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General Introduction xxi
is the finale or exodos, the closing scene of the play at the end of which
the Chorus leaves the view of the audience by way of the parodoi.
It can be readily seen that all these several elements in the Greek
tragedy are brought together into a dramatic synthesis which in many
ways resembles the modern opera, though of course the opera does not
have the long sustained passages of spoken dialogue. However, it is most
important for the reader of Greek tragedy, if he hopes to apprehend these
plays imaginatively, never to forget that rhythmic movement, sound,
song, and music are integral to the art form.
The foregoing description of the Greek theatre and the analysis of
the form of the Greek tragedies themselves have been primarily external
in character. An attempt to analyze these plays from the internal point
of view, to discover that which constitutes their inner essence, is by its
very nature a far more difficult task. Such an attempt seems to raise a
series of questions which must be faced. First, how did Greek tragedy
arise? What in its prior history in some measure goes to explain those
essential inner characteristics, or qualities which any reader of the
plays readily and inevitably recognizes? Second, what did Aristotle,
the most influential and in many ways the most important critic of
antiquity, think about tragedy and its nature? And third, and most difficult
of all, what generically and basically is tragedy?
Perhaps it is best to approach the internal analysis of Greek tragedy
from the historical point of view, that is, by looking at its origins, insofar
as they may be recovered, to derive certain clues concerning its inner
character. The problem of the origin of tragedy has been a subject of
endless debate on the part of scholars, and as a result a great number
of divergent theories have been advanced. There seems to be evidence
for the relatively early existence of the dithyramb, a hymn sung in
honour of Dionysus by a chorus dressed as satyrs. Apparently from this
early form the dithyramb such as was presented in the fifth century
festivals developed. In this later form, the dithyramb did not contain
anything of the "satyric" in it. Likewise from the early form emerged
the satyr-play such as was produced as the fourth lighter after-piece in
the tragic tetralogy. Scholars seem to be in general agreement also that
tragedy grew out of this same dithyrambic origin. There is, however,
no agreement as to the precise way in which these forms developed.
It seems reasonable to conjecture that all three, tragedy, satyr-play,
and later dithyramb, had a common and close association with the spring
festivals which were held to celebrate the worship of Dionysus. This
god, as one of the Greek anthropomorphic divinities, symbolised the
spirit of fertility, of generation and regeneration, which marks the season
of spring, arfd he also came to be identified with the vine. The steps
by which the tragedy, as we know it, came into being may have been