Greek Tragedy

1.    General – A culture of the liminal

Another cultural first in Western civilization that originates with the Ancient Greeks is the dramatic arts. Greek Tragedy as a mature art form arose from the festivals held in honor of the god Dionysus. Here too, a connection between polytheism as practiced in Ancient Greece and the development of a socio-cultural practice that generated a positive feedback loop reaching into society at large comes into clear relief against the background of the festivals of Dionysus, which hosted the competitions centered on the dramaturgical reenactment of events from Greek history or mythology.

In so far as the god Dionysus is associated with wine, music and ecstasy, his cult can be seen to represent a collectivity that embraced teachings and practiced that related to the human desire to live in life affirming liberty, on the one hand, while preserving an awareness of the latent tendency of individuals to react hostilely against undue oppression of their instincts as embodied beings, as creatures with a life in nature as well as the man made world of society.

It may be that the impulse promoting the dramaturgical recanting of tales depicting historical figures in a manner such as to highlight a tragic dimension was to transmit some of the cult’s teachings openly, calling attention to practices or values in society that may have been seen as oppressive, subjecting them to scrutiny. Such practices could be elucidated through dramaturgical reenactments of the lives of well-known historical figures or important myths, being depicted as factors contributing to the cause of a tragedy. For example, such practices may have been seen as factors contributing to the formation of detrimental character traits in individuals, dysfunctional group dynamics, or other shortcomings apparent in the lives of the figures portrayed.

The function that such an artistic endeavor would perform is socially progressive in the sense that by subjecting questionable practices and values to scrutiny it would help to ensure that aberrances deemed to be attributable to such practices could be reevaluated and addressed collectively in order to prevent the recurrence of similar mistakes and similar tragedies stemming from aberrant forms of subjectivity traced to aberrant social practices and values. In this manner, art, too, could spur society to make progress, and evolve as a collective. Greek Tragedy was a quintessentially social art form.

The artistic endeavor embodied by such festivals would appear to have been highly complementary to the collective political decision making process in the democratic society of Ancient Greece. An artistic mode of representing historically relevant occurrence could serve not only to stimulate discussion and debate, but also to enhance the depth and breadth of the subject matter by appealing to senses other than the intellect. Although the impressions garnered from an encounter with such an artistic rendering of history would have to be digested and filtered, they would nonetheless feed the decision making process by which legislation that could have an impact on oppressive social practices was enacted.

Thus, aside from simple amusement or diversion, the festivals of Dionysus can be seen to have contributed to efforts to ensure that the laws underpinning society evolved apace of developments on the historical and cultural fronts. The revelry at these festivals was focused, not dissolute. By bringing the emotional attachment to history into the open, the festivals of Dionysus served to enhance the collective decision making process by enabling participants to more closely link social practices and cultural values in a manner such as to reflect them in the law.

In this light, it is noteworthy that the cult of Dionysus—at least in its mature form—is shown not to have been an association of errant individuals seeking to promote deviance or promiscuous excess, or of anti-social individuals intent on promoting reckless abandonment, for example, seeking the dissolution of society at large. On the other hand, sensitive topics, such of sexual intimacy, were not glossed over or shunned as taboo; to the contrary, their importance was highlighted in a manner that demonstrates a degree of openness in addressing such topics, while preserving a due degree of delicacy in light of the importance matters related to such sensitive topics played directly in peoples’ everyday lives as individuals, and indirectly in the preservation of society at large. It was only through highly considered treatment of such topics that the festivals could focus people’s attention and stimulate peoples’ imaginations with respect to a topic of collective import in a manner that would also facilitate and encourage open discussion of sensitive issues among individuals. This is one way in which art can play a role in promoting civility in society.

The fact that Greek Tragedy derives from festivals celebrating the god Dionysus likely contributed to the maintenance of the open, interactive environment of a festival, which continued even after the festivals had evolved into cultural institutions that were highly organized, and the dramaturgical productions were undertaken by professional writers, directors, actors and singers.

The fact that the dramaturgical reenactments were held in the form of competitions is also of great importance, albeit in a somewhat counterintuitive manner.

We cultivated moderns would generally be in agreement that competition is not compatible with artistic creativity, or an artistic sensibility. The suggestion itself sounds repulsive, vulgar, and utterly counterproductive. While there may be some truth in this understanding, the function of competition per se in the Ancient festivals of Dionysus had resonance in a completely different register than that of the subjectivity of the artist—it related to the imagination of the audience. In a setting in which the dramaturgical reenactments were to be presented in a competitive context, the exact content of the presentation to be staged by the competing playwright/actors could not be divulged in advance, lest the concept of a competition be rendered empty.

In this regard, it might have been the case that the people planning to attend the festivals were informed of the names of the dramatic pieces beforehand, enabling them to refresh their memory of the historical events in advance, but it is highly unlikely that they would have been informed of the presenters’ interpretations of the events. In a competitive context of such type, the festivals could be transformed into a space in which the members of the audience would not be passive consumers, but plunged into the depths of a direct encounter of deeply resonant events from their shared history, as interpreted and rendered by personages deemed to be capable of presenting the topics in an engaging and meaningful manner.

Forcing such an encounter among the highly cultivated citizenry of the polis of Athens would have served to reinvigorate social intercourse regarding such events and their significance, and any insights gained through the encounter could subsequently be fed back into the democratic decision making process, for example, in relation to the norms and values addressed in the dramaturgical reenactments. This type of cultural activity served to improve the resolution of the shared background against which things stood out as intelligible to individuals, thereby strengthening cohesion in society at large.

The actual performances of Greek tragedies at the festivals were interactive and open on several levels. The physical presence and the diverse roles of the chorus are emblematic of the dimensions of interactivity. There are at least three structural dimensions related to the role of the chorus that merit consideration.  

To be continued…