As a sort of collective character over itself, the chorus in Sophocles' Oedipus Rex takes on multiple functions and qualities that, together, effectively blur the boundaries between the private and public spheres of drama. Highlighted in the text by their role as observers and instigators, as well as social commentators, and then in the film version of the play by their strong physical omnipresence and claustrophobic staging, the members of the chorus represent the proverbial "village" (or Thebes, the “city-state”), privileging not the sanctity of the self, but the interest of the greater good. Ultimately, indicating the religious-ritual roots of the drama, it is this role of village/city-state that legitimizes Oedipus' eventual exile, presenting him as a good sacrifice vital for the preservation of the community. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay One of the ways in which the members of the chorus in Oedipus Rex assert the supremacy of the community over the self, thus embodying the concept of the “city-state,” is by acting as both attentive spectators and active promoters of the events of the work. As the eyes, ears, and voice of the citizens, the Chorus-as-city-state is a keen observer that the main characters rely on to summarize recent plot developments. For example, in Scene II, when Queen Iocast? learning for the first time of the heated exchange between Oedipus and Creon, he asks the chorus: "First tell me what happened" (The Oedipus Cycle, 36). In a slightly less direct way, the Chorus of Ode I also fulfills this important summarizing function by reaffirming the prophetic dilemma at the heart of the work's emerging tragedy: “The Delphic stone of prophecy/Remembers the ancient regicide/And a hand still bloody/The time has come for the murderer to escape” (25). Therefore, the dependence of the main actors and the audience on the Chorus to recapitulate important events reinforces the value of its spectator function. While this “collective eyewitness” position alone conveys a sense of the choir's strong significance to the performance, its members actually expand the scope of their important “city-state” role beyond the simple role of spectators, to complicate and actively shape the course. of the drama. For example, there are several moments in the Oedipus Rex where the chorus (or Choragos) makes observations that advance the progression of the tragic story. For example, at the beginning of the play, when Oedipus wonders how to identify the murderer responsible for the plague that struck Thebes, the Chorus immediately suggests consulting Teiresias: “A clairvoyant lord of the lord Apollo / As we all know, he is the clever Tiresias/Much could be learned from him/Oedipus” (15). Although Oedipus had already called for Tiresias (i.e. before hearing these comments), it is through the expository vehicle of the chorus' observations and the first ever mention that the central figure of the seer is introduced into the play. However, the Chorus also provides cues that advise or motivate the characters to take preferable and wiser courses of action. For example, in Scene III, Oedipus discovers that he is not the biological son of his father, King Polybus, but in fact an orphaned child discovered by a local Corinthian shepherd. Questioning the identity of the shepherd, demanding that these confusing matters be finally “made clear” (56), the Chorus responds to Oedipus' challenge: “I think the man he refers to is that same shepherd/You have already asked to see. Iocast? maybe/I could tell you something” (56). Why is the Choir's suggestion that Iocast? might have more information and pushes the king to question his wife, the chorus serves here as the impetus forthe character's behavior, provoking actions whose consequences will prove central to the climax and final conclusion of the story (i.e. the disclosure of details about the backstory). Furthermore, this response recapitulates (and reinforces) the significance of the Chorus' observer status, framing it as somehow distinct from and superior to the limited abilities of the main characters. Since Oedipus cannot connect the dots of past and current history, or remember the directives he has just issued (“I think the man who intends… you have already asked to see”), it is evident that his abilities to see and think clearly they have been compromised. , perhaps due to the harmful confluence of his passions and his pride. Instead, the Chorus successfully establishes the correlation, thus demonstrating the kind of supernatural intuition, or logical reasoning ability, that King Oedipus lacks. A further element of the Chorus's complex spectator/instigator role, which highlights the fundamental importance of community (and thus further confirms this overall "city-state" representation), is the Chorus members' extraordinary ability to foreshadow future events. For example, in Scene III described above, Iocast? he sees no benefit or positive purpose in Oedipus continuing an investigation into his birth. When her husband refuses to cease his questions, she leaves the stage angrily, prompting the chorus to reflect, "I fear this silence; / Something terrible might come of it" (57). As confirmed by the falling action of the play, this statement is significantly prophetic, as it predicts both the full revelation of the true origins of Oedipus' birth, and thus the queen's subsequent suicide. Thus, the Chorus' ability to predict underlies the idea that even an individual's most intimate revelations are understood first and foremost by the public, and are therefore matters of communal, rather than personal, concern. In this way the Chorus supports the importance, the primacy, of the city-state over the individual. This essential hierarchical subdivision is also evident in the social commentary that the Chorus presents throughout the work. Another way in which the Chorus in the Oedipus Rex strengthens its representative role as a “city-state,” reaffirming the pre-eminence of the public over the private, is by acting as the social conscience of the work. Often the chorus comments on the actions and decisions of the main characters, cultivating an air of constant judgment or critical ubiquity. More than simply highlighting the flaws of the main characters, however, the Chorus abstracts these flawed qualities, erasing their close association with the individual and placing them in a broader social context. In other words, the chorus's commentary reflects a concern not with the impact of these flaws on each character, but rather with how they might affect the well-being of the city-state. For example, the members of the chorus chastise Oedipus for the pride (hubris) and anger he displays as elements of the tragic backstory unfold. In the first scene, after Tiresias reveals that Oedipus is indeed the “pollution” (19) or contagion responsible for the plague in Thebes, Oedipus refuses to accept this truth, calling Tiresias a “decrepit soothsayer” (21). Instead, he extols his ability to have solved the riddle of the Sphinx – a task at which all other men had failed – thus positioning himself as the savior of Thebes. Thus, his pride manifests itself not only in his disbelief of the gods (on whose behalf Tiresias speaks), but in the brazen celebration of his distinct and admirable qualities as a reason to invalidate Tiresias' words. Oedipus' anger emerges when he accuses Tiresias of conspiring with Creon, suggesting that Tiresias' statement is simplypart of this great conspiracy. In response to this brazen display, the Chorus comments: “We cannot see that his words or yours/Were spoken except in anger, Oedipus/And we have no need of anger. How can God's will/will best be realized? This is what worries us most” (22). Therefore, as a kind of collective social conscience, the Chorus does not meditate or focus on Oedipus' pride and anger as they relate to him specifically, nor does he consider these emotions as objects of his exclusive possession. Rather, Oedipus' arrogance belongs to the audience, and is important, worthy of the Chorus' attention, precisely because it threatens the possible salvation of the afflicted city-state. By contextualizing personal drama within issues of broader social concern, the Choral Ode is another method through which Choir members act as social commentators who prioritize the larger, community interest. Through the call-and-response interplay between its Strophe and Antistrophe, the Choral Ode dramatizes the moral and theoretical debates at the heart of the Oedipus Rex. As a kind of solo performance for the Choir, the Odes are the most significant, eloquent and compelling expression of the concerns and questions the Choir wishes to consider. Therefore, they are the key channels through which the Chorus conveys its social commentary, allowing members to speak about the actions of the main characters in ways that relate not only to the common good, but to the larger themes of the work. For example, Ode II features the chorus once again contemplating the question of pride, a quality that Oedipus has (fatally) exhibited throughout the narrative. However, the Chorus seems to reflect on the notion of pride on a much more abstract level, separate from the specific character of the King. Specifically, in Antistrophe 2, the Chorus concludes: Zeus, if indeed you are the lord of all, seated on the throne in the light night and day, mirror it in your infinite mind: our masters call the oracle Words on the Wind, and the Delphic vision blind. (47)Here, the Chorus fears that if the kind of pride that Oedipus (one of his "teachers") personifies ultimately prevails over Fate (blinding "Delphic vision"), then perhaps the gods do not rule or determine the course of the world. humanity. In this case, life is not guided by an overseeing force, but is instead subject to the fickle whims and whims of a fallible humanity. Thus, in Ode II, the Chorus discusses pride not simply as an issue unique to or limited to King Oedipus' personal experience. Rather, it addresses the issue of pride on a larger scale, as the basis for one of the work's larger investigations: the debate over the power of man over the power of the gods. In this way, the Odes devalue the concept of “self” and reinforce the Chorus' representation of the “city-state.” The fact that the Odes punctuate and interrupt the "main" narrative of the drama indicates how the structure of the Oedipus Rex underlines the constant presence of the Chorus. This presence is further strengthened by the crowded and tight staging of the film version of the play. The omnipresence of the chorus in the Oedipus Rex is another narrative and theatrical vehicle through which the drama undermines the self and privileges the community (or city-state). As a moral reference point and source of critical commentary, the Chorus' influence is pervasive. However, they are also a ubiquitous physical form. The choir members remain constantly on stage while the other characters come and go. In this way, the chorus implicates itself in the opera's setting, suggesting that it is the permanent backdrop against which the opera takes place. The result is an oppressive, still look whose claustrophobic effect is best captured on film of the work. In the video version, the members of the,.