Sophocles' Oedipus Trilogy forms part of a theater tradition that encompasses much more than just entertainment. In fifth century B.C., Athens theater represented an essential public experience — at once social, political, and religious.
For Athenians, theater served as an expression of public unity. Ancient Greek myth — the theme of most tragedies — not only touched members of the audience individually, but drew them together as well. The dramatization of stories from a shared heritage helped to nurture and preserve a cultural identity through times of hardship and war.
But beyond its social and political importance, Greek drama also held a religious significance that made it a sacred art. Originally, the Greek theater tradition emerged from a long history of choral performance in celebration of the god Dionysus.
The Festival of Dionysus — whose high point was a dramatic competition — served as a ritual to honor the god of wine and fertility and to ask his blessing on the land. To attend the theater, then, was a religious duty and the responsibility of all pious citizens.
Drama began, the Greeks say, when the writer and producer Thespis separated one man from the chorus and gave him some lines to speak by himself. In 534 B.C., records show that this same Thespis produced the first tragedy at the Festival of Dionysus. From then on, plays with actors and a chorus formed the basis of Greek dramatic performances.
