A Greek chorus, also called "chorós" in Ancient Greek, was a group of performers in ancient Greek plays. They would speak together as a group to comment on what was happening in the scene or explain events that happened before the play started. The chorus usually had between 12 and 50 members. These performers danced, sang, or spoke their lines together. Sometimes, they wore masks to show different emotions during their performance.

History

A common idea about where the Greek chorus began is linked to the ancient Greek poet Arion, who is believed to have created tragedy, the stationary chorus, and verses by satyrs. In Aristotle's Poetics, he explains that tragedy and comedy both started from spontaneous performances. Tragedy came from leaders of dithyrambs, while comedy came from leaders of phallic songs, which are still practiced in some cities today. Over time, poets improved these forms by developing their potential.

The role of the chorus changed over time. For example, Aeschylus focused more on dialogue by adding more actors and reducing the chorus's role in his plays. The chorus also had an important role in the Athenian polis, as members often formed lasting friendships through their shared civic duty of performing.

It is believed that choruses began with Dionysian dithyrambs, which were hymns and dances honoring Dionysus. Later, other characters were added to the performances. Satyr-plays were introduced at the start of performances to ensure Dionysus remained honored.

Greek playwrights in the 5th century honored the chorus's musical and dance origins by including songs and dances in their plays. For example, Aeschylus and Euripides either wrote their own musical accompaniments or hired others to do so. Sophocles played the cithara, an ancient lyre-like instrument, during at least one of his plays.

German poet and philosopher Friedrich Schiller tried using a chorus in his tragedy The Bride of Messina. After its performance in March 1803 in Weimar, students praised it, but critics criticized it. They argued that the chorus slowed the story and分散ed the audience's emotions.

In 1910, Sir William Ridgeway wrote The Origin of Tragedy, in which he claimed that Greek tragedy began from dithyrambs and that the tragic genre was rooted in Dionysian traditions.

Dramatic function

In ancient Greek theatre, all surviving plays include a chorus that provided background information and summaries to help the audience understand the performance. The chorus discussed themes and, as August Wilhelm Schlegel suggested in the early 1800s, showed how the audience might feel about the drama. Schlegel believed the chorus acted as "the ideal spectator" and helped the real audience "express their emotions through music and lyrics, and encouraged them to think deeply."

In Greek tragedies, the chorus first appeared during the parodos, which was the song they sang when entering the stage. Throughout the play, episodes occurred where characters and the chorus interacted, followed by stasima, where the chorus performed a choral ode to summarize and explain events. In the exodus, or final scene, the chorus sang a song with a message or moral before leaving. Paul Woodruff noted that the chorus often shared the grief of the main characters, calling them "grief-leaders."

Some historians believe the chorus was considered an actor. Albert Weiner argued that a chorus works best when it is "integrated into the play" and acts like a single character. Euripides' choruses were often criticized for being less connected to the story, while Sophocles' choruses were praised for being more involved. Aristotle wrote in his Poetics that the chorus should be treated as an actor, part of the play's action, and more unified, as seen in Sophocles' works.

The chorus represented the general population in the story, unlike many Greek plays that focused on individual heroes, gods, or goddesses. They often shared the same gender as the main character. For example, in Aeschylus' Agamemnon, the chorus was elderly men from Argos. In Euripides' The Bacchae, they were eastern bacchantes, and in Sophocles' Electra, they were women from Argos. In Aeschylus' The Eumenides, the chorus portrayed avenging Furies.

Sometimes, the chorus acted as a middle group between the audience and the characters, especially when discussing moral lessons. In Seneca's Thyestes, the chorus described offstage events, such as the brutal murder of Thyestes' sons, to show the audience the consequences of immoral actions.

In Thyestes, the chorus also used symbols, like hunger, to express themes of desire and revenge. While the chorus helped explain the story, they were not always all-knowing. Their lack of knowledge sometimes showed the difference in status between the chorus and the main characters, highlighting the hierarchy in ancient Greek society. The chorus's words also revealed political ideas and societal values. For example, their descriptions of Atreus shifted between positive, negative, and neutral tones, criticizing the monarchy while showing some respect for the king. By studying the chorus's lines, people can learn about the political and social conditions of ancient Greece and the role of ordinary citizens.

Choral structure and size

No written records beyond the script remain to describe what an ancient Greek audience might have seen or heard during a performance of a choral ode. However, by studying the words in the script, including the origins of words and other evidence, scholars can form a general idea that a choral ode performance combined lyric poetry, singing, dancing, and drama. Scholar H. D. F. Kitto explains that the Greek word choreuo, meaning "to be part of the chorus," also means "to dance." The word ode refers to "a song," not a recited or spoken piece. The large area on the stage where the chorus danced and sang was called the orchestra, which translates to "a dancing floor."

The structure of the lines in choral odes suggests they were sung. Normally, Greek syllables had long sounds twice as long as short sounds. However, some lines in odes have long syllables equal to three, four, or five short syllables. This rhythm could not be spoken, indicating that the odes were performed with both singing and dancing.

The chorus originally had fifty members in the 5th century B.C. Aeschylus likely reduced the number to twelve, and Sophocles increased it to fifteen. By the end of the 5th century B.C., the chorus size remained at fifteen for tragedies, as used by Euripides and Sophocles. Comedies, however, had twenty-four members.

Regarding gender, depictions of female performers or mixed groups (men and women) in choruses appear in art from the 8th century B.C. These examples disappear by the 5th century B.C. Greek literature provides limited direct evidence about female choruses, with most references being indirect. For example, Euripides’ character Electra expresses frustration about being unable to join a chorus or festival. Poets sometimes used the term choros to describe female group performances, but this was not common. Plato mentioned women dancing in Corybantic rituals using choral language, but scholars Budelmann and Power note that he did not consider these performances equal to traditional choruses. Sophocles and Pausanias referred to the Thyiades as a choros.

Scholars Budelmann and Power agree that female choruses were a minor part of Greek choral culture but argue that these ensembles existed outside major civic events dominated by traditional male choruses. Women could not perform at major festivals like the City Dionysia, where female characters were played by men. Instead, they performed at smaller events such as polis festivals, private celebrations, female-only festivals, and in rural areas.

Private performances featuring female choruses included the dekatê, a small family event held on the tenth day after a baby’s birth, and weddings. Greek weddings involved both genders dancing and singing, but these were distinct from formal choral performances.

Female choruses also occurred outside Athens, but performances were separated by gender. Plutarch and Aristophanes’ Lysistrata mention women dancing at Kolias during the Classical period, honoring Demeter and Aphrodite, respectively.

Stage management

The chorus used many methods to perform, such as singing, dancing, telling stories, and acting. Evidence shows that their speaking had strong rhythmic parts.

They often sang their lines, but sometimes spoke together at the same time. The chorus worked as a group to help explain the play because there were only one to three actors on stage, and each actor played many roles. Since Greek theatres were very large, the chorus had to move in clearly visible ways and speak loudly so everyone could see and hear them. To do this, they used methods like moving together at the same time, using echoes, creating movements that spread outward, using physical theatre, and wearing masks. A Greek chorus was usually led by a person called a coryphaeus. The chorus also acted like a curtain: their parodos, or entering procession, marked the start of a play, and their exodos, or exit procession, marked the end.

Ancient Greek theatres had an area called the orchestra, which was a flat space used for dancing. This area was originally made of dirt but later became paved with stone, sometimes covered in marble. These spaces sometimes included a thymele, which was an altar.

Decline in antiquity

Before Aeschylus introduced multiple actors who worked together, the Greek chorus was the main performer, while only one actor was involved. After the 5th century BCE, the chorus became less important in plays as it was no longer closely connected to the main action. Later playwrights relied on the chorus less than earlier ones. As dialogue and character development grew more important, the chorus appeared less often in plays. However, historian Alan Hughes explains that the chorus was not declining but instead changing into a different form:

At their best, they may have become a type of performance art, combining music, lyrics, and dance. This was done by well-trained performers called choreutai and accompanied by skilled musicians. This is not a sign of improvement or decline. It is just a change.

Modern choruses

Musical theatre and grand opera often use a singing chorus that has a role similar to the Greek chorus, as explained in Six Plays by Rodgers and Hammerstein: "The singing chorus is used frequently to show the thoughts and feelings of the main characters, in the same way as a Greek chorus." This idea is important in A Strange Loop, the winner of the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. In this play, six characters called "Thoughts" move with the main character, Usher, and represent how he sees the world.

During the Italian Renaissance, people became interested in ancient Greek theatre again. A group called the Florentine Camerata created the first operas from intermezzi, which were musical or comic parts added to plays. Historian H. C. Montgomery says these operas were inspired by the Greek chorus.

Richard Wagner wrote about Greek drama and the Greek chorus in his works, including Art and Revolution. His longest play, Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung), follows the style of Oresteia, a Greek play. Both works have three parts, though The Ring of the Nibelung begins with Das Rheingold as an introduction to the other parts. Montgomery also notes that Wagner’s use of the orchestra, like the Greek chorus, helps end the story and connects the action to everyday life.

The musical Little Shop of Horrors includes a modern version of a Greek chorus through the characters Crystal, Ronette, and Chiffon. Their songs help tell the story of the play.

A Greek chorus also appears in the Woody Allen film Mighty Aphrodite, where the chorus offers advice to the main character, who is anxious and nervous.