A Greek town could hardly be so small or so remote as not to have its own theater and dramatic festival (Figs. 25 and 70 f.).[128] The Greek theaters were regularly built upon a hillside and often commanded an outlook over a scene of great natural beauty and picturesqueness (Figs. 26-28).[129] So far as such structures have come down to us, the oldest is the theater of Dionysus Eleuthereus at Athens, and this is also the one of greatest interest to us, for the reason that in it were produced practically all the masterpieces of the greatest Greek dramatists (Figs. 1 and 31-41).[130] It seems strange that this building should not have remained continuously known to men from ancient times until the present hour, but in fact its very location passed into oblivion for centuries. During mediaeval times and until well into the modern era it was thought that the theater or odeum of Herodes Atticus, a Roman structure of the second century A.D. and situated at the opposite end of the Acropolis, represented the Dionysiac theater of the classical period (Fig. 29).[131] The correct site was first pointed out by R. Chandler in 1765, and is clearly indicated by a bronze coin of imperial times which shows the relation subsisting between the theater of Dionysus and the Parthenon (Figs. 30 f.).[132] Excavations were conducted desultorily from time to time, beginning in 1841, but were not completed until the work under Dörpfeld’s direction in 1886, 1889, and 1895. The oldest structure in the precinct of Dionysus Eleuthereus is the earlier temple (Fig. 32).[133] This was built in the sixth century B.C., possibly in 534 B.C., when Pisistratus established the tragic contest. Here was housed the cult image of Dionysus which had been brought from Eleutherae. [Illustration: FIG. 30.—Athenian Coin in the British Museum Showing the Parthenon and Outline of the Theater of Dionysus Eleuthereus. See p. 63, n. 1] [Illustration: FIG. 31.—Parthenon and Theater of Dionysus; in Foreground Altar in Precinct of Dionysus Eleuthereus. See p. 63, n. 1] [Illustration: FIG. 32.—Precinct of Dionysus Eleuthereus in Athens, Showing Dörpfeld’s Restoration of the Early Orchestra and of the Lycurgus Theater. See p. 63, n. 2] [Illustration: FIG. 33.—East Fragment of Wall Belonging to the Early Orchestra in Athens. See p. 65, n. 1] [Illustration: FIG. 34.—West Fragment of Wall Belonging to the Early Orchestra in Athens. See p. 65, n. 1]