Greek Masks In Antigone

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Before Greek theater came to be, they had worn masks as part of worshiping Dionysus. It was a religious tradition long before Ancient Greek theater came to be. Sophocles and the two other playwrights thought it would best suit in a performance. The mask that the chorus wore was an important aspect of Greek theater. The reason for the mask in Greek theater was to allow the actors to play more than one character (Ancient Greece). There were usually more characters than there were actors, the masks helped the actors quickly change from one character to another. The chorus wore identical mask, which represented the same character in the story. The masks the chorus wore were completely different to the ones of the main leading actors. They created…show more content…
The chorus is there to inform the audience what is going on between Antigone and Creon, commenting on the action taking place on stage. The chorus enters in the Prologue which is when they perform their first ode which is a preview to the performance, thus informing the audience. Throughout the whole performance the chorus is always on stage reacting to every action that is occurring, never leaving the stage until the performance comes to an end. The Chorus stand in between the actors and the audience in the “Orchestra”, this is so they can be seen as the narrators of the performance. When the Chorus moves around the Orchestra they move together in unison and speak at the same time. There are a few times when the whole group of chorus actors do not talk together. This is where Sophocles thought it would be best to let the Chorus actors give their own opinion about what is going on the in performance. While the Chorus is performing they would sing there ode’s in two parts, there first part would be on stage left where they would sing the antistrophe and the second part is when they were moving to stage right singing the strophe part of the ode. The Chorus wears identical masks to give the allusion to the audience that it is one embodied of character. The chorus plays an important role in Antigone, for they are the main source of exposition of the plot, and the connection of the audience to the
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