{"id":374,"date":"2021-07-30T21:20:15","date_gmt":"2021-07-30T20:20:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/ancient-dance\/?page_id=374"},"modified":"2021-07-30T21:20:15","modified_gmt":"2021-07-30T20:20:15","slug":"great-dionysia","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/ancient-dance\/ancient-greek-dance\/what-we-know\/dances-in-festivals\/great-dionysia\/","title":{"rendered":"Great Dionysia"},"content":{"rendered":"

In Athens, tragedies, comedies, and satyr plays were especially produced for the festival of Dionysus, the largest of which was the annual City Dionysia or Great Dionysia.[1]<\/a> Aeschylus\u2019 Edonians and Euripides\u2019 Bacchae always refer to the god\u2019s cultic worship. The festival \u2013 birthplace of Greek drama \u2013 developed in 6th<\/sup> century BC when lyric poet Lasus of Hermione introduced this form of choral dancing and singing to Athens. [2]<\/a><\/sup> \u00a0Chorus in theatre performed a series of choreographed movement in \u201cparabasis\u201d, the choral deliverance of the playwright\u2019s message to the audience. The chorus was led by a choregos<\/em>, the chorus leader. The pace and rhythm of dances could vary according to the poetic measures of the play, and there was a specific type of dance for each of the dramatic genres: comedy, tragedy, and satyr play.<\/p>\n

The dithyramb, a choral song consecrated to the god, became one of the culminated and most spectacular moments of the Great Dionysia in the 5th<\/sup> and 4th<\/sup> century BC. The urban part of the festival included theatrical performances especially linked to the Athenian cult of Dionysus Eleuthereus.[3]<\/sup><\/a> Dithyramb was associated with the god from 7th<\/sup> century BC until Late Antiquity, and included linear and circular movements in the theatrical dances. On the occasion of the Great Dionysia, men and boys\u2019 dithyrambic competitions involved 500 choreuts, who were divided according to their tribal affiliation into ten groups. The council was similarly constituted by 50 representatives from each of the 10 tribes: these contests seemed to encourage healthy competition within the city but also to strengthen tribal ties.[4]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n

In a fragment of one of Pindar\u2019s dithyrambs,[5]<\/a> the chorus describes a scene of divine mousik<\/em>\u0113<\/em> in honour of Dionysus and the Great Mother, with drums, krotala, loud cries and head-shaking of Naiad nymphs.\u00a0 Depictions usually show maenads and satyrs moving and playing music in individualised and spontaneous ways, yet it was a collective performance.[6]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> Goldhill 1987.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Weiss 2020:162.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Ieran\u00f2 2020:37.<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Weiss 2020:165.<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> Fr. 70b SM8-14.<\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> Weiss 2021:163.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In Athens, tragedies, comedies, and satyr plays were especially produced for the festival of Dionysus, the largest of which was the annual City Dionysia or Great Dionysia.[1] Aeschylus\u2019 Edonians and…Read More ><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":105,"featured_media":289,"parent":351,"menu_order":1,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"__cvm_playback_settings":[],"__cvm_video_id":"","footnotes":""},"coauthors":[11],"class_list":["post-374","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nGreat Dionysia - Ancient Greek Dance<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Great Dionysia - Ancient Greek Dance\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In Athens, tragedies, comedies, and satyr plays were especially produced for the festival of Dionysus, the largest of which was the annual City Dionysia or Great Dionysia.[1] Aeschylus\u2019 Edonians and...Read More >\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/ancient-dance\/ancient-greek-dance\/what-we-know\/dances-in-festivals\/great-dionysia\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Ancient Greek Dance\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/ancient-dance\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/208\/2021\/07\/2002.99.0020-resized.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1440\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"944\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"Claudina Romero Mayorga\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/ancient-dance\/ancient-greek-dance\/what-we-know\/dances-in-festivals\/great-dionysia\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/ancient-dance\/ancient-greek-dance\/what-we-know\/dances-in-festivals\/great-dionysia\/\",\"name\":\"Great Dionysia - Ancient Greek Dance\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/ancient-dance\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2021-07-30T20:20:15+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-07-30T20:20:15+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/ancient-dance\/ancient-greek-dance\/what-we-know\/dances-in-festivals\/great-dionysia\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/ancient-dance\/ancient-greek-dance\/what-we-know\/dances-in-festivals\/great-dionysia\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/ancient-dance\/ancient-greek-dance\/what-we-know\/dances-in-festivals\/great-dionysia\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/ancient-dance\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Ancient Greek Dance\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/ancient-dance\/ancient-greek-dance\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Ancient Greek Dance: What we know\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/ancient-dance\/ancient-greek-dance\/what-we-know\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"Dances in festivals\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/ancient-dance\/ancient-greek-dance\/what-we-know\/dances-in-festivals\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":5,\"name\":\"Great Dionysia\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/ancient-dance\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/ancient-dance\/\",\"name\":\"Ancient Greek Dance\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/ancient-dance\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Great Dionysia - Ancient Greek Dance","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Great Dionysia - Ancient Greek Dance","og_description":"In Athens, tragedies, comedies, and satyr plays were especially produced for the festival of Dionysus, the largest of which was the annual City Dionysia or Great Dionysia.[1] Aeschylus\u2019 Edonians and...Read More >","og_url":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/ancient-dance\/ancient-greek-dance\/what-we-know\/dances-in-festivals\/great-dionysia\/","og_site_name":"Ancient Greek Dance","og_image":[{"width":1440,"height":944,"url":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/ancient-dance\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/208\/2021\/07\/2002.99.0020-resized.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Estimated reading time":"2 minutes","Written by":"Claudina Romero Mayorga"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/ancient-dance\/ancient-greek-dance\/what-we-know\/dances-in-festivals\/great-dionysia\/","url":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/ancient-dance\/ancient-greek-dance\/what-we-know\/dances-in-festivals\/great-dionysia\/","name":"Great Dionysia - Ancient Greek Dance","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/ancient-dance\/#website"},"datePublished":"2021-07-30T20:20:15+00:00","dateModified":"2021-07-30T20:20:15+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/ancient-dance\/ancient-greek-dance\/what-we-know\/dances-in-festivals\/great-dionysia\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/ancient-dance\/ancient-greek-dance\/what-we-know\/dances-in-festivals\/great-dionysia\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/ancient-dance\/ancient-greek-dance\/what-we-know\/dances-in-festivals\/great-dionysia\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/ancient-dance\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Ancient Greek Dance","item":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/ancient-dance\/ancient-greek-dance\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Ancient Greek Dance: What we know","item":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/ancient-dance\/ancient-greek-dance\/what-we-know\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Dances in festivals","item":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/ancient-dance\/ancient-greek-dance\/what-we-know\/dances-in-festivals\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":5,"name":"Great Dionysia"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/ancient-dance\/#website","url":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/ancient-dance\/","name":"Ancient Greek Dance","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/ancient-dance\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/ancient-dance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/374","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/ancient-dance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/ancient-dance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/ancient-dance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/105"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/ancient-dance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=374"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/ancient-dance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/374\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":375,"href":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/ancient-dance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/374\/revisions\/375"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/ancient-dance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/351"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/ancient-dance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/289"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/ancient-dance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=374"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/ancient-dance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=374"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}