CHORAL IDENTITY tragic poets, as well as a prize for the choregos, and a prize to first actors. Yet, as Wilson emphasizes, from an institutional perspective drama was above all a choral performance At the City Dionysia a wealthy citizen named the choregos was chosen by the state to finance choral training and equipment for each set of trage- dies. He also selected choral trainers, financed costumes, extras, and props, paid choral salaries, fed and sometimes housed the chorus for the six-month rehearsal period, and celebrated choral victories with a feast. o(Similar procedures occurred at other theater festivals such as the Lenaia or at deme performances, but I shall leave them aside here. Tragic victories were pres- tigious and could often pave the way for a successful political career wealthy young men often undertook them for this reason. The failure to train and support a successful chorus in style could be socially humiliat ing. 2 We are told in an anecdote about Alcibiades([Andoc ]4.21)that judges for the theatrical contests could be influenced by the identity of the choregos. For reasons to be shown below, I would argue that the judges for the tragic contests were very likely concentrating far more than we might think on choral performance, and that dramatic victories might often have been awarded as much or more for the choral performance and dramatic pentacle as for the content/plot of the plays themselves, especially given the larger context of the festival, where dithyrambic (and comic) choruses played such a central role Prizes were awarded not to plays but to whole productions, and although oet and choregos won their own separate prizes, one decision by the judges determined the success of both together. We know that poets wishing to perform their tragedies asked the archon basileus for a chorus. At Laws 817d, Plato suggests that poets demonstrated songs(oidas) to the Archon to get selected. Athenaeus (22a) reports that the early dramatic poets Thespis Pratinas, Cratinus, and Phrynichus even"relied on the dancing of the chorus for interpretation of their plays. "15 According to late sources the judges from the ten tribes swore an oath"to give victory to the one who sang well. Unlike tragedy, which does not comment on the conditions of its produc n, comedy addresses the ce of the chorus to dramatic victory rectly. At Aristophanes Clouds 1115-16 the chorus promises the judges that hey will receive benefits"if they help this chorus"that is, not the play but 9. Wilson 2000, esp. 6: see also the earlier views of Bacon 1994-95, esp. 6 and 11. Official tragic victory lists include the goi, but victory monuments(erected by the ch m21224431M的缸mh( but they seem to have consisted largely of costumes and masks and celebratory pinakes(tablets ), aspects ved ( Csapo and Slater 142 and Plut De glor. Ath. 348d-49b). Lysias 7 and 21 stress the political credibility that supposed to win from citizens in court cases. 12. Wison 200.139, 146: c sapo and Slater 1995, 1351: and Eupolis, PCG frag. 329 and Plut. Phoc. 19.2-3 14. Cratinus, The Cowherd, PCG frag. 17: Pl. Leg. 817d( Csapo and Slater 1995, 108-9). B. Gulick, Loeb edition(1927) 16. Wilson 2000, P. 99 and n. 229 This content downloaded from 145.97 173 155 on Wed. 01 Feb 2017 10: 50- 30 UT Allusesubjecttohttp://aboutjstor.org/termsChoral Identity 3 tragic poets, as well as a prize for the choregos, and a prize to first actors. Yet, as Wilson emphasizes, from an institutional perspective drama was above all a choral performance.9 At the City Dionysia a wealthy citizen named the choregos was chosen by the state to finance choral training and equipment for each set of trage￾dies. He also selected choral trainers, financed costumes, extras, and props, paid choral salaries, fed and sometimes housed the chorus for the six-month rehearsal period, and celebrated choral victories with a feast.10 (Similar procedures occurred at other theater festivals such as the Lenaia or at deme performances, but I shall leave them aside here.) Tragic victories were pres￾tigious and could often pave the way for a successful political career; wealthy young men often undertook them for this reason.11 The failure to train and support a successful chorus in style could be socially humiliat￾ing.12 We are told in an anecdote about Alcibiades ([Andoc.] 4.21) that judges for the theatrical contests could be influenced by the identity of the choregos. For reasons to be shown below, I would argue that the judges for the tragic contests were very likely concentrating far more than we might think on choral performance, and that dramatic victories might often have been awarded as much or more for the choral performance and dramatic spectacle as for the content/plot of the plays themselves, especially given the larger context of the festival, where dithyrambic (and comic) choruses played such a central role. Prizes were awarded not to plays but to whole productions, and although poet and choregos won their own separate prizes, one decision by the judges determined the success of both together.13 We know that poets wishing to perform their tragedies asked the archon basileus for a chorus. 14 At Laws 817d, Plato suggests that poets demonstrated songs (oidas) to the Archon to get selected. Athenaeus (22a) reports that the early dramatic poets Thespis, Pratinas, Cratinus, and Phrynichus even “relied on the dancing of the chorus for interpretation of their plays.”15 According to late sources the judges from the ten tribes swore an oath “to give victory to the one who sang well.”16 Unlike tragedy, which does not comment on the conditions of its produc￾tion, comedy addresses the importance of the chorus to dramatic victory di￾rectly. At Aristophanes Clouds 1115–16 the chorus promises the judges that they will receive benefits “if they help this chorus”—that is, not the play but 9. Wilson 2000, esp. 6; see also the earlier views of Bacon 1994–95, esp. 6 and 11. Official tragic victory lists include the names of both poets and choregoi, but victory monuments (erected by the choregos) could delete the former and include names of chorus members. Few dedications for tragic victories have been found, but they seem to have consisted largely of costumes and masks and celebratory pinakes (tablets), aspects of the production largely or perhaps even exclusively financed by the choregos (Csapo and Slater 1995, 141; and Wilson 2000, 216, 236, 244–48, 251). Most dedications, perhaps significantly, were found in the local demes. 10. Csapo and Slater 1995, 297; and Wilson 2000, 85–94. Both stress the extraordinary expense involved (Csapo and Slater 142 and Plut. De glor. Ath. 348d–49b). Lysias 7 and 21 stress the political credibility that a record of liturgies was supposed to win from citizens in court cases. 11. Arist. Pol. 1321a31–42; Wilson 2000, 4, 24, 98, and 113. 12. Wilson 2000, 139, 146; Csapo and Slater 1995, 151; and Eupolis, PCG frag. 329 and Plut. Phoc. 19.2–3. 13. Csapo and Slater 1995, 157. 14. Cratinus, The Cowherd, PCG frag. 17; Pl. Leg. 817d (Csapo and Slater 1995, 108–9). 15. Trans. W. B. Gulick, Loeb edition (1927). 16. Wilson 2000, p. 99 and n. 229. This content downloaded from 145.97.173.155 on Wed, 01 Feb 2017 10:50:30 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms