Ancient Greek Festivals

Theater in ancient Greece was considered the climax of the days long cultural festival of The City Dionysia. At the festival, various types of plays were shown but one of the most popular was tragedy. These tragedies show the main character, usually a god or person of myth, going through human suffering and the terrible sequence of events that followed; and were produced in 472- 401 BCE. In order for a play to be performed at The City Dionysia festival; tragic playwrights would first have to appeal to the state official that was organizing the festival by submitting ideas to him and his committee. The ideas submitted were outlines of main themes and points of interest to be performed in the play. If a playwright was selected by the state official and his committee, then they received a financial backer and a chance to compete in the drama competition of the festival. The state official, or his committee, was likely pushing their own agenda and choose playwrights that matched their ideals. This is just one example of how theater in ancient Greece was used to influence the morality of Greek culture by using the stories of tragedies, like those of Euripides.

The Ancient Olympic Games took place during a time of prosperity for the nation of Greece. In fact, they contributed to the success of the Greek Empire. The Olympic Games reinforced the power of ancient rulers, brought peace with the surrounding nations, and created a reliable way to track time. These ancient games have had such an influence, that they are still continued in our modern society.

Theatre became important to Greek cultures when it became a part of the festival honoring the god Dionysus (The god of wine and fertility).”( Greek Mythology in Theater by Bruce Tucker October 27, 2016) The theater festival was founded to bring unity among the Attican tribes.( Greek Mythology in Theater by Bruce Tucker October 27, 2016) Athens was the main center of these traditions. Everyone came to sing and dance in hope for a good harvest. At one point, a Greek named Thespis began to sing praises to the god, with others responding, which led to the actor and chorus. During the festival everyone would dance and sing in a circle, in the middle of which was the altar to Dionysus. Over time the festivals started giving thanks to other themes, and eventually had nothing to do with Dionysus or any god, but began to turn into classical Greek plays. (First Ancient History, Oxford University Press 2000 pg.166)

Another similarity, we share with ancient Greece is the love of sports rivalry especially the Olympic Games. In 776 B.C., the first Olympic Games begin as an achievement in art, ethical conduct and interaction of the mind in ancient Greece. Today athletes from all over the world take part in the Olympic Games. In spite of the many new events such as bicycling, skating, gymnastics, swimming, soccer and basketball, many of the earlier (ancient Greece) events such as footraces, jumping, discus and javelin throwing, boxing, and wrestling are still a part of the today games.

Westerns values their traditions. In the United States, sports is a huge. This can be said for all of Western Civilization. Every four years they come together and the Olympics, a sporting event happens. This event unifies the five inhabited continents in the world. Ancient Olympics originated in Greece. The Olympics also unified Greece’s city-States. Like now the Olympic Games were a form of entertainment that came from their values and beliefs. Ancient Olympics started to honor of the God Zeus. The athletes that won were praised; their victory not only brought honor to themselves but to their cities as well. This is similar to what it is like when someone wins a medal in the modern Olympics. It is obvious that sports was an important aspect of Greek culture. It was everywhere, in their art works it was there culture. One of the most famous sculpture is The Discus Thrower by Myron. Myron became famous for his representations of athletes through art. The arts and sports can be seen as very different things, however, the Greeks learned their values from them. The sports taught them to value their bodies and strength. They also learned values from the Dramas (plays), tragedies and comedies. The tragedies consisted of tragic events happening to the main character and comedy was a form of slapstick. Antigone a tragedy by Sophocles showed values including power, family, and willingness. In the

Theatre flourished in Greece, particularly in Athens, between c. 550 BC and c. 220 BC. During its beginnings theatrical performances were part of Dionysia, a festival held in honour of the god Dionysus. The plot of the plays was always inspired by Greek mythology, a theme that is still common today. Many modern plays and movies have been directly based on or incorporated elements of Greek mythology or simply mythology in general. Every play had a chorus, though the size and importance of it varied. The

In 776 B.C a new era began for athletes. The first olympic games were held in Olympia, Greece. “The ancient games were not only an expression and definition of common cultural values, but also an arena for intense competition between Greeks.” (Gold, silver, and bronze) The olympics were an important part of Ancient Greece culture because, it brought their civilization together, kept the greeks fit and ready for war, and the games were used to satisfy their gods.

This Greek play expressed the values of family and respect. Greek dramas have been contributions because they were the building blocks of movies, more plays and other forms of entertainment. Over time, they have become more creative with more actors and more colorful costumes. In classical Greece, there were only three actors with masks to show different characters. The Olympics have also made a huge impact. The Olympics was a huge event where specifically males participated in various competitive events. Discus throwing was a popular event in which people competed to see who could throw a large stone disc the farthest. The Olympics have been a contribution because it is a much more popular and larger event today. In today’s era, the Olympics are played every four years. A wide range of competitions and sports have been added to the Olympics and it is participated in world wide.

The Olympic games were an athletic competition help in Greece around every four years from 776 B.C.E. In 776 B.C.E, the first olympics were held in Athens where many competitors clashed during the sporting events. The olympics then stopped in 393 C.E. due to Theodosius I’s orders on stopping the olympic events. Later during 1896, the modern olympics began to take place. The olympics were different from the ancient olympics in that the competition was shaped due to social, political, and economic reasons.

The Greeks set up athletic events in honor of Zeus for which the Olympics was made.

The Olympic Games, was once a significant athletic festival that originated in ancient Greece as a religious festival which was revived in the late 19th century as a secular competition to

One exceptionally significant custom of the Greeks still observed today is the Olympics. These ancient games incorporated a concept of free athletic competition without bloodshed. If the Greeks

Though both genres of theatre are closely tied to religion, Greek theatre and medieval drama have different religious motivations that impact the ways in which the theatrical event is utilized. In Greece, theatre was used to entertain or please the Gods, more specifically the God Dionysus, during the most important of the four Athenian festivals: the Great Dionysia. The first known Greek playwrights, such as Thespis and Euripides, were chosen to compete in the festival and submit three tragedies and one satyr play to be performed in front of approximately 15,000 spectators. In classical Greece, theatre was the center of citizenship and society; religious ideologies towards Dionysus were not only realized by performances, but strongly encouraged by the state. For example, if a citizen could not afford to attend the

In Ancient Greece, women were allowed to take part in nearly all religious festivals, and there were even some restricted to only women. Thesmophoria, a great festival, is of significance as it is a festival which celebrates a fertility rite for Demeter. Married noblewomen are the only people who can observe and celebrate this festival. The basis of this celebration was women preforming rites and celebrating on Demeter’s hilltop sanctuary for three days. Sadly, there is little evidence of specific rituals, there is evidence that pigs were sacrificed and buried, and the remains of the pigs sacrificed from the previous year were then offered to the goddess. In general, most festivals in Ancient Greece were to praise and honour Demeter, a selected few honoured other goddesses. Other festivals such as, Brauronia and Arrheporia are also included, which are rites of passage in which girls became women. The festivals that women were allowed to partake, or led, were generally about a girl’s development into adulthood, or celebrating their womanhood.

In Ancient Greece religion and theater went hand in hand. The Greeks developed religion that was based on worship of many Gods. In honor of the Gods there were festivals with dancing, music, and theatrical performances. During the festivals the whole city would come to a complete stand still. All businesses were closed, politics were put on the back burner, and wars were halted. All social classes were welcome to come to the festival, and they all did. One of the most famous religious festivals is the City Dionysia, a festival in honor of the god Dionysus, god of wine, revelry, and fertility. The festival was held in ancient Athens, in March for five days, featuring dramatic competitions. These dramatic competitions consisted of dithyrambs, tragedies, comedies, and satyr plays. The tragedy competition was four plays per playwright, three tragedies and one satyr play. There were two processions; the first was carrying the statue of Dionysus from the temple to the theater of Dionysus at the foot of the Acropolis. The second were the patrons parading through the