What does the chorus represent in Antigone?
Role of the Chorus In Greek tragedies, the chorus represented the average citizen’s fears, hopes, and judgments. In the play Antigone by Sophocles, the chorus and chorus leader represent the people of Thebes who attempt to talk rationality into the main character, Antigone, and the king, Creon.
What is the purpose of the chorus in Oedipus Rex?
The chorus in Oedipus Rex comprises the male elders of Thebes. Embedded in the community, they serve as a powerful indicator for how we, the audience, should react to the tragic events as they unfold. Stravinsky recalled that even in his initial conception of Oedipus Rex, the chorus was essential.
What is Sophoclean tragedy?
Only seven of Sophocles’ tragedies are extant: Philoctetes, Ajax, Electra, Trachiniae (Women of Trachis), and the Oedipal Trilogy (also known as the Oedipal Cycle) consisting of Oedipus Tyrannus (Oedipus the King), Oedipus at Colonus, and Antigone. The Tragedies of Sophocles combines two volumes into one.
Who is the chorus in Sophocles?
The chorus in Classical Greek drama was a group of actors who described and commented upon the main action of a play with song, dance, and recitation.
Who makes up the chorus in Antigone?
In Greek tragedy, the Chorus consisted of a group of approximately ten people, playing the role of death messenger, dancing, singing, and commenting throughout from the margins of the action. Anouilh reduces the Chorus to a single figure who retains his collective function nevertheless.
What is the main function of the chorus in this excerpt from Antigone?
The Chorus in the Antigone are pious, elderly men, who embody community wisdom and show deference to power. Their support of Creon, however, is not whole-hearted, but because they fear him, they do not speak candidly.
Who does the chorus represent in the play Oedipus King?
the Theban elders
In the specific case of Oedipus Rex, the chorus of the play is a group that represents the Theban elders. Because Oedipus is the king of Thebes, having the chorus represent the elders of Thebes is appropriate for the play.
What was Sophocles most famous tragedy?
Oedipus the King
Sophocles was one of the three great Greek tragedians. Of his eight plays (seven full, one fragmented) that remain today, his most famous is Oedipus the King (Oedipus Rex), which is known for its impressive construction and use of dramatic devices.
Why is Sophocles referenced today?
Sophocles’ use of heroic flaws, the irony between a prophecy and a characters attempt to avoid it, his definition of what makes someone great, and his view of laws are the reasons why his plays are still read almost two thousand years after they were written.
How did Sophocles use the chorus?
A Chorus’ Line(s) Sophocles uses this group of Thebans to comment on the play’s action and to foreshadow future events. He also uses it to comment on the larger impact of the characters’ actions and to expound upon the play’s central themes.
Who is the chorus leader in Antigone?
Koryphaios
He dies by suicide after finding Antigone dead. Koryphaios is the assistant to the King (Creon) and the leader of the Chorus. He is often interpreted as a close advisor to the King, and therefore a close family friend.
What is a chorus character?
A term sometimes applied to a character in a play who, while participating in the action to some degree, also provides the audience with an ironic commentary upon it, thus performing a function similar to that of the chorus in Greek tragedy.
What point of view does the chorus represent Who are they siding with?
Who or what does the chorus represent in this play? They are the elders. Older, more experienced men who’s opinions should be respected and taken under advisement. They are representatives of citizens of Thebes.
How does Sophocles use the chorus and the chorus leader in developing his story What purpose do they serve?
Chorus, and its chants and songs, helped the audience better connect with the character, revealing the essence of the tragedy. The Chorus often is in the position of the ideal spectator. Sometimes it intensifies the already existing pity and fear of the audience sitting before the stage by its ode enriched in diction.
How does the chorus end?
The final scene (in the past again) shows Mathieu waiting for his bus after being fired. As he boards it, he looks back and finds Pépinot running after him, insisting that he come too. Initially, Mathieu refuses because it is not allowed, and he leaves Pépinot behind.
Why was Sophocles killed?
According to one account, he was choked by a grape. According to others, he died either when publicly reciting the Antigone, or from excessive joy at some dramatic victory.