DIVIDED PARTS BETWEEN A MUTE AND A SPEAKER

2.a. INTRODUCTION

Chapter Two discusses three instances of persons with shared roles between an actor and a mute in Ajœc, Philoctetes and Oedipus at Colonus. It is generally assumed that the change o f a speaker into a person with a non-speaking part is due to the limitations of the three-actor rule in tragedy. Here the aim is to analyze the process by which a speaker is replaced by a mute or vice versa, to define the dramatic importance of the shared roles and, where it is appropriate, to relate the distribution of parts with the three-actor rule.*

In the first section of this chapter I will elaborate on Tecmessa’s participation as a silent witness in the dialogue 974-989 between Teucer and the Chorus in Ajax. I will also discuss the point o f transition to Tecmessa's silent activity at line 985 and compare her role as a mute between line 1168 to the end of the play with her speaking activity in the first part of the play.

The second section deals with the Emporos in Philoctetes, who begins his activity as a mute attendant and changes into a speaker in a disguised form. The discussion attempts to draw the contrast between the dramatic importance of the Merchant and the non-

dramatic function of the mute sailor. The Merchant impresses with his half-true story of Odysseus* arrival in the island of Lemnos while the sailor remains an unimportant figure in the escort o f Odysseus.

The third section deals with the role of Ismene in O.C. with particular interest in her mute performance and her subsequent change into a speaker for a few lines at the end of the play. Ismene is a speaker fi-om 324 to 509, she turns into a mute fi-om 1096 to 1555, and she takes again the role of a speaker in the final lament with Antigone. A first problem to encounter is how we can distinguish Antigone as a speaking actor and Ismene as a mute when they both keep silence in lines 1119-1180,1284-1413 and 1500- 1555. The second problem to tackle is how the distribution of parts is affected when Ismene is involved in the lyrics of the final lament at 1670ff.

2.b. TECMESSA IN AJAX

Tecmessa’s role m Ajax is divided between a speaking actor and a mute. Her final words are in lines 961-973.^ At 974 Teucer is heard crying as he approaches the stage from a side entrance. At 975 the Chorus orders silence to Tecmessa because they hear Teucefs lament as he comes. So Tecmessa is silent, while the Chorus engage in a short but tense dialogue with Teucer (975-991). The structure o f the dialogue is as follows: two lines of the Chorus are matched by another two by Teucer (975-67/977-8). The next two lines are paired in stichomythia (979-980) and the following three are divided lines between Teucer and the Chorus concluding with a single line by Teucer (981-984).

Line 985 is an answer given in a half-line, which offers ground for a short discussion about who replies to Teucer’s question at 983-4. Teucer asks where is Ajax's son, Eurysaces. The answer, jiôvoç m p à o icq v aïaiv , is supplied either by the Chorus or

^ Taplin (1977a) 385, n.l accepts Schoell's deletion o f 971-3 on grounds o f epirrhematic symmetry; contra Jebb, Appendix in Ajax, p. 233. Lloyd-Jones & Wilson (1990) consider the possibility that 969 is spurious because "the sentiment which it expresses is at variance with that of 961-2 not to mention 971". Cf. also Reeve (1970) 286 n.8. who accepts that there is a diversity of opinions without reaching a certain conclusion. But I think that the text can stand as it is without the deletion o f verses. Jebb (as above) says that "there is no necessity that Tecmessa’s speech of ten lines in 915-924 should be balanced by one of the same length here". Pearson (1922) 125 also thinks that the "additional lines beginning at 971 which follow another pause, [...] being transitional, serve as an opening to the next scene". In her last words Tecmessa repeats a contrast between her own distressful situation and the arrogance o f Atreidae. She makes the prediction that Odysseus would demonstrate an arrogant behaviour against dead Ajax, but the audience know from the prologue that Odysseus shows sympathy for Ajax. At the end o f the play Odysseus will support the issue of his burial against Agamemnon. Moreover, at 973 Tecmessa conveys the picture of a wife in mourning, a position which she will maintain for the rest o f the play up to the ond.

by Tecmessa.^ It is not clear which of these two is meant to receive it because Teucer makes no specific address and both candidates would be able to provide the answer. However, it is formally more likely that the Chorus will be the one continuing to answer Teucer's questions.

When Teucer asks this question he must probably look at Tecmessa and realize that she stands there alone without the child.** We may recall that, earlier in the play, Tecmessa had left Eurysaces at the hut (809)^ in order to join the search for Ajax (810). The Chorus, who were present at that moment (809), are now in the position to inform Teucer where the child is. Their immediate reaction to his question finely matches their actual involvement in the events after 866. In this respect, it would be awkward to make Tecmessa interfere with a short answer in the continuity of the agitated conversation between Teucer and the Chorus.^

Teucer's following request (985-989) is made in the second person and runs as follows: a) Lines 985-987 include an appeal with the form of a question combined with a simile: Teucer asks Tecmessa to fetch Eurysaces and he compares the child with the young of a

^ Jebb, Stanford and Lloyd-Jones & Wilson give the words to the Chorus, Dain to Tecmessa.

^ Tecmessa might have come nearer to the centre of the acting area away fi-om the corpse after uttering her last speech (961-973) so that Teucer can face her as soon as he enters. But he does not yet see the corpse of Ajax; see also Part I, ch. I.e.

^ Gardiner (1979) 12 and n.7 points out that mpoc cncrivalaiv means "by the tent rather than in it".

^ In Antigone, the disputed attribution o f line 572 to Antigone interrupts the sequence of stichomythia between Creon and Ismene, but the line apostrophizes Haemon in his absence and by no means gives a response to a previous question as in Ajax 985.

lioness at the mercy o f his hunters. The phrase Kevf]ç'aTCü|j.VGV ^ a i v T jç may mean (i) the young of a lioness bereft of her lion ^ or (ii) the lioness robbed of her young.* The preference for the one or the other meaning relies on the interpretation o f the adjective êâi_ô.)The comparison with the lioness helps to suggest that the request is addressed to Tecmessa.

b) Line 988: Teucer continues with an agitated order for Tecmessa to move off quickly. c) Lines 988-9: Teucer rounds off his request vvdth the general statement: "For to be sure all men love to laugh exultantly over the dead when they lie before them".^

At 989 Tecmessa leaves, to return as a Koxpôv TtpôomTCOV with Eurysaces at 1168. Her exit to the side would be consistent with her later re-entry in a slow approach pinpointed by Teucer at 1168.*®

To sum up, Tecmessa is a speaking person fi-om 201 to 973. Her speaking part is chiefly paired with the Chorus and Ajax: she starts with a lament involving the Chorus and she continues with description of Ajax's insane behaviour (201-332). She makes an attempt to dissuade Ajax fi-om his suicidal thoughts (485ff), but she is strongly opposed by him. At 719ff, the Messenger warns first the Chorus and then Tecmessa o f the danger of Ajax dying that one day. Tecmessa is the person who discovers Ajax dead and laments together with the Chorus over his bleeding body (89Iff). She becomes a silent witness in lines 974-989 which constitute the short dialogue between Teucer and the Chorus.

^ Kamerbeek on 986,987. * Jebb on 985f.

® Stanford on 988-9. *® See Gardiner (1979) 13.

This spoken part could have occasioned her engagement in dialogue with Teucer had Sophocles contrived Tecmessa's role as paired not only with Ajax (and the Chorus) but also with his half-brother. But her dramatic involvement as a speaker ends up with the death of her husband and the discovery of his corpse. For the rest of the play after 1168 she takes part in framing together with Eurysaces the tableau with Ajax's dead body. In her mute role Tecmessa presents the audience with the image o f grief and mourning (cf. 973) and this is more important than any verbal interaction on her part with Teucer.* ^

** See also Davies (1973) 66 and n.33 for the depiction o f Tecmessa, and generally of women, as images o f grief and suffering, in vase-paintings and in tragedy. Tecmessa’s silent presence along with Eurysaces also serves as a reminder of Ajax’s family -another aspect of the importance o f women as lamenters and sufferers.