Showing papers by "Peter H. Wilson published in 2009"

Tragic honours and democracy : neglected evidence for the politics of the athenian dionysia

Abstract: Over the course of the last decade there has been much discussion, some of it in the pages of this journal, on the nature of the relationship, if any, between tragedy and democracy; and in particular, on the question of whether the Athenian City Dionysia should rightly be described as a ‘festival of the democratic polis’. The latter is a phrase used by Simon Goldhill in his article of 1987 – ‘The Great Dionysia and civic ideology’, which rapidly became a highly influential articulation of the position that Athens’ premier dramatic festival, viewed in the round as the ensemble of its framing ceremonies and the plays performed in contest at it, reflects or indeed enacts some of the defining preoccupations and practices of the democratic city.1 It is also a phrase – and an idea – which much recent criticism has sought to undermine.2 Fortunately, the fundamental questions at stake in this debate are rich enough to sustain not only a decade of productive disagreement – on top of the twenty-odd years of historicizing approaches to Greek drama that led up to it – but also, it is clear, further contributions.3 Given the length of the debate, measured in years and pages, the suggestion that there are significant items of evidence not yet considered in it may however come as a surprise. Less surprising, given that the relevant documents are fragmentary inscriptions, a variety of evidence of which many literary students of drama are often very wary, if not simply ignorant. It is the purpose of this paper to introduce this material to the debate about the politics of the classical Dionysia. And it is hoped that this may more generally encourage a better integration of the full range of epigraphic evidence into mainstream studies of Greek drama. 8

Timotheus the New Musician

Abstract: Timotheus was born in Miletus about 450 and died about 360 BCE. His professional activity can be traced from about 415 BCE into the fourth century. Timotheus is said to have written nineteen kitharodic nomoi , eighteen dithyrambs, twenty-one hymns, an unknown number of enkomia , thirty-six preludes ( prooimia ) 'and some other pieces'. Of the kitharodic nomoi there survive: about a third of the Persians ; a single line of Artemis (unless this is a hymn), and nothing more than the titles of Nauplius and Niobe . Certainly dithyrambs and known by title only are Mad Ajax, Elpenor, Birthpangs of Semele and Skylla . Possibly dithyrambic is Cyclops , of which six lines survive. We also know the titles Laertes and Sons of Phineus , both of unknown genre. Though little verse and no music remains, there is plentiful evidence to show how the ancients reacted to Timotheus. From antiquity to modernity these reactions have been extreme. Indeed the history of Timotheus is the story of his reception - and at the heart of the story is the controversial 'New Music'. Timotheus' activity spans the most volatile and most creative period in the history of Greek music. He overlaps with other innovators, conspicuous for their efforts to develop the musical potential of song: Melanippides ( c. 475–415 BCE), Euripides ( c. 480–406 bce ), Phrynis ( c. 460–400 bce ), Agathon ( c. 450–399 bce ), Cinesias ( c. 450–390 bce ), Telestes ( c. 450–390 bce ), Crexus ( c. 440–380 bce ) and Philoxenus ( c. 435–380 bce ). Of all these poets the ancients considered Timotheus the most innovative. He soon came to symbolise the innovations of New Music generally.