Going to THE Theatre
Going to the theatre is always a pleasure. Going to the "world's first theatre" is a pilgrimage. The Theatre of Dionysus in Athens (Map), is the place where Greek Theatre was born both as an art and an architectural form. The classical Greek comedies and tragedies of the late 5th century were written and produced with this specific theatre in mind and first performed here to as part of the Great Dionysia, the annual five-day theatre and music festival and competition. Dedicated to Dionysus, god of wine, right below the rock of the Acropolis, at the site of a temple that Athenians moved south to make space, it hosted plays for nearly a thousand years, from 534 BC to at least 391 AD when Byzantine-Roman Emperor Theodosius I banned all non-Christian rituals and shut Athens' last remaining philosophical schools in 391 AD.
Originally small and wooden, it was rebuilt and expanded a number of times with marble from Mt Penteli and limestone from Piraeus. Its capacity reached an estimated 17k to 25k spectators at its greatest extent. It fell in disuse when the new religion Christianity was firmly established in Athens, during the 6th century AD when the orchestra became a courtyard for a Christian basilica and the seating area became a quarry! Gradually covered by mud, and crossed over by a medieval fortification, the theatre remained totally hidden for over 12 centuries, until excavations started in 1838.
The site, just across the new Acropolis Museum, is also host to rare flora, including the highly endangered Micromeria Acropolitana, and the endemic micromeria juliana, centaurea attica, Inula, ornithogalum atticum. More common plants include the cyclamen graecum, caper bush, calendula, sternbergias, prickly pears and others. Dionysus Theatre was a fitting stage when Aristophane's comedy "The Birds" (which only won second place!) was first played here in 414 BC, as the protected south slopes of the Acropolis attract many local and migratory birds, including various raptors such as kestrels, scops owls and the famous Athena's owl (Athene noctua, depicted on ancient Athenian drachma coins). The broader Acropolis area including the old town, Plaka, hosts one of largest populations of barn swallows (Hirundo rustica) in Europe. There are also reptiles (Laudakia stellio 'star' lizards and Balkan whip snakes), insects and many butterflies.
This majestic theatre falls silent at dusk, when the last tourists leave, and is probably very jealous of its lively neighbour, the Roman-era Odeum of Herode Atticus, which hosts the Athens Festival very summer. Perhaps technological advances will some day once more allow those classical plays to be staged in situ!
