THE CHORUS AND CONSISTENCY OF CHARACTER - THREE STAGED EXAMPLES FROM EURIPIDES’ HIPPOLYTOS, BACCHAE AND FROM AESCHYLUS PERSIANS.

In the field of ancient Greek theatre re-performance, Aristotle is often held responsible for centuries of neglect of the chorus, of music and dance, and of spectacle. He is also held responsible for discounting everything that is mysterious, religious and irrational in Greek tragedy. According to the Poetics, these elements have to be sacrificed for the sake of a unified plot, structured around intelligible action and consistency of character.

"..there should be nothing irrational in the events; if there is, it should lie outside the play..."
Poetics Chapter XV 1454b 6-7.

"the material [of the plot] should be constructed “as much as possible in the mind’s eye"
Chapter XVII 1455a 21-2.

"…spectacle is emotionally potent but falls quite outside the art and is not integral to poetry…"
Chapter VI 1450b.

"spectacle has little to do with the poet's art…"
Chapter XIV 1453 b 6.

While “plot”, and I quote, “is the first principle—the soul—of tragedy” and “character is secondary...”
1450a .38-39.

character can contribute to the unity of plot in so far as it conforms to certain criteria—(goodness, appropriateness, likeness) the fourth and last of which is consistency—sometimes translated as ‘coherence’ - In Greek ‘to omalon’
1454 a 25-27.

An inconsistent character distracts us from the smooth unfolding of the plot as also do choruses when they sing irrelevant songs.

The same criteria that apply to render a character appropriate for tragedy apply also to the chorus. Choruses should be relevant and consistent (more like those of Sophocles than those of Euripides)-

“The chorus should be treated as one of the actors; it should be part of the whole and should participate [in the action].” 1456a.25-7

Today, using extracts from Euripides’ Hippolytos (2001), Bacchae (2004) and Aeschylus’ Persians (2006- 7)
- productions I have directed here at the International Festival of Ancient Greek Drama in Paphos, Kourion and Leukosia—I will show you the contrast between a non Aristotelian ‘eastern’ style of production (in the Hippolytos) and a more Aristotelian ‘naturalistic style (in Bacchae and Persians).

The Hippolytos is set as a masked Indonesian dance drama. The choruses are sung in ancient Greek in their entirety and, apart from a narration in English, the song and movement languages are determined by the formal codified traditions of Javanese dance and Balinese Topeng drama. The characters of Hippolytos, Phaidra,Theseus and Nurse are expressed not through their thoughts and deeds but by their masks, movement and costume—all external signifiers of their status—male/female, god/mortal refined/lessrefined and so on. While the apparent irrelevance of the choral songs and the emphasis on spectacle (as opposed to ‘inner’ character) flout Aristotelian criteria they have another form of inner consistency which solves two important problems faced by directors and actors of Greek tragedy:
a. for the director-- the problem of what to do with the chorus on the stage
b. For the actor-- how to interpret inconsistencies of character

Here is the Eastern style:
Hippolytos

Issues of character are on a different plane and the movements of the chorus are dictated by the particular dance language I used.

By contrast, the more ‘naturalistic; productions of Bacchae and Persians do expose aspects of the protagonists and of the chorus’s character which would be considered inconsistent both by Aristotle and by the Thiasos actors. These plays were performed mainly in English where the translator, especially commissioned for both productions was the classical scholar - Richard Seaford, an expert on the Bacchae and on the Dionysian mysteries. Glen Snowden, the choreographer for Bacchae has a strong background in ballet while the movement in Persians was devised by the company, through improvisation based on trance and lamentation rituals of Middle Eastern and Central Asian countries. Apart from lament songs from Tajikistan,the language and movement of these two productions-as you will see- are readily intelligible to most audiences.

Persians

Here are some of the ‘consistency’ problems that presented themselves in the course of producing Aeschylus Persians:

Since Edith Hall’s ‘Inventing the Barbarian’ it has been well established that the chorus of lamenting Persian are depicted as despotic effeminate luxurious kowtowing courtiers to promote the antithetical democratic values of moderateness, manliness and independence-- the cornerstone of Athenian ideology.
However, certain inconsistencies in the ‘text’ may have encouraged the (original) audience to identify with the enemy. For instance:

• the beauty of the poetry and the poignancy of the extended lament
• and the fact that amidst their obsequious eastern wails and servile prostrations these barbarians pray to Greek gods and perform Greek rituals.

In our production it was reasonably straightforward to contain the first inconsistency without resolving it and to convey the equalizing power of grief through the singing and by having the chorus of courtiers removing the outer layers of luxurious gowns and hats (made with rich fabrics from Uzbekistan)

Another problem was the relatively quick change in Xerxes from his abject robe-tearing state to his despotic leadership of a ‘crushed’ chorus in a funereal like procession at the end of the play.

The following 3 clips show the ‘creative solutions’ we found to what - according to Aristotle - are flaws in a tragic work.

All three clips are from Thiasos’ production of Aeschylus’ Persae at New College Gardens (Oxford 2007) directed by Yana Zarifi-Sistovari. The translation is by Richard Seaford, and the design by AbdelKader Farrah and Nina Ayres. Music by Tolib Shahidi and Andrea Rocca.

The first clip is of Xerxes’ entrance in a state of despair.

In the second clip you will observe that in the beginning, the chorus at first respond with outrage and a sense of rebellion to Xerxes’ self-pitying display of despair.

Between the second and third clips is a dream-like sequence which we invented (not shown in this document) where the Queen, Xerxes' mother, dresses Xerxes in his father’s - in Dareios’ - robes and gives him the imperial sceptre. As Xerxes becomes re-empowered the chorus revert to their cringing kowtowing responses and follow him off the stage.

Bacchae

In Bacchae, at the apex of the play, Pentheus’ ‘character’ undergoes a drastic shift when, having been on the point of mounting a military assault against the Theban maenads on Mount Kithairon, he unexpectedly assents to Dionysos’ suggestion to wear female dress in order to spy on the women unobserved.

Here he is just before the ‘change’.

The Poetics is remarkably useful.
The attempt to impose the coherence of plot and character on ancient Greek tragedy and the fact that most of the extant Greek tragedies fall short of Aristotle’s strictures only serves to reveal deeper coherences such as that of Lamentation ritual in Aeschylus Persians and the rituals of mystic initiation in the Bacchae. It is only through performance that explores as many possibilities of opsis and mousike that we can get a glimmer of the shape of these ancient and ultimately inaccessible works.