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 "Onomastikon". He lists 30 different male masks (old age with white or grey hair, the tyrant with thick black hair, a fair, pale masks indicating sorrow or sickness, a boastful soldier, a rustic, servants, a cook, etc.) and 17 female masks (fat and thin old women, two matrons, one virgin, a bawd, a mistress, three courtesans, a lady’s maid, etc.). Use of costume in Athenian tragedy Some authors have argued that use of costume in Athenian tragedy was standardized for the genre. This is said to have consisted of a full-length or short tunic, a cloak and soft leather boots,