HELENE FOLEY prominent extant choruses, which consist of virgins who initially rush fran- tically onto the stage in Seven against Thebes, exotic Persians, dark-skinned Danaids from Egypt in Supplices, and divine, winged Oceanids in Prome theus Vinctus (if the play is by Aeschylus) make my point about how choral identity may have contributed to a tragic victory quite handily. Even if not all the titles of Aeschylus'lost plays indicate the presence of such arrest- ing choruses, it may be significant that these seven extant plays with their exciting, typically Aeschy lean choregia were among those most revived, reperformed, and preserved. As we shall see, even Sophocles, who may unlike Aeschylus, have preferred to use more male than female choruses, apparently compensated for his more sober choruses by gradually moving toward permitting them to engage in a higher proportion of exciting lyric dialogues with the actors(see his late Electra, Philoctetes, and Oedipus Coloneus).3 Euripides, who, in comparison with his predecessors, to some extent reduced the prominence of act-dividing choral stasia or revised the way that these stasia were integrated into the action, seems to have made foreign choruses as well as the exciting"new music. 32 Among those few plays for which Euripides won first prize, the choruses for Bacchae(foreign women)and Hippolytus(with both a female chorus and a contrasting sup- plementary chorus of huntsmen) are certainly especially interesting from the perspective of choral performance. In sum, even though the success of a chorus depended on factors beyond its identity, the poet's choice of choruses had at the very least to offer the choregos a promising opportunity for victory in the tragic contests. Since playing the Other would have been more challenging, a poet would have had a built-in incentive to select such choruses for his plays have important implications for theories concerning the identity of the chor most expenence sively inexperienced ephebes makes sense(Winkler 1990; see Wilson 2000, 78-79; and Wiles 1997, 93) uovo, Pagli 81673)showing the cast of a satyr play depicts the choreuts(if not the )arg nd ephebes were premilitary (Wilson 2000, 79). Both wilson (83)and Csapo and Slater(1995, 352) ask why there was exemption from military service for choral participation as well as laws assisting the choregos in n the ly th unlike names of the choreuts on the Pronomos vase, as well as their long hair, would suit members of rs of the elite for the chal- ary paid to chorus members during their training, or remarks in Demosthenes(De cor. 18.265)and th Old Oligarch(1. 13)that differentiate the elite choregos from his demotic choreuts Ober(2000)stresses th both possibilities cannot be the case. This content downloaded from 145.97 173 155 on Wed. 01 Feb 2017 10: 50- 30 UT Allusesubjecttohttp://aboutjstor.org/terms8 Helene Foley prominent extant choruses, which consist of virgins who initially rush fran￾tically onto the stage in Seven against Thebes, exotic Persians, dark-skinned Danaids from Egypt in Supplices, and divine, winged Oceanids in Prome￾theus Vinctus (if the play is by Aeschylus) make my point about how choral identity may have contributed to a tragic victory quite handily. Even if not all the titles of Aeschylus’ lost plays indicate the presence of such arrest￾ing choruses, it may be significant that these seven extant plays with their exciting, typically Aeschylean choregia were among those most revived, reperformed, and preserved. As we shall see, even Sophocles, who may, unlike Aeschylus, have preferred to use more male than female choruses, apparently compensated for his more sober choruses by gradually moving toward permitting them to engage in a higher proportion of exciting lyric dialogues with the actors (see his late Electra, Philoctetes, and Oedipus Coloneus).31 Euripides, who, in comparison with his predecessors, to some extent reduced the prominence of act-dividing choral stasima or revised the way that these stasima were integrated into the action, seems to have made up for it in performance with a preference for female and other more exotic foreign choruses as well as the exciting “new music.”32 Among those few plays for which Euripides won first prize, the choruses for Bacchae (foreign women) and Hippolytus (with both a female chorus and a contrasting sup￾plementary chorus of huntsmen) are certainly especially interesting from the perspective of choral performance. In sum, even though the success of a chorus depended on factors beyond its identity, the poet’s choice of choruses had at the very least to offer the choregos a promising opportunity for victory in the tragic contests. Since playing the Other would have been more challenging, a poet would have had a built-in incentive to select such choruses for his plays.33 31. See, e.g., Kirkwood 1958, 192–93; Esposito 1996, 85 and 107; and Taplin 1984–85 (1988). In the first part of Ajax the chorus is similarly deeply engaged in lyric dialogue. Burton (1980, 264–65) argues that late Sophoclean choruses become more actorlike and less prone to gnomic comments. 32. For ancient evidence on the new music, see Csapo and Slater 1995, 333–34, with documents 267–88. 33. These assumptions have important implications for theories concerning the identity of the choral performers themselves. If the choregoi for tragedy had free choice to pick the best and most experienced performers for their choruses, it seems less likely that Jack Winkler’s theory that tragic choreutai were ex￾clusively inexperienced ephebes makes sense (Winkler 1990; see Wilson 2000, 78–79; and Wiles 1997, 93). True, the famous Pronomos vase (Attic red-figure volute krater from Ruovo, Paglia, c. 400 b.c.e., Naples, Museo Nationale 3240 inv. no. 81673) showing the cast of a satyr play depicts the choreuts (if not their leader Papposilenus) as beardless and two of the actors as bearded. Wiles (2000, 131) argues that the ritual and educational traditions of choral dance explain the youthful images. Moreover, we also hear that chorus members, presumably including tragic chorus members, could be exempted from military service to perform, and ephebes were premilitary (Wilson 2000, 79). Both Wilson (83) and Csapo and Slater (1995, 352) ask why there was exemption from military service for choral participation as well as laws assisting the choregos in recruitment if choral performance was part of ephebic training. Winkler argues that the tragic choreuts or tragoidoi received their name from the goatlike, breaking voices of the adolescent ephebes, who could be nicknamed tragoi, or “goats.” Again, however, these are precisely the voices a competitive choregos would be unlikely to want in his chorus (Wilson 2000, 79). In addition, Wilson also notes that all but two of the names of the choreuts on the Pronomos vase, as well as their long hair, would suit members of aristocratic families (129). He suggests that choregoi may have preferred to recruit members of the elite for the chal￾lenging tragic choruses because of their additional experience in the song and dance of symposia (128–29; similarly, Griffith 1995, p. 74, n. 48; see Ar. Ran. 727–29). Yet this intriguing theory does not square with the salary paid to chorus members during their training, or remarks in Demosthenes (De cor. 18.265) and the Old Oligarch (1.13) that differentiate the elite choregos from his demotic choreuts. Ober (2000) stresses that both possibilities cannot be the case. This content downloaded from 145.97.173.155 on Wed, 01 Feb 2017 10:50:30 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms