[Abstract] Ancient Greek drama is a treasure of early human civilization, reflecting the ancient Greek people's pursuit of harmony in city-state life and social prosperity. Ancient Greek drama festivals, which were responsible for organizing performances, embodied the characteristic lifestyle of Greek city-states, and belonged to city-states' spontaneous cultural communication activities within themselves.

Research finds that ancient Greek drama festivals evolved from the rural Dionysia festival, and provided an artistic platform for communication in ancient Greek society. Dionysia was originally meant to communicate between gods and humans and establish religious beliefs in harmonious man-god relations. Evolving into city-state drama festivals, it concentrated city-states, city-state citizens, city-state and poets, poets and citizens through drama in theaters, achieving internal communication within city-state society through art. As drama festivals were enthusiastically welcomed, they gradually formed city-state public opinion, influenced fashion trends, promoted civilization education and social integration. City-state citizens experienced democratic life in an entertaining way by watching performances. As bridges between city-states and citizens, drama poets engaged in artistic thinking on the one hand, expressing city-state democracy to citizens and nurturing moral, courageous, disciplined and wise people; on the other hand they made suggestions for city-state life, looking forward to a more humane, democratic, fair and just ideal society. Bursting with exuberant and lasting vitality in ancient Greece, drama festivals contributed the earliest batches of dramatic classics in human history.

Through studying ancient Greek drama festivals, this paper discusses how they, as characteristic lifestyles of democratic city-states, carried out spiritual and cultural communication activities within city-states in ancient Greece, closely connecting all members of Greek city-states in the spiritual and cultural dimension, forming a great nation with harmony and enterprising spirit, thus creating the splendid ancient Greek civilization. It starts from the emergence, development, nature and characteristics of ancient Greek drama festivals. The needs of early clan religion to comfort people, Greek people's needs for entertainment and revelry, the rise of city-state democracy, optimization of living space and changes in lifestyles made moral education an inherent need for city-state development. This led to the gradual transformation of Dionysia activities with primitive religious nature through evolution of life and civilization into officially organized drama festivals, becoming a new characteristic lifestyle and the most effective means of people's moral education in democratic city-states.