The Chorus in ‘Old’ Tragedy

The practice of revival and reperformance of drama in the fourth century, a practice illuminated by recent scholarship, allows for a recalibration of the view of fourth-century dramatic choral practice. Acknowledging the fifth-century plays (and their choruses) that were definitely and possibly revived in the fourth century instantly enriches the picture of fourth-century dramatic choral culture. As well as reviewing the significance of revivals for fourth-century dramatic culture more generally, this chapter considers the sections of tragic text (so-called ‘interpolations’) that seem to have been added to fifth-century plays for, it contends, fourth-century revivals. The reconfigured choruses of Euripides’ Iphigenia at Aulis and Aeschylus’ Seven Against Thebes, indicate what might have been possible and desirable for producers to change for revivals of these plays. The qualities of the additions here analysed add further evidence for varied and valued dramatic choruses in the later classical period.