A kind of lyric poetry in honor of Bacchus, usually sung by a band of revelers to a flute accompaniment; hence, in general, a poem written in a wild irregular strain.
a song sung by a chorus in honor of Dionysus; there were dithyramb competitions held at the Rural and City Dionysia.
A Greek religious rite in which a chorus of fifty men, dressed in goatskins, chanted and danced; the precursor, according to Aristotle, of Greek tragedy.
(ancient Greece) a passionate hymn (usually in honor of Dionysus)
In classical poetry, a type of melic verse associated with drunken revelry and performed to honor of Dionysus (Bacchus), the Greek god of wine, and ecstasy. In modern usage, the term has come to mean a poem of impassioned frenzy and irregular character. Sidelight: John Dryden's " Alexander's Feast," bears a resemblance to the dithyrambic form.
Greek lyric poem (possibly invented by Arion) sung in honour of the God Bacchus. Alexander's Feast by John Dryden is a more recent example.
The dithyramb was originally an ancient Greek hymn sung to the god Dionysus. Its wild and ecstatic character was often contrasted with that of the paean: just as Paean was both a hymn to and a title of Apollo, Dithyrambos was also a title of Dionysus as well as a song in his honor. According to Aristotle, the dithyramb was the origin of the Ancient Greek theatre.
