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
Oedipus Rex son and husband to his own mother. Creon arrives to face Oedipus's accusations. The King demands that Creon be executed; however, the chorus persuades him to let Creon live. Jocasta enters and attempts to comfort Oedipus, telling him he should take no notice of prophets. As proof, she recounts an incident in which she and Laius received an oracle which never came true. The prophecy stated that Laius would be killed by his own son; however, Jocasta reassures Oedipus by her statement that Laius was killed by bandits at a crossroads on the way to Delphi. The mention of this