New-York tribune., 1912-04-28
THE GREEK DRAMA
professor Gilbert Murray on the
Meaning Of the Chorus.

cevsral weeks ago PROFESSOR Glloert Mur-
che DISTINGUISHED English scholar and
.,a..cist. gave his first lecture here on
,bs Greek drama before the Lowell Insti-
tute. Of Boston
To the student Of the tragedies and come
,,s a, the ancient Greeks, one of the puz-
-s,, conventions Of that form Of dramatic
--,,,,s is the chorus. The theme of Pro-
...s,- Nfurrav's first lecture was the mean
~ this convention. and his lucid yet
..c deductions on this point are Of un-
usual interest
The Boston Transcript gave the fol-
,orinr report Of the lecture:
To fau in appreciation Of the Greek
.norns is only natural. Professor Murray
.y,,,,ncd Every great form OF art dc
...,o,s certain conventions that seem nat
',r,l and very attractive TO those living in
,.s ace But for men OF another age it
~ rrove only a hiudranco something
.ra, nuts one off. something tedious even
-,aiculous. Greek tragedy was conventional
% the core 1t held to its conventions even
r.ben Euripidcs went far afeld in his in
,o,6e into philosophy. The chorus is the
ers, NJ these conventions. for Il is the
MOS, striking and odd. and it is the very
,,,ri, and eovl of Greek tragedy. II We do
80, understand It. we cannot understand
,ss three great dramatists
roU. what is the difficulty The chorus
4, ,onrI,t.ly undramatiC. says the average
c-,,ic. II breaks tho drama When tho
heroine Is engaged i'm some plot, arranging
N murder her husband or taking some
such ster for the good Of the community,
,b., Afreen visitors happen in. Sometimes
thew have o reason for coming. sometimes
mn Usually they arc HOMOGENEOUS. II
,bsro i one old gentleman, then there will
he fifteen old gentlemen. And IT doesn.
be,p matters If the fifteen visitors proceed
10 dance.
All his * certainly not at al Ike life.
To keep the chorus. On" dramatiSt makes
great sacrifice Ho throws NCrI>imiltHd'
N the winds. And no great artist make
sucb sacrifice without 4 return. The
Greek dramatist caught 10y means Of the
chorus what no other drama ever pos
sess45 Just what this is Will take careful
explanation
Tn. word chores" means r dance What
Is this primitive dance that We find even
IN the earliest Greek times? II was not
al amusement, not diversion. 1t was
not necessarily danced with the feet; the
whole body was much more important Its
purpose was 10 express the overflow o.
emotion for which words will not sufficc.
Even our highly developed speech fails us
81 such moments Primitive man was AT
still greater Disadvantage. But primitive
man had a sgprCmoIy sensitive body. The
dance was not necessarily a matter Of mo-
Iiou 10 was more d PRAYER, mOtlOulcss
Invocation 10 expressed the religious emo
tioa that so frequently gets beyond words.
in "C.diIas Tyrauuus, when the world
il hla X with cruelty and Injustice tho
chorus cries that if this is so why should
dance my dance Prayer seems useless.
Now what does an this prove IL proves
that the chorus isn't merely artificial. It's
roots are deep down in human nature, as
deep as the springs Of religious emotion.
The chores" of tragedy was special
kind Of dance 7, was dance connected
with the worship oe heroes and the
mighty dead particularly the sort Of her"
that was expected 70 return, perhaps in
his own person. perhaps in d rebirth. 1t
is sort of religion that has cncirclcd the
WI 4l 4 It' N'.sII ~. 'F'4I Ni' '4''''''' -
danced for King Arthur 10 come back.
In the early days the tribe went 10 the
tomb of its hero 10 dance for his return.
Drama came into being when an actor on
tered the midst Of the dance and told or
represented the deeds and the adventures
Of the hero. while the chorus went on
dancing It's worship. The two emotions
were doubtless different, for even the
modest actor must have been conscious Of
his audience
In Greek tragedy there is left the last
trace OF this chorus. II is neither actor nor
spectator. 1t has become the special in
strument for expressing ultimate emotion
over great deeds. for translatins the feel
ings Of the actor into a different medium
Il makes visible the emotion Of an action
that the doors often cannot feel! or the
emotion that cannot be expressed in ordi-
nary words And il turns crude suffering
into poetry. even into soothing mystery.
IT, for instance, a Greek tragedy could
be written about such a national hero as
Nelson the use OF the chorus would be very
plain First would come a messenger to
tel Of the battle Nelson himself would
be brought in 70 give us his last words and
mixed emotions that d chorus would have
20 interpret For when ne died Nelson said
something about his country and then
prayed them no, 70 forget poor Lady Ham
A,on. In that speech would he triumph
and psthos and all the human weakness o.
hero and his fear Of the miserable future
for the woman he loved. Now he could not
express all th, height Of this himself lie
would ~ rid.oulousIy egoistic. The chorus
would he there 20 shake lyrical splondor
over tho whole" II would translate the
Particular TO the universal, the mere fact
INTO emotion. increasing the beauty, making
less the element OF crude pain
Greek tragedy goes on in two planes. TWO
worlds. First YOU are interested I'm the in
eivicual then I'm the chorus and the emo
Ton. The body departed, the spirit remains.
And that is the secret Of Greek tragedy
" was always the servant Of a great specu-
laton, perhaps upon the greatness OF love
Or the vanity Of revenge or a doubt IL
righteousness ruled the world. II was the
business Of the chorus 10 raise us 10 this
higher world OF beauty and speculation.
Nerisimihtudc did not matter. Tho drama
vas searching for that spiritual world to
Which lyrical emotion cxalts the inward
eye whore metaphor IS the very stun OF
lie"
IN few cases the world Of the chorus
and the world OF the individuals are really
'ongruous. notably IN the "Eumenides.
"here the wrongs Of the helpless dead
raise the whole drama to the higher plane.
lhe suppliant women do not belong to the
ofalnary world and you couldn't have
nlode-aged members OF Parliament con
csrned with their wrongs Where the two