A Director's Prize in Greek Drama: Reassessing the Hypokrites Prize of the Dramatic Inscriptions
Dramatic inscriptions found in Athens indicate that a new prize was introduced to the dramatic competitions from around 450 BCE, awarded to the best hypokrites. As hypokrites is normally translated 'actor', this prize has been understood to be an actor's prize. One peculiarity of the prize, however, was that only one of the actors in each team was eligible to compete for it. The standard explanation for this is that only lead actors were allowed to compete for and win the prize. I will argue that this explanation does not conform to the available evidence, and instead suggest that one of the actors was responsible for directing the play, and that it was he who was awarded the prize, not only for his own acting skills, but for the artistic quality of the performance as a whole.
Robert Emil Berge is Postdoctoral Researcher at the MF Norwegian School of Theology, Religion and Society.
The event is open to the public, and all interested parties are cordially invited to attend. A Zoom link will be provided via the Classics Seminar mailing list. If you would like to present or subscribe to the list, please get in touch with Han Lamers. Following the event, we will gather at Café Eckers for drinks and further informal discussions. Everyone is welcome to join (please note that expenses are not covered by the seminar).