The Dramatic Festival of Dionysos
At
Athens, the god Dionysos was honored through dramatic festivals. He was one of
the most renowned of Greek gods. He was the god of fertility, religious and wine
activity. He was a prevalent figure in Greek mythology. He was often referred
to as Eleutherios meaning ‘the liberator’ because his music, wine and ecstatic dance
freed his followers from self-consciousness and societal constraints.
The
dramatic festivals organized as a worship of god Dionysos performed dual
functions of not only honoring him but also state supported events to develop
communal life of the city. It is not surprising to find out that these preparations
and arrangements were made by the tyrants to create, strengthen and promote the
sense of national unity as well as cultural identity of the citizens.
Dramatic Performances of Festival
These
festivals were splendid in their vigour and vitality making Athens the most
notable place in Greece. And the finest example of state governed centralized
instructions to minimize the chances of any sort of ethnic divisions and
deviations by bringing all rural festivals into a unified activity in the city
of Athens. These dramatic performances were competitions in comparable sense as
we arrange award ceremonies. And then prizes for best cultural products and
performances in the modern times.
Greeks and Festival
As
the ancient Greek civilization once governed and ruled over the world. This
owes a great deal to penetratingly competitive nature of Greeks besides some
other compelling factors. So, these festivals provided them golden
opportunities to exhibit their unique talent and skills. Special judges were selected
from all the tribes to judge and award these performances.
Ancient Greeks
Ancient
Greeks were not the followers of any religion as the idea of religious
conviction exists in the modern sense of the term. They did not have any
conventional system of religious principles or principles.
Hence,
the term ‘religion’ may not sound suitable to describe their belief systems. Because
they did not have any such religious paradigm. In the ancient Greece, distinct
boundaries were not drawn between morality and ethics or between the realm of
religion and philosophy.
Though,
they did have faith in mighty powers of various gods and deities based on their
mythological knowledge. Furthermore, they did not worship their gods to seek
purgation of their sins and spiritual salvation. But they believed that these
forces had control on the human beings, and they were powerful enough to
redirect destiny of the humans.
They,
also, believed that gods could be influenced by human worship and offerings and
sacrifices they made to please them to resist evil. Greek drama is replete with
examples when the powers of gods were invoked to escape sufferings and ill destiny.
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