Talk:Greek chorus

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Contents 1 Article title 2 Do all 15 chorus members speak simultaneously? 3 Language Choice / Gender neutral 4 Taken from an old article: 5 Verifying older versions

[edit] Article title

I suggest that the title of the article be "greek tragic chorus", because the range of the topic of greek chorus is much larger, involves all greek poetry in different ways and is all the matter of lyric poetry from Hesiode to Callimaque. Besides, comedy involves as much as tragedy a chorus, and Aristophane the best defender of its privileges. The dyonisiac origin of the chorus is indeed a common place, but it do not resist this question "where and when Artemis do not gather her chorus?" that is 4 time quoted in greek litterature at various epochs.—Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.123.50.57 (talk • contribs) 15:52, 15 January 2007 (UTC)

But "Greek chorus" is the more common term, whether it be more accurate or not. I think the article should stay as is. Juppiter 03:58, 15 April 2007 (UTC)

Read what 82.123.50.57 wrote. This is not an argument about a common name, but regarding the precise title for this particular topic. The user makes an important point worth considering. The topic is quite broad and "Greek chorus" could mean one of many subtopics connected to Ancient Greek history, one of which concerns its use in tragic drama. For the moment, the article should stay, but as it grows it may need to be split into subtopics. —Viriditas | Talk 02:08, 27 October 2007 (UTC)

I suggest that the title of this aricle be "Chorus of Ancient Greek Theatre." This, in my opinion, would be a precise title for the article. Tragic choruses and comedic choruses should be chapters within this article until the page becomes too large.ML Saturn (talk) 19:21, 30 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Do all 15 chorus members speak simultaneously?

Forgive my ignorance, but I'd appreciate some guidance from the scholarly among you. It is unclear to me whether all 15 members of a chorus speak simultaneously? I'm reading a Ted Hughes translation of Oresteia, and the stage directions simply indicate "chorus." This has me imagining 15 old men uttering their lines at the same moment. Or is it understood that the various chorus members alternate their lines?

I would appreciate any light shed on the subject.

68.252.109.210 20:57, 6 March 2007 (UTC)W.P. Norton

The chorus all speak together as one, apart from occasionally when the chorus leader speaks on his own.

"The poet" should not be referred to by the male pronoun. The author is speaking of poets in general not of Greek tragedians in particular. See MLA guidelines for gender neutral language. Mlle.LeRenard 13:40, 28 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Language Choice / Gender neutral

"The poet" should not be referred to by the male pronoun. The author is speaking of poets in general not of Greek tragedians in particular. See MLA guidelines for gender neutral language. Mlle.LeRenard 13:40, 28 August 2007 (UTC)

Unfortunately, that is part of a larger issue. That section is actually a copy of a much older article, as I have presented below. --Scandalous 00:25, 15 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Taken from an old article:

A good portion of this article is taken verbatim from a 1908 article, available here. Regardless of whether or not it's in public domain, the article itself is not encyclopedic, IMO. If anything, I think it's better suited for wikisources. I could be wrong. Scandalous 00:16, 15 September 2007 (UTC)

• I couldn't agree more. This article is hardly relevant to what we're going to eventually want on this page, nor does it hold up to any amount of modern scholarly rigor.rmagill 15:01, 15 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Verifying older versions

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 70.21.53.250 (Talk) at 21:16, 28 December 2005. It may differ significantly from the current revision.

In tragic plays of Ancient Greece, the chorus (choros) is believed to have grown out of the Greek dithyrambs and "tragikon drama". In early tragedy, all parts were played by a single actor; because the actor left the stage often to change roles, the chorus was especially dominant. It is thought to have numbered approximately 50 singing and dancing members (choreutai) circa 508. Tragedy came to be composed of episodes separated by choral odes. In these odes, the chorus would chant rhythmically, so they could be viewed as one entity rather than individuals.

Although Aeschylus reduced the chorus to 12 members, it remained critical to his productions. Under Aeschylus, the chorus played such key roles as the protagonist in The Suppliants, and the antagonist in The Eumenides. Sophocles increased the chorus to 15 members, although the choral odes became only tenuously related to the dramatic action. The Sophoclean chorus was divided into two sub-choruses of 6 (hemichoria) and a leader (koryphaios); the number of actors increased from two to three. The leader of the chorus interacted with the characters in the play, and spoke for the general population (the play's public opinion). This change favoured the interaction between actors and thus brought ancient greek tragedy closer to the modern notion of dramatic plot. The size of the tragic chorus continued to waver, settling for a time at 3 members.

The chorus usually communicated in song form, but sometimes the message was spoken. It was the author's job to choreograph the chorus. The chorus offered background and summary information to help the audience follow the performance, commented on main themes, and showed how an ideal audience might react to the drama as it was presented. They also represent the general populace of any particular story. In the second generation of Athenian tragedy the chorus often had a more substantial role in the narrative; in Euripedes's Bacchae, for example, the chorus, representing the frenzied female worshippers of Dionysus becomes a central character in itself.

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Vary (Talk | contribs) at 17:03, 7 March 2006. It may differ significantly from the current revision.

In tragic plays of Ancient Greece, the chorus (choros) is believed to have grown out of the Greek dithyrambs and tragikon drama. The chorus offered background and summary information to help the audience follow the performance, commented on main themes, and showed how an ideal audience might react to the drama as it was presented. They also represent the general populace of any particular story. The chorus usually communicated in song form, but sometimes the message was spoken. It was the playwright's job to choreograph the chorus.

In early tragedy, all parts were played by a single actor; because the actor left the stage often to change roles, the chorus was especially dominant. It is thought to have numbered approximately 50 singing and dancing members (choreutai) circa 508. Tragedy came to be composed of episodes separated by choral odes. In these odes, the chorus would chant rhythmically, so they could be viewed as one entity rather than individuals. In the second generation of Athenian tragedy the chorus often had a more substantial role in the narrative; in Euripedes's Bacchae, for example, the chorus, representing the frenzied female worshippers of Dionysus becomes a central character in itself.

Although Aeschylus reduced the chorus to 12 members, it remained critical to his productions. Under Aeschylus, the chorus played such key roles as the protagonist in The Suppliants, and the antagonist in The Eumenides. Sophocles increased the chorus to 15 members, although the choral odes became only tenuously related to the dramatic action. The Sophoclean chorus was divided into two sub-choruses of 6 (hemichoria) and a leader (koryphaios); the number of actors increased from two to three. The leader of the chorus interacted with the characters in the play, and spoke for the general population (the play's public opinion). This change favoured the interaction between actors and thus brought ancient greek tragedy closer to the modern notion of dramatic plot. The size of the tragic chorus continued to waver, settling for a time at 3 members.

Use of the chorus can be seen not only in Ancient Greek tragedies, but also in more recent works such as Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.