| Summary: | The Chorus in the Ajax are both soldiers and sailors, completely dependent on their
leader, Ajax, and strongly affected by developments in the action. They provide commentary on
Ajax directly, by ascribing various adjectives to him, and by contrasting his former and present
states, and indirectly, by remaining loyal to him. They are used to express various emotions,
such as anxiety and distress, melancholy and despondency, excitement and joy, grief and
mourning, and they generate tension and a sense of danger during much of the play. The respect
and concern they show toward Tecmessa, their steadfast support of Ajax, and their involvement
in a dangerous situation not of their making make them a sympathetic Chorus. Their description
of Ajax's grieving mother in the first stasimon, their illogical excitement in the second stasimon,
and their attempts at mediation between Teucer and the Atreidai do not emanate from their
personality but exist for dramatic purposes. Although they do not unify the two parts of the
play, they mold our assessment of Ajax.
The Chorus in the Antigone are pious, elderly men, who embody community wisdom
and show deference to power. Their support of Creon, however, is not whole-hearted, but
because they fear him, they do not speak candidly. Toward Antigone, they are both sympathetic
and critical, but differences of age and gender prevent a close association with her. In their
songs they introduce or develop ideas which often impart a certain sense of disjunction, because
the connection to the previous episode is not immediately apparent. Nevertheless, the ideas are
relevant to important themes in the play. The Chorus also convey various emotions, such as joy
and thanksgiving, marvel and horror, pessimism (about human powerlessness in relation to the
gods), apprehension and (false) hope. Their lyrics are suggestive of secondary meanings, which
are often applicable to Creon, but of which they are not fully cognizant. Their relationship to
Antigone creates interest because we wonder why, other than their fear of Creon, they are not
more supportive of her. === Arts, Faculty of === Classical, Near Eastern and Religious Studies, Department of === Graduate
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