An introduction to Antigone's chorus for sophomore English students.

1. THE CHORUS
What is it?

2. Greek drama helped make
plays the way they are
today.

3. Some production
elements still
common are:
● Masks
● Costumes
● Dancing
● Music
● Script

4. We still perform
many ancient
Greek plays.

5. THE CHORUS

6. ● The chorus first appeared in the
celebrations, or festivals, of
Dionysus.
○ Dionysus was the god of wine
and fertility.
● Groups called choruses would
compete in singing and dancing
competitions at the festivals.

7. The best
chorus… won a
prize!

8. Eventually, plays became
part of these festivals.

9. ● The chorus competition became less
important than the theater’s stories
and characters.
○ The chorus stayed around,
though...

10. ● The chorus stayed around because
the Greeks valued public
participation. (Remember how
democracy began in Greece?)
○ The chorus was made of volunteers
(just as ours is in class).
○ The volunteers were skilled singers and
dancers (not like ours in class).
○ Chorus participation kept the audience
informed.

11. ● The chorus was trained by
the choragos.
○ A rich person
○ Found training space
○ Kept actors on a strict diet
● The choragos was the
volunteers’ leader.

12. ● Like before, the chorus
danced and sang.
● The singing was
accompanied by music
○ Flutes, trumpets, cymbals, drums

13. ● The chorus was just as
important as the actors.
● The chorus even spoke with
characters in the play.
○ Just like the choragos in our
play, Antigone

14. ● The chorus was, really, a
group of characters in a play.
● They could play a lot of roles.
○ In Antigone = elders of Thebes
○ In other plays = sailors, young
girls, mature women, guardians
of a sanctuary

15. The best
chorus… still won
a prize!
● Or, really, the choragos became
extremely famous and grew
more wealthy.

16. The chorus was important:
it impacted how the play
was organized.

17. The chorus was in the
play’s main scenes
AND had scenes just
for themselves.
The chorus entered
early during the play
and didn’t fully leave
until its very end.

18. Main Characters’ Scenes
in a Greek Play:
1. Prologue
2. Scene 1
3. Scene 2
4. Scene 3
5. Scene 4
6. Scene 5
7. Epilogue
8. Exodus
Chorus’s Parts in a Greek
Play:
1. (After Prologue…) Parados
2. (After Scene 1…) Ode 1
3. (After Scene 2…) Ode 2
4. (After Scene 3…) Ode 3
5. (After Scene 4…) Ode 4
6. (After Scene 5…) Paean
7. Epilogue
8. Exodus

19. Many of the odes in Antigone were
broken up into
1. strophes and
2. antistrophes.
(Our textbook doesn’t show them
this way.)

20. The strophe was the first
argument the chorus
members made to each other
about the play’s action.
○ When speaking, they
moved from right to left.

21. The antistrophe was the
second argument the chorus
members made.
○ When speaking, they
moved from left to right.