Some Social and Economic Conditions behind the Rise of the Acting Profession in the Fifth and Fourth Centuries BC

We do not often think of ancient theatre as a business, let alone consider the many unique features it had as a business in its day. From the time, at least, of the democratic reorganization, the Athenian Dionysia differed from other musical festivals in frequency, in scale, and in the variety of economic interests directly involved in its operations. We know of no other annual musical festival before the Dionysia. Its venue, the Theatre of Dionysos, was also larger than any other, holding ev..

Choregic dedications and what they tell us about comic performance in the Fourth Century BC

Two fragmentary reliefs from the Athenian Agora, first published by Webster, constitute our primary evidence for the appearance of the ancient comic chorus. I will reconstruct the monuments from which these fragments were taken and discuss the relationship of the images to choral practice in the Athenian Theatre of Dionysus. I will also adress the question of the unique nature of these two mid-fourth-century reliefs depicting comic choruses and argue that the reliefs belong to a new form of monument placed, like the tripod monuments for men’s and boys’ lyric choruses, on the Street of the Tripods. The new form is the result of a structural change in the sponsorship of comedy by which the choregoi

Kommos Field Notebook 0057 (1984) by Eric G. Csapo

Excavation notebook for Trench 57 at Kommos, Crete

Kommos Field Notebook 0063 (1985) by Eric G. Csapo

Excavation notebook for Trench 63 at Kommos, Crete

A social and economic history of the theatre to 300 BC [Volume 2: Theatre beyond Athens: Documents with Translation and Commentary]

This is the second volume of A Social and Economic History of the Theatre to 300 BC and focuses exclusively on theatre culture in Attica (Rural Dionysia) and the rest of the Greek world. It presents and discusses in detail all the documentary and material evidence for theatre culture and dramatic production from the first two centuries of theatre history, namely the period c.500 to c.300 BC. The traditional assumption is laid to rest that theatre was an exclusively or primarily Athenian institution, with the inclusion of all sources of information for theatrical performances in twenty-two deme sites and over one hundred and twenty independent Greek (and some non-Greek) cities. All texts are translated and made accessible to non-specialists and specialists alike. The volume will be a fundamental work of reference for all classicists and theatre historians interested in ancient theatre and its wider historical contexts

Le statut de l'acteur dans l'Antiquité grecque et romaine

La dimension incontestablement littéraire des œuvres théâtrales de l'Antiquité ne doit pas faire oublier les aspects plus matériels et plus concrets de spectacles qui étaient aussi visuels et qui requéraient la présence sur scène de ceux auxquels nous réservons le terme générique d'acteurs. Il est de nombreuses manières d'étudier les multiples facettes de ce métier et d'analyser toutes les connotations, positives ou négatives, qui y sont attachées. Si les spécialistes du monde grec s'intéressent logiquement à la genèse et aux pratiques dramatiques des comédiens, tragédiens ou simples amuseurs ; les historiens de Rome sont plus sensibilisés à l'infamie dans laquelle le droit reléguait l'acteur et aux relations souvent complexes que ce dernier entretenait avec le pouvoir, aristocratique ou monarchique. Les organisateurs du colloque organisé à Tours les 4 et 5 mai 2002 se sont proposés comme objectif de répondre aux différentes questions que soulève le statut de l'acteur en laissant la parole à des spécialistes internationaux des spectacles antiques (Canada, France, grande-Bretagne, Italie) et en prenant le parti d'une diachronie qui va de la naissance du théâtre jusqu'à l'Antiquité tardive. Les principaux thèmes abordés au cours de cette rencontre ont été regroupés en quatre parties : la naissance d'un monde professionnel ; l'identification de l'acteur ; l'acteur dans la cité ; l'acteur face au pouvoir