Social and Economic History of the Theatre to 300 Bc: Volume 1, the - Theatre Festivals of Athens: Documents With Translation and

This is the first volume of A Social and Economic History of the Theatre to 300 BC and focuses exclusively on the theatre festivals in the city of Athens. It presents and discusses in detail all the documentary and material evidence for the Dionysia in the city of Athens, the Lenaea and the Anthesteria. It is the first comprehensive reappraisal of the Athenian theatre festivals undertaken in over seventy years and the first ever to attempt a history of the Athenian theatre as an institution which recognises the social and economic forces that underpinned it. 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.

List of contents

Part I. The Athenian Dionysia: Introduction; A. Timing and structure; B. Administration; C. Financial contributions of the Demos; D. Liturgical contributions; Part II. Other Theatre Festivals in Athens: Introduction; A. The Lenaea; B. The comic actors' competition at the Anthesteria.

About the author

ERIC CSAPO is Honorary Professor of Classics at the University of Sydney and Honorary Professor of Classics at the University of Warwick. His books include: The Context of Ancient Drama (1995), with W. J. Slater, Theories of Mythology (2005) and Actors and Icons of the Ancient Theater (2010).PETER WILSON is William Ritchie Professor of Classics at the University of Sydney and a Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. He is also the author or (co)editor of The Athenian Institution of the 'Khoregia': the Chorus, the City and the Stage (Cambridge, 2000), The Greek Theatre in the Fourth Century (2014), Dithyramb in Context (2013), Music and the Muses: the Culture of 'Mousike' in the Classical Athenian City (2014) and Greek Theatre and Festivals: Documentary Studies (2007).

Product details

• Authors: Eric (University of Warwick) Wilson Csapo, Csapo Eric, Peter Wilson
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press ELT
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Release: 28.02.2026
• EAN: 9780521765527
• ISBN: 978-0-521-76552-7
• No. of pages: 1036
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Art > Theatre, ballet; HISTORY / Ancient / General, LITERARY CRITICISM / Ancient & Classical, LITERARY COLLECTIONS / Ancient & Classical, PERFORMING ARTS / Theater / General, PERFORMING ARTS / Theater / History & Criticism, Literary studies: classical, early & medieval, Ancient History, Literary studies: ancient, classical and medieval, Ancient Greek and Roman literature, History of Performing Arts, c 332 BCE to c 630 CE (Egyptian Greco-Roman period)