Figure 42 Fragment of an inscription on marble listing the allies of Athens and the sixtieth part of each
city’s monetary contribution that was dedicated to Athena; 440–439 BC. New York, The Metropolitan
Museum of Art, Fletcher Fund, 1926.

Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art, Fletcher Fund, 1926. www.metmuseum.org (accessed March 29,
2016).

The Dionysia and the Drama of Aeschylus

We saw earlier (p. 98) that the Athenian tyrant Peisistratus promoted and expanded the festival of the
Panathenaea. During his tyranny, the festival of the Dionysia also attained much greater prominence.
These became, in fact, the two most lavish religious festivals of the Athenian polis, the former in honor of
Athena, the latter in honor of the god Dionysus. Athena, the patron deity and protector of Athens, was a
virgin goddess whose iconography (see figure 32) suggests her formidable character. In contrast to
Athena, who is not normally depicted in the company of her worshippers, Dionysus is regularly shown on
Attic vases surrounded by his devotees, with whom he associates freely and whom he joins in drinking
wine (figure 43). Dionysus is, in fact, the god of wine. He is also the god of masks and of the drama,
which was a central element of the festival of the Dionysia in sixth- and fifth-century Athens. What wine
and acting on stage have in common is that they allow a person to set aside temporarily his or her
ordinary, everyday identity, and so the worship of Dionysus is characterized by a momentary suspension