This essay explores whether the Great Dionysia and the birth of tragedy played a foundational role in supporting Athenian democracy by providing a cultural outlet during a period of rapid political transition. I sought to gain wisdom on whether society needs outlets in the form of art and self-expression to continue to function properly. Tragedy was art and Art is a form of wondering and exploration, it serves as a medium to question. Both the birth of democracy and the birth of tragedy represent profound moments of wonder in human history—times when the Athenians sought to understand their world, their place within it, and the forces that shaped their lives. This essay explores how this sense of wonder fuelled artistic and political innovation, leading to lasting wisdom.
In the wake of the Persian wars, Athens emerged as a powerful and confident polis. It was the golden age, the Hellenic period. With the help of the Delian league, Athens took on the role of the protector of all the Poli (bar Sparta). Athens began to see itself as not only the civic protector but also the protector of Hellenism, viewing itself as a bastion against barbarism (1). To the Greeks, barbarians couldn’t accept any civilized laws because their cultures were extremely primitive (2), they were, simply put, a lack of civilization. As the birthplace of democracy, Athens had a sort of superiority complex which is seen in them referring to any other type of governing as uncivilized.
The Athenians sense of pride and conviction in the superiority of their democracy and culture could be seen reflected in the Acropolis, which was designed not just for worship but for inspiring civic pride and confidence in the polis’ unique virtues (3) but more specifically the Parthenon. The Parthenon, which was built in honor of Athena and was a victory monument to Athens and displayed metopes featuring the victory over barbarism and chaos. These depictions served as reminders to Athenians of their unique role in preserving Greek civilization (4).
This strong identity of Athens as the bastion of civilization, reason, and order reflected what Nietzsche would later describe as Apollonian Beliefs: clarity, rationality, and structure. Throughout the ‘Birth of Tragedy’, he described the Apolline as ascetism (abstinence from worldly pleasures). Nietzsche also saw the Apolline tendency as having a ‘similarity to the dream experience, through which the day’s reality, with all its forms, is obscured and the soul becomes enchanted in the pleasure of imagination’ (8*). He believed there was an Apolline impulse that sought to create boundaries and sense in the natural world, to offer individuals a sense of control and stability. Paglia likewise, believed that the Apolline represented society's efforts to impose order on the natural world, and to deny nature’s truths. The Apollonian way was to ignore your natural urges, this was later coined by Freud as the Ego, the ego represents what may be called reason and common sense, in contrast to the id, which contains the passions” (6).
The Athenians clear love for reason, logic, and order was juxtaposed in part by the intense annual worship of the God Dionysus. The Great Dionisia was essential to Greek culture, the festival was celebrated annually and was, in its essence, a dichotomy. The festival was, on one hand, an Athenian display of political power and societal superiority (e.g. ephebic and awards for best Athenian citizen) but on the other hand, it was an unbridled and chaotic worshipping of the god Dionysus. It was festival in the honor of Dionysus, the god of revelry excess and wine, it captured the Athenians’ wonder at the divine and the primal. The great Dionysia allowed Greeks to connect with the primordial, collective aspects of existence that the Dionysian embodies —a process that sparked reflection and, ultimately, wisdom. They lost themselves in the Dionysiac dithyramb-a song sung in honor of Dionysus. Music that was considered as an Apolline art due to its Rythm as regular as the sound of waves crashing to the shore (1*), became a daemonic folk song. The Dionysiac dithyramb was a cure for self-negation, it took away the individual and allowed a feeling of catharsis. It rid its followers of Apolline constraints which held them back from the genius of catharsis, emotional purification. Excess was revealed as truth (2*). The Dionysiac artist was thoroughly united with primal oneness (3*).
The Athenians clearly prided themselves on having conquered barbarism and for having a superior society, so why did they come together as they did in the chaotic worship of Dionysus? It was a clear violation of their ideals, the reverence in which they held rationality and reason. The Apolline Greeks saw the effect of the Dionysiac as ‘titanic’ and ‘barbaric’ (-1). The Greek existence, with all its beauty and moderation, was based on a veiled substratum of suffering and knowledge, revealed to them once again by the Dionysiac (4*).
Paglia and Nietzsche believe that when taken in extreme the Apollonian way can make society become rigid and lifeless. Whilst the Apolline is necessary for society to properly function, if in extreme it can become a way of life that represses the natural. Whilst the Apollonian and Dionysian are depicted as dichotomy, both Paglia and Nietzsche acknowledge that they are imperative to make a balanced civilization. As Nietzsche states ‘And behold! Apollo could not live without Dionysus, the titanic and the barbaric were in the end just as necessary as the Apolline’ (5*)- The duality of the Apolline and Dionysiac. (**)
The rigid democratic life could not exist without the outlet of the great Dionysia, the Great Dionysia served as a “pressure valve,” allowing citizens to explore the wild, irrational aspects of life in a civic setting that was, paradoxically, highly organized (7). It provided an essential counterbalance to the rationalism of Athenian democracy, allowing for the exploration of human emotion and chaos within a structured framework (8).
Aside from the great Dionysia being a counterbalance to the highly organized rationalism of Athenian society, it gave way to tragedies which became a vital part of Athenian society. Tragedy became the mediator between the Apolline and the Dionysiac.
Tragedy is the highest form of art as it is born from the raw emotional power of music (the dithyramb) given through narrative, dialogue and characterization. This gives, the once wild nature of the dithyramb an Apolline structure.’ The Apollonian dream-world of the individual is necessary to make bearable the harsh and ecstatic reality revealed by the Dionysian... Apollonian measure and beauty mitigate the terror of the Dionysian’ (6*) the dithyramb was made more palatable for the audience by making the harsh reality as Nietzsche says, more bearable.
The Apollonian in tragedy provides the structure and clarity that made this experience bearable, it helped the individual to process and understand their feelings. However, Tragedies never ceased to express their Dionysian element; their format merely changed to a more concealed way of being expressed. Rather than the rawness of the dithyramb, the Dionysian was then expressed through a character's suffering, the inevitability of fate, and the ultimate breakdown of individual boundaries. Catharsis became evoked through the tragic hero's suffering and inevitable downfall which confronted the audience with the harsh truths of existence, such as the inevitability of death and the power of uncontrollable forces beyond the individual, these hard truths became the modern dithyramb. The audience was forced to confront and internally reflect, This sense of wonder was transformative, leading to the catharsis that allowed them to gain wisdom .’Through the cathartic process the individual is forced to temporarily dissolve their internal barriers and to become part of something greater and more primal, it evoked a shared human experience (which was essential to the original followers of Dionysus), the loss of the individual.’ In the Dionysian state the whole affective system is excited and enhanced: so that it discharges all its means of expression simultaneously and forcibly, suddenly there is a great proliferation of forms and art works of all kinds’ (7*).
With the birth of Tragedy, the great Dionysia served as an outlet but also to process the changing social climate. Tragedy was not only the uniting between two philosophies, but it allowed the great Dionysia to become a festival which served as both a religious observance and a means for the citizens to reflect on their civic identity through theatrical performances (9). Through tragedy, Athenians could confront complex issues like power, justice, and human frailty, thereby easing the societal tensions that came with democratic change (10). Tragedy served as a significant cultural outlet for the Athenians to cope with the changing political climate following the Persian Wars and during the rise of democracy. The themes explored in tragic plays often reflected the societal anxieties, moral dilemmas, and human experiences that were especially pertinent in a time of political transition. In moments of political turbulence, tragedy provided a framework for citizens to engage with their collective identity, reflect on moral choices, and navigate the complexities of fate and free will" (11).
In some ways the Great Dionysia was essential for Athens to remain the political powerhouse that it was. It was the counterbalance. Through it and the birth of tragedy, the Athenians found a means to channel their wonder—wonder at the divine, at their own emotions, and at the mysteries of life itself. This wonder was not merely passive; it was an 14active force that drove their pursuit of wisdom, helping Athens to flourish both culturally and politically.