The Choruses in Septem as a Choreographic Script: Centrality and Meaning-Making

In this thesis, I aim to present two arguments: first, I focus on the importance of the chorus as a dual entity i.e. they both dance and sing within ancient Greek tragedy, thereby advocating for their centrality, particularly in Aeschylus’ Seven Against Thebes (Septem) and its adaptations. Second, I illustrate how a detailed analysis of this text brings to life the gestures and movements in the lyric segments, which are also the dancing segments of the chorus in tragedy. This investigation is valuable because it complicates and deepens the overall meaning of the play, offering insights that a purely logocentric approach to ancient tragedy cannot articulate comprehensively; I do this by examining the affect of gestures and movements on both the chorus performers and the audience.