the Acropolis of Athens - the south slope of the Acropolis - Part 1 - The Theatre of Dionysos
*****************
This web page was created by the braintumorguy, in Athens, GREECE.
please make a Small Donation, in my fight against my Brain Tumor which is Growing, ((( for more information about me, please visit my MEDICAL web page
https://sites.google.com/site/niactec/homeenglish )))
==========
The Theatre of Dionysos viewed from the south side of Acropolis.
The Theatre of Dionysos
See photos and articles about Dionysos, the god of wine, ecstatic revelry and the theatre, patron of actors:
Profile of Dionysos, with photos and
information about the wine god:
Dionysus in the People section
Theatre of Pergamon and
its temple of Dionysos:
Mosaic of Dionysos riding a panther
in Pella, Macedonia:
Athenian bronze coin showing the Acropolis and the Theatre of Dionysos. [1]
British Museum, London.
Colossol Dionysos mask
from the Acropolis.
Pentelic marble.
1st century BC.
Such masks were set up
on stone or wooden
columns for ritual use at
the god's sanctuaries.
Acropolis Museum, Athens.
Acr. 6461.
Dionysos seated.From a ceramic plate,
Attica, around 520 BC.
Pergamon Museum, Berlin.
Dionysos herm.
Roman period,
1st - 2nd century AD.
This is likely a copy of a 5th
century BC Greek original in
late Archaic style. Compare
this herm to that his brother
Hermes on gallery page 10.
Pergamon Museum, Berlin.
==========
The stage of the Theatre of Dionysos.
Model of the Athenian Acropolis in the mid 5th century BC, showing the Theatre of Dionysos,
in front of which is the temple of Dionysos. To the right is the Odeion of Pericles. Above the
theatre ran the Peripatos, the circuit path around the foot of the Acropolis (see gallery page 34).
Reconstruction by M. Korres and P. Dimitriadis, Athens, 2001. Wood and cork.
Altes Museum, Berlin. Inv. No. Re 2002.4.
==========
A model of the Theatre of Dionysos as it would have appeared around 310 BC,
following the building of the audtorium and orchestra (performing/dancing floor)
in stone between 360 and 330 BC, thought by many scholars to have been
completed during the archonship of Lycurgos (Λυκούργος) 338-324 BC.
Reconstruction by M. Korres, N. Gerasimov and
P. Dimitriades, 2002. Plaster. Scale 1:200.
The columns at the front of the auditorium are for bronze prize tripods awarded for
theatrical performances. The gated doorway with three columns above the cavea
(audience seating area) is the entrance to the Choragic Monument of Thrasyllos.
Altes Museum, Berlin. Inv. No. Re 2002.5.
==========
Model of the Sanctuary of Dionysos in the late 4th century BC, as seen from above.
The outcrop of rock below the southest corner of the Acropolis wall, just
above the theatre, is the location of the Choragic Monument of Thrasyllos.
Model designed by M. Korres, created by P. Demetriades and G. Angelopoulos, 1998.
British Museum, London.
Plan of the Theatre of Dionysos: the cavea, orchestra and skene (stage
building), according to Wilhelm Dörpfeld. Drawn by Wilhelm Wilberg.
Source: Wilhelm Dörpfeld and Emil Reisch, Das griechische Theater: Beitrage zur Geschichte
des Dionysos-Theaters in Athen und anderer griechischer Theater, Tafel IV. Athens, 1896.
The remains of the lower cavea (audience seating area) and orchestra (performance area), viewed from the northwest.
The throne of the priest of Dionysos in the Theatre.
Source: Adolf Boetticher, Die Akropolis von Athen: nach den Berichten der Alten
und den neusten Erforschungen. Julius Springer, 1888. After Ernst Ziller,
in Lützow, Zeitschrift für bildende Kunst, XIII (1878), page 196, fig. 1.
Reconstruction of the seats of honour in the first row of the cavea (auditorium),
on the east side of the theatre.
Source: Albert Müller (1831-1916), Lehrbuch der griechischen Bühnenalterthümer,
page 92, fig. 8. Volume 3 of K. F. Hermann's Lehrbuch der griechischen Antiquitäten.
J. C. B. Mohr, Freiburg, 1886. At archive.org
After Ernst Ziller, in Lützow, Zeitschrift für bildende Kunst, XIII (1878), page 197, fig. 2.
Reliefs on the hyposkenion of the Theatre of Dionysos.
A 19th century drawing of the hyposkenion reliefs.
Source: Adolf Boetticher, Die Akropolis von Athen: nach den Berichten der
Alten und den neusten Erforschungen. Verlag von Julius Springer, 1888.
Dionysos mask on an amphora.
Attica, around 520 BC.
Pergamon Museum, Berlin.
Inv. No. F3997.
Singing or talking Dionysos.
Roman, marble. One of many
copies of a Hellenistic original
(270-250 BC) thought to be
from the Athenian Sanctuary
of Dionysos.
Altes Museum, Berlin.
Inv. No. Sk 610.
An almost identical head from
the Acropolis south slope, now
in the National Archaeological
Museum, Athens (Inv. No. 182)
is still labelled as "either
Ariadne or Dionysos".
Detail of a statue of Dionysos
and a satyr. From Miletos,
Tukey. Marble. Roman period,
160-170 AD, after a Hellenistic
protoytype.
Altes Museum. Berlin.
Inv. No. Sk 1797
Dionysos and woman sitting together. Detail of a ceramic plate, Attica, around 550 BC.
Dionysos, holding a drinking horn, sits opposite a woman holding a flower. It is not known
whether the woman is his mother Semele, Ariadne or one of the god's other consorts.
Pergamon Museum, Berlin. Inv. No. F 1809.
Dionysos mask on an amphora. Attica, around 520 BC.
Pergamon Museum, Berlin. Inv. No. F3997.
Dionysos, holding a drinking horn, with two ecstatic dancing maenads.
A stamnos from Attica by the Syleus painter, 480-470 BC.
Pergamon Museum, Berlin. Inv. No. F2182.
Marble Portrait bust of the
Athenian tragedian Aeschylus
(525-456 BC). Roman copy of
a 4th century BC Greek original.
Neues Museum, Berlin.
See also article on
Bronze and copper portrait
head, known as "the Arundel
Head", thought to depict the Athenian playwright Sophokles
(circa 496-406 BC). Originally
part of a statue, 300-100 BC,
probably from Smyrna. [2]
British Museum, London.
Inv. No. 1760,0919.1
(Bronze 847).
Marble Portrait bust of the
Athenian tragedian Euripides
(circa 480-406 BC). Roman copy
(Farnese type) of a Greek
original of the 4th century BC.
From Cumae, Italy.
Neues Museum, Berlin.
Inv. No. Sk 297.
See also photo below.
Photos: © David John
Marble relief in honour of the Athenian playwright Euripides.
The tragedian (centre), seated and holding a scroll, hands an actor's mask to Skene,
the female personification of the theatre, while Dionysos (right) looks on. From the
vicinity of Smyrna (Izmir, Turkey). Late Hellenistic era, 1st century BC - 1st century AD.
Istanbul Archaeological Museum. Inv. No. 1242 T (Cat. Mendel 574).
Height 60 cm, width 68.5 cm.
A scene from an Attic comedy on a red-figure calyx krater
made in Poseidonia (Paestum, Campania, Italy).
The vase painting depicts a phlyax play, with actors in Attic comedy costume,
performed on a wooden stage supported by columns. Two thieves try to drag
a miser off his treasure chest, while a frightened slave (right) looks on.
The other side of the krater shows Dionysus and a satyr.
Atributed to the Painter Assteas, around 350 BC. From Nola, Italy.
Altes Museum, Berlin. Inv. No. F 3044. Acquired in 1875.
Reconstructed statue of Menander (Μένανδρος, circa 342–290 BC), Athenian
playwright of the New Comedy, in front of the parados (retaining wall) of the
auditorium at the east side of the Theatre of Dionysos.
Although the statue's pedestal, inscribed with Menander's name, is original (291/290 BC; excavated in 1862), the statue itself is one of a number of modern composite plaster casts made by Klaus Fittschen for the University Collection of the Archaeological Institute of Göttingen, Germany (Inv. No. A 1497a). The original torso is in Naples and the head in Venice. Another copy, also made in Göttingen (completed 2009), can be seen in the Abguss-Sammlung (cast collection) of Marburg University.
According to the inscription, the statue was made byKephisodotos the Younger and Timarchos, sons of Praxiteles. The original, mentioned by Pausanias (Description of Greece, Book I, Chapter 21, section 1), is said to have been made shortly after Menander drowned while swimming at Piraeus. Menander wrote over 100 plays, many of which remained popular into the Roman period. It is thought that the many statues of the poet, of which more than 70 have survived, were copied from this original. [3]
"In the theatre the Athenians have portrait statues of poets, both tragic and comic, but they are mostly of undistinguished persons. With the exception of Menander no poet of comedy represented here won a reputation, but tragedy has two illustrious representatives, Euripides and Sophocles."
Pausanias, Description of Greece, Book 1, chapter 21, section 1.
Menander's name inscribed on the statue
base. The signatures of the artists below
it are worn and almost invisible.
==========
Notes, references and links
1. Coin showing a plan of the Theatre
The obverse side (front) of the coin shows the head of Athena and is inscribed "ΑΘΗΝΑΙΩΝ", of (the people of) Athens. The coin was collected by Louis François Sébastien Fauvel (1753-1838), the French consul and antiquarian who lived in Athens 1803-1822. It was later given by Lord Aberdeen to Richard Payne Knight (1750-1824), who left it in his will to the British Museum, where it it is now part of the Payne-Knight collection.
Copper alloy coin.
Weight: 4.361 grams
Die-axis 6 o'clock
Diameter 21 mm
Museum No.: RPK,p36L.7.Ath
The coin is not on display in the museum.
Image source: James Stuart and Nicholas Revett, The Antiquities of Athens, measured and delineated, Volume II, Chapter IV, page 85. Priestley and Weale, London, 1826. At Heidelberg University Library.
Illustrations of this coin appeared in several books by early modern travellers to Greece, including opposite the title page to Leake's Topography of Athens:
William Martin Leake (1777-1860), The topography of Athens, with some remarks on its antiquities.
John Murray, London, 1821. At archive.org.
Here is a description of the medal from a British Museum coin catalogue of 1888:
"Number 807. Head of Athena right, wearing crested Corinthian helmet.
Theatre of Dionysos immediately surmounted by the Choragic monument of Thrasyllus, behind which rises the southern wall of the Acropolis, on the summit of which are on the left the Propylaea, in the centre the Parthenon, and on the right a third building."
Barclay V. Head, A Catalogue of the Greek Coins in the British Museum: Attica, Megaris, Aegina, page 110; Plate XIX, 8. Trustees of the British Museum, London, 1888.
2. "The Arundel Head" of Sophokles
The bronze head is thought to have been found in a well in Smyrna (today Izmir) in the 1620s and taken to Constantinople (Istanbul), where it was purchased for the British art collector Thomas Howard, 21st Earl of Arundel (1586-1646). It became part of Howard's large collection of antiquities, known as the "Arundel Marbles" or "Marmora Arundeliana", kept at Arundel House, London, and is therefore referred to as "the Arundel Head".
It featured in a portrait of the earl and his wife Alatheia Talbot, painted circa 1635-1640 by the Flemish artist Anthony van Dyck (1599-1641). One version of this painting, known as "the Madagascar Portrait", is now in the collection of the Duke of Norfolk at Arundel Castle, West Sussex, England; the other is in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria.
The head was subsequently acquired by Dr Richard Mead and later Brownlow Cecil, 9th Earl of Exeter, who donated it to the British Museum in 1760.
The long hair, round fillet and beard are typical of Greek portrayals of poets and intellectuals. The inset eyes are now missing. The lips of the slightly open mouth are made of copper, and originally contained teeth, perhaps of silver. Dated to the second to first centuries BC, it was once thought to be a portrait of Homer, and later either a philosopher or Hellenistic king.
British Museum, London.
Inv. No. 1760,0919.1 (Bronze 847).
Height 29.21 cm.
3. Portraits of Menander
See:
Sarah E. Bassett, The late antique image of Menander. Dept. of Art and Art History, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, 2007. Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies 48 (2008), pages 201–225.
Olga Palagia, A new interpretation of Menander's image by Kephisodotos II and Timarchos. Estratto da Annuario della Scuola Archeologica di Atene e delle Missioni Italiane Oriente, Volume LXXXIII, Serie III, 5 - Tomo I, 2005, pages 287-298. SAIA 2006.
Photos, maps and articles: © David John
Additional photos: © Konstanze Gundudis
All photos and articles are copyright protected.
Images and materials by other authors
have been attributed where applicable.
Please do not use these photos or articles without permission.
If you are interested in using any of the photos for your website,
blog or publication, please get in contact.
Higher resolution versions are available on request.
My Favourite Planet makes great efforts to provide
comprehensive and accurate information across this
website. However, we can take no responsibility for
inaccuracies or changes made by providers of services
mentioned on these pages.
==
and for more information please visit the following web page ...
( please click on the using the right click of your mouse, and Open Link in Next Private Window, )
*****************
***************************************************************
***************************************************************
***************************************************************
we WELCOME YOUR ADS, CLASSIFIEDS, ADVERTISING, CLASSIFIED ADS ...
OUR SITE IS YOUR PLACE ...
MAXIMIZE YOUR EXPOSURE BY USING THE HIGHLY EFFECTIVE SERVICES BELOW !
ARE YOU SEARCHING FOR THE PERFECT LOCATION FOR INTERNET ADVERTISING AND PROMOTION ?
Advertise your product or service using our WEB PAGE !
* All Traffic in our site consists of totally unique visitors for FULL CAMPAIGN PERIOD !
* You can DRAMATICALLY IMPROVE YOUR BUSINESS
* We offer wide selection of categories to select from ... including Business, Marketing, Shopping, Health, and much more !
* YOU CAN USE OUR SITE TO MARKET ALL OF YOUR PRODUCTS AND SERVICES !
* OUR SITE IS THE MOST COST-EFFICIENT WAY TO REACH THE MASSES THAT HAS EVER EXISTED !
* TARGETED TRAFFIC TO YOUR SITE GUARANTEED !
PLEASE CONTACT OUR ADS ASSISTANT. email IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE :
and please send a text message to my mobile phone 0030 6942686838
( 0030 is the international area code of Greece )
in order I connect into the INTERNET and to my www.gmail.com email account and to reply to your email, withing the next 24 hours.
***************************************************************
***************************************************************
*****************************************************
( English ) the StatCounter was installed on 2018-06-19, 17:30 p.m. GMT
( Greek ) ( Ελληνικά ) Ο μετρητής εγκαταστάθηκε την 19-06-2018 19:30 μ.μ. ώρα Ελλάδας
***************************************************************
***************************************************************
***************************************************************
***************************************************************
***************************************************************
***************************************************************