Voices of the Dying

Abstract

This paper discusses the convention of off-stage cries deployed in Greek tragedy and satyr play chiefly to represent violent events. Unlike other studies dedicated to this topic, it is primarily focused on the cries themselves and to a lesser extent on their context, both dramatic and theatrical. Using the familiar distinction between word and action, it begins with a simple question: how exactly does an off-stage cry represent a violent event taking place within? Examined first as textual phenomena the voices from within are found to acquire their meaning through the discourse of the characters, and not as cries per se. The performative approach, however, also brings their auditory dimension into perspective. Although the evidence is mostly circumstantial, its cumulative weight does suggest that the vocal qualities of the off-stage cries could endow them with meanings unaccounted for in the textual perspective.