The Athenian Institution of the Khoregia: The Chorus, the City and the Stage

by Peter Wilson

This book is the first major study of the means by which the classical Athenians organised and funded their many festival choruses. It explores the mechanics of the institution by which a minority of rich citizens were required to arrange and pay for a festival chorus, including choruses for tragic and comic drama, and situates this duty within the range of occasions for elite leadership in Athens' elaborate festival calendar. Peter Wilson goes on to show the importance of the khoregia to our understanding of the workings of Athenian democracy itself, and to demonstrate the degree to which the institution was itself a highly performative occasion, an opportunity for elite display in the democratic environment. The post-classical history of the khoregia and its appearance in a wide range of other Greek communities are also examined.

452 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2000

Reviews

[Phillip · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting study of how the Athenians funded their public theatrical/dithyrambic choruses via private expenditures by the wealthy. Apparently Wilson is the first person to study the practice in depth, and he looks at the tense relationship between the democratic aspirations of Athens and the central role of the elite khoregia--those wealthy citizens selected to recruit, equip, train, prepare, and support the khoros in a tragic, comic, or dithyrambic performance. In principle, these elites were all supposed to be good democrats who willingly contributed their money for the good of the polis, but in reality they got huge amounts of social capital in return for service as a khoregos, especially when their khoros won. At the same time, Athenian democracy was always rather unstable, and there were periodic attempts by aristocrats to abolish the democracy in favor of either an oligarchy or a tyranny, and some of the elites saw the khoregia system as a means for the demos to sap the money of the wealthy.

This tension is at the heart of Wilson's book, though he also explores the practical elements of the khoregia, including how they recruited, trained, and kept their khoros members, how they were selected, the role of agonistic Greek culture in shaping the khoregia, and how service as a khoregos could benefit a wealthy citizen.