Dramatic performances at Athens, as was pointed out, were entirely in the hands of the state. They were sacred institutions in honour of Dionysus, and their regulation was as much the duty of the government as the management of any other religious ceremonial. Of the two festivals to which they were confined, the City Dionysia was superintended by the archon eponymus, the Lenaea by the archon basileus. These two archons were therefore responsible for the dramatic exhibitions at their respective festivals.[193] They had not much to do with the details of preparation. Their function was rather one of general supervision. They had to select the proper persons, set them to work, and see that they performed their work efficiently. At Athens this was a complex matter, and required a good deal of arrangement. The requisite number of poets had to be chosen and their plays approved. Choregi had to be appointed to pay the expenses of the different choruses. Actors had then to be engaged and distributed among the poets. It was the duty of the archon to make all these selections, and to bring poets, actors, and choregi together. In the present chapter we shall explain in detail the manner in which these various arrangements were carried out. When a poet wished to compete at one of the festivals, he sent in his application to the archon, together with copies of the plays he proposed to exhibit. As it was a great honour to be allowed to take part in the competitions, there was usually no lack of applicants. The archon then read through the plays submitted to him, and proceeded to select, from among the various candidates, the number of poets required by the particular festival. If it was tragedy at the City Dionysia which he was providing for, he would choose three poets; if it was tragedy at the Lenaea, he would choose two. In comedy the number of poets was originally three, and in later times five. When the archon accepted a poet’s application, and placed him on the official list of competitors, he was said to ‘grant him a chorus’, because the next step was to provide him with a choregus, who paid the expenses of his chorus. In the same way, when a poet applied for permission to exhibit, he was said to ‘ask for a chorus’.[194] The task imposed upon the archon of deciding between the rival claims of the dramatic poets must have been a very difficult and a very invidious one. Even if he acted with the best intentions, he could hardly avoid giving offence. Sometimes there were manifest cases of jobbery and favouritism. One archon refused a chorus to the great comic poet Cratinus; another gave a chorus to a certain Cleomachus in preference to Sophocles.[195] But it is unlikely that instances of this kind were very common. Probably in most years the poets of the highest reputation were chosen. In a city like Athens, where the magistrates were entirely at the mercy of the people, it would be impossible for them to