The rites in the mysteries of Dionysus: the birth of the drama

• Main Author: Britt-Mari Näsström
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Donner Institute 2003-01-01
• Series: Scripta Instituti Donneriani Aboensis
• Subjects: Greek drama (Tragedy); Greece; Gods and goddesses, Greek; Mythology, Greek; Theaters, Ancient; Archaeology
• Online Access: https://journal.fi/scripta/article/view/67288

The Greek drama can be apprehended as an extended ritual, originating in the ceremonies of the Dionysus cult. In particular, tragedy derived its origin from the sacrifice of goats and the hymns which were sung on that occasion. Tragedia means "song of the male goat" and these hymns later developed into choruses and eventually into tragedy, in the sense of a solemn and purifying drama. The presence of the god Dionysus is evident in the history and development of the Greek drama at the beginning of the fifth century B.C. and its sudden decline 150 years later. Its rise seems to correspond with the Greek polis, where questions of justice and divine law in conflict with the individual were obviously a matter of discussion and where the drama had individual and collective catharsis (purifying) in mind.