The Hidden Chorus : Echoes of Genre in Tragic Lyric

The Hidden Chorus investigates the relationship between the chorus of Greek tragedy and other types of choral song in Greek society. Choruses performed on a range of occasions in Greek culture, ranging from private weddings and funerals to large-scale religious festivals, yet the relationship between these everyday or 'ritual' choruses and the choruses of tragedy has never been systematically examined. L. A. Swift discusses choruses from five ritual genres: paian (religious songs of celebration or healing), epinikion (songs for athletic victors), partheneia (songs for the transitions of young girls), hymenaios (wedding song), and thrênos (funerary song), and explores how these choral forms are evoked in tragedy. By examining the relationship between tragic and non-tragic choral song, she not only provides new insights into individual plays, but also enriches our understanding of the role poetry and song played in Greek life. Contents......Page 10 Abbreviations, Texts used, and Other Conventions......Page 12 Introduction......Page 16 What is the purpose of defining lyric genres?......Page 21 Problems with lyric genres: a brief overview......Page 23 Platonic Forms or Wittgensteinian families: how to approach lyric genres......Page 26 Slippery names and genre inequality: choosing what counts as a genre......Page 32 Dithyrambos: a special case......Page 37 How to think about genres in tragedy......Page 41 2. LYRIC POETRY IN AN ATHENIAN CONTEXT......Page 50 Exposure to choruses......Page 51 Lyric poetry in Athens......Page 54 Attitudes to elite material in Athens......Page 58 Tragedy and democracy......Page 70 The genre......Page 76 Paian in tragedy......Page 85 Oedipus Tyrannus......Page 89 Ion......Page 105 The genre......Page 119 Epinikion and Athens......Page 121 Epinikion in tragedy......Page 133 Heracles......Page 136 Euripides’ Electra......Page 171 The genre......Page 188 Athenian partheneia......Page 201 Partheneia in tragedy......Page 204 Iphigeneia among the Taurians......Page 212 Helen......Page 233 The genre......Page 256 Hymenaios and partheneia......Page 264 Hymenaios in tragedy......Page 265 The mixed chorus......Page 270 Hippolytus......Page 277 Aeschylus’ Suppliant Women......Page 294 7. THRENOS AND RITUAL LAMENT......Page 313 The genre......Page 314 Conventions of lamentation......Page 319 Funeral legislation......Page 332 Lament in tragedy......Page 337 Persians......Page 341 Sophocles’ Electra......Page 351 Alcestis......Page 365 Techniques of generic interaction......Page 382 Functions of generic interaction......Page 386 What can we learn from generic interaction?......Page 389 Appendix: References to genres and related imagery in tragedy......Page 392 Bibliography......Page 426 Index Locorum......Page 454 F......Page 463 L......Page 464 T......Page 465 W......Page 466