were originally ten, though they were raised in later times to twelve and thirteen. It is possible that the three unappropriated blocks were assigned respectively to the Council, the Ephebi, and Foreigners.1031 But the excavations in the theatre afford grounds for inferring that there was a connexion between certain blocks and certain tribes, and the thing is not improbable in itself.1032 The tribal divisions played a large part in the various details of Attic administration, and an arrangement by tribes would have greatly facilitated the process of distributing the enormous mass of spectators among their proper seats.
Before leaving this part of the subject it may be useful to give a complete list of the priests and officials for whom the front row was reserved in later times. It is still possible, as already stated, to determine the occupants of sixty out of the sixty-seven seats; and the arrangement, with a few exceptions, is that of Hadrian’s time.1033 The list of names is not without interest, as it enables us, better than any description, to form a general conception of the sort of arrangement which was probably adopted at an earlier period. It also affords a curious glimpse into the religious side of the old Athenian life, and helps us to realize the variety and multiplicity of priests, deities, and ceremonials. In the very centre of the front row, in the best place in the whole theatre, sat the priest of Dionysus Eleuthereus, on a throne of elaborate workmanship. A representation of the throne (Fig. 35) is inserted on the previous page.[1034] As the theatre was regarded as a temple of Dionysus, and the drama was a celebration in his honour, it was only fitting that his priest should occupy the most conspicuous and distinguished position. There is a reference to the arrangement in the Frogs of Aristophanes, in the scene where Dionysus is terrified by the goblins of Hades, and desperately appeals to his own priest for protection.1035 Of the thirty-three seats to the left of the priest of Dionysus the occupants of twenty-six are still known, and were as follows:—
Priest of Zeus the Protector of the City.
The Sacrificer.
The Torch bearer.
Priest of Pythian Apollo.
The Hieromnemon.1036
Priest and Chief Priest of Augustus Caesar.
Priest of Hadrian Eleuthereus.
King Archon.
Chief Archon.
Polemarch.
The General.
The Herald.
Thesmothetes.
Thesmothetes.
Thesmothetes.
Thesmothetes.
The Sacred Herald.
... and Apollo.
Diogenes the Benefactor.1037
Priest of Attalus Eponymus.
The Iacchus-carrier.1038
Priest of Asclepius the Healer.
Fire-bringer from the Acropolis.1039
Priest of the People, the Graces, and Rome.
Holy Herald and Priest.
Priest of Apollo of Zoster.
All the thrones to the right hand of the priest of Dionysus have been preserved, and were occupied by the following persons:—
Interpreter appointed by the Pythian Oracle.1040
Priest of Olympian Zeus.
Hierophant.
Priest of Delian Apollo.
Priest of Poseidon the Nourisher.
Priest of the Graces, and of Fire-bearing Artemis of the Tower.
Interpreter chosen from the Eupatridae by the people for life.
Priest of Poseidon the Earth-holder and Poseidon Erectheus.
Priest of Artemis Colaenis.
Priest of Dionysus the Singer, chosen from the Euneidae.
Bullock-keeper of Palladian Zeus.
Priest of Zeus of the Council and Athene of the Council.1041
Priest of Zeus the Deliverer and Athene the Deliverer.
Priest of Antinous the Dancer, chosen from the Company of Actors.1042
Priest of Apollo Patrous.
Priest of Dionysus the Singer, chosen from the Company of Actors.
Priest of Glory and Order.
Priest of Asclepius.
Priest of the Muses.
Priest of Zeus the god of Friendship.
Priest of the Twelve Gods.
Statue-cleanser of Zeus at Pisa.
Priest of the Lycean Apollo.
Statue-cleanser of Olympian Zeus in the City.
Priest of the Dioscuri and the Hero Epitegius.1043
Priest of Heavenly Nemesis.
Priest of Hephaestus.
Priest of Apollo the Laurel-wearer.
Priest of Dionysus of Aulon.
The Stone-carrier.1044
Priest of Theseus.
Bullock-keeper of Zeus the Accomplisher.
Priest of Demeter and Persephone.
The priests enumerated here were the principal dignitaries in the Athenian hierarchy. Behind them sat a large gathering of inferior priests and priestesses. Their presence in such numbers at performances like the Old and Middle Comedy affords a curious illustration of the religious sentiment of the Athenians, and indicates clearly that the coarseness of the early comedy, and its burlesque representations of the gods and their adventures, did not constitute any offence against religion, but formed an appropriate element in the worship of Dionysus.