Role of Chorus in Aristophanes's The Birds
Role of Chorus in The Birds
The chorus in classical Greek drama was a group of actors who described and commented upon the main action of a play with song, dance, and recitation. The chorus consisted of between twelve and fifteen players who variously danced, sang and spoke their lines in unison and sometimes wore a mask. According to A.N Sehgal, the chorus is "the ideal spectator" and conveys to "the actual spectator " a lyrical and musical expression of his own emotions and elevates him to the region of contemplation. In many Greek dramas, the chorus expresses to the audience what the main characters could not say, such as their hidden fears and secrets. They often provided other characters with the inside they needed. The chorus also prepared the audience for dramatic shifts. The chorus became an intrinsic part of the action of the play and enabled the audience to experience a deeper moral engagement with the play. The chorus acts as a kind of liaison between the audience and actors, giving the audience the lens through which to view the action of the drama.
Aristophanes's The Birds is unique among his extant plays in which each chorus members represent a different kind of birds. The consequent variety of costume must have been great visual embellishments to the play, and one is led to wonder how commonly the device is employed to The Birds, featured in old comedy in general.
In this fantasy play, a pair of old man Pisthetaerus and Euelpides convince the birds that they should be the true ruler of the world, not the gods. He tells elaborate legends 'true origins' and the history of the birds, for example, the larks' existence even before the Earth, the cock used to rule over the Persians, and the kites over the Greeks. He provides them the plan of action to usurp the power of Zeus and his fellow Olympians. Amazingly, the plan works and the birds manage to set up a new city in the air "Cloud Cuckoo Land". A new set of laws and a large wall the guard the city built astonishingly quick through the birds' co-operation. Pisthetaerus, the main original provocator serves as the judge and the ruler of the new kingdom(despite not being a bird himself). Finally at the Prometheus approaches covertly, bringing the news that Zeus and the gods are starving as the smoke of the offerings no longer reaches them. He advises Pisthetaerus to deamand Zeus's scepture and Basilleia, his general manager who makes lightning for him in the event that Zeus sees for peace.
In both The Waspes and The Birds 0f Aristophanes, the chorus are eponymous, the characters appear in the form of the little animals, this is not true of course, of all Aristophanes's comedies. Above all the importance of the composition of the chorus surfaces in the parabasis towards the middle of each play, when the figures step out of the action and address the audience. This address is delivered in the degrading and the most abusive manner, typical of old comedy, but it also serves to elaborate, the position of the chorus of events occurring within the dramatic sequence.
In The Birds, the true significance of the chorus of birds is far more plot dependent than it is in The Waspes. Pisthetaerus arrives in the birds land with his companion, who else should be there to receive him but the gathering of birds. There are many other reasons for the choice of birds for choral figures. As the chorus points out in the parabasis, as they provide the exhaustive description of the antiquity and majesty of their race, the birds seem to live a comfortable desirable lifestyle. Indeed they even invite human beings to come and join their society. This call for immigrants becomes, of course, an issue later in the play. When a number of humans appear and request to join the city of Much Cuckoo in the clouds, not only the rebellious son, but also several other figures such as the poets, and the informer come seeking a society purely in order to gain something for themselves.
Note:- This answer is designed for 15 or 20 marks.
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