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

System of judging the plays in Ancient Athens Essay Do I think the system of judging the plays in Ancient Athens was a good one?  In Athens, theatre was a very important 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 democratic system, and one that I feel was very effective.  To choose the judges, each tribe put names of citizens into a sealed urn. There were 10 tribes, each named after a mythical hero. They were:  Erechtheis – This tribe was named after the eponymous hero Erechtheus who was an early 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 father 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 after 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 beginning 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 write 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 most votes was declared the winner. There 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 City’s politicians, and was very clever, much like many other things accomplished by the Athenians.