<P> After the Great Destruction of Athens by the Persian Empire in 480 BCE , the town and acropolis were rebuilt , and theatre became formalized and an even greater part of Athenian culture and civic pride . This century is normally regarded as the Golden Age of Greek drama . The centre - piece of the annual Dionysia , which took place once in winter and once in spring , was a competition between three tragic playwrights at the Theatre of Dionysus . Each submitted three tragedies , plus a satyr play ( a comic , burlesque version of a mythological subject ) . Beginning in a first competition in 486 BC each playwright submitted a comedy . Aristotle claimed that Aeschylus added the second actor ( deuteragonist ) , and that Sophocles introduced the third ( tritagonist ) . Apparently the Greek playwrights never used more than three actors based on what is known about Greek theatre . </P>
<P> After the Great Destruction of Athens by the Persian Empire in 480 BCE , the town and acropolis were rebuilt , and theatre became formalized and an even greater part of Athenian culture and civic pride . This century is normally regarded as the Golden Age of Greek drama . The centre - piece of the annual Dionysia , which took place once in winter and once in spring , was a competition between three tragic playwrights at the Theatre of Dionysus . Each submitted three tragedies , plus a satyr play ( a comic , burlesque version of a mythological subject ) . Beginning in a first competition in 486 BC each playwright submitted a comedy . Aristotle claimed that Aeschylus added the second actor ( deuteragonist ) , and that Sophocles introduced the third ( tritagonist ) . Apparently the Greek playwrights never used more than three actors based on what is known about Greek theatre . </P>
when were the plays held in ancient greece
when were the plays held in ancient greece
the annual Dionysia , which took place once in winter and once in spring
the annual Dionysia , which took place once in winter and once in spring