Choregoi for choruses of boys were required by Athenian law to be over forty years old to protect the young participants. Composed of similarly costumed men, they performed on the dancing floor (orchestra), located beneath or in front of the stage. New Comedy, almost a century later, is represented by Menander. Choral training was the responsibility of a chorêgos, selected by an archon, one of the top officials in Athens. Instead, the Greek play actor would use huge tragic masks to roughly depict the emotions, state of mind and motivations behind his character. Although such large theatres had impressive acoustics, the actors needed good vocal projection to perform well behind their masks. [18], Choregoi were an example of a larger tradition of cosmopolitanism, defined by an interest in benefiting others, that dominated many aspects of urban life for the wealthy in ancient Greece and which has been linked to Western philanthropy. The Birth of Tragedy. [17] Ruins of a choragic monument to Nicias from the 5th-century BC were discovered in Athens in 1852. In this way, the stasimon is like darkening the theater or drawing the curtains between acts. Greek And Modern Theatre In Oedipus Rex By Sophocles 970 Words | 4 Pages.
Nietzsche, Friedrich. [7], Choregoi were responsible for supporting many aspects of theatre production in ancient Athens: paying for costumes, rehearsals, the chorus, scenery or scene painting (including such items as mechane and ekkyklema), props (including elaborate masks), special effects, such as sound, and musicians, except that the state provided the flute player and paid the actors not in the chorus. Performances were part of an estimated five-day religious festival in honor of Dionysus. In this way, the stasimon is like darkening the theater or drawing the curtains between acts.
He is the last and primary Old Comedy writer whose works survive. The Function of Chorus in Greek Drama. Kitto, H. D. F. Greek Tragedy: A Literary Study. Service as a choregos, though an honor, was a duty for wealthy citizens and was part of the liturgical system designed to improve the city-state's economic stability through the use of private wealth to fund public good.
Modern Interpretations of Greek Chorus. Old Comedy tended to examine political and allegorical topics, while New Comedy looked at personal and domestic themes. [10] According to the Oxford Dictionary of the Classical World: "The sums spent on choregiai show that the duty could elicit vast expenditure. In the theatre of ancient Greece, the chorêgos (pl. These monuments, which have become an important source of scholarly knowledge about the choregoi, were the final step in the victory celebration, which also involved a parade and a feast. These primal forces would be at the command of the playwright through the choice of character and composition of the chorus. [6] The archon, who began this process months in advance of a festival, were able easily to identify potential dramatic choregoi because their mutual wealth allowed them to move in the same social circles as the most qualified candidates. Although the historical origins of Greek drama are unclear it may be said it had relevance to religion, art and to the love of expression and perceptive storytelling in general. [10], The choregos did not act as the director for the production; this role was fulfilled by the playwright.
The thing I most took away from this show was the differences and similarities in theatre between when it was written, circa 441 b.c.e, and now. You are all going to perform as a Greek chorus. Sophocles. The chorus was the central feature of Greek drama. Performances were religious, political, and always competitive. Several notable political figures served as choregoi, including Themistocles, Pericles and Plato, among others. Under the Athenian constitution, choregoi were appointed by the archon and the tribes of Athenian citizens. chorêgoi; Greek: χορηγός, Greek etymology: χορός "chorus" + ἡγεῖσθαι "to lead")[n 1] 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. Firstly, according to a view accepted by many scholars, the chorus would provide commentary on actions and events that were taking place before the audience. Secondly, the chorus would allow the playwright to create a kind of literary complexity only achievable by a literary device controlling the atmosphere and expectations of the audience. Those tragedies unfortunately have not survived. At the turn of the 17th century AD, in an attempt to recreate the ancient Greek dramatic tradition, the position was revived briefly in Italian opera, and combined the roles of impresario and director. There were rarely more than a chorus and three actors, regardless of how many roles were played. They enter during the first choral song (parodos) from two entrance ramps (parodoi) on either side of the orchestra, and remain for the entire performance, observing and commenting on the action. New York: Routledge Press, 1990. Thespis, credited with the first speaking role, won that first competition.
N.S.
New York: Forgotten Books, 2007. STEP 6: Instruction/Group Practice. In order to be considered for the role of choregos, an individual had to be an Athenian citizen and possess great wealth.
Theatrical performances were outdoors, often on hillsides, and featured men in the roles of women and actors wearing masks and costumes. More importantly though, the chorus could have represented the prevalent views of the contemporary society holding up certain moral and cultural standards – much like the media does for modern people throughout their daily lives. Choregoi paid for costumes, rehearsals, expenses of the chorus (including training, salaries, board and lodging), scenery, props (including elaborate masks), special effects and most of the musicians. Violence usually occurred offstage, too.
Aristotle. A chorus in a classical Greek play typically serving to formulate, express, and comment on the moral issue that is raised by the dramatic action or to express an emotion appropriate to each stage of the dramatic conflict. Hence the chorus would create interest by presenting an alternative or additional viewpoint. Apr 10, 2017 - Explore Donna Seage's board "Greek chorus", followed by 305 people on Pinterest. Instead we should be looking into this: How can we best carry out the god’s decree?” (Sophocles 485). The Dramas of Sophocles. See more ideas about Greek chorus, Teaching theatre, Greek. [3] Such victories carried prestige for the choregos. Scholars debate the origins of Greek drama, but perhaps it developed from religious ritual worship by a chorus of singing and dancing men—possibly dressed as horses—connected with the festive vegetation god, Dionysus.
Moreover, and perhaps partly for practical reasons (for it may have been difficult to see the characters from afar because of the relatively large size of the theatre) the chorus would emphasize certain elements of the story through the use of attributes such as masks and weapons.
One extremely enthusiastic choregos catalogues a list which represents an outlay of nearly two and a half talents. Playing multiple roles, a hypokrites wore masks because the theaters were so capacious that the back rows couldn't read their facial expressions. [16] In 365 BC, Plato, a rare exception to the qualification of wealth, served as choregos for a boys chorus supported by the patronage of Dionysius II of Syracuse.
[14], The prizes for drama at the Dionysia were awarded jointly to the playwright and the choregos. [9] At the City Dionysia in Athens, for example, the choregos was expected to finance all aspects relating to the chorus, which could include training, the hiring of an expert to execute such training, salaries, and board and lodging during a lengthy rehearsal period. "[13] The reorganization of the choregia in 406 BC spread the cost among the wider community – the synchoregia – with the choregos paying only part of the expense. The playwright also appeared in the production and acted as the, "Philanthropy – Ancient Mediterranean Examples", The British Museum’s Exploration of Ancient Greek Theatre, The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Review of Theatre in Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek Dramatic Festivals and Competitions, "Defence against a Charge of Taking Bribes", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Choregos&oldid=921905567, Wikipedia articles incorporating a citation from the 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica with Wikisource reference, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 18 October 2019, at 17:35. Poetics. Nietzsche goes to the extreme of suggesting that the “tragic myth can only be understood as a symbolic picture of Dionysian wisdom by means of Apollonian art.” (Nietzsche 261).
It might well consist of sea nymphs, as in Prometheus Bound, or 15 Theban elders as in Oedipus Rex, or of any other sort of people who would represent the unison of people. In case of Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex the audience may have already been familiar – and in many cases probably was - with the outcome of the play. He makes the chorus do what Greek choruses are supposed never to do: to take a part in the action.” (Kitto 85) Nonetheless such rearrangements might have made the chorus more convincing because it could remain on the stage with Prometheus for the entire play as witness and commentator. Literary Definition and Examples, The Dramatic Role of the Chorus in Sophocles, The Determination of Episodes in Greek Tragedy, 'Nothing to Do with Dionysus': Tragedy Misconceived as Ritual, The Origin of Greek Tragedy in the Light of Dramatic Technique, M.A., Linguistics, University of Minnesota. In a metaphysical framework the chorus is the essence of the play and embodies a certain Dionysian consciousness which deals with the primal realms of the human condition. [19] Many of these acts, which also included subsidy of temples, armories, and other essential municipal needs, were driven more by personal vanity, societal pressure, and political influence than the modern philanthropic impulse. References to the title are found in recovered portions of the earliest choral lyric poetry, including the Parthenia (or "Maiden-songs") of Alkman, a poet of archaic Sparta. Aeschylus, Euripides, and Sophocles are the three famous, great writers of Greek tragedy whose contributions to the genre survive. New York: Plain Label Books, 2000. Photo by Andrew Mirhej. [2] In modern Greek the word χορηγός is synonymous with the word "grantor".[4].
New York: Forgotten Books, 2007. [12] The choregos was often expected to host a feast, analogous to a modern cast party, should his chorus prove victorious in competition. This includes a dithyrambic choregia at the Little Panathenaea for 300 drachmae, and a tragic choregia for 3,000 dr. Choregoi were appointed by the archon and the tribes of Athenian citizens from among the Athenian citizens of great wealth.
Aristotle said they should be regarded as hypokrites. Actors changed their appearance in the skene.
[10], Victorious choregoi were honored further with the erection of a monument in honor of their accomplishment. (1890). Gradually the sponsoring choregoi asserted more personal responsibility, and by the fourth century BC the prize for the choregos was a personal award.
chorêgoi; Greek: χορηγός, Greek etymology: χορός "chorus" + ἡγεῖσθαι "to lead") 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.