ABSTRACT
At some point early in the fifth century an area on the south slope of the Acropolis became home to the performances of the City Dionysia. Located just above the temple of Dionysus Eleuthereus in the precinct dedicated to the god, the hillside gradually assumed the recognizable form of a Greek theatre. However, we must keep in mind that the remains visible today —primarily the greatly altered theatre of the Roman emperor Nero (first century AD) and a certain Phaedrus (third or fourth century AD)—bear a problematic relationship to the performance area as it appeared in the fifth century BC. The nature of the evolution in the shape and function of the theatre from that early period has generated much speculation, and not a little controversy. However, to understand what classical Athens looked for in a theatre we first should consider the situation of tragic productions before there was a theatre of Dionysus at all.
