For, if we reckon up the cost of each tragedy, the Athenian people will be seen to have spent more on productions of Bacchae, Phoenissae, Oedipuses, and Antigones, and the woes of Medea and Electra, than they spent in fighting for their supremacy and for their liberty against the barbarians. For the generals often ordered their men to bring along uncooked rations when they led them forth to battle; and the commanders, I can swear, after providing barley-meal and a relish of onions and cheese for the rowers, would embark them on the triremes. But the men who paid for the choruses gave the choristers eels and tender lettuces, roast-beef and marrow, and pampered them for a long time while they were training their voices and living in luxury. The result for the defeated choregoi was to be held in contumely and ridicule; but to the victors belonged a tripod, which was, as Demetrius says, not a votive offering to commemorate their victory, but a last oblation of their wasted livelihood, an empty memorial of their vanished estates. Such are the returns paid by the poetic art and nothing more splendid ever comes from it.
Costs of the Theatre of Dionysos
Despite not being formally considered part of the sanctuary of the Temple of Dionysos, itself, it was still viewed as an extension of it due to its location by being adjacent to it and its connection with the worship of that god. The responsibility for its upkeep and infrastructure fell to the Polis, the Athenian citizen body; in consequence this was funded by Athens' public purse.
Ticket Prices: Charging for the Theatre in Ancient Athens
Athenians were charged a daily admission fee to attend their theatre at a rate of 2 obols per day per person. This was a radical concept for a religious festival. Financial concerns and the need to fund the events helped the theatre's eventual evolution into a form of mass entertainment. Eric Csapo's research highlights the importance of ticket sales in helping to manage the costs of putting on the festival.
Before permanent stones structures were used, wooden theatres were erected annually by private contractors called theatropolai. This meant that the audience had to be charged entrance fees to help recoup the costs of putting up these wooden theatres, and to make a profit.
Estimated daily attendance and fees for the Great Dionysia in 415 BC suggest earnings that year from ticket sales would have exceeded 1.5 talents. The need to finance the costs of the construction of these temporary theatres supports the theory that there was an early introduction of admission charges that the attendees of the dramatic performances had to pay.
In ancient Athens, the city's theatrical expenses also included having to maintain the stage-building and the furnishing of it with special equipment (all public property): crane(mechane), the ekkyklema and providing financial support to poorer citizens to be able to attend the festivals (theoric handouts). These expenses likely further reduced the city's net profit from the theatre's ticket sales.
The reign of Lycurgus, the Athenian statesman and its financial overseer from 338 to 326 BC, marked a pivotal chapter in the history of the Theatre of Dionysos. Prior to his tenure, the theatre was a modest affair, its audience being accommodated on temporary wooden benches nestled against the hillside of the Acropolis. Lycurgus, recognising the cultural significance of theatre, spearheaded a monumental transformation.
His vision yielded a theatre sculpted from stone, replacing the ephemeral with the enduring. Tiered seating carved into the slope significantly increased the capacity, allowing up to 25,000 Athenians to immerse themselves in the spectacle. This grander stage became a focal point for civic life, serving not only as a platform for entertainment but also as a space for fostering community and shared cultural experiences.
With the erection the stone theatre under Lycurgus the need for annual rebuilds and leasing from the private sector was eliminated. This created a more stable source of income for the city from the entrance fees charged for attending the dramatic festivals. Whilst the initial cost was high, it was quickly recouped. With the increased capacity of a stone theatre and the elimination of maintenance expenses, this new model generated significantly more revenue compared to the old wooden theatres, and potentially doubled the city's income from the festivals within a decade and in any case some income drew upon the generosity of private benefactors.
The new stone theatre, with at least twice the seating capacity of its predecessor, became a major source of revenue for the city. Whilst precise figures are unavailable, a rough estimate suggests annual takings of around 20,000 drachmas, based on assumptions about attendance and ticket prices. [A very rough ans approximate calculation might place annual takings in the region of nearly three and a half talents (or 20,000 drachmas, presuming two obols per day attendance for five days for around 12,000 spectators = 3 talents, 20 minims)] This translates to roughly 3.5 talents, a significant sum that highlights the theatre's economic impact. but from this must be deducted the cost of the Theoric handouts, given to the poorer citizens to attend the festivals: these were a major festival expense.
Athenians found much solace in their theatrical heritage (both financial and cultural) during the late classical and early Hellenistic periods.
[Paraskēnion: (παρασκήνιον) – The Ancient Theatre Archive]
Funding of the Great Dionysian Hecatomb or Feast
A significant part of the extraordinary costs for the Athenian City Dionysia was for the feast held in celebration after the competitions, on account of the massive number of people who were required to be fed (around 15,000). Athenians were renowned especially for their lavish public sacrifices. The fact of this is reflected in the records kept of the huge number of animal hides sold after the major festivals. The scale of this particular feast, alongside that of the Panathenaia, was unmatched elsewhere in Greece. A major part of the funding for this feast in all likelihood must have come from central polis funds, as the festival appeared in the dermatikon accounts (the records of the sale of the hides of the animals which had been slaughtered) unlike that for most other sacrifices which were funded from cult-owned resources. Funding for the great Dionysian Hecatomb perhaps involved alternative funding methods such as individual civic benefaction or a liturgy (hestiatores) which were also used for the other feasts held during the City Dionysian festival.
References
Die Staatshaushaltung der Athener. 2 Bände, Böckh, August - Realschulbuchhandlung, Berlin 1817
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Reproduction
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Zweite Ausgabe.
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Comparative Costs
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