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strengthened; since art represents universals and not particulars, it is
nearer to the truth than actual events and objects are, not further from it,
as Plato maintained (Kitto 1967).
Aristotle is often referred to as the progenitor of western science be-
cause of the methods of observation and inquiry that he employed, as well
as his insatiable and far-ranging curiosity. A common objection to his dra-
matic theory is that it is too prescriptive; the
Poetics
is mistakenly viewed
as a book of rules (this is due, in large part, to the neoclassical critics of
the Renaissance, many of whom distorted Aristotle's work to support their
belief that drama should provide explicit moral instruction). The truth is
that Aristotle's goal was to observe, analyze, and report on the nature of
the drama, not to generate rules for producing it. His theories may be used
productively, not because they are recipes, but because they identify and
elucidate drama's formal and structural characteristics.
The occasion for the great Greek tragedies of the fi fth and early fourth cen-
turies BCE was the festival of Dionysus, the Greek god of nature, fertility,
and celebration. Students of popular culture may recognize Dionysus (also
known as Bacchus) as the giddy wine-stained god astride the donkey in the
wine-making sequence of Disney's
Fantasia
. While revelry was certainly a
major part of Dionysus' gestalt, he was a somewhat more imposing fi gure
than the Disney representation suggests. The spirit he represented was at
the wellspring of life; his was the energy on which survival utterly depends.
The Festival of Dionysus was an annual event that celebrated the sym-
bolic death and rebirth of the god and, hence, nature. Several plays were
commissioned for performance at each festival as contestants for a prize
for the best drama (see Figure 2.1 for a diagram of the Theatre of Dionysus
in Athens). The theatrical people who were involved in the production of
the plays (including actors, musicians, and costumers) maintained a strong
connection to the Dionysian religion, eventually forming a guild whose
head was usually a Dionysian priest.
Early Greek drama sprang from the intersection of philosophy, religion,
civics, and art. The occasion was ostensibly religious, and there is reason to
believe that at least some of the actors felt themselves to be “in possession
of the god” as they performed in the festival that honored him. The subjects
chosen by the great tragic playwrights for theatrical representation at the
