Chapter VI — The Chorus
§ 1 History of the Chorus
The history of the chorus in the Greek drama is a history of gradual decay. In the earliest period, when both tragedy and comedy were mainly lyrical, the members of the chorus were the sole performers. After the introduction of actors and dialogue the chorus still continued for a time to play the leading part. But from the beginning of the fifth century it began slowly to dwindle in importance, until at length it either disappeared altogether, or sank to the position of the band in a modern theatre. As far as tragedy is concerned the process of decline can be traced with clearness in the existing dramas. It takes various forms. In the first place there is a gradual diminution in the length of the part assigned to the chorus. In the Supplices, the oldest of existing Greek tragedies, the choral part forms no less than three-fifths of the whole composition. In the other plays of Aeschylus, with the exception of the Prometheus, it amounts on the average to about a half. In the tragedies of Sophocles and Euripides the size is very much reduced. The choral part in Sophocles varies from about a quarter of the whole in the Ajax and the Antigone to about a seventh in the Electra and the Philoctetes. In Euripides it varies from about a quarter in such plays as the Bacchae and Alcestis to about a ninth in the Orestes. It appears therefore that in the fifth century the part of the chorus was gradually but continuously diminished in size. Then again there is a constant tendency throughout the century to reduce the importance of the chorus by severing its connexion with the plot. In the lyrical tragedies of the earliest period the chorus was no doubt on most occasions the principal object of interest, and took the leading part in the play. This is still the case in some of the extant tragedies of Aeschylus. In the Supplices, for instance, the whole subject of the plot is the destiny of the fugitive maidens who form the chorus. It is their adventures which excite the sympathy of the audience; the other characters are of very little significance. In the Eumenides the interest centres chiefly round the conduct and feelings of the Furies. Even in the Septem and the Persae, though the chorus play a less prominent part, their connexion with the plot is still a very close one. Their destiny is involved in that of the principal characters. But in the other plays of Aeschylus the chorus begins to take much the same position as it occupies in Sophocles, and in the earlier plays of Euripides. It was at this period that Attic tragedy reached its highest perfection, and the question as to the proper place of the chorus in the plot was solved in the manner most consistent with the genius of Greek drama. The chorus is now thrown much further into the background, and appears in most plays, not as a participant in the action, but merely as a sympathetic witness. While the dialogue is proceeding, it follows the course of events with the keenest interest, but seldom actively interferes. In the pauses between the action it moralizes on the significance of the incidents which have just occurred. Such is its position during the middle of the century. It has been removed from the stress and turmoil of the action into a calmer and more remote region, though it still preserves its interest in the events upon the stage. But in the later plays of Euripides a further development is noticeable. The chorus begins to lose even its interest in the action. In the pauses between the dialogue it sings odes of a mythological character, which have only the remotest connexion with the incidents of the plot. In the course of the dialogue itself it converses less frequently with the actors than it had done hitherto. There is also a tendency to transfer much of the music from the orchestra to the stage. The old duets between actors and chorus are reduced both in size and number, and their place is taken by solos and duets sung exclusively upon the stage. This tendency to exclude the chorus from the play was carried still further by Agathon, who gave up all pretence of connexion between the plot and the songs of the chorus, and converted his odes into professed interludes. In the time of Aristotle this practice had become universal. The choral odes were now regarded in much the same light as the pieces of music performed between the acts in a modern theatre.850 Whether the chorus still took any part in the dialogue is not stated. But we can hardly doubt that the tendency already strongly marked in Euripides had been developed to its natural results, and that the tragic chorus of the later fourth century was practically excluded from all share in the conduct of the play. After the fourth century very little is known about its history. But the evidence seems to show that it was sometimes discarded even as early as the third century; and in later times this came to be more and more the ordinary custom. Even when retained, its functions were merely those of the modern band.851
The history of the comic chorus is very similar. If we look at the extant plays of Aristophanes, we find that in the first nine, which were all produced in the fifth century, the chorus is an important and conspicuous element. But in the tenth, the Ecclesiazusae, which was brought out in 392, there is a great change. The parabasis has disappeared, and the functions of the chorus are mainly confined to the singing of three or four odes, of no great length. In the Plutus, produced in 388, the decline of the chorus is still more marked. It has only about forty lines assigned to it in the course of the dialogue; and in the pauses between the dialogue it sang interludes unconnected with the plot.852 During the rest of the century the comic chorus seems to have still lingered on in a position similar to that which it holds in the Plutus. The grammarians who say that it was abolished entirely by the Middle Comedy apparently exaggerate the state of affairs.853 There was still a comic chorus in the time of Aristotle.854 Even in the New Comedy the earlier poets, such as Menander and Philemon, appear to have retained it in some of their plays, though merely for the purpose of providing interludes.855 After the fourth century there are few traces of its presence. It is true that it was regularly used in the comedies at the Delphic Soteria during the third century.856 It is mentioned in the accounts of the Hieropoioi at Delos in 279 B.C.857 It is found also in one comedy of Plautus, the Rudens. But in Terence there are no signs of it. This fact, combined with the statement of the grammarians that the New Comedy had no chorus, makes it certain that after the third century it had practically disappeared.858