The ''Lycurgeia'' ( grc, Λυκούργεια, ''Lykoúrgeia'') is a lost

tetralogy A tetralogy (from Greek τετρα- '' tetra-'', "four" and -λογία ''-logia'', "discourse") is a compound work that is made up of four distinct works. The name comes from the Attic theater, in which a tetralogy was a group of three tragedie ...

by the

Athenian Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

dramatist A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

Aeschylus Aeschylus (, ; grc-gre, Αἰσχύλος ; c. 525/524 – c. 456/455 BC) was an ancient Greek tragedian, and is often described as the father of tragedy. Academic knowledge of the genre begins with his work, and understanding of earlier Greek ...

that concerned

Thracian The Thracians (; grc, Θρᾷκες ''Thrāikes''; la, Thraci) were an Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Eastern and Southeastern Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied ...

Lycurgus Lycurgus or Lykourgos () may refer to: People * Lycurgus (king of Sparta) (third century BC) * Lycurgus (lawgiver) (eighth century BC), creator of constitution of Sparta * Lycurgus of Athens (fourth century BC), one of the 'ten notable orators' ...

' conflict with

Dionysus In ancient Greek religion and myth, Dionysus (; grc, Διόνυσος ) is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, festivity, and theatre. The Roma ...

and its aftermath. The four plays that made up the ''Lycurgeia'' survive only in fragments quoted by ancient authors, and the reconstruction of much of their content is a matter of conjecture. In the ''

Edoni The Edoni (also ''Edones'', ''Edonians'', ''Edonides'') ( el, Ἠδωνιοί) were a Thracian people who dwelt mostly between the Nestus and the Strymon rivers in southern Thrace, but also once dwelt west of the Strymon at least as far as the Ax ...

'' (, ''Ēdōnoí''), Dionysus presumably arrived in

Thrace Thrace (; el, Θράκη, Thráki; bg, Тракия, Trakiya; tr, Trakya) or Thrake is a geographical and historical region in Southeast Europe, now split among Bulgaria, Greece, and Turkey, which is bounded by the Balkan Mountains to ...

where King Lycurgus attempted to suppress the worship of the new god. The second play, the ''

Bassarids In Greek mythology, maenads (; grc, μαινάδες ) were the female followers of Dionysus and the most significant members of the Thiasus, the god's retinue. Their name literally translates as "raving ones". Maenads were known as Bassarids, ...

'' (, ''Bassarídes''), is supposed to have treated the death of

Orpheus Orpheus (; Ancient Greek: Ὀρφεύς, classical pronunciation: ; french: Orphée) is a Thracian bard, legendary musician and prophet in ancient Greek religion. He was also a renowned poet and, according to the legend, travelled with J ...

at the hands of Thracian women in the thrall of Dionysus. Very little is known of the third play, the ''Youths'' (, ''Neaniskoí''), but M.L. West has proposed that it culminated in the acceptance of the cult of Dionysus in Thrace. The

satyr play The satyr play is a form of Attic theatre performance related to both comedy and tragedy. It preserves theatrical elements of dialogue, actors speaking verse, a chorus that dances and sings, masks and costumes. Its relationship to tragedy is str ...

was named ''Lycurgus'' (, ''Lykoûrgos'') after the king and might have presented his attempt to domesticate the satyrs, civilizing their bestial nature and forcing them to perform at his feasts in "honour not of Dionysus, but of himself and Ares."Sommerstein (2009) 127.

Notes

Bibliography

*Gantz, T. (1980) "The Aischylean Tetralogy: Attested and Conjectured Groups", ''The American Journal of Philology'' 101: 133–64. *Sommerstein, A. (2009) ''Aeschylus III: Fragments'', Loeb Classical Library no. 505 (Cambridge, MA). . *West, M.L. (1990) ''Studies in Aeschylus'' (Stuttgart) {{Authority control Plays by Aeschylus Lost plays Plays based on classical mythology