Page:The Tragic Drama of the Greeks (1896).djvu/28

14 together to open the casks of new wine, and to welcome with various rejoicings the renewed fertility of nature. On such occasions they were accustomed to celebrate the praises of their benefactor, the god of wine and vegetation, in a kind of hymn called the dithyramb; and from this hymn Greek tragedy is descended. The dithyramb, like the rest of the Bacchic usages, was probably in its earliest form an importation from Phrygia, being sung to melodies in the Phrygian style, and accompanied by the flute—an instrument closely associated with Phrygian music. It is mentioned for the first time in literature by Archilochus, the iambic poet of the seventh century; but had doubtless become familiar to the Greek populations at a much earlier date. It was cultivated with special enthusiasm at Thebes, Corinth, and Naxos—all important centres of Dionysiac worship. In Attica, where it was destined eventually to acquire the greatest celebrity, it would form a conspicuous element, from remote times, in the spring festivals of Dionysus.

The dithyramb belonged to that type of performance which is called a choral dance; in other words, it was a hymn chanted by a chorus, and accompanied by illustrative gestures and motions. Its object was to describe in song various episodes