Picture yourself on the south slope of the Acropolis in ancient Athens. Far below you out towards the horizon is the bustling port, the Piraeus. It's late March; ships can sail in and out again. Seated on a wooden bench, set on the hillside, you're eagerly awaiting this year's plays. You're not alone. The audience often thousand, made up of local Athenians and visitors to the city, are anticipating the performances together. This is more than a drama festival though; it's also a religious occasion, a celebration of Dionysus, god of theatre and wine.
A theatre festival for a god
The Great Dionysia, or City Dionysia, was at once a drama competition and a religious festival. At the centre of the festivities was the god Dionysus. His worship included the use of masks, which allowed the wearer both to lose their identity and to assume another. Moreover, the god would be represented in cult as a pole decorated with a robe and mask. This construction of identity through costume and mask was mirrored in the theatrical process.
Dionysus was the god of both theatre and wine, associated with a joyful release from the everyday. His worship had a wild side, encapsulated in bacchic ritual. Euripides' tragedy offers a graphic depiction of this aspect to the deity's veneration. In the play, the women of the city leave their houses to become female followers of Dionysus maenads. They dance and sing
