This chapter is concerned with the changes in choral performance between the archaic world and that of classical Athens. It notes the paradox that whereas democracy brought with it a widening in the social background of choric performers, the chorus itself became increasingly associated with Dionysus. Such exclusivity seems to be at odds with traditional Greek polytheism and the system whereby each god is worshipped individually. Plato's Laws — a fundamental text for our understanding of the relationship between mousike, religion, and society — offers an image of a world in which different gods were worshipped with different types of choral practice. But it does not reflect the reality of contemporary Athens. We are left with a curious contradiction: Dionysus is the democratic god whose worship is open to all, but the Athenian democratic polis dances only for Dionysus.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.