Dionisio- the tyrant of Syracuse, Damocles sword, the Orecchio, and lessons for today's aspiring tyrants/playwrights

Ah yes... given the events transpiring just a quick ferry, or dingy ride away in North Africa, I was going to reflect- somewhat ostentatiously- on the nature of tyranny. And where better than Siracusa (??!) where one of histories' first and most notorious military strongmen, Dionisio, ruled with an iron fist. We have many colorful stories about Dionisio ("the tyrant", as he was known) because his forty year rule over Siracusa and at least two thirds of the island of Sicily roughly corresponded to the golden age of Athens (end of the 5th, beginning of the 4th century b.c.e)- and to the Athenian mind, he came to represent all that was cruel, vicious and degrading about despotism. The Athenians were very proud- as I guess we all are- of their invention which was something like a direct democracy. You could participate if you were free, white, male and athenian. If you were conquered by Athens however and you survived, you were generally made a slave. Also the Athenian opinion of Dionisio may have been colored by his allegance with Sparta during the Peloponnesian (anyone on the spelling here) war.
So what do we know of Dionisio... well, he seems to have been the first Napoleon-style dictator. He was of low-birth. A number of biographies refer to him as having been a government clerk. I wasn't aware they had those, but I guess someone had to push the papyrus. He distinguished himself in a number of military campaigns against the Carthigenians, who occupied much of Siciliy at the time. He then convinced the governing senate or elders or aristocrats of Syracuse that his life was in danger and needed a personal guard- and so they provided him with a personal mercenary guard (first mistake) with which he subsequently made war on the city and, having annihilated his enemies, he appointed himself king. His forty year rule was characterized by almost continuous warfare both against other cities in Sicily and Carthagenians, Etruscans, Greeks, Roman, pretty much all comers. He displayed a tyrant's characteristic paranoia. He used both mercenaries and an internal security force to eavesdrop and rout out any opposition to his rule. He cruelly squashed dissent. He supposed had a golden bed and a bedroom that was surrounded by a moat (I've got to get one of those... although-actually, given the lack of demand, I could probably just leave the drawbridge down).
But there are signs that Dionisio was not entirely brutish and without redeeming qualities. He seems to have had a taste for irony and even intellectual pursuits... One uncle, named Dion, decided wanted to create a utopia in Syracuse and persuaded his nephew to invite Plato to the city to attempt to make Dionisio the Philosopher king he'd envisioned. And Plato came, but so disgusted was he by Dionisio's quick backslide into despotism- this time I think it involved marrying off one of his enemies' wives- that Plato quickly turned his back on the city. He returned to Greece and denounced the dissolute king
Perhaps the best known story involves one Damocles- some gadabout of the city, who declared that Dionisio was the happiest man in the world because he could have anything he wanted. Dionisio, hearing of this, invited Damocles to his palace and asked him if he wouldn't like to change places with him for a while and taste his life. Well, Damocles leapt at the opportunity and the tyrant gave orders that Damocles was to be treated as himself and then he secretly arranged that whatever he was doing- whether eating, drinking or laying in the tyrant's golden bed- a sharp sword should be suspended over Damocles head by a horsehair. Damocles spent the day too terrified to enjoy the food, the dancing, the sycophants- all the trappings of absolute power. In the evening, Dionisio returned and said "now you know what it's like to be a tyrant," and allowed the panicked man to return to his normal humdrum life. It's a good story- and hence "Damocles' sword."
But my favorite story about Dionisio involves his artistic pretensions and aspirations. The tyrant fashioned himself a playwright- drama was adored at the time, and playwriting was considered the most elevated and profound of the arts (oh how times have changed). But Dionisio, like so many kings with artistic pretentions, really sucked. None of his plays or poems have survived, so we have no way of knowing for sure, but SUPPOSEDLY his plays weren't just bad, they were awful. He entered them in several dramatic competitions and despite the fact that he could pretty much have anyone decapitated at the snap of a finger- he tolerated no dissent, his tragedies never won a prize. He couldn't even place. One Philoxenus was sent to the quarries for refusing to applaud the tyrant's poems. Some time later when he was again recieved at court, Philoxenus was pressed for his opinion of a new poem by Dionisio. Philoxenus looked at the king, hung his head and gestured to the attending officer/bodyguards with the words "back to the quarries!" And the story goes that on this occasion, the king appreciated his wit and did not imprison him. So maybe he wasn't all THAT bad.
At last in old age, Dionisio's tragedy "The Ransom of Hector" won first prize at one of the lesser Athenian festivals. Dionisio was so jubilant- he ordered a public holiday and provided food and wine for everyone in the city. A monumental feast was laid out before the successful dramatist and the tyrant banqueted long into the morning- his life-long ambition at last realized. But so intemperately did he binge, that at dawn he suffered a stroke and died. The city fell into the hands of his son, a tyrant who lacked his dad's iron will and ruthless cruelty. He didn't last long.
Now that's history- and a lesson to all you aspiring playwrights and artists out there.
Here is a photo of the Orecchio de Dionisio (ear of Dionysius) and the magnificent Greek amphitheater- huge even by todays standards- in the archeological park in Syracuse. They perform Greek tragedies here in the summer. I bet it's magnificent- and this fountain at the back of the amphitheater is still running. The acoustics are great. It costs 10 Euros to walk around the theater and 9 Euros to gain entrance to the theater and the nearby archeological Museo. Why is it more expensive to see one than both? Who knows? The guy at the bigletteria (ticket stand) told me it was "a promotion" and then "a Sicilian mystery."
Actually no one knows why or exactly when this large acoustical chamber was carved out of the quarry. It was Carravagio in exile in Sicily some 2,000 years later, who believed it was a prison the tyrant designed so he could eavesdrop on his enemies- a theory that reflects the painter's paranoia as much as the tyrant's. Another hypothesis- the one I like- is that Archimedes made this echo chamber- the master scientist/engineer/inventor and a Siracusean, to conduct acoustic experiments. Maybe. It's fun to go in there- it's very deep- and shout "allora" or your name or clap or stamp, and listen to the reverberations.