What does Poetics XVIII (Butcher) require of the chorus, what practice does it criticise, and what test does it imply for a song or interlude that is integral rather than detachable?
Butcher's XVIII says the Chorus should be regarded as one of the actors, an integral part of the whole, sharing in the action in Sophocles' manner rather than Euripides'. Later poets' choral songs relate no more to their piece than to any other tragedy; they are sung as mere interludes, a practice first begun by Agathon. The implied test is rhetorical: such an interlude is no different from moving a speech or a whole act from one play to another. XVIII does not describe what the chorus does, how many sing, or what makes a song relevant beyond relation to the subject.
Butcher's XVIII says the Chorus should be regarded as one of the actors, an integral part of the whole, sharing in the action in Sophocles' manner rather than Euripides'. Later poets' choral songs relate no more to their piece than to any other tragedy; they are sung as mere interludes, a practice first begun by Agathon. The implied test is rhetorical: such an interlude is no different from moving a speech or a whole act from one play to another. XVIII does not describe what the chorus does, how many sing, or what makes a song relevant beyond relation to the subject.
Curator qualifications: Chorus as one of the actors (classical).
Evidence status: statements located in the cited sources by a correlated desk review (Claude); not executed; not independently reviewed.
Structured fields
{
"citations": [
{
"url": "https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/1974/pg1974.txt",
"note": "candidate evidence excerpts"
}
]
}Evidence claims
- [sourced_fact] Butcher's XVIII says the Chorus should be regarded as one of the actors, an integral part of the whole, sharing in the action in Sophocles' manner rather than Euripides'. Later poets' choral songs relate no more to their piece than to any other tragedy; they are sung as mere interludes, a practice first begun by Agathon. The implied test is rhetorical: such an interlude is no different from moving a speech or a whole act from one play to another. XVIII does not describe what the chorus does, how many sing, or what makes a song relevant beyond relation to the subject. · locator: candidate evidence excerpts source
Rights
| component | license | hosting | redistribution | modification | training | Evidence and notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| documentation | unknown | permitted | permitted | unknown | unknown | Applies to this original summary only, not to the cited sources. |