Role in Greek tragedy and Oedipus Rex

*Greek theatre consisted of the auditorium, orchestra and skene

*Orchestra, “dancing place” thought to be almost always circular

*Where actors, chorus performed

*Actors (always male) change costumes, masks in the skene

*Actor = hypocrites, meaning interpreter or answerer

*Chorus comes from Greek “to dance”

*Actor’s job to answer to the chorus

*Chorus also all male – would sing lines and dance simultaneously

*Play begin with prologue – provide time and place of tragedy

*Entrance of the chorus: parodos

*Parodos establishes the id of the chorus

*After parodos, action of tragedy develops through a series of episodes (epeisodia) each divided by choral songs

*Stasima = choral songs

*Each stasimon divided into verses known as strophe and antistrophe

*Each make up a pair of verses, with the antistrophe matching the strophe exactly in terms of meter

* The meter of the choral songs can be very complex, notably different from the meter of the spoken lines which is usually simple

*Exodos = final section where the chorus leaves the orchestra

*Final choral song tends to be short

*Who are the chorus in Oedipus Rex?

*What role does the chorus serve in the play?

*How does the chorus change during the play? Why is this important in the reading and understanding of Oedipus Rex?