Theatrical Spaces

doi:10.1017/9781108614054.024

23 - Theatrical Spaces

from Part IV - Culture and Sport

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 March 2021

Valentina Di Napoli

Edited by

Jenifer Neils and

Dylan K. Rogers

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Jenifer Neils: Affiliation:
American School of Classical Studies, Athens
Dylan K. Rogers: Affiliation:
University of Virginia

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Summary

This chapter deals with the Athenian buildings aimed at hosting dramatic performances or related to the world of the theater, one of the most important and enduring legacies of ancient Greece to the Western world. The Late Classical Theater of Dionysos at the southern slopes of the Acropolis (second half of the fourth century BC) and the neighboring Odeion of Perikles (mid-fifth century BC) soon became tangible symbols of the city’s wealth and power.

Keywords

Orchestra in the Agora Theater of Dionysos Odeion of Perikles wooden theatrical structures

Type: Chapter
Information: The Cambridge Companion to Ancient Athens , pp. 319 - 331

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108614054.024 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2021

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References

The literature on this topic is rich and mainly in German and modern Greek. The problem of the ‘old agora’ and the topography of earlier Athens is analyzed in Miller 1995 (especially 218–219). Of the vast bibliography about the origins of drama, see Csapo and Slater 1994, 79–138, 286–301; Green 1994, especially 16–48; Connor 1996; Sourvinou-Inwood 2003, 141–172; Csapo and Miller 2007, 1–38; Kowalzig and Wilson 2013. Wiles 2000 is a good introduction to the art of Greek theater performance. On the Theater of Dionysos, in addition to the classic Pickard-Cambridge 1946, a recent presentation of the wooden theater can be found in Moretti 1999–2000 and in Papastamati-von Moock 2015, while for the Lycurgan phase, Papastamati-von Moock 2014 is very useful. On the Odeion of Perikles, see Robkin 1976; Miller 1997, 218–242; Shear 2016, 197–228 (for a discussion within the wider framework of Perikles’ building activity). For a discussion of the theatrical spaces of Athens and Attika in the Roman period, see Di Napoli 2013, 7–25.

Bibliography

Additional resources to accompany this chapter can be found at: www.cambridge.org/NeilsRogers

Connor, W.R. 1996. “Civil Society, Dionysiac Festival, and the Athenian Democracy.” In Démokratia: A Conversation on Democracies, Ancient and Modern, eds. Ober, J. and Hedrick, C., Princeton, 217–226.Google Scholar

Csapo, E., and Miller, M.C., eds. 2007. The Origins of the Theater in Ancient Greece and Beyond. Cambridge.Google Scholar

Csapo, E., and Slater, W.J.. 1994. The Context of Ancient Drama. Ann Arbor.Google Scholar

Di Napoli, V. 2013. Teatri della Grecia romana: forma, decorazione, funzioni. La provincia d’Acaia. Athens.Google Scholar

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Green, J.R. 1994. Theater in Ancient Greek Society. London.Google Scholar

Kowalzig, B., and Wilson, P., eds. 2013. Dithyramb in Context. Oxford.Google Scholar

Ma, J. 2015. “The Portrait of Menander in the Theatre of Dionysus and Its Neighbours.” Studi Ellenistici 29: 235–239.Google Scholar

Miller, M.C. 1997. Athens and Persia in the Fifth Century bc: A Study in Cultural Receptivity. Cambridge.Google Scholar

Miller, S.G. 1995. “Architecture as Evidence for the Identity of the Early Polis.” In Sources for the Ancient Greek City-State, Symposium 1994, ed. Hansen, M.H., Copenhagen, 210–244.Google Scholar

Moretti, J.-C. 1999–2000. “The Theater of the Sanctuary of Dionysos Eleuthereus in Late Fifth-Century Athens.” Illinois Classical Studies 24–25: 377–398.Google Scholar

Papastamati-von Moock, C. 2014. “The Theatre of Dionysos Eleuthereus in Athens: New Data and Observations on Its ‘Lycurgan’ Phase.” In Greek Theatre in the Fourth Century bc, ed. Csapo, Ε., Goette, H.R., Green, R., and Wilson, P., Berlin, 15–76.Google Scholar

Papastamati-von Moock, C. 2015. “The Wooden Theatre of Dionysos Eleuthereus in Athens: Old Issues, New Research.” In The Architecture of the Ancient Greek Theatre, Acts of an International Conference, Athens 2012, eds. Frederiksen, R., Gebhard, E., and Sokolicek, A., Aarhus, 39–79.Google Scholar

Pickard-Cambridge, A.W. 1946. Τhe Theatre of Dionysus in Athens. Oxford.Google Scholar

Robkin, A.L.H. 1976. “The Odeion of Perikles: Some Observations on Its History, Form, and Functions.” PhD dissertation, University of Washington.Google Scholar

Shear, T.L. 2016. Trophies of Victory: Public Buildings in Periklean Athens. Princeton.CrossRef Google Scholar

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Wiles, D. 2000. Greek Theatre Performance. An Introduction. Cambridge.CrossRef Google Scholar

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23 - Theatrical Spaces

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