The Chorus has been used throughout history as sometimes, melodramatic, sometimes comical, or sometimes insightful. They usually tell us how we should interpret something or sometimes they even tell us how we should not interpret something. They are often used as a device to pray or to call on the Gods in a story. The Chorus can be used for many different things. In the three plays, Agamemnon, Oedipus Rex, and The Bacchae, the Chorus is used for a variety of different reasons. These are three plays from ancient Greek times. They are from three different authors.
In Agamemnon the Chorus is used for a few different reasons. In the beginning of the play the Chorus is telling the audience the history of the Trojan War. They give us a better insight in to what went on in Troy. The chorus tells us bout Helen. Helen is the reason for the war. She was taken from her home and brought to another kingdom, and the two armies then fought for her. The Chorus tells the audience of the destructive power that Helen's beauty has over men. Then when Cassandra comes into the house, the Chorus kind of foreshadows, or gives a presentiment to something bad that is about to happen. That is when Helen says that the King is going to die and she is going to die with him. She leaves and the King's screams are heard. The Chorus debates whether or not they should open the doors to see what was going to happen. That is when the Queen confesses to killing Agamemnon and Cassandra. The Chorus ends with saying that Agamemnon's son will return to avenge his father's death. .
In Oedipus Rex the Chorus again is used for a variety or different reasons. When the Chorus first enters the play they are calling on the God's Apollo, Athena, and Artemis to save Thebes. Thebes is under a plague. The only way that the plague can be broken is for the killer of the former king to be removed from the city. Nobody knows it, but Oedipus is the killer.
