Thedithyramb (/ˈdɪθɪræm/;[1]Ancient Greek:διθύραμβος,dithyrambos) was anancient Greekhymn sung and danced in honor ofDionysus, the god ofwine andfertility; the term was also used as anepithet of the god.[2]Plato, inThe Laws, while discussing various kinds of music mentions "the birth of Dionysos, called, I think, the dithyramb."[3] Plato also remarks in theRepublic that dithyrambs are the clearest example of poetry in which the poet is the only speaker.[4]
However, inThe Apology Socrates went to the dithyrambic poets[5]with some of their own most elaborate passages, asking their meaning, but got a response of, "Will you believe me?" which "showed me in an instant that not by wisdom do poets write poetry, but by a sort of genius and inspiration; they are like diviners or soothsayers who also say many fine things, but do not understand the meaning of them."[6]
Plutarch contrasted the dithyramb's wild andecstatic character with thepaean.[7] According toAristotle, the dithyramb was the origin ofAtheniantragedy.[8] A wildly enthusiastic speech or piece of writing is still occasionally described asdithyrambic.[9]
Dithyrambs were sung by choirs atDelos, but the literary fragments that have survived are largelyAthenian. In Athens, dithyrambs were sung by aGreek chorus of up to fifty men or boys dancing in circular formation, who may or may not have been dressed asSatyrs, probably accompanied by theaulos. They would normally relate some incident in the life ofDionysus or just celebrate wine and fertility.
The ancient Greeks laid out the criteria of the dithyramb as follows:
Competitions between groups, singing and dancing dithyrambs were an important part of the festivals of Dionysus, such as theDionysia andLenaia. Each tribe would enter two choirs, one of men and one of boys, each under the leadership of acoryphaeus. The names of the winning teams of dithyrambic contests in Athens were recorded. The successfulchoregos 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 bySir Arthur Wallace Pickard-Cambridge,[11] is in a fragment ofArchilochus, 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, asHerodotus explicitly speaks ofArion ofLesbos as "the first of men we know to have composed the dithyramb and named it and produced it inCorinth."[12]
The worddithyramb has no known origin, but is frequently assumed not to be derived from Greek.[13] An old hypothesis is that the word is borrowed fromPhrygian orPelasgian, and literally means "Vierschritt", i. e., "four-step", compareiamb andthriambus, but H. S. Versnel rejects this etymology and suggests instead a derivation from a cultic exclamation.[14] Dithyrambs were composed by the poetsSimonides andBacchylides, as well asPindar (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 byArion) into a literary form.[15] According toAristotle,Atheniantragedy 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.[16] Bacchylides' dithyramb is a dialogue between a solitary singer and a choir. It is suggestive of what tragedy may have resembled beforeAeschylus 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'."[17] This movement included the poetsTimotheus of Miletus,Cinesias,Melanippides, andPhiloxenus of Cythera. By the 4th century BCE thegenre was in decline, although the dithyrambic competitions did not come to an end until well after theRoman takeover of Greece.
Dithyrambs are rare inEnglish language literature. InGerman literature they appear more frequently, and from the 19th century several compositions were inspired by them.
John Dryden's "Alexander's Feast" (1697) is a notable example of an English language dithyramb.
Friedrich Schiller wrote aDithyrambe in 1796.Friedrich Nietzsche composed a set ofDionysos-Dithyramben in 1888/89.[18] The poetry cycleDithyrambischer Herbst by Austrian poetAlfred Grünewald was published in 1920.[19]
From the 19th century dithyrambs appear frequently inclassical music, as well in vocal as instrumental compositions.
Franz Schubert wrote a song for bass voice based on Schiller'sDithyrambe (D 801, published as Op. 60 No. 2 in 1826). Schubert's earlier attempt at setting the same poem for a more extended vocal ensemble had remained unfinished (D 47, 1813). Schubert'sFantasie in C Major, Op. 15 (D.760), often called the "Wanderer Fantasy", was referred to as "the splendid Wanderer-Dithyramb" byFranz Liszt in his letter to Professor Siegmund Lebert of December 2, 1868.[20]Johann Friedrich Reichardt (inSchillers lyrische Gedichte volume 2, published around 1809) andWilhelm Taubert (Op. 144 No. 2, 1864) were other composers setting Schiller's poem. Other composers basing vocal music on dithyrambs includeGiuseppe Verdi ("Brindisi", No. 6 of his 1845Album di Sei Romanze), andMax Bruch (Op. 39,c. 1871).Othmar Schoeck's 1911Dithyrambe, Op. 22 is based on an unnamed verse byGoethe.[21]
Instrumental dithyrambs were composed byRobert Volkmann andHermann Ritter.Nikolai Medtner composed several dithyrambs, including a set of three for solo piano as his Opus 10. Additionally, the final movement of his first violin sonata carries the title, and the last of hisVergessene Weisen Op. 40 is aDanza ditirambica.
The last movement ofIgor Stravinsky'sDuo Concertant for violin and piano is entitledDithyrambe.Richard Edward Wilson's 1983Dithyramb is for oboe and clarinet.Wolfgang Rihm composed a 30-minute work,Concerto, in 2000, with the subtitleDithyrambe and a scoring for string quartet and orchestra.
In 1961 the American choreographerJames Waring created a dance piece entitledDithyramb with music and objects by the Fluxus artistGeorge Brecht.
The Swedish composer, Ture Rangström, 1884–1947, wrote an early symphonic poem, “Dithyramb” in 1909, revised in 1948 by Kurt Atterberg.
In theApology (21e–22c), Socrates relates how he went in turn 'to the tragedians, the dithyrambic poets, and all the others' to test theirsophia [...].
