| This dissertation proposes a new view of the early history of Greek choral lyric, using as its chief resource choral lyric language in all of its aspects, historical, sociological, and ideological (i.e. what it has been thought to represent and why). My principal aim is to dislodge the Dorian element from the writing of the history of choral lyric and restore, on comparative and indigenous evidence, what I show to be a powerful determinant in the nature and development of the language: the traits of ritual speech.;Chapter One is a statement of the problem in historical perspective. I trace the inheritance of the Dorian designation of choral lyric in classical scholarship from ancient to modern times and consider some scholars who have dissented from it.;Chapter Two turns from the views of scholars to poets. Myths about the origins of choral performance are studied. It is concluded that there is no justification, at this level of analysis, for attributing the foundation of choral lyric to the Dorians.;Chapter Three takes advantage of the new liberation from the Dorian model for the origin of choral lyric to return to the question of dialect in the early corpus of choral song. The language of choral lyric is not characterized by the Doric dialect, but by pervasive archaizing and artificiality. Ancient views on language are discussed for support.;Chapter Four addresses the question, If the language of choral lyric is not Doric, what is its nature? Steps towards a theory of poetic language are taken. I give cogent reasons for identifying its distinctive features with the typologically consistent features of ritual speech.;Chapter Five consists of a brief recapitulation of the argument, followed by closing remarks. In these I return to the historiographical concerns of the opening chapter. I consider the origin of the Dorian designation of choral lyric as well as the theme of poets' travel in ancient lives and what it has to do with poetic language. I close with some thoughts on the relationship between poetic and natural language. |
