Dithyrambos
The dithyrambos (Greek διθύραμβος dithýrambos ; Latinized dithyrambus ; plural dithyrambs ) is a genre of ancient Greek choral poetry , a hymn in honor of the god Dionysus , performed in the context of the Dionysia in alternating chant between choir and cantor.
Like the Dionysus cult itself, the Dithyrambos could also have been of non-Greek origin. In its original form it is said to have been an informal cult cry consisting of a simple shout to Dionysus, possibly also to Dionysus Lysios, the “looser”.
In Greece it is first found at Archilochus in the 7th century BC. BC testifies that Arion of Lesbos is considered to have completed the dithyrambus . Possibly developed in the 6th century BC. From the Dithyrambos the Greek tragedy . Even after its creation the dithyramb continued to exist. For example, the performances of the tragedies (and comedies) during the Dionysia in Athens were preceded by a separate competition between the city's dithyrambic choirs. This genus of poetry reached a climax with Pindar and Bakchylides .
The metaphorical meaning of the word "dithyrambic" in the sense of "enthusiastic, wildly enthusiastic" is derived from the passionately excited, stormy, ecstatic hymns of praise to Dionysus (god of ecstasy , wine , transformation).
Modern replicas of the dithyramb do without choir and scenic elements, they are characterized by the enthusiastic tone, a free use of the meter and the use of dark language and metaphor . Examples can be found in French poetry with Pierre de Ronsard , Jean-Antoine de Baïf and Jacques Delille and in England with John Dryden ( Alexander's Feast ).
In German poetry, dithyramb poetry begins with Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock . From his poem An die Freunde (1747) the first two stanzas as an example:
How boldly Hebe, and youthfully impetuous,
As with the golden quiver of Laton's son,
Immortal, I sing my friends,
Celebrating in mighty dithyrambs.
Do you want to become stanzas,
oh song, or unobtrusively like Pindar's chants,
Like Zeus exalted drunken sons,
tumbling freely out of the creative soul?
Johann Gottfried Herder dealt theoretically with the form and also wrote dithyrambs himself.
Some hymns by the young Goethe are considered to be the highlight of German dithyrambic poetry , including above all Wanderer's Sturmlied from 1771, which Goethe himself classified as dithyrambic in poetry and truth . He writes about its creation:
“On the way I sang strange hymns and dithyrambs, of which one is left under the title“ Wanderer's Storm Song ”. I sang this half-nonsense passionately to myself because terrible weather hit me on the way, which I had to go towards. "
As an example of the rushed rhythm typical of the form, the shortened verse and the enthusiastically elevated speech the ninth stanza:
Sore! Sore! Inner warmth,
soul warmth,
focus!
Glow against
Phöb Apollen;
Otherwise
his prince's
gaze will glide
over you
coldly , envious. Linger
on the cedar strength,
which
does not wait to be green .
Further examples of modern dithyramb poetry can be found in Friedrich Schiller , Johann Gottlieb Willamov , painter Müller and Johann Heinrich Voss . Some of Hölderlin's hymns can also be considered dithyrambic , although Hölderlin did not use the term "dithyrambus".
Finally, the Dionysus dithyrambs by Friedrich Nietzsche , who sees the language of the superman in the dithyramb, which he called himself the “inventor” , are very well known . They are the last work he has intended for printing. Three of the nine songs had already appeared in the fourth book of Also Spoke Zarathustra .
An example of the survival of the generic term in the modern age is the collection Dithyramben by Yvan Goll , published in 1918 .
literature
- Armand D'Angour: How the Dithyramb Got Its Shape. In: The Classical Quarterly Vol. 47, No. 2 (1997), pp. 331-351.
- Dieter Burdorf, Christoph Fasbender, Burkhard Moennighoff (Hrsg.): Metzler Lexicon literature. Terms and definitions. 3. Edition. Metzler, Stuttgart 2007, ISBN 978-3-476-01612-6 , p. 162.
- Francesca Fantoni: German dithyrambs. History of a genre in the 18th and 19th centuries. Königshausen & Neumann, Würzburg 2009.
- Otto Knörrich: Lexicon of lyrical forms (= Kröner's pocket edition . Volume 479). 2nd, revised edition. Kröner, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-520-47902-8 , pp. 44 f ..
- Jürgen Leonhardt : Phalloslied and Dithyrambos: Aristotle on the origin of the Greek drama. Winter, Heidelberg 1991, ISBN 3-533-04353-3 .
- WH Race: Dithyramb. In: Roland Greene, Stephen Cushman et al. (Ed.): The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics. 4th edition. Princeton University Press, Princeton 2012, ISBN 978-0-691-13334-8 , p. 370 f ( limited preview in Google book search).
- Helmut Schönewolf: The Jungattian dithyrambos: essence, effect, counteraction. Dissertation Giessen 1938.
- Arthur Wallace Pickard-Cambridge: Dithyramb, tragedy and comedy. Clarendon Press, Oxford 1927, 2nd A. 1970.
- Gero von Wilpert : Subject dictionary of literature. 8th edition. Kröner, Stuttgart 2013, ISBN 978-3-520-84601-3 , p. 180 f.
- Bernhard Zimmermann : Dithyrambos. History of a genus. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1992, ISBN 978-3-525-25197-3 .
- Bernhard Zimmermann: Dithyrambos. In: The New Pauly (DNP). Volume 3, Metzler, Stuttgart 1997, ISBN 3-476-01473-8 , Sp. 699-701.
Individual evidence
- ^ Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock: Selected works. Munich 1962, p. 12
- ^ Johann Gottfried Herder: Pindar and the dithyram singer. In: About the newer German literature. Two collection of fragments. A supplement to the letters on the latest literature. Hartknoch, Riga 1767, pp. 298–338, digitized .
- ↑ Johann Wolfgang Goethe: From my life. Poetry and truth. 12th book. In: Goethe's works. Hamburg edition in 14 volumes. Volume 10, Hamburg 1948 ff., P. 520 .
- ^ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: Wanderer's storm song. In: Berlin edition. Poetic works. Volume 1, Berlin 1960 ff., P. 321 .
- ↑ Knörrich: Lexicon of lyrical forms. 2nd edition 2005, p. 46.