THE DISTRIBUTION OF MESSENGER ROLES IN GREEK TRAGEDY

Abstract

In fifth-century Greek tragedy the role ofthe Messenger was to announce to the audience and to the other performers news of events which could not be shown on stage. Often an anonymous slave, the Messenger usually delivered only a tenth ofthe spoken lines in a tragedy. However, iconographical evidence suggests that by the fourth century the Messenger had evolved into one ofthe most important figures in the play. Since the wearing ofmasks and full-length costumes in Greek tragedy allowed the same actor to play several different parts in a single play, it is important to examine the way in which these roles may have been distributed among actors in extant fifth-century tragedies. This thesis considers how the Messenger role may have been combined with major character roles to create a grouping ofparts which would have proved substantive enough to fulfil the expectations and demands of a leading actor. By examining the texts, I have shown that in all ofEuripides’ dramas that have a clearly defined messenger role, it is possible to arrange the distribution ofparts so that a principal actor had the opportunity, in the Messenger speech, to re-enact in a very dramatic way the actions ofthe heroic figure he had portrayed earlier, often quoting his words. This creates a metatheatrical linkage or resonance between the noble role and the ‘mirror role’ represented by the Messenger figure, by which the actor was able to draw attention to his dramatic skills. The development ofthis linkage between the heroic role and the Messenger role in Euripides would have made the latter a desirable part for a leading actor to take, and hence, over time, would have enhanced the importance ofthe Messenger to become a central figure in Greek tragedy.