Choragic Monument of Lysicrates
The Choragic Monument of Lysicrates near the Acropolis of Athens was erected by the choregos Lysicrates, a wealthy patron of musical performances in the Theater of Dionysus, to commemorate the prize in the dithyramb contest of the City Dionysia in 335/334 BCE, of which performance he was liturgist.
The Choragic Monument
The frieze
Original Corinthian capital from the monument, 335 BC.
View of 1900
In the theatre of ancient Greece, the choregos was a wealthy Athenian citizen who assumed the public duty, or choregiai, of financing the preparation for the chorus and other aspects of dramatic production that were not paid for by the government of the polis or city-state. Modern Anglicized forms of the word include choragus and choregus, with the accepted plurals being the Latin forms choregi and choragi. In Modern Greek, the word χορηγός is synonymous with the word "grantor".
Relief of seated Dionysus and satyr; inscription beneath is a decree by the deme Aixone honoring the choregoi Auteas and Philoxenides (313–312 BC)
Choragic Monument of Lysicrates near the Acropolis in Athens, Greece