Question

In ancient Greek drama, what did the Chorus do while saying the words of the odes?

A. persuaded the audience to feel pity and fear
B. made a sacrifice to the gods on the stage's altar
C. provided comic relief from the play's tragic events
D. moved in a stately dance across the stage

I believe that the answer is either A. or D.

Answer 1

@mikkel900 Do you have a guess or some possible feedback for an answer?

Answer 2

I am not sure about the answer. I am just curious why you believe the answer to be A?

In "Poetics" Aristotle (Ancient Greek) describes the elements which makes up a good tragedy. Within his analysis of this genre, he explains the phenomenon of catharsis, which literally means cleansing or purification. The cleansing happens when the audience watches correctly made (according to Aristotle) tragedy, which makes the audience feel pity/compassion and fear. These feelings were what made the tragedy special compared to other genres of the time.

Anyway. I do see how these feelings relate to the question at all, as I believe they play an entirely different role (which I just explained). If I had to make a guess (on the right answer), I would go for option D: moved in a stately dance across the stage.

Plus, I just checked on wikipedia and found this: The lines of choral odes provide evidence that they were sung.[2] Normal syllabic structure has long sounds that are twice the length of short sounds. However, some lyrics in Greek odes have long syllables that are equal to 3, 4 and 5 shorter syllables. Spoken words cannot do that, suggesting that this was a danced and sung rhythm.

Therefore, confirming that the answer should be D. Sorry if the post is long or annoying or not helpful. Good luck

Answer 3

It doesn't matter if your answer is long, and how could it be annoying? I am just glad you could help. :)

I also checked Wikipedia, but I wasn't certain of which answer to pick. Overall I was leaning more towards answer choice D. anyhow. It was because in my studies, the dancing was mentioned, but I couldn't remember if anything about the audiences feeling pity and fear was mentioned or not. :(

But your answer helped me to know more than I needed, so thanks for your help!! :D