Drama and the Polis | English Drama

Drama and The Polis

Greek drama festival has normally been perceived serving a religious purpose of honouring gods, but its political positioning is equally important. This is partially because of the reason that Greeks were keen participants of religious festivals.

They used to attend these festivals with natural fervor as a public obligation. When these festivals involved the wider Greek community. Then arose the possibility of serving some political end too by offering some benefits to the polis. Much of the modern scholarship is focused on exploring this aspect of Greek drama.

Polis

Polis is a Greek term from which we have derived English terms political and politics. When we claim that a certain cultural product assists some political purposes. Then we tend to develop a relationship between cultural product and the politics of the society where it is produced.

Thus, exploring political factor of Greek drama would certainly entail its role in Athenian laws and politics, etc.

• Was drama instrumental in creating and sustaining Athenian identity?

• Was it used as a tool of ideology construction?

• Did it serve as a means of mass education?

• Did it serve as a public spokesperson and voiced those concerns which could not be raised at any other public platform?

These are some of the critical concerns which we may like to explore to enhance our understanding of the subject matter.

Role of Women in Ancient Greece

Another issue which is of greater interest for a modern critic to investigate is the role of women in ancient Greece with reference to Dionysos festival. Women in ancient Greece observed a secluded lifestyle. We can safely suppose that there might not have been any female tragedian as Athens was primarily a male dominated society. And women were not permitted to either vote or hold a political office.

Though, whether women attended this festival is still debatable without any definite answer. Therefore, it can be assumed that if this dramatic festival was a religious worship, women could have attended it.

However, if it was a civic and political activity then the logical inference negates participation of women. Nevertheless, we do not have reliable evidence to support either of the claims.

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