But I'm also thinking of our own Maureen Dowd, who has set herself up as a national shrew on the Op-Ed page of the New York Times, and for whom President Clinton would be advised to have a care. There is an altogether different critique of the hero in certain Greek tragedies, those in which the chorus represents not mediocre opinion but a kind of collective common sense that begs the protagonist to mitigate his extremism. It has been argued, by some students of Greek tragedy, that the chorus does not always come up with sensible criticisms. They have pointed out that the women are single-mindedly opposed to any kind of fighting. If the protagonist, Etocles, had followed their advice, Thebes would have been conquered by his brother's army.
Pity is split from terror here, as the chorus is hostile to the protagonist.
But pity and terror are marvelously joined in our experience of catharsis at the close of the play, when both brothers have died and Thebes is saved. We are to praise Aeschylus for a remarkable effect, and not take the judgment of the chorus of his play as typical. I do not think so. To admire what he has achieved, we must want done what the hero does. Daring, to be sure, and the strength to make difficult choices, for most of us find ourselves too weak to do this.