대 디오니시아에서 비극이 상연된 배경과 의미－새로운 접근

Abstract

There has been a lot written about Greek tragedies, however no clear explanation has been given about the real meaning and background of the performance of ‘Attic Tragedy’ at the Great Dionysia. Recent studies on Greek tragedy have focused on the democratic and social context of Athens at that time and argue that tragedies had virtually nothing to do with religion and Dionysos. These approaches and perspectives are reflected in the recently published book titled Nothing to do with Dionysos. On the contrary, in this paper I argue that the great Dionysia has everything to do with Dionysos, even though democratic context is also an important element in understanding Attic tragedies. I begin my paper with an explanation of the ritual processes of the Great Dionysia which consisted of an introduction, a procession and revelry with Greek tragedies performed as well. Considering the whole context, I come to the conclusion that the festival was deeply related with Dionysos and the war-politics of Athens. In the next chapters, I argue that the great Dionysia was started as a kind of ‘evocation’ of Dionysos. Evocation was usually performed when a certain god was needed in emergencies such as famine, epidemics and especially war. To evoke a needed God, the Greeks usually tried to amuse that god by performing ceremonies such as building temples, making sacrifices, dancing, music, and especially playing drama. The Athenians wanted to evoke Dionysos, especially Dionysos of Eleutheriai, located at the border between Attica and Boiotia, through the festival of the Great Dionysia because Dionysos was one of the main gods of Thebes. Thebes, in Boiotia, and Athens, in Attica, shared a border and were fierce enemies for centuries. The antagonism between the two was especially fierce during the 5th century when Attic tragedies were most actively performed, because Thebes had taken the side of Persia against Athens during the Persian War, and the side of Sparta against Athens during the Peloponnesian War. In conclusion, the performance of tragedy was done for the entertainment of Dionysos as a ritual ceremony of evocation.