Possibly the first thing, apart from physical conditions, which would strike the modern theatergoer’s attention after entering an ancient Greek theater would be the fact that he was provided with no playbill. For this lack he received compensation in three ways: The first was the _proagon_ (προαγών; πρό “before” + ἀγών “contest”), i.e., the ceremony before the contest. This was held in the nearby Odeum on the eighth day of the month Elaphebolion (end of March), which was probably the second day before the City Dionysia proper began. In this function the poets, the actors (without their masks and stage costumes), the choregi (see pp. 270 f., below), and the choruses participated. As the herald made announcement each poet and choregus with their actors and chorus presented themselves for public inspection. It was therefore possible for anyone interested, simply by being present on this occasion, to learn what poets were competing, the names of their actors and plays, the order of their appearance, and similar details. Moreover, the mere titles of the plays by themselves would often convey considerable information to the more cultured members of the audience. Thus, names like Aeschylus’ _Seven against Thebes_, Sophocles’ _Oedipus at Colonus_, and Euripides’ _Iphigenia at Aulis_ or _Iphigenia among the Taurians_ indicate the locale and general theme of the play on their face, and to the more cultivated spectators titles such as Sophocles’ _Oedipus the King_ or Euripides’ _Alcestis_ would be equally significant. On the other hand, such names as Euripides’ _Suppliants_ or _Phoenician Maids_ would be either mystifying or misleading, especially if the hearer was well enough versed in Greek drama to remember that Aeschylus and Phrynichus, respectively, had applied these titles to plays which actually dealt with entirely different incidents. The proagon furnished the name and scene for one of Aristophanes’ (or Philonides’) comedies, but unfortunately we have no inkling as to how the theme was treated. In 406 B.C. the news of Euripides’ death came from Macedonia just before this ceremony. Sophocles appeared in garments indicative of mourning and had his chorus leave off their accustomed crowns. The spectators are said to have burst into tears. In Plato’s _Symposium_ (194B) Socrates is represented as referring to the proagon at the Lenaean festival of the year 416 B.C. as follows: “I should be forgetful, O Agathon, of the courage and spirit which you showed when your compositions were about to be exhibited, when you mounted the platform with your actors and faced so large an audience altogether undismayed, if I thought you would on the present occasion [a celebration in honor of his first victory] be disturbed by a small company of friends.”