CHORAL IDENTITY point in the fourth century, comic choruses also began to be selected from these tribes([Arist. Ath. Pol. 56.3). Yet there appear to have been no such restrictions on the choregos'recruitment of tragic choruses I the tragedies were not, as was the case with dithyrambs, judged by tribe and their chore goi were selected from among all Athenians(Ath. Pol. 56.3). Choregoi may have selected members of their own demes for their tragic choruses(there is one example that suggests such a case),but it seems far more likely that they would have competed to get those citizens who were best and perhaps also more experienced at choral performance within a certain age group confine myself here to a limited age group because Plato [Leg. 657d, 665b 665d-e] suggests repeatedly that choral performance was too strenuous for those over thirty. Dramatic choruses offered the most virtuosic opportuni ties for choral display, since they not only wore costumes and masks spe- cific to their identity, and sang and danced, but engaged with the actors both in iambic trimeter scenes and in joint lyrics and laments. Court cases that refer to the infiltration of foreigners into dramatic choruses both as chorus trainers and leaders and as chorus members again suggest a stiff competition to recruit skilled choral performers Dramatic competition may have encouraged an emphasis on representing different identities in performance. Although we have more direct evidence on the performance of actors than of chorus members on this point, I would suggest that both groups were probably judged on their success in repre senting the Other in performance. In acting traditions comparable to that in Athens where male actors play all the parts, such as Japanese Kabuki, rep- utation for outstanding performance is built in part on versatility in role playing generally, and on the ability to play the Other(e. g, women) rather than characters like oneself. the slim and often late ancient evidence that we have on such questions at least suggests that something similar obtained for Greek actors. first. all sources agree that the actor 's use of his voice was critical to his performance(e. g, Arist Rh. 1403b31-35: [Plut. ]Xorat 848b Both actors and choreuts underwent extensive voice training(e. g, [Arist Pr. 11.22; Pl Leg. 665e; and Antiph On the Choreut, a case involving a boy who was given a potion to improve his voice in a dithyrambic perfor mance and died). The art of acting apparently developed and was refined po and Slater(1995, 139), Antiphon(On the Choreut 11 13) and Wilson(2000. 82-83)stress the di 22. Wilson 2000. 82-83. Socrates of ous(IG 13969) apparently recruited his chorus from his local deme Until the abolishing of the choregia in the late fourth century(Csapo and Slater 1995, 351), choruses ional. Increas 995,351). By the choruses consist of the same people on different occasions, and this cryptic remark suggests that choreuts were se- Slater 1995. 358; Plut. Phoc. 30: [Andoc. Against Alcibiades 20-21; Dem Meid. 56 and 58-61- and Wilson 2000. 80: Wilson su than for any other choruses. Moreover, there is some evidence that tragic choral performers nal. The sons of Carcinus were known as tragic dancers, and the trainer Sannion an probably also starred in the choruses that they trained (Dem. Meid 58-61; Wilson 2000, 129 and 131) This content downloaded from 145.97 173 155 on Wed. 01 Feb 2017 10: 50- 30 UT Allusesubjecttohttp://aboutjstor.org/terms
Choral Identity 5 point in the fourth century, comic choruses also began to be selected from these tribes ([Arist.] Ath. Pol. 56.3). Yet there appear to have been no such restrictions on the choregos’ recruitment of tragic choruses;21 the tragedies were not, as was the case with dithyrambs, judged by tribe and their choregoi were selected from among all Athenians (Ath. Pol. 56.3). Choregoi may have selected members of their own demes for their tragic choruses (there is one example that suggests such a case),22 but it seems far more likely that they would have competed to get those citizens who were best and perhaps also more experienced at choral performance within a certain age group.23 (I confine myself here to a limited age group because Plato [Leg. 657d, 665b, 665d–e] suggests repeatedly that choral performance was too strenuous for those over thirty.) Dramatic choruses offered the most virtuosic opportunities for choral display, since they not only wore costumes and masks specific to their identity, and sang and danced, but engaged with the actors both in iambic trimeter scenes and in joint lyrics and laments. Court cases that refer to the infiltration of foreigners into dramatic choruses both as chorus trainers and leaders and as chorus members again suggest a stiff competition to recruit skilled choral performers.24 Dramatic competition may have encouraged an emphasis on representing different identities in performance. Although we have more direct evidence on the performance of actors than of chorus members on this point, I would suggest that both groups were probably judged on their success in representing the Other in performance. In acting traditions comparable to that in Athens where male actors play all the parts, such as Japanese Kabuki, reputation for outstanding performance is built in part on versatility in role playing generally, and on the ability to play the Other (e.g., women) rather than characters like oneself. The slim and often late ancient evidence that we have on such questions at least suggests that something similar obtained for Greek actors. First, all sources agree that the actor’s use of his voice was critical to his performance (e.g., Arist. Rh. 1403b31–35; [Plut.] X orat. 848b). Both actors and choreuts underwent extensive voice training (e.g., [Arist.] Pr. 11.22; Pl. Leg. 665e; and Antiph. On the Choreut, a case involving a boy who was given a potion to improve his voice in a dithyrambic performance and died). The art of acting apparently developed and was refined 21. Wilson 2000, 22, 77; MacDowell 1982. Csapo and Slater (1995, 139), Antiphon (On the Choreut 11– 13), and Wilson (2000, 82–83) stress the difficulty of recruiting choruses. 22. Wilson 2000, 82–83. Socrates of Anagyrous (IG 13.969) apparently recruited his chorus from his local deme. 23. Until the abolishing of the choregia in the late fourth century (Csapo and Slater 1995, 351), choruses were selected from among ordinary citizens, whereas actors were clearly becoming more professional. Increasingly harder music and more complex plots may have favored actors (Csapo and Slater 1995, 351). By the mid-fourth century, choregoi may have been able to choose from a class of professional singers (PickardCambridge 1988, 90). At the same time, Aristotle (Pol. 3.3.1276b) notes that comic and tragic choruses might consist of the same people on different occasions, and this cryptic remark suggests that choreuts were selected from a limited group, since they acted in dramatic choruses more than once. 24. Csapo and Slater 1995, 358; Plut. Phoc. 30; [Andoc.] Against Alcibiades 20–21; Dem. Meid. 56 and 58–61; and Wilson 2000, 80; Wilson suggests (82) that competition for tragic choruses was probably more intense than for any other choruses. Moreover, there is some evidence that tragic choral performers were more professional. The sons of Carcinus were known as tragic dancers, and the trainer Sannion and others probably also starred in the choruses that they trained (Dem. Meid. 58–61; Wilson 2000, 129 and 131). 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 radically during the fifth century: the performance was probably more amateurish when poets like Aeschylus were their own first actors. Never theless, by the fourth century a good actor, says Aristotle in his discussion of delivery in the Rhetoric, wins prizes by suiting his voice to different emotional modes and varying both the volume and pitch(depth or shrill ness)of his voice and his vocal rhythms(1403b26-33. In his view, a suc- cessful contemporary actor like Theodorus could make his voice seem to be he voice of a particular speaker and not someone else(1404b18-22) The voices of females and old men were generally thought to be shriller than those of mature males and appropriate for the higher pitch of lamentation.25 In comedy at least we know that actors such as Euripides relative in Aris- tophanes' Thesmophoriazusae amused by adopting an exaggeratedly fem nine voice when disguised as a woman(gunaikieis, 267-68) Presumably actors, like the Japanese onnagata(an actor specializing in womens parts), could carry off a more refined and naturalistic version of this same vocal difference. Aristotle remarks that Callipides and others were censured fo their acting style when representing lower-class women(Poet. 1462a8-10) Plutarch(Quaest. conv. 7.71lc)uses standard theatrical language when de- scribing slaves trained to perform Platonic dialogues by suiting the charac ter(ethei), modulation of the voice(phones plasma), gesture(schema), and delivery to the part (existing masks, hupokeimenon prosopon). Epictetus praises the late-fourth-century actor Polus for his brilliance in performing Oedipus as both king and beggar; o when Sophocles Trachiniae offered the protagonist the opportunity to play both the very feminine heroine Deianeira and her hypermasculine spouse Heracles, it is hard to believe the actor did not welcome a comparable chance to display his versatility. Lucian speaks of the talents needed to produce walking(badizon), speaking(boon he roikon), and glancing in a fashion suitable to a dignified tragic hero(Pis cator 31). He makes clear in two passages(Piscator 31, Nigr. 11) that a womanish actor with a weak womanish voice is also not suited even to im- portant tragic female(as well as male)roles, but he does seem to distinguish in his discussions the acting and voice required for male and female parts nevertheless: "Even Helen or Polyxena would never suffer such a man to resemble them too closely, let alone Heracles(Piscator 31, trans. A.R. Harmon, Loeb edition). The kinds of gestures spoken of in these two Lucian passages, such as characteristic ways of walking or glancing, were also thought to be critical to acting throughout antiquity and we can infer from he texts of the tragedies themselves that certain gestures were more ofte used by some characters than others. For example, supplication or gestures involved in lamentation were more characteristic of women or old and for- eign men, whereas military gestures were more characteristic of younger men 25. [Arist. I Pr. 11.16. 11.62; see Hall 1999, 117. Terms such as orus. gunaikophonos, gunaikodes, mikros, I l(in Schenkl 1916. 412): P offer similar onidge1988 give actors opportunities for the display of their acting skills. wiles (2000, 160) also agrees that Greek actors must have adjusted their voices to suit different roles This content downloaded from 145.97 173 155 on Wed. 01 Feb 2017 10: 50- 30 UT Allusesubjecttohttp://aboutjstor.org/terms
6 Helene Foley radically during the fifth century; the performance was probably more amateurish when poets like Aeschylus were their own first actors. Nevertheless, by the fourth century a good actor, says Aristotle in his discussion of delivery in the Rhetoric, wins prizes by suiting his voice to different emotional modes and varying both the volume and pitch (depth or shrillness) of his voice and his vocal rhythms (1403b26–33). In his view, a successful contemporary actor like Theodorus could make his voice seem to be the voice of a particular speaker and not someone else (1404b18–22). The voices of females and old men were generally thought to be shriller than those of mature males and appropriate for the higher pitch of lamentation.25 In comedy at least we know that actors such as Euripides’ relative in Aristophanes’ Thesmophoriazusae amused by adopting an exaggeratedly feminine voice when disguised as a woman (gunaikieis, 267–68). Presumably actors, like the Japanese onnagata (an actor specializing in women’s parts), could carry off a more refined and naturalistic version of this same vocal difference. Aristotle remarks that Callipides and others were censured for their acting style when representing lower-class women (Poet. 1462a8–10). Plutarch (Quaest. conv. 7.711c) uses standard theatrical language when describing slaves trained to perform Platonic dialogues by suiting the character (ethei), modulation of the voice (phones plasma), gesture (schema), and delivery to the part (existing masks, hupokeimenon prosopon). Epictetus praises the late-fourth-century actor Polus for his brilliance in performing Oedipus as both king and beggar;26 when Sophocles’ Trachiniae offered the protagonist the opportunity to play both the very feminine heroine Deianeira and her hypermasculine spouse Heracles, it is hard to believe the actor did not welcome a comparable chance to display his versatility.27 Lucian speaks of the talents needed to produce walking (badizon), speaking (boon heroïkon), and glancing in a fashion suitable to a dignified tragic hero (Piscator 31). He makes clear in two passages (Piscator 31, Nigr. 11) that a womanish actor with a weak, womanish voice is also not suited even to important tragic female (as well as male) roles, but he does seem to distinguish in his discussions the acting and voice required for male and female parts nevertheless: “Even Helen or Polyxena would never suffer such a man to resemble them too closely, let alone Heracles” (Piscator 31, trans. A. R. Harmon, Loeb edition). The kinds of gestures spoken of in these two Lucian passages, such as characteristic ways of walking or glancing, were also thought to be critical to acting throughout antiquity and we can infer from the texts of the tragedies themselves that certain gestures were more often used by some characters than others. For example, supplication or gestures involved in lamentation were more characteristic of women or old and foreign men, whereas military gestures were more characteristic of younger men. 25. [Arist.] Pr. 11.16, 11.62; see Hall 1999, 117. Terms such as oxus, gunaikophonos, gunaikodes, mikros, and ichnos are used to describe female voices. 26. Epictetus Dissertationes, frag. 11 (in Schenkl 1916, 412); Pickard-Cambridge 1988, 169. 27. Aeschylus’ Persae and Euripides’ Bacchae or Hippolytus offer similar opportunities. See Demetr. Eloc. 195 on the general need to give actors opportunities for the display of their acting skills. Wiles (2000, 160) also agrees that Greek actors must have adjusted their voices to suit different roles. 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 The art of choral dance(including a tradition of performing the Other that we see in vase paintings) was undoubtedly far more developed when tragedy began than the art of acting, even though actors came to compete success- ully with or perhaps even overshadow the chorus toward the late fifth and early fourth centuries. Hence it seems likely that Greek tragedy offered not only actors but also choruses an opportunity to demonstrate on a regular basis their dramatic skills at characterization, perhaps including choral equivalents or approximations of the acting techniques discussed above Plato calls choral performance mimemata tropon(Leg. 655d), or imitations of character. The texts themselves clearly indicate that choruses employed traditional age-and sex-linked gestures in representing lamentation or age, for example. Much is known from both visual and textual evidence about he gestures and movements characteristic of maenads or satyrs. In contrast to the dithyrambic choruses, tragic chorus members were masked and cos tumed like actors and to some extent served as actors; again, according to Plato (Leg. 654c), a chorus ideally serves its purpose with body(somato) and voice (phone).In the Homeric Hymn to Apollo, a chorus of Delian Maidens is famed for its ability to imitate the voices of all human beings (162-63). The choregos would probably have welcomed the opportunity to show off the training of his choruses not only through the precision of their ovement and song, but through their playing of the Other; moreover, the costumes, music, and choreography appropriate to women, foreigners, gods, or high-status old men may have offered more opportunities for varied and character-appropriate visual and aural display than would be the case with ordinary citizens and soldiers, who, to the degree that they were linked with Athenians, might have had to observe the restraint in dress and movement pparently common to this group(at least ideally) in the classical polis. 3 If the opportunity to display choral virtuosity was critical to success in the dramatic contests, few poets would have produced a set of three trage dies with the same choral identity in each play: the very sparse and statis- tically meaningless evidence( see appendix a)that we have at least does not contradict the possibility this could often have been the case In Aeschylus Oresteia, for example, the chorus becomes increasingly exotic and visually arresting, as we move from old men to wildly lamenting slave women dressed in black to the terrifying Furies, whose first appearance on stage was said to have caused shock-even nges--in the audience( vit. Aesch. 9).Aes- chylus was known for his spectacular dramaturgy in respect to costume and choral performance(choregia, Vit Aesch. 2). Indeed, the rest of Aeschylus 8. On the vases showing choruses performing in the of women, old men and others, which ca even predate tragedy itself, see Trendall and Webster 19 ic dance(emmmeleia)may have been solemn, haracterization already suggested by the chorus'masks an 1986a, 38). At the same time, choral identity can fade intermittently or sequentially during a tragedy until it becomes almost generic (Kranz 1933, 222) See Geddes 1987 on Attic dress This content downloaded from 145.97 173 155 on Wed. 01 Feb 2017 10: 50- 30 UT Allusesubjecttohttp://aboutjstor.org/terms
Choral Identity 7 The art of choral dance (including a tradition of performing the Other that we see in vase paintings) was undoubtedly far more developed when tragedy began than the art of acting, even though actors came to compete successfully with or perhaps even overshadow the chorus toward the late fifth and early fourth centuries.28 Hence it seems likely that Greek tragedy offered not only actors but also choruses an opportunity to demonstrate on a regular basis their dramatic skills at characterization, perhaps including choral equivalents or approximations of the acting techniques discussed above. Plato calls choral performance mimemata tropon (Leg. 655d), or imitations of character. The texts themselves clearly indicate that choruses employed traditional age- and sex-linked gestures in representing lamentation or age, for example. Much is known from both visual and textual evidence about the gestures and movements characteristic of maenads or satyrs. In contrast to the dithyrambic choruses, tragic chorus members were masked and costumed like actors and to some extent served as actors; again, according to Plato (Leg. 654c), a chorus ideally serves its purpose with body (somati) and voice (phonei).29 In the Homeric Hymn to Apollo, a chorus of Delian Maidens is famed for its ability to imitate the voices of all human beings (162–63). The choregos would probably have welcomed the opportunity to show off the training of his choruses not only through the precision of their movement and song, but through their playing of the Other; moreover, the costumes, music, and choreography appropriate to women, foreigners, gods, or high-status old men may have offered more opportunities for varied and character-appropriate visual and aural display than would be the case with ordinary citizens and soldiers, who, to the degree that they were linked with Athenians, might have had to observe the restraint in dress and movement apparently common to this group (at least ideally) in the classical polis.30 If the opportunity to display choral virtuosity was critical to success in the dramatic contests, few poets would have produced a set of three tragedies with the same choral identity in each play; the very sparse and statistically meaningless evidence (see appendix A) that we have at least does not contradict the possibility this could often have been the case. In Aeschylus’ Oresteia, for example, the chorus becomes increasingly exotic and visually arresting, as we move from old men to wildly lamenting slave women dressed in black to the terrifying Furies, whose first appearance on stage was said to have caused shock—even miscarriages—in the audience (Vit. Aesch. 9). Aeschylus was known for his spectacular dramaturgy in respect to costume and choral performance (choregia, Vit. Aesch. 2). Indeed, the rest of Aeschylus’ 28. On the vases showing choruses performing in the costumes of women, old men, and others, which can even predate tragedy itself, see Trendall and Webster 1971. Tragic dance (emmeleia) may have been solemn, elevated, and noble, or even static, as ancient sources suggest, but this nobility did not necessarily preclude the characterization already suggested by the chorus’ masks and costumes. 29. Aristotle considers the chorus an actor (Poet. 1456a25), even if less mimetic than the actors ([Pr.] 19.15); for discussion see Rosenmeyer 1993, 560. The chorus may also have mimed or danced to the actors’ words (schol. Ar. Nub. 1352 and Ran. 896), but these sources remain highly controversial (Davidson 1986a, 38). At the same time, choral identity can fade intermittently or sequentially during a tragedy until it becomes almost generic (Kranz 1933, 222). 30. See Geddes 1987 on Attic dress. 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 prominent extant choruses, which consist of virgins who initially rush fran- tically onto the stage in Seven against Thebes, exotic Persians, dark-skinned Danaids from Egypt in Supplices, and divine, winged Oceanids in Prome theus Vinctus (if the play is by Aeschylus) make my point about how choral identity may have contributed to a tragic victory quite handily. Even if not all the titles of Aeschylus'lost plays indicate the presence of such arrest- ing choruses, it may be significant that these seven extant plays with their exciting, typically Aeschy lean choregia were among those most revived, reperformed, and preserved. As we shall see, even Sophocles, who may unlike Aeschylus, have preferred to use more male than female choruses, apparently compensated for his more sober choruses by gradually moving toward permitting them to engage in a higher proportion of exciting lyric dialogues with the actors(see his late Electra, Philoctetes, and Oedipus Coloneus).3 Euripides, who, in comparison with his predecessors, to some extent reduced the prominence of act-dividing choral stasia or revised the way that these stasia were integrated into the action, seems to have made foreign choruses as well as the exciting"new music. 32 Among those few plays for which Euripides won first prize, the choruses for Bacchae(foreign women)and Hippolytus(with both a female chorus and a contrasting sup- plementary chorus of huntsmen) are certainly especially interesting from the perspective of choral performance. In sum, even though the success of a chorus depended on factors beyond its identity, the poet's choice of choruses had at the very least to offer the choregos a promising opportunity for victory in the tragic contests. Since playing the Other would have been more challenging, a poet would have had a built-in incentive to select such choruses for his plays have important implications for theories concerning the identity of the chor most expenence sively inexperienced ephebes makes sense(Winkler 1990; see Wilson 2000, 78-79; and Wiles 1997, 93) uovo, Pagli 81673)showing the cast of a satyr play depicts the choreuts(if not the )arg nd ephebes were premilitary (Wilson 2000, 79). Both wilson (83)and Csapo and Slater(1995, 352) ask why there was exemption from military service for choral participation as well as laws assisting the choregos in n the ly th unlike names of the choreuts on the Pronomos vase, as well as their long hair, would suit members of rs of the elite for the chal- ary paid to chorus members during their training, or remarks in Demosthenes(De cor. 18.265)and th Old Oligarch(1. 13)that differentiate the elite choregos from his demotic choreuts Ober(2000)stresses th both possibilities cannot be the case. This content downloaded from 145.97 173 155 on Wed. 01 Feb 2017 10: 50- 30 UT Allusesubjecttohttp://aboutjstor.org/terms
8 Helene Foley prominent extant choruses, which consist of virgins who initially rush frantically onto the stage in Seven against Thebes, exotic Persians, dark-skinned Danaids from Egypt in Supplices, and divine, winged Oceanids in Prometheus Vinctus (if the play is by Aeschylus) make my point about how choral identity may have contributed to a tragic victory quite handily. Even if not all the titles of Aeschylus’ lost plays indicate the presence of such arresting choruses, it may be significant that these seven extant plays with their exciting, typically Aeschylean choregia were among those most revived, reperformed, and preserved. As we shall see, even Sophocles, who may, unlike Aeschylus, have preferred to use more male than female choruses, apparently compensated for his more sober choruses by gradually moving toward permitting them to engage in a higher proportion of exciting lyric dialogues with the actors (see his late Electra, Philoctetes, and Oedipus Coloneus).31 Euripides, who, in comparison with his predecessors, to some extent reduced the prominence of act-dividing choral stasima or revised the way that these stasima were integrated into the action, seems to have made up for it in performance with a preference for female and other more exotic foreign choruses as well as the exciting “new music.”32 Among those few plays for which Euripides won first prize, the choruses for Bacchae (foreign women) and Hippolytus (with both a female chorus and a contrasting supplementary chorus of huntsmen) are certainly especially interesting from the perspective of choral performance. In sum, even though the success of a chorus depended on factors beyond its identity, the poet’s choice of choruses had at the very least to offer the choregos a promising opportunity for victory in the tragic contests. Since playing the Other would have been more challenging, a poet would have had a built-in incentive to select such choruses for his plays.33 31. See, e.g., Kirkwood 1958, 192–93; Esposito 1996, 85 and 107; and Taplin 1984–85 (1988). In the first part of Ajax the chorus is similarly deeply engaged in lyric dialogue. Burton (1980, 264–65) argues that late Sophoclean choruses become more actorlike and less prone to gnomic comments. 32. For ancient evidence on the new music, see Csapo and Slater 1995, 333–34, with documents 267–88. 33. These assumptions have important implications for theories concerning the identity of the choral performers themselves. If the choregoi for tragedy had free choice to pick the best and most experienced performers for their choruses, it seems less likely that Jack Winkler’s theory that tragic choreutai were exclusively inexperienced ephebes makes sense (Winkler 1990; see Wilson 2000, 78–79; and Wiles 1997, 93). True, the famous Pronomos vase (Attic red-figure volute krater from Ruovo, Paglia, c. 400 b.c.e., Naples, Museo Nationale 3240 inv. no. 81673) showing the cast of a satyr play depicts the choreuts (if not their leader Papposilenus) as beardless and two of the actors as bearded. Wiles (2000, 131) argues that the ritual and educational traditions of choral dance explain the youthful images. Moreover, we also hear that chorus members, presumably including tragic chorus members, could be exempted from military service to perform, and ephebes were premilitary (Wilson 2000, 79). Both Wilson (83) and Csapo and Slater (1995, 352) ask why there was exemption from military service for choral participation as well as laws assisting the choregos in recruitment if choral performance was part of ephebic training. Winkler argues that the tragic choreuts or tragoidoi received their name from the goatlike, breaking voices of the adolescent ephebes, who could be nicknamed tragoi, or “goats.” Again, however, these are precisely the voices a competitive choregos would be unlikely to want in his chorus (Wilson 2000, 79). In addition, Wilson also notes that all but two of the names of the choreuts on the Pronomos vase, as well as their long hair, would suit members of aristocratic families (129). He suggests that choregoi may have preferred to recruit members of the elite for the challenging tragic choruses because of their additional experience in the song and dance of symposia (128–29; similarly, Griffith 1995, p. 74, n. 48; see Ar. Ran. 727–29). Yet this intriguing theory does not square with the salary paid to chorus members during their training, or remarks in Demosthenes (De cor. 18.265) and the Old Oligarch (1.13) that differentiate the elite choregos from his demotic choreuts. Ober (2000) stresses that both possibilities cannot be the case. 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 If this is correct, current assumptions shared by many scholars concern- ing choral dance need some reconsideration. For if we accept these assump- tions, the chorus capacity and range to play the Other would be heavily compromised. We are generally told in late sources that tragic choruses danced in rectangular formation, which placed the best performers in front and the weakest in the middle. with fifteen chorus members this meant three rows of five. with the chorus leader in the center of the front row If we look more closely at this late evidence, however, this rectangular formation seems strongly associated with choral entrances rather than with choral dance across the board. True, Socrates is said by Athenaeus (628e-f) to have remarked in his poems that"those who honor the gods most beautifully with choruses are best in military matters. Various dance formations could be good for military training or for times of peace,or manly in terms of their disciplined style(Ath. 628e-f, Pl Leg. 7.814e-16d) without being consistently rectangular. Given the apparent lack of restric- tions concerning choral recruitment for tragedy faced by the choregos, there is no a priori reason beyond competition why any tragic chorus members of he fifth century should have had to be weak. More important, however, to assume that all choral dance was performed in rectangular formation does not sit well with other possible evidence, to say nothing of common sense-women, old men, foreigners, and soldiers dancing in the same fashion throughout the varied songs and events of the plays, especially since pretragic choral tradition had already established conventions of choral dancing for different social groups. For example, when describing the Spartan necklace dance, Lucian(Salt. 12), describes the ephebe as leading the dance with steps he will later use in war, whereas the parthenos follows, demonstrating how to dance a woman's role in a deco rous fashion. The dance thus weaves together female sophrosyne(chastity and self-control) and male andreia(courage and manliness). Furthermore pretragic archaic choruses are often linked with circular formations or pro- cessions; the visual evidence on choral dance presents dancing groups in lines, often with linked hands, and perhaps in linked circles, not in ranks dancers. Moreover, regardless of whether the orchestra was circular or pproximately rectangular, some choral passages in drama apparently refer to the chorus encircling characters during its song or action; for ex- ample, the Furies ominously encircle Orestes during their binding song in ster 1970, 112: Davidson 1986b, 41(who thinks this possibility is in itself too rigid): Csapo nd Slater 1995, document 308: and Aclius Aristides On Behalf of the Four 154. 36. The Athenaeus passage suggests that early choral dance shared the magnificence and elegant move- ments of m 37. Webster 97.235 BCE(whether circular, rectangular has been reviewed most recently in Wiles 1997, 23-86 Revermann 1999: and Rehm 2002. 37- orchestra would best accommodate the large circular dithyrambic choral dances. This content downloaded from 145.97 173 155 on Wed. 01 Feb 2017 10: 50- 30 UT Allusesubjecttohttp://aboutjstor.org/terms
Choral Identity 9 If this is correct, current assumptions shared by many scholars concerning choral dance need some reconsideration. For if we accept these assumptions, the chorus’ capacity and range to play the Other would be heavily compromised. We are generally told in late sources that tragic choruses danced in rectangular formation, which placed the best performers in front and the weakest in the middle. With fifteen chorus members, this meant three rows of five, with the chorus leader in the center of the front row.34 If we look more closely at this late evidence, however, this rectangular formation seems strongly associated with choral entrances rather than with choral dance across the board.35 True, Socrates is said by Athenaeus (628e–f) to have remarked in his poems that “those who honor the gods most beautifully with choruses are best in military matters.” Various dance formations could be good for military training or for times of peace, or manly in terms of their disciplined style (Ath. 628e–f, Pl. Leg. 7.814e–16d) without being consistently rectangular.36 Given the apparent lack of restrictions concerning choral recruitment for tragedy faced by the choregos, there is no a priori reason beyond competition why any tragic chorus members of the fifth century should have had to be weak. More important, however, to assume that all choral dance was performed in rectangular formation does not sit well with other possible evidence, to say nothing of common sense—women, old men, foreigners, and soldiers dancing in the same fashion throughout the varied songs and events of the plays, especially since pretragic choral tradition had already established conventions of choral dancing for different social groups.37 For example, when describing the Spartan necklace dance, Lucian (Salt. 12), describes the ephebe as leading the dance with steps he will later use in war, whereas the parthenos follows, demonstrating how to dance a woman’s role in a decorous fashion. The dance thus weaves together female sophrosyne (chastity and self-control) and male andreia (courage and manliness). Furthermore, pretragic archaic choruses are often linked with circular formations or processions; the visual evidence on choral dance presents dancing groups in lines, often with linked hands, and perhaps in linked circles, not in ranks of dancers.38 Moreover, regardless of whether the orchestra was circular or approximately rectangular,39 some choral passages in drama apparently refer to the chorus encircling characters during its song or action; for example, the Furies ominously encircle Orestes during their binding song in 34. See Csapo and Slater 1995, 353; and Aelius Aristides On Behalf of the Four 154 and the scholion to this passage; Phot. Lexicon, s.v. tritos aristerou, aristerostates, and laurostatai; Hesychius, s.v. aristerostates and laurostatai; Poll. 2.161. 35. See Webster 1970, 112; Davidson 1986b, 41 (who thinks this possibility is in itself too rigid); Csapo and Slater 1995, document 308; and Aelius Aristides On Behalf of the Four 154. 36. The Athenaeus passage suggests that early choral dance shared the magnificence and elegant movements of men in arms; see also Ath. 628c and 629b. 37. Webster 1970, 200–201; and Di Benedetto 1997, 235. 38. Webster 1970, 1–45, and Crowhurst 1963. 39. The lengthy controversy over the shape of the orchestra at the City Dionysia during the fifth century b.c.e. (whether circular, rectangular, or trapezoidal), has been reviewed most recently in Wiles 1997, 23–86; Revermann 1999; and Rehm 2002, 37–41. A circular orchestra would best accommodate the large circular dithyrambic choral dances. 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