The theatricality of Greek tragedy playing space and chorus - Ley, Graham (University Of Chicago Press, 2007)
Includes bibliographical references (pages 207-214) and index
The scripts and the playing space -- The surviving tragedies of Aeschylus and early tragic performance -- Choros, actors/characters, and playing space in the earlier tragedies of Aeschylus -- Composition for the playing space in Aeschylus's Oresteia -- Realizing the tragic playing space after Aeschylus -- Altars and tombs in the playing space after Aeschylus -- Performers and vehicles in the playing space -- Three kinds of vocal delivery in tragedy -- Movement and dancing in the playing space -- Actors/characters and choros : chanting, singing, and dancing in the playing space -- A chronology of the surviving plays -- The choros in epic -- Composition for the choros -- Music : meter or measure, melody, and mode -- Dancing -- Strophe, Anistrophe, and Choreia -- Dithyrambs -- The theatrical choroi : definitions and distinctions -- Time line for chapter 2
Ancient Greek tragedy has been an inspiration to Western culture, but the way it was first performed has long remained in question. In The Theatricality of Greek Tragedy, Graham Ley provides an illuminating discussion of key issues relating to the use of the playing space and the nature of the chorus, offering a distinctive impression of the performance of Greek tragedy in the fifth century BCE. Drawing on evidence from the surviving texts of tragedies by Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, Ley explains how scenes with actors were played in the open ground of the orchestra, often considered a