g THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS JOURNALS Choral Identity in Greek Tragedy Author(s): Helene Foley Source: Classical Philology, Vol. 98, No. 1(January 2003), pp. 1-30 Published by: The University of Chicago Press StableUrl:http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/378725 Accessed: 01-02-2017 10: 50 UTC JStOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JstOR, please contact support jstor. org Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms Conditions of Use, available at The University of Chicago Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access t Classical Philology STOR This content downloaded from 14597.173.155 on Wed. 01 Feb 2017 10: 50: 30 UTC
Choral Identity in Greek Tragedy Author(s): Helene Foley Source: Classical Philology, Vol. 98, No. 1 (January 2003), pp. 1-30 Published by: The University of Chicago Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/378725 Accessed: 01-02-2017 10:50 UTC JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org. Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at http://about.jstor.org/terms The University of Chicago Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Classical Philology This content downloaded from 145.97.173.155 on Wed, 01 Feb 2017 10:50:30 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
CHORAL IDENTITY IN GREEK TRAGEDY HELENE FOLEY G EORGE WALSH, IN WHOSE HONOR I presented this lecture in February 2001, has written memorably on the greek chorus, above all in his 984 book The Varieties of Enchantment. Walsh's eloquent discus sion of worldly and enchanting choral poetry in Euripides is a hard act to follow, but at least I can feel assured that he would have been sympathetic to later attempts to pursue this complex topic further. In the early nineteenth century (1808-9), August Wilhelm Schlegel fa mously described the chorus of Greek tragedy as the ideal spectator. Many have undertaken to qualify or reassess his nevertheless valuable views since. Among important objections, critics raise the problem of dramatic irony. The actual spectators to the plays often know considerably more than the chorus, whose ignorance, lack of comprehension, or conventionality can lead them into errors of judgment. Second, as John Gould in particular has emphasized, the core tragic audience consisted of male citizens of Athens, despite the presence of others ranging from foreigners and children to(pos sibly) slaves or women. By contrast, the tragic chorus itself is predomi- nantly made up of women, slaves, foreigners, or old men; men of military age far more rarely compose such choruses(all extant cases are soldiers and none are athenian unless we include the chorus of salaminian soldiers from Sophocles' Ajax). *If these marginal groups do not appear to represent he external audience and its politico-religious community directly within the plays, why are they there and what role do they play within the dramas? (trans. [1846] 1973, 69-70). On the role of the Greek chorus more generally, see esp 2001,esp.18-20.38.44: Burton1980 183; Goldhill1996,254-55; Gould1996,219,232, nd1999,89; Rosenmeyer197.esp.36.38-39,and42;1982.145-87;and1993,csp.559,56land571: 45; Hose 1990-91. 1: 32-37; Mastronarde 1998, 59; and 1999, 90, and Fletcher 1999, 30. See Rosenmeyer 1977 on irony and 3. On the question of women in the audience, see Podlecki 1990: Henderson 1991; and Goldhill 1994. ould 1996. 220. with the critic by Goldhill 1996; Silk 1998a; Griffith 1998, P. 42, n. 74; form. Calame's essay attempts to show how a marginal chorus can, through ritual and performance, lead the audience"to be active at the side of the virtual author"(153) Classical Philology 98(2003): 1-30 [C 2003 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved] 0009-837X/03/9801-0001S1000 This content downloaded from 145.97 173 155 on Wed. 01 Feb 2017 10: 50- 30 UT Allusesubjecttohttp://aboutjstor.org/terms
Classical Philology 98 (2003): 1–30 [ç 2003 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved] 0009-837X/03/9801-0001$10.00 1 CHORAL IDENTITY IN GREEK TRAGEDY helene foley George Walsh, in whose honor I presented this lecture in February 2001, has written memorably on the Greek chorus, above all in his 1984 book The Varieties of Enchantment. Walsh’s eloquent discussion of worldly and enchanting choral poetry in Euripides is a hard act to follow, but at least I can feel assured that he would have been sympathetic to later attempts to pursue this complex topic further. In the early nineteenth century (1808–9), August Wilhelm Schlegel famously described the chorus of Greek tragedy as the ideal spectator.1 Many have undertaken to qualify or reassess his nevertheless valuable views since.2 Among important objections, critics raise the problem of dramatic irony. The actual spectators to the plays often know considerably more than the chorus, whose ignorance, lack of comprehension, or conventionality can lead them into errors of judgment. Second, as John Gould in particular has emphasized, the core tragic audience consisted of male citizens of Athens, despite the presence of others ranging from foreigners and children to (possibly) slaves or women.3 By contrast, the tragic chorus itself is predominantly made up of women, slaves, foreigners, or old men; men of military age far more rarely compose such choruses (all extant cases are soldiers and none are Athenian, unless we include the chorus of Salaminian soldiers from Sophocles’ Ajax).4 If these marginal groups do not appear to represent the external audience and its politico-religious community directly within the plays, why are they there and what role do they play within the dramas? 1. Schlegel 1846, 76–77 (trans. [1846] 1973, 69–70). On the role of the Greek chorus more generally, see esp. Bacon 1994–95, 8–9, 17–18; Bierl 2001, esp. 18–20, 38, 44; Burton 1980, 1–4; Davidson 1986a, 75; Easterling 1997, 163, 165; Gardiner 1987, 3, 5, 183; Goldhill 1996, 254–55; Gould 1996, 219, 232, and 245; Griffith 1998, p. 42 and n. 74; Henrichs 1996, 48–49; Kirkwood 1958, esp. 196; Mastronarde 1998, 57, 71–72, and 1999, 89; Rosenmeyer 1977, esp. 36, 38–39, and 42; 1982, 145–87; and 1993, esp. 559, 561 and 571; and Silk 1998b, 197–202, on nineteenth-century views. 2. See, e.g., Kirkwood 1958, 184; Kaimio 1970, 99; Gould 1996, p. 219 and n. 2, p. 232; Goldhill 1996, 245; Hose 1990–91, 1:32–37; Mastronarde 1998, 59; and 1999, 90; and Fletcher 1999, 30. See Rosenmeyer 1977 on irony and the tragic chorus. 3. On the question of women in the audience, see Podlecki 1990; Henderson 1991; and Goldhill 1994. 4. Gould 1996, 220, with the critical responses by Goldhill 1996; Silk 1998a; Griffith 1998, p. 42, n. 74; and Mastronarde 1998, 56. Goldhill (1996, 255) stresses that the chorus remained a group voice despite its individual character; Silk (1998a, 13) remarks on the lack of contingent background for choruses in comparison with characters, the chorus of Eumenides excepted, and their earlier history as anonymous groups (16). Calame 1999 redefines the ideal spectator as virtual and thus reappropriates Schlegel’s insights in a new form. Calame’s essay attempts to show how a marginal chorus can, through ritual and performance, lead the audience “to be active at the side of the virtual author” (153). This content downloaded from 145.97.173.155 on Wed, 01 Feb 2017 10:50:30 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
HELENE FOLEY Does the chorus'identity as a particular, and often partial and limited, con- tituency compromise its tragic authority within the plays and for the core audience? Recent work on the tragic chorus has begun to look more seriously at these questions about choral identity. In this paper I would like both to accord recognition to the state of the discussion and to raise an additional set of considerations. I shall not touch on the question of tragic authority, however, as it is a term hard to define, and ideally addressed in more detail in another paper. 6 This essay represents a highly speculative and preliminary stab at clarifying some aspects of one of the most elusive and to us incom- prehensible aspects of Greek drama CHORAL IDENTITY AND CHORAL PERFORMANCE Before turning to the plays themselves, however, I want to consider the way that the conditions of production of these plays and the role of the chorus in the Attic festivals where tragedies were presented may have influenced horal identity. This move is timely due to the recent and important study by Peter Wilson of the institution of the choregia in Athens that financed and trained both dramatic and dithyrambic choruses in the theater festivals By the mid-fifth century B.C. E, the Athenian polis selected and financed he protagonist, or first actor, and the auletes( double pipe player) for each set of Greek tragedies with its satyr play at the City Dionysia; it also awarded the opportunity to compete, along with honoraria and prizes, to the 5. See above all Gould 1996: Goldhill 1996, Mastronarde 1998 and 1999; and less directly, Sommer- sten1996.53-70and338-53; and Hose1990-91,1:18-31 6. The question of choral authority be ns with the claim by the chorus of old men in Aeschylus'A he choral self-referentiality and chor sion. as has often been claimed. such choruses draw the audience into a more int nce,in which the choral performance in the orchestra merges with more imaginary performances of poly- ce-song in the tic context and ritual an better term. I call this loral self-referentiality-the self-d cially comic)role and ritual, see Bierl 2001. Gould (1996. 221)argues that the chorus marginality depri des; for a similar point, see Easterling 1997, 158-59 and Griffth 1998, P. age, and inteomic (1998a,2) ty(see his general remarks at 1998, 56, and 1999, 89). As Goldhill well summarizes the issue:"It is,in in play as part of tragic conflict. This mobilization and ques- oning of the authority of collective wisdom is one of the most important ways in which tragedy engages with democracy"(255). 8. The third actor seems to have been hired separately by the first actor, whereas the second actor have been a permanent part of the first actor's team. See Csapo and Slater 1995. 223; and wilson 2000, This content downloaded from 145.97 173 155 on Wed. 01 Feb 2017 10: 50- 30 UT Allusesubjecttohttp://aboutjstor.org/terms
2 Helene Foley Does the chorus’ identity as a particular, and often partial and limited, constituency compromise its tragic authority within the plays and for the core audience? Recent work on the tragic chorus has begun to look more seriously at these questions about choral identity.5 In this paper I would like both to accord recognition to the state of the discussion and to raise an additional set of considerations. I shall not touch on the question of tragic authority, however, as it is a term hard to define, and ideally addressed in more detail in another paper.6 This essay represents a highly speculative and preliminary stab at clarifying some aspects of one of the most elusive and to us incomprehensible aspects of Greek drama. Choral Identity and Choral Performance Before turning to the plays themselves, however, I want to consider the way that the conditions of production of these plays and the role of the chorus in the Attic festivals where tragedies were presented may have influenced choral identity. This move is timely due to the recent and important study by Peter Wilson of the institution of the choregia in Athens that financed and trained both dramatic and dithyrambic choruses in the theater festivals.7 By the mid-fifth century b.c.e., the Athenian polis selected and financed the protagonist, or first actor, and the auletes (double pipe player) for each set of Greek tragedies with its satyr play at the City Dionysia;8 it also awarded the opportunity to compete, along with honoraria and prizes, to the 5. See above all Gould 1996; Goldhill 1996; Mastronarde 1998 and 1999; and less directly, Sommerstein 1996, 53–70 and 338–53; and Hose 1990–91, 1:18–31. 6. The question of choral authority begins with the claim by the chorus of old men in Aeschylus’ Agamemnon about their authority to sing (104, kurios eimi throein) despite their advanced age. See Henrichs 1994–95 and 1996 on the choral self-referentiality and choral projection, which are a source of choral authority. Choruses “assume a ritual posture that functions as a link between their own choral performance and the dramatically constructed rituals performed in the realm of action. Far from breaking the dramatic illusion, as has often been claimed, such choruses draw the audience into a more integrated theatrical experience, in which the choral performance in the orchestra merges with more imaginary performances of polytheism that take place in the course of the play” (1996, 48). “Choruses who draw attention to their ritual role as collective performers of the choral dance-song in the orchestra invariably locate their performance self-reflexively within the concrete dramatic context and ritual ambience of a given play. . . . For lack of a better term, I call this phenomenon choral self-referentiality—the self-description of the tragic chorus as performer of khoreia” (1994–95, 58). For an expanded discussion of the relation between choral (especially comic) role and ritual, see Bierl 2001. Gould (1996, 221) argues that the chorus’ marginality deprives it of choral authority; Goldhill (1996, 252) counters with an emphasis on the chorus’ gnomic wisdom. Silk (1998a, 2) stresses the authority claimed by the higher level of style, language, and intensity of the choral odes; for a similar point, see Easterling 1997, 158–59; and Griffith 1998, p. 42, n. 74. Mastronarde (1998, 55 and 61) argues that Euripidean choruses may have the most limited and problematic claim to choral authority (see his general remarks at 1998, 56, and 1999, 89). As Goldhill well summarizes the issue: “It is, in short, the tension between authoritative, ritual, mythic utterance and specific, marginal, partial utterance that gives the chorus its special voice in tragedy” (1996, 254). “The chorus requires the audience to engage in a constant renegotiation of where the authoritative voice lies. It sets in play an authoritative collective voice, but surrounds it with other dissenting voices. The chorus allows a wider picture of the action to develop and also remains one of the many views expressed. The chorus thus is a key dramatic device for setting commentary, reflection, and authoritative voice in play as part of tragic conflict. This mobilization and questioning of the authority of collective wisdom is one of the most important ways in which tragedy engages with democracy” (255). 7. Wilson 2000. 8. The third actor seems to have been hired separately by the first actor, whereas the second actor may have been a permanent part of the first actor’s team. See Csapo and Slater 1995, 223; and Wilson 2000, 85. This content downloaded from 145.97.173.155 on Wed, 01 Feb 2017 10:50:30 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
CHORAL IDENTITY tragic poets, as well as a prize for the choregos, and a prize to first actors. Yet, as Wilson emphasizes, from an institutional perspective drama was above all a choral performance At the City Dionysia a wealthy citizen named the choregos was chosen by the state to finance choral training and equipment for each set of trage- dies. He also selected choral trainers, financed costumes, extras, and props, paid choral salaries, fed and sometimes housed the chorus for the six-month rehearsal period, and celebrated choral victories with a feast. o(Similar procedures occurred at other theater festivals such as the Lenaia or at deme performances, but I shall leave them aside here. Tragic victories were pres- tigious and could often pave the way for a successful political career wealthy young men often undertook them for this reason. The failure to train and support a successful chorus in style could be socially humiliat ing. 2 We are told in an anecdote about Alcibiades([Andoc ]4.21)that judges for the theatrical contests could be influenced by the identity of the choregos. For reasons to be shown below, I would argue that the judges for the tragic contests were very likely concentrating far more than we might think on choral performance, and that dramatic victories might often have been awarded as much or more for the choral performance and dramatic pentacle as for the content/plot of the plays themselves, especially given the larger context of the festival, where dithyrambic (and comic) choruses played such a central role Prizes were awarded not to plays but to whole productions, and although oet and choregos won their own separate prizes, one decision by the judges determined the success of both together. We know that poets wishing to perform their tragedies asked the archon basileus for a chorus. At Laws 817d, Plato suggests that poets demonstrated songs(oidas) to the Archon to get selected. Athenaeus (22a) reports that the early dramatic poets Thespis Pratinas, Cratinus, and Phrynichus even"relied on the dancing of the chorus for interpretation of their plays. "15 According to late sources the judges from the ten tribes swore an oath"to give victory to the one who sang well. Unlike tragedy, which does not comment on the conditions of its produc n, comedy addresses the ce of the chorus to dramatic victory rectly. At Aristophanes Clouds 1115-16 the chorus promises the judges that hey will receive benefits"if they help this chorus"that is, not the play but 9. Wilson 2000, esp. 6: see also the earlier views of Bacon 1994-95, esp. 6 and 11. Official tragic victory lists include the goi, but victory monuments(erected by the ch m21224431M的缸mh( but they seem to have consisted largely of costumes and masks and celebratory pinakes(tablets ), aspects ved ( Csapo and Slater 142 and Plut De glor. Ath. 348d-49b). Lysias 7 and 21 stress the political credibility that supposed to win from citizens in court cases. 12. Wison 200.139, 146: c sapo and Slater 1995, 1351: and Eupolis, PCG frag. 329 and Plut. Phoc. 19.2-3 14. Cratinus, The Cowherd, PCG frag. 17: Pl. Leg. 817d( Csapo and Slater 1995, 108-9). B. Gulick, Loeb edition(1927) 16. Wilson 2000, P. 99 and n. 229 This content downloaded from 145.97 173 155 on Wed. 01 Feb 2017 10: 50- 30 UT Allusesubjecttohttp://aboutjstor.org/terms
Choral Identity 3 tragic poets, as well as a prize for the choregos, and a prize to first actors. Yet, as Wilson emphasizes, from an institutional perspective drama was above all a choral performance.9 At the City Dionysia a wealthy citizen named the choregos was chosen by the state to finance choral training and equipment for each set of tragedies. He also selected choral trainers, financed costumes, extras, and props, paid choral salaries, fed and sometimes housed the chorus for the six-month rehearsal period, and celebrated choral victories with a feast.10 (Similar procedures occurred at other theater festivals such as the Lenaia or at deme performances, but I shall leave them aside here.) Tragic victories were prestigious and could often pave the way for a successful political career; wealthy young men often undertook them for this reason.11 The failure to train and support a successful chorus in style could be socially humiliating.12 We are told in an anecdote about Alcibiades ([Andoc.] 4.21) that judges for the theatrical contests could be influenced by the identity of the choregos. For reasons to be shown below, I would argue that the judges for the tragic contests were very likely concentrating far more than we might think on choral performance, and that dramatic victories might often have been awarded as much or more for the choral performance and dramatic spectacle as for the content/plot of the plays themselves, especially given the larger context of the festival, where dithyrambic (and comic) choruses played such a central role. Prizes were awarded not to plays but to whole productions, and although poet and choregos won their own separate prizes, one decision by the judges determined the success of both together.13 We know that poets wishing to perform their tragedies asked the archon basileus for a chorus. 14 At Laws 817d, Plato suggests that poets demonstrated songs (oidas) to the Archon to get selected. Athenaeus (22a) reports that the early dramatic poets Thespis, Pratinas, Cratinus, and Phrynichus even “relied on the dancing of the chorus for interpretation of their plays.”15 According to late sources the judges from the ten tribes swore an oath “to give victory to the one who sang well.”16 Unlike tragedy, which does not comment on the conditions of its production, comedy addresses the importance of the chorus to dramatic victory directly. At Aristophanes Clouds 1115–16 the chorus promises the judges that they will receive benefits “if they help this chorus”—that is, not the play but 9. Wilson 2000, esp. 6; see also the earlier views of Bacon 1994–95, esp. 6 and 11. Official tragic victory lists include the names of both poets and choregoi, but victory monuments (erected by the choregos) could delete the former and include names of chorus members. Few dedications for tragic victories have been found, but they seem to have consisted largely of costumes and masks and celebratory pinakes (tablets), aspects of the production largely or perhaps even exclusively financed by the choregos (Csapo and Slater 1995, 141; and Wilson 2000, 216, 236, 244–48, 251). Most dedications, perhaps significantly, were found in the local demes. 10. Csapo and Slater 1995, 297; and Wilson 2000, 85–94. Both stress the extraordinary expense involved (Csapo and Slater 142 and Plut. De glor. Ath. 348d–49b). Lysias 7 and 21 stress the political credibility that a record of liturgies was supposed to win from citizens in court cases. 11. Arist. Pol. 1321a31–42; Wilson 2000, 4, 24, 98, and 113. 12. Wilson 2000, 139, 146; Csapo and Slater 1995, 151; and Eupolis, PCG frag. 329 and Plut. Phoc. 19.2–3. 13. Csapo and Slater 1995, 157. 14. Cratinus, The Cowherd, PCG frag. 17; Pl. Leg. 817d (Csapo and Slater 1995, 108–9). 15. Trans. W. B. Gulick, Loeb edition (1927). 16. Wilson 2000, p. 99 and n. 229. This content downloaded from 145.97.173.155 on Wed, 01 Feb 2017 10:50:30 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
HELENE FOLEY the chorus. At Ecclesiazusae 1154-62 the chorus asks the judges not to per- jure themselves but to judge choruses fairly. At Birds 445-47, the chorus swears to abide by its pact with Pisthetairos. If it keeps its oath, the chorus shall win by verdict of all the judges and the whole audience. but if it breaks its oath, it hopes to win by just one vote. The poets themselves, who at least originally served as composers, choreographers, and trainers of their own choruses, were also deeply involved in choral success despite their for mal independence from the choregos during the initial selection process. As comic poet, Aristophanes may also hope, usually in his parabases, for his own victory and preen himself on his clever artistry, but in fact, as these same parabases indicate, the victory also depends on the chorus. 8 In short, both the choregoi and the choreutai (chorus members)had every incentive to make their performance compete with that of actors and poets in the eyes and minds of the audience. The size of the choral group(twelve, later fifteen), its close proximity to the audience in the orchestra, and its opportunity to sing and dance give it some critical advantages in this re- spect. We find choruses difficult, and our students often read them lightly if at all. Yet from the archaic period on, choruses that are challenging for us to interpret were central to Greek civic life. Sources that discuss tragedy em- phasize the critical function of the chorus in civic education, and laws as- sisted choregoi in recruiting participants. Plato (Leg. 654b)pronounce those without experience of choral performance (achoreutos)to be unedr cated (apaideutos) and states that"choral dance is the whole of education (672e: see also Leg. 653c). At Aristophanes Frogs 1419, Dionysus claims that he came to Hades to find a poet"so that the city may be saved and stage (agei) its choruses. 20 Moreover, Athenians themselves almost certainly did not share Aristotle's relative privileging of action over spectacle(opsis) or performance(Poet 6. 1450b16-20). Most of us are used to seeing Greek tragedies with a chorus consisting of a few actors who neither sing nor dance and often look some- what extraneous. Yet anyone who has had the opportunity to see a modern performance that presented a large chorus with brilliant and exotic costumes dancing to electrifying music such as those created by the French director Ariane Mnouchkine in her 1991-92 Les Atrides(a tetralogy including Euri- pides Iphigenia at Aulis before Aeschylus'Oresteia)would have no diffi- culty understanding that a chorus can easily compete with or even overshadow The choregoi for the ten dithyrambic contests at the City Dionysia some lected a group of fifty men or boys from a particular phyle, or tribe. At so Bo swas won with th pigram(G 22 3101 from the theater region of Anagyrous)reports that a choregos'vic- 17. One"comi wetly laughing chorus, whereas actors and poet receive no mention(Wilson 2000, 18. E-g. Ar Ach,64-58 4. 545-50 Vesp 104- 9, ar 736-74 Nub: 519-62 Wilson 2000. 83 stitutions of the young. See He on 1985 on the emergence of song culture in archaic Greece in ain. form in tragedy. This content downloaded from 145.97 173 155 on Wed. 01 Feb 2017 10: 50- 30 UT Allusesubjecttohttp://aboutjstor.org/terms
4 Helene Foley the chorus. At Ecclesiazusae 1154–62 the chorus asks the judges not to perjure themselves but to judge choruses fairly. At Birds 445–47, the chorus swears to abide by its pact with Pisthetairos. If it keeps its oath, the chorus shall win by verdict of all the judges and the whole audience . . . but if it breaks its oath, it hopes to win by just one vote.17 The poets themselves, who at least originally served as composers, choreographers, and trainers of their own choruses, were also deeply involved in choral success despite their formal independence from the choregos during the initial selection process. As comic poet, Aristophanes may also hope, usually in his parabases, for his own victory and preen himself on his clever artistry, but in fact, as these same parabases indicate, the victory also depends on the chorus.18 In short, both the choregoi and the choreutai (chorus members) had every incentive to make their performance compete with that of actors and poets in the eyes and minds of the audience. The size of the choral group (twelve, later fifteen), its close proximity to the audience in the orchestra, and its opportunity to sing and dance give it some critical advantages in this respect. We find choruses difficult, and our students often read them lightly if at all. Yet from the archaic period on, choruses that are challenging for us to interpret were central to Greek civic life. Sources that discuss tragedy emphasize the critical function of the chorus in civic education, and laws assisted choregoi in recruiting participants.19 Plato (Leg. 654b) pronounces those without experience of choral performance (achoreutos) to be uneducated (apaideutos) and states that “choral dance is the whole of education” (672e; see also Leg. 653c). At Aristophanes Frogs 1419, Dionysus claims that he came to Hades to find a poet “so that the city may be saved and stage (agei) its choruses.”20 Moreover, Athenians themselves almost certainly did not share Aristotle’s relative privileging of action over spectacle (opsis) or performance (Poet. 6.1450b16–20). Most of us are used to seeing Greek tragedies with a chorus consisting of a few actors who neither sing nor dance and often look somewhat extraneous. Yet anyone who has had the opportunity to see a modern performance that presented a large chorus with brilliant and exotic costumes dancing to electrifying music such as those created by the French director Ariane Mnouchkine in her 1991–92 Les Atrides (a tetralogy including Euripides’ Iphigenia at Aulis before Aeschylus’ Oresteia) would have no diffi- culty understanding that a chorus can easily compete with or even overshadow actors and action. The choregoi for the ten dithyrambic contests at the City Dionysia selected a group of fifty men or boys from a particular phyle, or tribe. At some 17. One “comic” epigram (IG 22.3101 from the theater region of Anagyrous) reports that a choregos’ victory was won with the sweetly laughing chorus, whereas actors and poet receive no mention (Wilson 2000, 246). 18. E.g., Ar. Ach. 641–58, Eq. 545–50, Vesp. 1048–59, Pax 736–74, Nub. 519–62. 19. See e.g,, [Andoc.] 4.20; Antiph. 6.11; Dem. Meid. 15, and Against Biotus 1.16; Xen. Hier. 9.4; and Wilson 2000, 83. 20. Wilson (2000, 3) stresses that the term choros was used in many Greek cities for the educational institutions of the young. See Herington 1985 on the emergence of song culture in archaic Greece in a new form in tragedy. This content downloaded from 145.97.173.155 on Wed, 01 Feb 2017 10:50:30 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms