dithyramb

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dithyramb

dithyramb , in ancient Greece, hymn to the god Dionysus, choral lyric with exchanges between the leader and the chorus. It arose, probably, in the extemporaneous songs of the Dionysiac festivals and was developed (according to tradition, by Arion ) into the literary form to be found, for example, in the dithyrambs of Bacchylides . In its later development by such poets as Philoxenus and Timotheus it became freer in its meter and more musical. The tragedy seems to have come out of the dithyramb, but the dithyramb was also cultivated after tragedy was invented.

Bibliography: See A. W. Pickard-Cambridge, Dithyramb, Tragedy, and Comedy (1927, repr. 1962).

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dithyramb

The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature | 2003 | | Â© The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature 2003, originally published by Oxford University Press 2003. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

dithyramb, a lyric poem in a lofty style with a flute accompaniment in the Phrygian mode originally antistrophic and sung in honour of Bacchus. Later dithyrambs were monostrophic and could be addressed to other gods.

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MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "dithyramb." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. 25 Dec. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "dithyramb." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. (December 25, 2009). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-dithyramb.html

MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "dithyramb." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Retrieved December 25, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-dithyramb.html

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