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A. Ancient contexts and principles From the very establishment (probably 535–531 BC) of Greek T. as a constituent element in the City Dionysia (the festival founded by Peisistratus in honour of the god Dionysus and central to life in democratic 5th-cent. Athens), T. as a literary genre was to the utmost degree determined by processes of reception and intertextual references. The reasons for this are to be found on various levels. As a choral genre [45], it developed out of choral lyrical forms (accor…

[German Version] I. Antiquity – II. Middle Ages to the Present I. Antiquity In the so-called Old Attic Comedy of the 5th century bce, as represented by the 11 extant comedies of Aristophanes (c. 450–385; the comedies produced in Sicily and Megara [so-called Megarian farces] are lost), the role of religion is a twofold one. First, dramas (Drama: I, 2) performed in the context of the festivals dedicated to Dionysus were considered to be spiritual offerings to the god and could therefore only be staged once (until 386 bce). Secondly, religion and cult were recurrent themes of…

[German Version] I. Antiquity 1. The etymology of the word τραγῳδία/ tragōdía indicates the genre’s cultic roots. Contrary to the traditional interpretation (“goat song”), Burkert understands the term to mean a song (ᾠδή/ ōdé; Ode) accompanying the sacrifice of a ram (τράγος/ trágos). Preliterary evidence of the performance of tragedies has been found in conjunction with the introduction of the cultic hymn to Dionysus (dithyramb; Drama: I) by Arion in Corinth (c. 600 bce) and in Sicyon (northern Peloponnese). Herodotus (5.67) speaks of the choruses of tragedies in Si…

[German Version] I. Greco-Roman Antiquity – II. Drama and Religion – III. Drama and the Christian Tradition I. Greco-Roman Antiquity 1. Concept The noun δρᾶμα/ dráma, derived from the verb δρᾶν ( drán, “do, act”), seldom means “action, deed” in the general sense. Especially in the tragedies of Aeschylus, the verb and noun form the antithesis of παϑεῖν ( patheín, “suffer”) and πάϑος ( páthos, “suffering”), for example in Aesch. Ag. 533. Predominant is the special meaning “drama, play” (Theater), in which the aspect of staging and stage action stands out (e.g. Arist., Ranae 920). Deriv…

[German Version] I. History of Religion 1. Cultic originsa. a. Theatrical performances are attested long before the institutionalization of the dramatic genres in Athens (536/533: tragedy [I], 486: comic drama [I]): Dorian forerunners of tragedy in Sicyon and Corinth; 6th-century Attic vases testifying to the existence of animal choruses comparable to those of the 5th-century comedies. The roots of theater lie in the sacrificial rites (Sacrifice: II, 2) associated with the cult of Dionysus. The inhibition…

[German Version] (497/496, Athens – 406 bce), Athenian tragedian, who had his debut in 470. Seven of his plays (out of probably 113) have survived: Ajax and the Trachinian Women, written in the 450s, Antigone (c. 440), Oedipus the King (436–433), Electra (a late work), Philoctetes (409), and Oedipus at Colonus (performed posthumously in 401). His tragedies present individuals in extreme situations, whose behavior can overstep the limits of hubris. The protagonists are contrasted with figures representing the average person (Chrysothemis, Ismene…

[German Version] Derived from the Greek adjective τραγικός/ tragikós, tragic originally suggested nothing more than association with the art of tragedy. According to Aristotle ( Poet. 13, 1453 a 30), Euripides was the “most tragic” playwright, since his plays reflect most closely the purpose of tragedy: to evoke pity and fear and lead to purification (Catharsis) of or from these emotions. In the modern period, several different conceptions of the tragic can be identified. At the center of the moralistic and theological …

[German Version] At the Great Dionysia (Dionysus), the most important festival of Athens, each of the final three days was marked by the performance of three tragedies followed by a satyr play as a burlesque conclusion. In the case of Aeschylus, the satyr play shared subject matter with the trilogy, but this does not seem to have been the case with Sophocles and especially Euripides, who sometimes substituted a tragedy for the satyr play ( Alcestis, 438 bce). Archaeological evidence indicates that the satyr play was introduced into the festival program between 520 and 510 bce; the first a…

[German version] (Θεύδοτος; Theúdotos). Greek tragedian (TrGF I 157), victorious with the satyr play Palamedes presumably in Magnesia [2] in the 1st cent. BC (DID A 13,5). Zimmermann, Bernhard (Freiburg)

[German version] (Φαράδας; Pharádas) from Athens; was successful with a satyr play after 85 BC at the Museia in Thespiae (Boeotia) (TrGF I 173). Zimmermann, Bernhard (Freiburg)

[German version] [1] Tragedian of the 4th cent. BC (Μάμερκος/ Mámerkos). Tragedian of the 4th cent. BC mentioned in Plut. Timoleon 31,1 (TrGF I 87). Zimmermann, Bernhard (Freiburg) [German version] [2] Praenomen Praenomen exclusively used by the Patrician gens of the Aemilii (also used there as a cognomen, but never for freedmen); shortened to Mam.; Greek Μάμερκος/ Mámerkos. First attested for the father of Aemilius [I 25], traced back to M., son of Numa Pompilius (Plut. Numa 8,18f.). The name also occurs in Oscan (Μαμερεκς/ Mamereks) and in Etruscan ( Mamarce, Mamerce, Mamurke, 7th-5t…

[German version] (Σπίνθαρος; Spíntharos). Tragic poet (TrGF I 40), according to Suda σ 945 author of a Heracles burned and a ‘ Semele struck by lightning. Since Heraclides [16] Ponticus (fr. 13 Wehrli) describes him as an old man, he cannot be identical to the Phrygian S. mentioned in Aristoph. Av. 762, but must have lived in the 4th cent. BC. Zimmermann, Bernhard (Freiburg)

(Μοσχίων/ Moschíōn). [German version] [1] Tragedian, 3rd cent. BC Athenian tragedian, probably 2nd half of 3rd cent. BC, known almost solely through quotations by Stobaeus. Titles attested include ‘Telephos and two historical dramas: ‘Themistokles, at the heart of which was probably the naval battle at Salamis, following on from Aeschylus' ‘Persians, with the distinction that M. made Themistocles the protagonist; and ‘The Pheraeans, probably dealing with the death of Alexander [15] of Pherae. A lengthy f…

(Φαίνιππος; Phaínippos). [German version] [1] Attic landowner, around 320 BC The country estate of P., son of Callippus, is described in an Attic court speech around 320 BC (Ps.-Dem. Or. 42). In the antídosis proceedings the plaintiff demands that P. should be placed on the list of the three hundred richest Athenian citizens, who bore the heaviest burden of the financial cost of liturgies ( ibidem 42,3f.), instead of himself. P.’ property was unusual for two reasons: on the one hand, P. was the only heir of his father and, at the same time, of his grandfather on h…

(Ἰοφῶν; Iophôn) [German version] [1] Son of Peisistratus from his second marriage Son of  Peisistratus from his second marriage to the Argive Timonassa, the daughter of Gorgilus and widow of the  Cypselid Archinus of Ambracia. In contrast to his brother  Hegesistratus [1], only I.'s name has survived ([Aristot.] Ath. pol. 17,3; Plut. Cato maior 24,8; Hdt. 5,94f.). Patzek, Barbara (Wiesbaden) Bibliography L. de Libero, Die Archaische Tyrannis, 1996, 88 Traill, PAA 537360. [German version] [2] Athenian tragedian, 5th cent. BC Athenian tragedian (TrGF I 22), a son of  Sophocl…

(Φάνης; Phánēs). [German version] [1] Primordial god of the Orphic cosmogony In Greek, 'the one who illuminates, enlightens, appears; the one who is (makes something) obvious' (OF frr. 56; 61; 109); the light-like (Nonnus, Dion. 9,141) and golden-winged (OF frr. 54; 78; 87,2) primordial god of the Orphic cosmogony (OF fr. 78; 86; World, creation of the). This cosmogony, recorded by a certain Hieronymus and Hellanicus (OF fr. 54), must be distinguished from that in the Hieroì Lógoi, an Orphic poem in 14 rhapsodies (OF testimonia 174; 196). P. was not the original name of …

(Ξενοκράτης/ Xenokrátēs). [German version] [1] X. of Acragas, mentioned by Pindar, c. 500 BC Brother of the tyrant Theron of Acragas. Pind. Pyth. 6 refers to X.' victory in chariot-racing at the Pythian Games (Pythia [2]) in 490 BC, and Pind. Isthm. 2 to his charioteering victory at the Isthmian Games (Isthmia) in c. 470 BC. The latter ode was written after X.' death. Meister, Klaus (Berlin) Bibliography H. Berve, Die Tyrannis bei den Griechen, 1967, 133; 135. [German version] [2] X. of Chalcedon Academic philosopher, 4th cent. BC Academic philosopher (Academy), 4th cent. BC. Stanzel, Ka…

[German version] [1] Cretan port This item can be found on the following maps: Dark Ages | Colonization | Aegean Koine (Κόμμος; Kómmos). Port on the southern coast of Crete, situated near Matala and Phaestus. In the Minoan period K., which was founded around 2000 BC, probably served as the harbour for the palace of Phaestus, until its destruction around 1200 BC. After being deserted for c. 200 years, it was resettled around 1000 BC, presumably the result of Phoenician stimuli, and was increasingly Hellenized until the 4th cent. BC. Archaeological excavations (…

(Φιλοκλῆς; Philoklês). [German version] [1] Athenian demagogue Athenian demagogue, elected to the office of stratēgós in 406/5 BC and dispatched with the fleet to Conon [1] at Samos, both of whom thereupon were in command of the fleet in the Hellespont. Re-elected as a stratēgós, and subsequently partially to blame for the defeat in 405 BC at Aigos Potamos, P. was captured and executed by Lysander [1] for having had the crews of two captured Spartan triremes thrown into the sea (Xen. Hell. 1,7,1; 2,1,32f.; Diod. Sic. 13,104,1f.; Paus. 9, 32,9; Plut. Lysander 13,1f.; Plut. Sulla 42,8). Schmi…

[German version] (Κριτίας; Kritías) of Athens, born about 460 BC, descended from an old Attic noble family, on his mother's side he was an uncle of  Plato. Like  Alcibiades [3] he belonged to the circle around  Socrates. Politically he belonged to the antidemocratic forces: in 415 he was accused of participating in the mutilation of the  Herms, in 411 he was a member of the oligarchic council of the 400 ( Tetrakosioi). After the democratic restoration he stayed in Thessaly until 404, after the Athe…