Il prosodio tra cerimonie religiose, agoni musicali, rappresentazioni teatrali

This paper concerns the prosodion. A series of grammatical, scholiographic, lexicographic, epigraphic and literary evidence permits the gathering of some characteristics regarding structures, subjects, performing manners and the different contexts: the religious one, where the prosodion competition was often out- standing, and the literary one, where the prosodion crosses with other lyric genres and shares metrical-rhythmic patterns and themes. It is possible however to detect the processional feature of the prosodion as its main specificity, as it is shown either by grammatical and lexicographic evidence or by the transposition of the song on the theatrical stage. On this point, a rereading of the parodos of Aristophnes’ Frogs is proposed, to emphasize mimetic or parodic features of the prosodiac parts, their relation with the context and their drammaturgic function.