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When did tragic drama become established at the Great Dionysia in Athens?
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Anubis weighing the soul of the scribe Ani, from the Egyptian Book of the Dead, c. 1275 bce.
Tragic drama became established at the Great Dionysia in Athens in 534 BCE.12
According to tradition, the poet Thespis is credited with inventing drama by augmenting the traditional choral dithyramb with a single actor, allowing for dialogue between the actor and the chorus. In 534 BCE, at the first dramatic festival in Athens, one of Thespis's tragedies won the prize. While some scholars note that tragedy in a simpler formālikely consisting of choral lyricsāmay have been introduced during the refounding of the festival by the tyrant Peisistratus between 534 and 531 BCE, Thespis is historically recognized as the first to stage a tragedy at the Great Dionysia.231