The Chorus, in Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex, assumes many functions and qualities, which, when combined, blur the boundaries between the public and private spheres. The Chorus in Oedipus rex is shown to be a collective character that has multiple functions and qualities. This, combined with their omnipresence, make them the ideal “village”. In the end, Oedipus’ exile is justified by the village/citystate role.
The Chorus of Oedipus is a group of people who are both bystanders to events and actively promote them. This is one way they embody the idea of a “city-state.” The Chorus as city-state, which is the voice, eyes and ears of the citizens, provides a reliable source for the main characters to sum up recent plot developments. When, for instance, Queen Iocast appears in Scene 2, she asks the Chorus, “First, tell me what has happened” (The Oedipus Cycle, 36). The first time Queen Iocast learns about the heated exchange between Oedipus? Ode I’s chorus also serves this vital summarizing role by reiterating the prophetic quandary at the heart the play’s unfolding tragedy. The Chorus’s bystander role is emphasized because the Chorus’s main actors and the audience rely on it to summarize important events.
The position of “collective witness” is enough to convey the importance of the Chorus in the play. However, the members of the Chorus go beyond the role of mere spectators to actively complicate the plot and influence its course. The Chorus (or Choragos), for example, makes observations in Oedipus rex that help to advance the story. The Chorus will suggest Teiresias in the beginning, when Oedipus wants to know who the murderer is that is responsible for Thebes being plagued. Oedipus sent Teiresias to him (i.e. The seer’s role in the play is not introduced until the Chorus makes its first mention and comments.
The Chorus can also provide insights to characters that encourage them to choose wiser, more preferable actions. In Scene III for example, Oedipus finds out that he was not his biological father, King Polybus. He is actually an orphan child discovered by the local Corinthian sheepherder. In response to Oedipus, who demands that the confusing matter be finally “made clear”, the Chorus replies: “I believe the man that he is referring to is the same shepherd/You already asked for a look. Iocast? “perhaps/Could you tell me something” (56). The Chorus’ suggestion to Iocast that she might have more information prompts the King to question his wife. The King’s questioning of his wife is prompted by the Chorus’ suggestion that Iocast? Back-story information is revealed. This response reinforces and recapitulates the importance of Chorus being an observer. It makes it seem superior and different to the main character’s limited capabilities. Oedipus, who cannot recall or link previous and current storylines, is clearly impaired in his ability of thinking and seeing clearly. The Chorus, on the other hand, successfully makes the connection, demonstrating King Oedipus’s lack of preternatural intuitive reasoning or logic.
One of the most interesting aspects of the Chorus as an actor/instigator is its uncanny premonition of future events. This is a way to highlight the importance and unity of the entire community. Iocast might, for instance, be a part of Scene III. Oedipus does not see the benefit of continuing to investigate his own birth. The Chorus ponders, “I am afraid of this silence./Something terrible may result from it.” (57). This statement was prophetic as it predicted both Oedipus’ full birth story and the Queens’ suicide. This ability of the Chorus to predict the future underlies the idea that even the most personal revelations of an individual will be understood by others before they are revealed to the individual. This is how the Chorus demonstrates the primacy and importance of the state-city over individuals. In the Chorus’s social commentary, this hierarchical division is also evident.
By acting as social consciousness, the Chorus can also strengthen its role as “city-state” and reaffirm the primacy of public over private. Chorus commentates on the decisions made by the main characters often, cultivating a constant air of judgment. Chorus doesn’t just point out the character flaws, but also abstracts those qualities by putting them into a larger social context. The Chorus’s commentary is concerned not with how the flaws of each character will affect them, but how they may impact the well-being the city-state. Chorus members, for instance, reprove Oedipus as he reveals the sad back-story. They criticize him for his pride (hubris), or anger. Oedipus rejects Teiresias’ revelation that Oedipus has caused the plague in Thebes by being the “pollution”, (19), or the contagion. He exalts himself for solving the Sphinx riddle, which was a feat that no one else had been able to accomplish. This makes him the hero of Thebes. He does not just disbelieve the gods on whose account Teiresias is speaking, but he also celebrates his own unique and admirable qualities to undermine Teiresias. Oedipus shows his anger by accusing Teiresias and Creon of conspiring, as if Teiresias claims are part of some grand scheme. The Chorus replies to the Chorus, “We do not believe that either his or you/Have spoken anything except anger. Oedipus/And from anger we are free.” How do you think God’s/will/Can be best achieved? This is our greatest concern” (22). It is not Oedipus who owns pride or anger. Instead, it is a collective awareness of the emotions. Oedipus’ hubris is not his own, but belongs to all of us, and deserves the Chorus’ attention because it threatens possible salvation for the city-state. The Choral Ode contextualizes personal drama in the context of larger social concerns, and is another way that the Chorus acts as social commentators who prioritize the greater, collective interest.
The Choral Ode uses the interplay of its Strophes to stage the moral, theoretical and ethical debates at Oedipus’ core. Odes act as a sort of solo-performance, which allows the Chorus to express its concerns and questions in the most eloquent way. In this way, they serve as the Chorus’s main social commentary. By allowing them to relate the actions taken by the main characters to the greater themes of a play, not just to the good of society, but also to their own, the members are able to make a comment about what the characters have done. Ode II is a good example of this. The Chorus again ponders the topic of pride. Oedipus displayed it (in the end) in the entire narrative. But the Chorus appears to be thinking about pride at a much more abstract level and not in relation to the specific character, King. The Chorus’ conclusion in Antistrophe 2 is:
Zeus, you may be the lord of the universe.
The light of the sun radiated through the darkness and into the day.
Imagine this:
Oracle is the name given by our masters
The Delphic vision is blinded by the words on the wind. (47)
The Chorus fears that if Oedipus (one its “masters”) is able to trump Fate and “blind” the Delphic vision, perhaps gods will not be able to rule mankind. In this instance, the fate of mankind is determined by human fallibility, not some overarching force. In Ode II, therefore, the chorus does not only discuss pride in relation to Oedipus. The play instead examines the issue of pride in a broader context, as it is used to explore one of its more expansive themes: the conflict between the power and the gods. The Odes reinforce the Chorus as a “city-state”, and devalue the idea of “self”. Oedipus is structured in such a way that the Odes interrupt and punctuate the “main narrative” of the play. This is reinforced by the tight, crowded staging of the film version.
Oedipus-Rex’s omnipresence is a narrative and dramatic device that allows the play to undermine the individual and elevate the community. The Chorus is omnipresent as a source of moral commentary and a point of reference. But they also exist in a physical form that is ubiquitous. The Chorus is always present on stage, even when other characters are coming and going. The Chorus is implicated in the setting of the play, as it suggests that the Chorus is the backdrop to the play. The film depicts the oppressive and steady effect of this appearance. In the film version, members of Chorus share a stage with primary characters. They reduce the space of the stage and demonstrate the lack a separation between public and private life. The actors mimic their actions, which physically reinforces the idea that royalty and individuals are subsumed under the larger political system. In Scene III, Iocast? Thebes is cleansed and freed from the plague by Apollo’s prayers. In this scene, the Chorus imitates her hand movements (sweeping her arms, clasping her hands, etc.) as she makes her sacrifice. By emulating Iocast’s gestures and by being so numerous, the Chorus seems to dominate the Queen. As a result, the chorus removes Iocast?’s personal appeal from the moment and turns the act of prayer into a public affair. It does this by removing the “personal” element from Iocast?’s moment of appeal and making it a public event. The claustrophobia created by the Chorus is reinforced when its members crowd the Sage, and their tight, narrow placement reduces “breathing space” which would allow main characters to fully express their personas. The “cinematic depiction” of the Chorus has the effect of a general renunciation to the self which elevates the group.
Greek drama derives from ancient religious rituals which were based on the seasons and the cycle of nature. These rituals were an attempt to “humanize” the natural world by causing a disturbance. In the case of the “scapegoat”, the victim sacrificed was seen as the ideal villager, the “best” community could provide to the Gods. Through the sacrifice of an idealized version of a human, harmony between nature and society was restored.
Oedipus is the embodiment of this figure, a mythic tragic hero that Northrop Frye considered superior to all other men. The “scared Monster” is a virtuous, yet evil King. His wickedness has caused the world to be shaken. Oedipus, the virtuous King, embodies a wickedness so great that it has caused a profound disturbance in the natural order.
Oedipus, in this sense, is the state. Oedipus is aware that he and the citizens of Thebes share a similar relationship, which he acknowledges whenever he insists on the “Chorus”, the general public, to hear the most recent developments in his unfolding story. He seems also to understand that he must make a “sacrifice”, i.e., be exiled by Creon at the end of this play.
The Chorus, by representing Theba, is a forerunner of Oedipus’ expulsion and legitimizes its use as the sole means to restore peace. The Chorus reinforces Oedipus’ relationship with the State by referring to its religious-ritual base. It also introduces an ongoing theoretical debate about the question of power between man and Gods, State and State.
