The fifth century BC was the only period of theatre history when plays were created for a single performance. The sense of immediacy that this suggests in terms of the theatrical potential of the plays is frequently overlooked, as is the corresponding freedom from commercial pressures enjoyed by the playwrights. To think of the theatre of Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides and Aristophanes as entirely free from the ‘taint’ of other than sublime artistic and religious motives, however, is to underestimate both the practicality of the Athenians in organisational matters and the constant dependance of the theatre as an institution on its patrons.