Dionysos a teatro

Grounded in the methodology of the History of Religions, this study provides a comprehensive historical-religious analysis of the four Athenian Dionysiac festivals framing classical drama: the Anthesteria, Lenaia, Dionysia Megala, and Dionysia kat' agrous. Departing from purely philological or literary traditions, the author investigates the civic, mythic, and ritual frameworks of Greek spectacle, illustrating how theatrical performances functioned under Dionysus's aegis as mechanisms for suspending, contesting, and ultimately confirming the social and political order of the polis. By meticulously re-evaluating literary, epigraphic, and iconographic evidence, the monograph explores the participation of diverse social categories—citizens, ephebes, war orphans, women, metics, and foreigners—within these festive contexts. Moving beyond the search for origins, the work examines how ritual transgressions and tragic or comic dynamics operate to restore equilibrium, establishing the Dionysiac festive context as an indispensable foundation for fully understanding classical Athenian drama.