The Burial Of Thebes: The Role Of The Chorus In Traditional Greek Plays

This paper will firstly define what the Chorus are and their role in Traditional Greek plays. Once that is defined we will then discuss the impact of the Chorus in each episode as well as the Choral Parodos and Stasimon’s . We will then reach an overall conclusion at the end about the effect of the Chorus’s contribution.

The Burial of Thebes written by Seamus Heaney is based on the Greek tragedy ‘Antigone’ which was created by Sophocles in the fifth century BCE. What is clear from Heaney’s interviews on ((Burial at Thebes, Track 14) is that he greatly admires traditional Athenian theatre. Heaney’s creation was commissioned in 2004 and certainly has a modern emphasis in terms of structure and role of the chorus compared to traditional Greek

Here they reproach Antigone, ‘child of doom, have you gone and broken the law?’. Despite in the first stasimon eluding to the dangers of man overstepping their boundaries they offer a balanced view of also respecting the new laws of Thebes. Throughout the play the Chorus offer an unbiased perspective which allows the audience to make their own mind up about the character’s actions. The chorus throughout advise an influence the characters, the chorus offer Creon an explanation of her behavior (Heaney,2004 P. 21 ) ‘the wildness in her come from Oedipus. She gets it from her father, she won’t relent’. The chorus also introduce characters to the audience, in this scene they introduce Haemon who Antigone’s intended

Obvious structural contributions include aiding the transition from each episode. The Chorus also contribute in this play by directly advising the main characters particularly Creon which adds to their perception as ‘Elders’ to the audience. The chorus throughout offer an unbiased viewpoint, this allows ambiguity to occur meaning the audience will create their own Moral viewpoint about the characters and their actions, this is a critical contribution. The chorus also continuously link each theme back to mythology and the Gods and this constant metaphor reaches their correct prediction by the end of the play, allowing the audience to learn the moral of the story similar to most traditional Greek tragedy’s. Overall the Chorus make a key contribution whether it be all the things listed above, but also the emotion that they create through their Odes which contributes greatly to the play. Without them a Greek or Greek style play would not be the