RHAPSODIST

Greek Rhapsoidos, plural Rhapsoidoi, any of the dramatic reciters of ancient Greece, dating from the 6th century BC. In the oral epic tradition, rhapsodists were preceded by Homeric singers (aoidoi) of their own epic songs and, like them, were musically accompanied on the lyre and aulos. To heighten dramatic effect, rhapsodists used a staff for symbolic gesturing. Their intonation of poetry probably involved a simple chant rather than a recognizable tune. Rhapsodists recited Homeric poems, but Plato implies in the Ion that their repertory may have included works by Hesiod and Archilochus. Rhapsodists became a chief feature of the annual Panathenaea festival in Athens. By the 3rd century BC they were incorporated with actors in the union of the Dionysiac artists. The Homerids (q.v.), who perpetuated Homer's works, were at one period rhapsodists.