16/04/17, 16)27 The Tragic Chorus - Classics - Oxford Bibliographies Pagina 1 di 54 http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780195…661/obo-9780195389661-0225.xml?rskey=9hiAHB&result=516&print The Tragic Chorus Luigi Battezzato, Marco Catrambone LAST MODIFIED: 26 MAY 2016 DOI: 10.1093/OBO/9780195389661-0225 Introduction The chorus was a standard feature of Greek tragedy (see Choral Interactions and the Structure of Tragedy). Aristotle argued that tragedy originated from Dithyramb (see the Tragic Chorus in Ancient Literary and Philosophical Theory, and Dithyramb), and this may explain its pervasive presence, but tragic authors make the chorus allude to and perform in several other lyric genres (see Relation to Lyric Genres). Recent research on the tragic chorus has focused on performance (see Music, and Dance) and on the social interpretation both of choruses within the play (see Choral Identity) and of the chorus in social life (see Political and Ritual Dimensions, and Performance, Competition, and the Dramatic Festivals). Most of the choral sections were sung (“lyric sections”); they were written in meters that were sharply different from those of recited speech, and much more complex (see Lyric Meters). The language of sung sections was also distinctive (see Style). Choral sections are especially long and complex in Aeschylus (see especially Agamemnon), but their role is equally crucial for the interpretation of the plays of Sophocles and Euripides (see e.g., Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex and Antigone; Euripides’ Medea, Trojan Women, and Bacchae). The chorus virtually disappeared from 4th-century tragedy, except for short interludes, but in the only extant 4th-century tragedy, the Rhesus attributed to Euripides (see Pseudo-Euripides, Rhesus), the chorus still has a crucial part in the plot. Choral Identity The tragic chorus is a complex cultural and literary phenomenon, one that has been investigated from different, and at times conflicting, perspectives. Battezzato 2005 offers a general survey of the various forms of choral interactions and of ancient and modern interpretations. Each of the major critical approaches pursued in the study of the tragic chorus has given a fundamental, although diverse, contribution to its broader understanding. A necessary starting point is the consideration that choral groups assume different intra-dramatic identities according to the specific plots in which they partake. A similar attention to the choral intra- dramatic identity has provided a strong corrective against those interpreters who make too straightforward identifications between the tragic chorus and the civic collectivity. Arguing against such “politicizing” views of the tragic chorus (see Political and Ritual Dimensions), Gould 1996 convincingly maintains that tragic choruses quite often embody social groups that were perceived as marginal within Athenian 5th-century society. In the course of very fine and well-balanced discussions, Mastronarde 1998 and Mastronarde 1999 demonstrate that choruses suffer from various and important limitations in knowledge and authority. Mastronarde 1998, Mastronarde 1999, and Foley 2003 provide invaluable statistics and classifications concerning the wide range of choral identities deployed by the three tragedians in their extant (and lost) works, successfully showing that the choice of an appropriate identity for the chorus in a given play can significantly contribute to its dramatic effectiveness, and would also have contributed to its success in the tragic competition. Building on these conceptualizations of choral identity, Dhuga 2011 discusses the choruses of elders in the extant tragedies, questioning Gould’s view that old age automatically implies political marginality. Rosenmeyer 1993 warns against excessive emphasis on choral personality and consistency, as well as against viewing choruses as the playwright’s mouthpiece.