The feast of the Dionysia is believed to have been established throughout Greece when Eleutherae chose to become part of Attica and presented a statue of the god Dionysus to Athens.

[citation needed] Out of fear for Dionysus, the Athenians celebrated the Dionysia by running a procession of people carrying phalloi, and saved the city from further destruction.

In the 2nd century CE, the periegetic writer Pausanias wrote: When you have turned from Eleusis to Boeotia, you come to the Plataean land, which borders on Attica.

Frustrated by the perennial belligerence and bullying of the Thebans, the Eleuthereans turned to Athens and volunteered to give up their independence in exchange for incorporation into the Athenian polis.

Given the geopolitical significance of the town, the Athenians eventually acquiesced and the cult of Diónysos Eleuthereús ("Dionysus the Liberator") was symbolically transferred to Athens.