>hm, perhaps we should go back to the original function of an antique chorus.
>please, has somebody of you a good describition about the antique chorus and
>the chorus - leader (I might probably have it somewhere but I am sure in
>German and my english is not so good that I could translate fluently ;)
How much do you want to know? Books and books, or the rough description? In
Greek tragedy the chorus is a part of the world of the play, with its own
identity and opinions. It is not a disinterested commentator although it is
usually unable to influence the action of the play. Most choruses are made
up of the disempowered: women, slaves, men too old to fight. The number of
choreuts was 12 or 15, and their dance was mimetic and based loosely on
military drill. Music was that of the diaulos, an instrument like a double
oboe. It's generally accepted that the coryphaeus, or chorus-leader, spoke
the interchanges with the protagonists.
Odysseus himself appears in an assortment of plays with a variety of
choruses. The only play in which he is a major focus is Euripides'
*Cyclops*, a satyr play based on the 'oudeis' book of the *Iliad*.
Naturally it has a chorus of satyrs.
Hope that's of some use.
Sallie Goetsch * Founding Editor, *Didaskalia*
Department of Classics/School of Theatre Studies
University of Warwick * Coventry CV4 7AL * UK
Tel. +44 (0)1926 316398 * E-mail: tssac@csv.warwick.ac.uk
WWW: http://www.warwick.ac.uk/didaskalia/profiles/editor.html