Dithyramb, Tragedy and Comedy

361 Pages·1962·18.072 MB·English

by  Arthur W. Pickard-Cambridge, T. B. L. Webster

DITHYRAMB
TRAGEDY AND COMEDY
BY THE LATE
SIR ARTHUR PICKARD-CAMBRIDGE
SECOND EDITION
REVISED BY
T. iS. L. WEBSTER
PROFESSOR OF GREEK
UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, LONDON
OXFORD
AT THE CLARENDON PRESS
1962
Oxford University Press, Amen House 9 London E XL 4
GLASGOW NEW YORK TORONTO MELBOURNE WELLINGTON
BOMBAY CALCUTTA MADRAS KARACHI LAHORE DACCA
CAPE TOWN SALISBURY NAIROBI IBADAN ACCRA
KUALA LUMPUR HONG KONG
© Oxford University Press ig6s
PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN
FROM PREFACE TO
FIRST EDITION
M uch lias been written during the last thirty years upon
the origins and early history of the Greek Drama. The con­
clusions reached by some of the writers appeared to me to
be so speculative and even incredible, that I began the
Studies, of which the results are summed up in this volume,
with the object of examining the evidence, and ascertaining
what conclusions it would really justify. The result has too
often been to show that no conclusions are possible, least of
all some of those which have been put forward ; and although
I hope that these Studies will be found to yield some positive
results, it must be admitted that they are in a measure
critical ; an unkind reader might describe them as
Proving false all written hitherto,
And putting us to ignorance again.
This, however, if faithfully done, may itself be a modest
service to scholarship. For the ingenuity and the imaginative
power which the writers, to whom I refer, possess in a far
higher degree than myself, I have the most sincere respect
and gratitude. I have learned from them more than I can
estimate. But I think it is one of the most important tasks of
scholarship at the present moment—at least in regard to
these subjects—to ascertain what can really be said to be
proved or probable, and to draw the line sharply between
history on the one hand, and attractive and interesting
speculation, not founded upon evidence, on the other. It is
with this end in view that these chapters have been written.
They do not profess to be literary essays, but simply a dis­
passionate attempt to ascertain historical truth or probability
by methods as logical as the subject permits. . . .
It is unfortunate that the authorities for the early history
of the Greek Drama and Choral Lyric are for the most part
late, and the information which they give very fragmentary.
VI PREFACE
Aristotle, acute as he is in the discovery of principles and the
logical classification of types, shows little interest in history,
apart from his services in connexion with the inscriptional
record. The work of his successors in the Peripatetic School,
and of the Alexandrian and Pergamene scholars, survives
almost entirely in the form of passing remarks, scholia, and
lexicographical notices in writers of much later date, in
which much nonsense is mixed with much that seems to be
sound. Nevertheless, the tradition which filtered into such
notices was, at least in part, the work of scholars of great
industry, ability, and discernment, and it is dangerous to
disregard definite statements made by scholiasts, lexico­
graphers, and writers on literary and social history (such as
Athenaeus), unless the supposed error can itself be accounted
for and good reason found for setting the disputed statement
aside. I have, so far as I was able, tried to test the strength of
each particular piece of evidence, as it came under discussion ;
and I have generally acted on the principle that statements
which combine to suggest a coherent and intrinsically
probable hypothesis, consistent with a fairly steady tradition,
may be provisionally accepted. . . .
A. W. P.-C.
PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION
W hen the stock of the first edition ran out, the Delegates
of the Clarendon Press invited me ‘to revise the book as
thoroughly as was necessary to bring it up to date while
keeping its basic structure and even actual words wherever
possible’. I have tried to keep to these terms. The main
problems, indeed, remain the same, but (i) the archaeo­
logical evidence has increased and can be more precisely
assessed than was possible thirty-five years ago; (2) the new
knowledge that Dionysus was a Mycenaean god gives a much
longer period of pre-history than was known before; (3) the
PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION vii
new Archilochus inscription must be considered in relation
to his dithyramb and may throw light on the relation of the
dithyramb to the Dionysus cult in Athens ; (4) the new dating
of Aeschylus’ Supplices invalidates it as evidence for an early
form of Greek tragedy; (5) the new fragments of Epicharmus
add considerably to our knowledge of that poet.1
I have marked my additions by inserting them in square
brackets. Otherwise I have altered the text as little as
possible except for certain major changes, which must be
explained here, and certain minor rewordings where hypo­
thetical views seemed to me to be stated more forcibly than
the evidence warranted. I have made the following major
changes, as distinct from additions : (1) the archaeological
evidence has been grouped together in a List of Monuments,
so that (a) it can be inspected for itself, and (b) its consider­
able bibliography has been removed from the text. (2) All
texts have been given in translation because I doubted the
value of forcing students to translate snippets of Greek, much
of which is late and inelegant. I also hope that the book will
thereby become more useful to the considerable number
of Greekless students who want to know the background of
Greek drama. I have, however, included the Greek texts of
a number of the relevant passages in an appendix, and the
reader is warned of this by ‘[App.]’ in the text. My criterion
has been twofold : only the more inaccessible authors were
considered for the appendix, and only those passages of them
where there might be some doubt as to the translation.
(3) I have omitted the sections on the dithyramb after the
fourth century b.c. because they had no relevance to the
early history of drama, and much of the material can be
found in a more up-to-date form in The Dramatic Festivals of
Athens. (4) I have omitted most of the detailed discussion of
Sir William Ridgeway’s theory, Professor Murray’s theory,
Dr. A. B. Cook’s theory, and Mr. Cornford’s theory. I thought
it was more useful to point out briefly the valuable elements
in these theories than to preserve the long refutations of
details.
Two excellent modern treatments of the origins of tragedy
1 Cf. Seria Philologica Aenipontana 7-8 (1961), 85.
viii PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION
and comedy are A. Lesky, Tragische Dichtung der Hellenen,
Göttingen, 1956, and H. Herter, Vom dionysischen Tanz zum
komischen Spiel, Iserlohn, 1947.1 Both discuss fully the modern
scholarship of the problem. I have therefore often referred
briefly to them and so avoided burdening the footnotes with
a full list of modern discussions. (Lesky5s treatment of both
tragedy and comedy will shortly be available in the English
edition of his history of Greek Literature.)
I have omitted several of the illustrations which seemed to
me to have little relevance and have thus been able to include
illustrations of newly discovered material of great importance.
I should like to acknowledge here my obligations to the
following for the new illustrations and permission to repro­
duce: Dr. D. von Bothmer ; Professor O. Broneer; Professor
K. Friis Johansen; Mr. A. Seeberg; Hellenic Society;
Delegates of the Oxford University Press ; Messrs. Methuen;
Fine Arts Museum, Boston; Metropolitan Museum, New
York (Fletcher Fund) ; National Museum, Copenhagen;
Nicholson Museum, Sydney; Antikensammlungen, Munich ;
Staatliche Museen, Berlin ; American School of Classical
Studies, Athens ; German Archaeological Institute, Athens;
Otago Museum, Dunedin, N.Z.; University of Canterbury,
Christchurch, N.Z.; Dr. P. Hommel.
I am also most grateful to Mr. D. M. Lewis for help with
the inscriptions, to Miss Margaret Cunningham for checking
many references and many useful suggestions, and to Mrs.
J. M. Argyle for compiling the Indexes. The Press Reader
has saved me from many errors.
T. B. L. W.
1 L. Breitholtz, Die Dorische Farce im Griechischen Mutterland, Göteborg, i960,
came out after my manuscript had gone to press. It is on the whole an ex­
cellent book with an admirable bibliography. Gf. my review in Gnomon 32
(i960), 452.
CONTENTS
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS page xi
I. THE DITHYRAMB i
I. The dithyramb and Dionysus *
ii. The name dithyrambos. The dithyramb and Phrygia 7
hi. From Archilochus to Pindar 9
IV. Pindar, Bacchylides, and others 20
V. Dithyramb at Athens 31
Vi. The later dithyramb 38
vii. Conclusion 58
II. THE ORIGINS OF GREEK TRAGEDY 60
I. The earliest-known Greek tragedy and its character 60
ii. Phrynichus, Pratinas, Choerilus 63
in. Thespis 69
IV. Aristotle on the Origin of Tragedy 89
V. Arion 97
vi. Sicyon and hero-drama 101
vii. Peloponnesian and Dorian tragedy 107
vili. Tragoidia, Tragoi, &c. 112
ix. ‘Nothing to do with Dionysus.’ 124
X. Gilbert Murray’s theory 126
xi. Summary 129
III. THE BEGINNINGS OF GREEK COMEDY
I. The Komos *32
ii. Dorian elements : Susarion 162
hi. Early Athenian comic poets 187
EXCURSUS: ON THE FORM OF THE OLD COMEDY 194
§ i. 194
§ 2. The parabasis 197
§ 3. The agdn 200
§ 4. The preparatory scenes 204
§ 5. The iambic scenes 207
X CONTENTS
§ 6. The exodos 211
§ 7. The Prologue or Introduction 212
Analysis of plays 213
IV. EPICHARMUS 230
i. Life, &c., of Epicharmus 230
ii. The spurious writings ascribed to Epicharmus 239
in. ‘Philosophical’ fragments 247
IV. The plays and fragments 255
V. The character of Epicharmus’ comedy 276
Vi. Phormus and Deinolochus 289
APPENDIX: GREEK TEXTS 291
LIST OF MONUMENTS 300
PLATES between pages 316 and 317
INDEXES 317
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
TEXT FIGURES
Fig. I. Satyr named Dithyramphos, Attic red-figure krater,
Copenhagen, Thorvaldsen Museum 97. (Welcker, Ant.
Denkm.) page 5
Fig. 2. Attic padded dancers, Attic cup, List of Monuments, No. 81
12. (Benndorf, Gr. und Sic. Vasenb.)
Fig. 3. Dionysus on ship-car, Attic skyphos, List of Monuments,
No. 7 (noted). (Bieber, Denkm.) 83
Fig. 4. Satyrs on ship carried by komasts, Clazomenian fragment,
List of Monuments, No. 82. (J.H.S., voi. lxxviii) 84
Fig. 5. Return of Hephaestus, Corinthian amphoriskos, List of
Monuments, No.· 38. (Payne, Necrocorinthia) 172
Fig. 6. Padded dancers and dolphin, Corinthian kylix, List of
Monuments, No. 43. (Baumeister, Denkm.) 172
PLATES
Between pages 316 and 317
(References are to List of Monuments)
I. (a) No. i. Old satyrs singing to the lyre at the Panathenaea. {Photo :
Metropolitan Museum)
{b) No. 4. Dithyrambic chorus at the Anthesteria. {Photo : National
Museum, Copenhagen)
II. {a) No. 7 (noted). Column with Dionysus mask, cakes, branches ;
flautist; maenad. {Photo: Nicholson Museum, Sydney)
{b) No. 9. Attic padded dancers ; hairy satyr and maenad. {Photo :
American School of Classical Studies)
III. No. 10. Attic padded dancers as men and women. {Photo : German
Archaeological Institute)
IV. No. 15. Phallus-pole ridden by fat-man; phallus-pole ridden by
hairy satyr. {Photo : Soperintendenza Antichità, Florence) V.
V. {a) No. 16. Dionysus with two maenads and two komasts. (Karou-
zou, Amasis Painter, pi. 246)
{b) No. 18. Eight padded dancers, three with female ‘masks’.
{Photo : Gabinetto fotografico nazionale)
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
VI. (a) No. 20. Young men dressed as maenads with flute-player.
(Photo: American School of Classical Studies)
(b) No. 21. Choruses of men in women’s clothing. (Photo : Allard
Pierson Stichting)
VII. No. 23. Chorus of mounted knights with flute-player. (Bieber,
Denkm.)
VIII. (a) No. 24. Chorus of men on stilts. (Photo : Canterbury Uni­
versity)
(b) No. 25. Chorus of men riding ostriches. (Photo : Boston, Fine
Arts Museum)
IX. (a) No. 26. Chorus of feathered men. (J.H.S., voi. ii)
(b) No. 27. Chorus of cocks. (J.H.S., voi. ii)
X. (a) No. 33c. Bearded squatting figure wearing hairy chiton and
boots. (Photo: P. Gathercole)
(b) No. 33d. Bearded phallic squatting figure with drinking
horn (?) in hand; two small figures dancing on either side
of phallus. (Photo : American School of Classical Studies)
(c) No. 46. Bearded figure wearing phallus. (Photo : A. Seeberg)
XI. No. 36. Corinthian padded dancers. (Photo : British Museum)
XII. (a) No. 59. Mask of old woman from Ortheia sanctuary, Sparta.
(Photo: British School at Athens)
(b) No. 69. Mask of Gorgon from Tiryns. (Photo : German
Archaeological Institute)
XIII. No. 85. Cast and chorus of satyr-play. (Furtwängler-Reichhold)
XIV. (a) No. 90. Satyr chorus man. (Photo : Antikensammlungen)
(b) No. 97. Satyr chorus man (terra-cotta statuette). (Photo :
American School of Classical Studies)
' XV. (a) No. 100. Chorus of Pans. (Photo: British Museum)
(b) No. 109. East Greek padded dancers. (Photo: P. Hommel)
XVI. No. xoi. Stone-throwers, Attic vase of mid-seventh century.
(Photo: Altes Museum, Berlin)
No. 107. Head between wild goats, sealing from Phaistos. (From
Mycenae to Homer, fig. 12)
No. 108. Women dancing, ring from Isopata, fifteenth cen­
tury B.c. (From Mycenae to Homer, fig. 13)