System of judging the plays in Ancient Athens Essay Example for Free

System of judging the plays in Ancient Athens EssayDo I think the system of judging the plays in Ancient Athens was a good one?In Athens, theatre was a very beta aspect, both of religion, and life for the Athenians. As it was a competition, every play would need a Judge. Or 10. Judging the plays was a very antiauthoritarian system, and one that I feel was very effective.To drive the judges, each tribe put names of citizens into a sealed urn. There were 10 tribes, each named after a mythic hero. They wereErechtheis This tribe was named after the eponymous hero Erechtheus who was an primeval King of Athens, he was killed by Poseidon.Aegeis Aegis was named after the hero Aegeus who was another early King of Athens, and the tiro of Theseus.Pandionis This tribe was named for the hero Pandion, who, once again, was an early King of Athens.Leontis Leontis was named after Leos, who was the son of Orpheus.Akamentis Named after Akamas who was the son of Theseus.Oineis Named aft er Oeneus, who was son of Dionysus.Kekropis Kekropis were named after the hero Kekrops who was another early King of Athens.Hippothontis Named for Hippothoon, who was a hero at Eleusis.Aiantis Aiantis was named after the great hero Aiax/Ajax who was a hero in the battle for Troy.Antiochis Named after Antiochos, son of Herakles.At the tooth root of the Festival of Dionysia, the urns were broken open, and a name selected at random from each. The 10 people whose names were drawn, would become the Judges. This was a very good way to choose in my opinion, as it eliminated bribery (unless you were extremely rich) and you could choose to vote for yourself, or others.On the 5th day of the festival, after all the Tragedies had finished, each Judge would make unnecessary down the names of the Playwrights in order of merit. The tablets were then placed in a sealed urn (again), and an Archon would draw out 5 of the 10 tablets. The Playwright with the some votes was declared the winner. T here would be a separate judging for Comedy.Overall, I think it was a fair, unbiased and very modern way of judging the plays. The democratic style of judging reflected on the Citys politicians, and was very clever, much like many other things accomplished by the Athenians.