Theatre was an important aspect of life in ancient Greece and Rome and scenes from plays often appear as decoration on vases. In the main scene on this hydria, two women stand between columns. They wear long chitons secured at the shoulder with brooches, circlets in their hair and jewellery. The woman at the left holds a mirror. Despite their refinement, the women are heavy set with large jaws, which has led to speculation that they may be male actors who were playing female roles.
Many towns had theatres where plays were performed during religious festivals. A typical festival was the City Dionysia held in honour of the god Dionysus over five days in Athens from the fifth century BCE onwards.
At the festival, performances were competitive events, with prizes for best chorus, tragedy or comedy. It was an honour to be chosen to perform and represent your community, and it has been estimated that there could have been up to a thousand male performers involved.
