Plutarch, Theseus 21; see Calame 1997: 53–58.
10 10 For epic representations see Richardson 2011; for dramatic representations see Henrichs 1994/1995 and Swift 2010.
11 11 See Power (Chapter 17) in this volume.
12 12 See Lardinois (Chapter 18) in this volume.
13 13 See Nagy 2007 with references.
14 14 For convincing argumentation in favor of Stesichorus as a choral composer see in particular Burnett 1988, Cingano 1993, and Finglass 2017a. For an overview of arguments for and against choral execution of Stesichorean poetry and more broadly the state of Stesichorean studies see Finglass and Kelly 2015b: 1–17.
15 15 See Bowie 2015: 120–124.
16 16 See Campbell 1982: xvii–xviii; Hutchinson 2001: 234–235.
17 17 See Ladianou 2005, who argues persuasively for Anacreon’s reception as a choral poet by the Anacreontean tradition.
18 18 See Wilson 2000: 218.
19 19 See Budge 1920: 345–355. Kenyon’s editio princeps was published in 1897.
20 20 The arguments advanced in favor of choral vs. solo performance of Pindar’s epinicians are mutatis mutandis similar to those advanced about Sappho’s poetry, but to my knowledge there has not been so far a comparative assessment of the lines of argumentation used for the classification of melic poetry as choral or monodic.
21 21 See Race 1987.
22 22 See Cingano 2003.
23 23 Pindar’s Sixth Pythian, for instance, presents its performance as a procession to Apollo’s temple, but it also conjures up the symposium as a performance venue. I have labeled this rhetorical trope “mirrored performance settings”; see Athanassaki 2009a, 2012a for more examples.
24 24 The translation (with a slight modification in the last line) is taken from Obbink 2011.
25 25 See for instance Gronewald and Daniel 2004: 7 and Lardinois 2011b.
26 26 Even if the speaker here is not Sappho, fr. 58 offers us a precious glimpse into the frustration of the aging chorodidaskalos. See Power 2019: 93 who considers fr. 58 an example of parachorality: “but in the monodic fragment 58 choreia is treated as a figure of thought, a situational metaphor for the social and affective dynamics of Sappho’s group (or any analogous group), not to mention for the human condition itself ”; for the choral imagery see also Steiner 2021a: 83–87.
27 27 For Philostratus’ reception of Sappho see also Ladianou 2016 with references.
28 28 Aulus Gellius Noctae Atticae 19.9.4. See Yatromanolakis 2007: 84–85.
29 29 For the association of Sappho fr. 58 with Alcman 26 see Calame 1983: 474 and Lardinois 2011b.
30 30 Translation taken from Campbell.
31 31 For Simonides’ great success in Athens see Ieranò 2013: 376–377 and Athanassaki 2020.
32 32 My translation.
33 33 The ancient scholiast glosses it as ἐπιμελείαις (Σ Ol. 14 26a). The verb μελετῶ and the noun μελέτη are used for the practice of dancers (Plato Laws 813e), actors (Aristotle Problemata 901b), and orators (Plato Phaedrus 228b).
34 34 Σ Ol. 14 21d: θεασάμεναι τοῦτον τὸν χορὸν […] εὐκόλως χορεύοντα, ἀπὸ κοινοῦ, ἐπήκοοι γένεσθε. For the performance of this chorus at the sanctuary of the Orchomenian Charites see Athanassaki 2003, 2009b: 100–125 with references.
35 35 My translation. The same claim is repeated in scholium 149a.
36 36 The other person that could have been a chorodidaskalos is a certain Nicasippus in Isthmian 2. 47 about whom we know nothing other than Pindar’s request to deliver the poet’s message and song to Thrasybulus.
37 37 At the end of the fifth century Aristophanes entrusted the chorodidaskalia of several of his plays to Callistratus (see OCD s.v. Callistratus 1). Aristophanes’ reasons are unknown, but the increasing pressure of specialization may have played a role.
38 38 See Calame 1997: 43–49.
39 39 See Calame 1997: 221–244 for a discussion of the evidence.
40 40 Lehnus 1984.
41 41 The text and translation are taken from Race 1997.
42 42 For Aenesimbrota as chorodidaskalos see, e.g., Page 1951: 65–67.
43 43 For the gender dynamics in this song-dance see Stehle 1997: 93–99; for the social dynamics see Kurke 2007.
44 44 As Peponi 2012: 84 points out, Pindar adds here the musical accompaniment, i.e., the pipes, that is missing from the Odyssean account of the song of the Sirens.
45 45 See Rutherford 2001: 210–232 and Power 2011.
46 46 See Peponi 2012: 87.
47 47 See Race 1997: 261. Cf. Rutherford 2001: 282 who translates: “known also for providing the Muse in plenty.”
48 48 In the First Isthmian, 1–3, Pindar mentions a song he must compose for Delos, but presumably has not yet finished, because he gave priority to his epinician for the Theban Herodotus. Scholars have long thought that Pindar’s reference is to the late delivery of the Fourth Paean. See, e.g., Race 1997: 135; Rutherford 2001: 284–285. As Rutherford points out (ibid 292 with n. 48), the speaker envisages his choreia on Ceos, a statement that has led the ancient scholiast to posit a rehearsal on Ceos.
49 49 For a detailed discussion see Athanassaki 2018a.
50 50 The translation is that of Bury (1926, Loeb Classical Library) slightly modified.
51 51 Elsewhere in the Laws Plato mentions human intermediaries: see 656c and 816bd.
52 52 For Apollo as leader of the Cretan chorus see also Nagy 2009.
53 53 See for instance the Homeric Hymn to Dionysus 26, 9–10, which depicts Dionysus leading the choruses of nymphs who raised him to be honored with many hymns (πολύυμνος, 7).
54 54 See Athanassaki 2018a: 96–98.
55 55 The parallelism is achieved by the παιᾶνα μέν – παιᾶνας δέ construction in lines 687 and 691. See H. Parry 1965: 37 and Henrichs 1996.
56 56 For the metaphorical meaning see Rutherford 2001: 307 who suggests that “the inclusion of the Kharites and Aphrodite in the prayer identifies the register as one of sexuality and celebration: it is as if the χορός of young men (line 122) is a κῶμος arriving at Delphi.”
57 57 See Neer and Kurke 2014 with references to earlier scholarship.
58 58 Pausanias 1.29.2; Philostratus Lives of the Sophists p. 549. The xenismos of Dionysus as the performance context of this song-dance was advanced by Sourvinou-Inwood 2003: 95–96, who seems to be thinking of the Agora north of the Acropolis. Note that her book came out the same year as the publication of John Papadopoulos’ finds (Papadopoulos 2003) that offered definitive arguments for the location of the Ancient Agora to the East of the Acropolis before the Persian wars. Note also that the date of Pindar’s dithyramb is unknown.
59 59 For the location of the old Agora to the east of the Acropolis see Neer and Kurke 2014 with references.
60 60 Bowie 2006.
61 61 This is Eupolis’ verdict quoted by Athenaeus 1.2c–3a.
CHAPTER 2 Religion and Ritual in Early Greek Lyric
William Furley
It is hard to overstate how much the modern mindset differs from the ancient in the matter of religion. Today,