(7) The Chorus too should be regarded as one of the actors; it
should be an integral part of the whole, and take a share in the
action--that which it has in Sophocles rather than in Euripides. With
the later poets, however, the songs in a play of theirs have no more
to do with the Plot of that than of any other tragedy. Hence it is
that they are now singing intercalary pieces, a practice first
introduced by Agathon. And yet what real difference is there between
singing such intercalary pieces, and attempting to fit in a speech, or
even a whole act, from one play into another?
19
The Plot and Characters having been discussed, it remains to consider
the Diction and Thought. As for the Thought, we may assume what is
said of it in our Art of Rhetoric, as it belongs more properly to that
department of inquiry. The Thought of the personages is shown in
everything to be effected by their language--i.e.ery effort to prove
or disprove, to arouse emotion (pity, fear, anger, and the like), or
to maximize or minimize things. It is clear, also, that their mental
procedure must be on the same lines in their actions likewise,
whenever they wish them to arouse pity or horror, or have a look of
importance or probability.
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