The Theatricality of Greek Tragedy: Playing Space and ChorusAncient Greek tragedy has been an inspiration to Western culture, but the way it was first performed has long remained in question. In The Theatricality of Greek Tragedy, Graham Ley provides an illuminating discussion of key issues relating to the use of the playing space and the nature of the chorus, offering a distinctive impression of the performance of Greek tragedy in the fifth century BCE. Drawing on evidence from the surviving texts of tragedies by Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, Ley explains how scenes with actors were played in the open ground of the orchestra, often considered as exclusively the dancing place of the chorus. In reviewing what is known of the music and dance of Greek antiquity, Ley goes on to show that in the original productions the experience of the chorus—expressed in song and dance and in interaction with the characters—remained a vital characteristic in the performance of tragedy. Combining detailed analysis with broader reflections about the nature of ancient Greek tragedy as an art form, this volume—supplemented with a series of illustrative drawings and diagrams—will be a necessary addition to the bookshelf of anyone interested in literature, theater, or classical studies. |
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actor/character actors addresses the choros Aeschylus Aeschylus's Agamemnon altar anapests ancient Greek Andromache Antigone antistrophe aoidos Apollo appear Aristophanes arrival Athenian Athens audience Bacchylides carriage Cassandra century BCE chant chariot choreia choros chorus Clytemnestra comedy commentary composed conclusion Creon Csapo and Slater culture Danaus danced song Dionysian Dionysus discussion dithyramb drama eisodos ekkuklema Electra Eteocles Eumenides Euripides Ewans exchange festival fifth century figure Greek dance Greek Tragedy Halleran Hecuba Helen Heracles images indications Iphigenia Kaimio kind later Lawler Libation Bearers Menelaus meters mode of composition mousike movement Oedipus open ground orchestra Oresteia Orestes Oxford paian palace Pelasgus performance Persians Pickard-Cambridge Plato playing space present reference Rehm relation satyr play scene script sequence Seven against Thebes singing and dancing skene Sophocles speaking Suppliants surviving tragedies Talthybius Taplin theater theatrical Theseus tion tomb tragic choros trilogy Trojan women University Press vehicle Webster Wiles Zeus