Josef Hoenzsch Theatre History I Midterm Essay Prompt #1 The Role of the Chorus in Euripides The Bakkhai In modern

theatre, a chorus is often seen as secondary, of little importance, and a group that does little other than to set the scene of a show. Though many would argue that a chorus is still much more than animated props even in modern theatre, the conventional idea of what a chorus is has changed greatly since the time of Euripides. The chorus plays a central role in the action of a play, directly interacts with the characters, and creates a unique connection between the audience and what occurs on stage. Euripides masterfully uses the chorus in his play The Bakkhai to exact the aforementioned roles. In order to understand the significance of the chorus role in The Bakkhai, one must first understand the role of the chorus within an ancient Greek play. T he chorus dramatic function can be separated into three main roles. Firstly, they interact with those on stage in order to progress the plot. Second, they summarize the action and offer background information for clarity within the play. Third, they make a bridge between the audience and the actors on stage by directly addressing both. The first role mentioned is something that can be seen in modern theatre and is perhaps the most obvious of their roles. The chorus very much acted as an actor within the show and was used in order to keep the plot progressing. However, Euripides seems to diverge a bit from this practice. In Aristotles Poetics, he states that The chorus too

should be regarded as one of the actors; it should be an integral part of the whole, and share in the action, not in the manner of Euripides but of Sophocles Here, Euripides is alluding to the fact that many of Euripides plays have the chorus taking more a commentary role than an active role. Though they do directly address the action on stage, they often have little to no lasting effects on the conflict. In The Bakkhai, much of their dialogue is praising Dionysus or summarizing what is going on. The second role of the chorus is what is most prominent in the chorus in The Bakkhai. They often comment on the action and create a specific setting for the action. Their dialogue is often praise of Dionysus, which sets a certain ritual setting for the action of The Bakkhai. They also take time to warn Pentheus that his denial of Dionysus may have dire consequences, but Pentheus heeds no such warning. In this sense, the chorus also foreshadows future action in the play. Furthermore, this denotes the seriousness of denying Dionysus his due recognition, which comments on the setting of the polytheistic culture This third role of bridging the gap between the audience and action is evident through the characterization and dialogue of the chorus. The Bakkhai is centered around the god Dionysus. Dionysus was the God of wine, ecstasy, and giving into nature. His followers follow the desires of the body and take each moment to enjoy the freeing of ones inhibitions in order to pursue a liberating, erotic dance. This ritualistic madness is celebrated through drinking of wine, pursuing sexual relations with people regardless of gender, and disregarding many social norms. In the Bakkhai, the chorus is a group of thse followers, called bacchants or maenads. They interact both with the action on

stage, as well as the audience. Furthermore, they specifically address them as fellow bacchants and call to them to join in this ritualistic dance. In doing this, they engage the audience and allow the audience to feel as if they are connected to the action vicariously through the chorus. The chorus didnt need to (and often didnt) represent the audience in a demographic sense, but their interaction on stage allowed them to be the part of the play that the audience could most connect with the action through. The choral passage from the Bakkhai occurring in scene III is an incredible example of how Euripides used the chorus and its dialogue to evoke beautiful imagery to supplement the action on stage in order to increase connection with the audience as well as make clearer the meaning of the action on stage. Nature is an incredibly important theme of The Bakkhai, as it has much to do with Dionysus, and the chorus here alludes to it with an extended simile involving a fawn being hunted: Oh, when will I be dancing, leaping barefoot through the nightlike a playful fawn celeb rating its green joythat its escaped the fearful hunt. Here, Euripides is talking of the hunter as being men like Pentheus that denounce Dionysus and his followers, and the fawn as a believer of Dionysus. Being that Pentheus had banned worship of Dionysus, he was a hunter in the sense of his intent to destroy the beauty of the bacchants celebration. This represents the central conflict of The Bakkhai and allows the chorus to foreshadow the denouement of the play. The bacchants here are speaking with longing of having these days of celebration in their Dionysian ritual once again. They call out to the audience to desire this as much as they do. However, because of the hunter, Pentheus, that they need to stop, this ritual must be delayed. They here are following the will of

Dionysus in hunting out those who would dare not to properly worship Dionysus and are further calling to the audience to join them in the action. The second part of the passage states The power of the gods is difficult to stir but it's a power we can count on. It punishes all mortal men who honor their own ruthless wills, who, in their fits of madness, fail to reverence the gods. Gods track down every man who scorns their worship The bacchants know that their ritual celebration and freedom must end in order to punish Pentheus. They long for the freedom of a fawn, but realize their duty to follow Dionysus will in making certain all men worship him. This threatening imagery may seem to contradict the description of the fawn previously given, but these images can co-exist. The bacchants must act in the will of Dionysus and release themselves to his control in order to create order in the world. This becomes a call to the audience as well for them to join in this hunt and to reap the benefitted ritual freedom once the task is done. Greek theatre is performed to evoke a cathartic response from the audience. Though it is impossible to know what the Greeks meant by catharsis, the involvement that the audience has in this action could be part of an emotional release that makes up a cathartic experience. This part of the passage also serves to foreshadow Pentheus downfall as he scorns reverence of Dionysus, which incites the audience to join in their hunt of Pentheus. Euripides uses repetition of the lines What is wisdom? What is finer than the rights men get from gods to hold their powerful hands over the heads of their enemies? Ah yes, whats good is always loved in order to show the audience the benefits of holding reverence to the gods as well as the repercussions for failing to do

so. Euripides uses this colorful language to state the importance of respecting the gods and their wishes. This repeated passage therein holds the central theme of the play the penalty of failing to properly recognize the gods. The second part of the passage focuses on the penalty of not following the gods, which contrasts the first that describes the main benefits of revering ones gods. The repeated passage acts as an interlude to connect these thoughts. After the lines on wisdom are repeated again, an explanation of the benefits of the Dionysian way is given. The final lines in particular represent it well: So I consider a man blessed who lives a happy life existing day by day. The Bakkhai are worshippers of Dionysus who live each day without inhibition. As the annual theatre festival was focused on celebration of a Dionysian spirit, this mirrors perfectly what the audience should focus on during the event. This is a way in which even though the chorus does not represent the audience, it connects to them and their experiences. The audience here is called to choose whether or not to join the maenads and reject Pentheus ban of the worship of Dionysus and plans to arrest the divinely inspired women of Thebes. Choral staging is something very important in the Greek theatre, in that it allowed the chorus to affect the audience with the passage in more than just their words. The chorus also would use large gestures and dance in order to convey the action more to the audience. In a theatre as large as the Theatre of Dionysus, it made sense to utilize visual cues to their fullest extent. In this passage, the chorus may have leapt in glee like fawns praising their God for delivering them from the hunter. This would physically convey the representation of Dionysian behavior in order to excite the

audience and glorify the ideal of revering Dionysus, and the gods wishes in general. The lines on the punishment of those who do not follow the gods could be accompanied by violent imagery. The chorus may have run and jumped across the stage in rage, as if theyd tear down everything in their path. Or perhaps, they would stalk around on stage as if hunters looking for prey. Their dance could imply the readiness to pounce at any moment. By utilizing movement such as this, the audience could invigorate the audience in their impassioned speech. The chorus calls to the audience to join them in their outrage and hunt and ultimately follow their path to freedom and the return to nature that Dionysus would inspire. Through the specific role of the chorus in the action of the play, the colorful language of the dialogue, elaborate staging, allusion to familiar images, and direct address of the audience, the chorus created an incredible connection with the audience that set a very specific emotional mood for the play. By directly engaging the audience in this manner, they were brought into the story such that they could have an incredible experiential cathartic release. The passage analyzed above from The Bakkhai brings in an emotional intensity where both immense joy is represented in the worship of Dionysus as well as scorn for those who failed to properly revere the gods. It further directly engages the audience in asking them to join the action. This mood would draw in the audience and allow them to connect to the work in a very unique way that simply watching action unfold on stage would not allow.