Dithyrambus

Dithyrambus, originally a surname of Dionysus, of uncertain derivation and meaning, was subsequently applied to a species of lyric poetry cultivated more particularly at Athens, and characterised by loftiness and vehemence of style, which, however, at a later period, degenerated into bombast and extravagance. The Dithyrambus was originally a passionate hymn, sung by one or more revellers to the music of a flute; but Arion is said to have invented for it a regular choral or antistrophic form. He is also spoken of as the inventor of the tragic style, as having introduced among lyrics of a more festive and joyous character, gloomy dithyrambs, representing the sorrows of Dionysus. Lasus of Hermione freed the dithyramb from its antistrophic character; and thenceforward it became more and more mimetic and dramatic. It was out of the mournful dithyrambic songs that the stately and solemn tragedy of the ancient Greeks arose. But few fragments of the dithyrambic poetry survive.