Editing Dithyramb (section)

==History==
Dithyrambs were sung by choirs at [[Delos]], but the literary fragments that have survived are largely [[Classical Athens|Athenian]]. In Athens, dithyrambs were sung by a [[Greek chorus]] of up to fifty men or boys dancing in circular formation, who may or may not have been dressed as [[Satyr]]s, probably accompanied by the ''[[aulos]]''. They would normally relate some incident in the life of [[Dionysus]] or just celebrate wine and fertility.

The ancient Greeks laid out the criteria of the dithyramb as follows:
* special rhythm
* ''[[aulos]]'' accompaniment in [[Phrygian mode]]<ref>Harvey (1955). [[Aristotle]] records the failed attempt to set it in [[Dorian mode]], in his ''[[Politics (Aristotle)|Politics]]'' (8.7).</ref>
* enriching text
* considerable narrative content
* originally [[Antistrophe|antistrophic character]]

Competitions between groups, singing and dancing dithyrambs were an important part of the festivals of Dionysus, such as the [[Dionysia]] and [[Lenaia]]. Each tribe would enter two choirs, one of men and one of boys, each under the leadership of a ''[[coryphaeus]]''. The names of the winning teams of dithyrambic contests in Athens were recorded. The successful ''[[choregos]]'' would receive a statue that would be erected—at his expense—as a public monument to commemorate the victory. However, most of the poets remain unknown.

The earliest mention of dithyramb, found by [[Arthur Wallace Pickard-Cambridge|Sir Arthur Wallace Pickard-Cambridge]],<ref>Pickard-Cambridge, Sir Arthur Wallace. 1927. ''Dithyramb, Tragedy and Comedy''. Second edition revised by T. B. L. Webster, 1962. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997. {{ISBN|0-19-814227-7}}</ref> is in a fragment of [[Archilochus]], who flourished in the first half of the seventh century BCE: "I know how to lead the fair song of the Lord Dionysus, the dithyramb, when my wits are fused with wine." As a literary composition for chorus, their inspiration is unknown, although it was likely Greek, as [[Herodotus]] explicitly speaks of [[Arion]] of [[Lesbos]] as "the first of men we know to have composed the dithyramb and named it and produced it in [[Corinth]]."<ref>Pickard-Cambridge, Sir Arthur Wallace. 1927. ''Dithyramb Tragedy and Comedy''. Second edition revised by T. B. L. Webster, 1962. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997. {{ISBN|0-19-814227-7}}</ref>

The word ''dithyramb'' has no known origin, but is frequently assumed not to be derived from Greek.<ref>[[Robert S. P. Beekes|R. S. P. Beekes]] has suggested a [[Pre-Greek]] eymology (''Etymological Dictionary of Greek'', Brill, 2009, pp. 333–4).</ref> An old hypothesis is that the word is borrowed from [[Phrygian language|Phrygian]] or [[Pelasgian language|Pelasgian]], and literally means "Vierschritt", i. e., "four-step", compare ''[[Iamb (poetry)|iamb]]'' and ''[[thriambus]]'', but H. S. Versnel rejects this etymology and suggests instead a derivation from a cultic exclamation.<ref name="Versnel1970">{{cite book|last=Versnel|first=H. S.|title=Triumphus: An Inquiry Into the Origin, Development and Meaning of the Roman Triumph|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pPjBSq2jCrcC&pg=PA16|access-date=2 January 2015|year=1970|publisher=Brill Publishers|location=Leiden, Netherlands|isbn=90-04-02325-9|pages=16–38|chapter=I. 2 Θρίαμβος}}</ref> Dithyrambs were composed by the poets [[Simonides of Ceos|Simonides]] and [[Bacchylides]], as well as [[Pindar]] (the only one whose works have survived in anything like their original form).

Later examples were dedicated to other gods, but the dithyramb subsequently was developed (traditionally by [[Arion]]) into a literary form.<ref>Feder, (1998, 48).</ref> According to [[Aristotle]], [[Classical Athens|Athenian]] [[tragedy]] developed from the dithyramb; the two forms developed alongside one another for some time. The clearest sense of dithyramb as proto-tragedy comes from a surviving dithyramb by Bacchylides, though it was composed after tragedy had already developed fully.<ref>See [http://www.usu.edu/markdamen/ClasDram/chapters/042reading1dithyramb.htm USU.edu] and [http://web.clas.ufl.edu/users/kvhrtgn/CLT%20Readings/A%20DITHYRAMB.htm UFL.edu] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060727023728/http://web.clas.ufl.edu/users/kvhrtgn/CLT%20Readings/A%20DITHYRAMB.htm |date=2006-07-27 }}.</ref> Bacchylides' dithyramb is a dialogue between a solitary singer and a choir. It is suggestive of what tragedy may have resembled before [[Aeschylus]] added a second actor instead of the choir.

In the later 5th century BCE, the dithyramb "became a favorite vehicle for the musical experiments of the poets of the 'new music'."<ref>Christopher G. Brown, "Dithyramb," in N.G. Wilson (ed.), ''Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece'', Routledge, 2006</ref> This movement included the poets [[Timotheus of Miletus]], [[Cinesias (poet)|Cinesias]], [[Melanippides]], and [[Philoxenus of Cythera]]. By the 4th century BCE the [[genre]] was in decline, although the dithyrambic competitions did not come to an end until well after the [[Roman Empire|Roman]] takeover of Greece.