Kommos (theatre) having blinded himself in Sophocles' "Oedipus Rex" (c.429 BCE), and the exchange between Orestes, Electra and the chorus immediately after Clytemnestra's murder in Euripides' "Electra" (c.410 BCE). Kommos (theatre) A kommos (from Greek κομμός, "kommós", literally "striking", especially "beating of the head and breast in mourning") is a lyrical song of lamentation in an Athenian tragedy that the chorus and a dramatic character sing together. A kommos occurs "when the tension of the play rises to a climax of grief or horror or joy". Examples include the final section (lines 908-1077) of Aeschylus' "The Persians" (472 BCE) in which Xerxes
Use of costume in Athenian tragedy hair. Attempts have been made in modern times to investigate the use of masks in Athenian tragedy through practice research. These explorations conclude that masks may lead to a more demonstrative style of acting, with declamatory delivery of the lines substituted for intimacy. They also found that the mask could impede the projection of sound. The Greeks are said to have overcome this in various ways. Initially, the mouth apertures were small, but later this became a “wide-open” mouth. Some authors believe that the mouth was shaped like a “mouth-trumpet” and had an amplifying effect. Certainly, the use of a