The chorus in ancient greek plays is such an incredible tool. With so many plays being based on historical/what they believed to be historical events, and with too many gods and goddess to even name (as well as each of them having multiple names), its so helpful to have the chorus give a background for what is going on. Along with the chorus, it was interesting to see some mortal mythical figures that reoccur in other plays. Such as the blind prophet Tiresias, who before reading The Bacchae, I have encountered in the Opedius Rex triology and The Odyssey.

Connecting this reading back to last week’s “Contrband” reading, i find it very interesting that even though both readings talk about dramatic theatre’s role in religious (Egyptian, Greek and Mesoamerican) festivals, there seems to be a societal shift where one performance was focus on strengthing community/religious bonds through the festivals and the only performances were for the money. Was it just the differences in economics then or where “religious performers” actually held to a higher stander in the ancient worlds?

In the article “Contraband” it is mentioned a couple times that the actors tried very hard to become unrecognizable, in order to avoid being shamed outside of their performances. This made me wonder, if oral traditions were all that these people had to pass along their stories and history (which is what these plays were based on), then why weren’t these actors viewed more favorably? Was the shame simply because they were going around asking for money for the performances or was it just frowned upon entirely to be an storyteller at that time?