. The Greek theater and its drama. ree to worship at any particulartemple or to take part in its festivals as could any other citizen,and on no infrequent occasions practically the whole body ofcitizens was present. In fact, so important was it deemed thateveryone should attend the dramatic festivals that toward theend of the fifth century it was provided that whoever felt unableto pay the daily admission fee of two obols should, upon appHca-tion, receive a grant for this purpose from the state. The wholecity kept holiday, and gave itself up to pleasure, and to theworship of the wine-god. Busi
. The Greek theater and its drama. ree to worship at any particulartemple or to take part in its festivals as could any other citizen,and on no infrequent occasions practically the whole body ofcitizens was present. In fact, so important was it deemed thateveryone should attend the dramatic festivals that toward theend of the fifth century it was provided that whoever felt unableto pay the daily admission fee of two obols should, upon appHca-tion, receive a grant for this purpose from the state. The wholecity kept holiday, and gave itself up to pleasure, and to theworship of the wine-god. Business was abandoned; the law-courts were closed; distraints for debt were forbidden during thecontinuance of the festival; even prisoners were released fromjail, to enable them to share in the common festivities.^ Boys A drachma contained six obols and was worth about eighteen cents withoutmaking allowance for the greater purchase value of money in antiquity. ^ Cf. Haigh, The Attic Theatre (3d ed. by Pickard-Cambridge, 1907), p. o iz: t^ <O THE INFLUENCE OF RELIGIOUS ORIGIN 121 and slaves were admitted, if their fathers or their masters were willing to pay their way. It seems, though the evidence is inconclusive,^ that despite the oriental-like seclusion of Greek households even women and girls might attend. They certainly participated in the ceremonies of the first day. Plato and Aristotle favored restricting the attendance, but their views seem to have had no effect. Thus, children and respectable women who would have invited divorce by being present at real scenes of that character were allowed to witness the indecencies of satync drama and Old Comedy and to listen to the broadest .jX*-^ of jokes. Such is the power of rehgious conservatism. ^^ ^^^^ From these considerations it follows that the attendancei^upon the dramatic performances was enormous, and that the useof temples to accommodate the spectators was entirely out ofthe question. Therefore it became necessary t
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