Momente performativen Selbstreflexiv-Werdens in der Tragödie des Aischylos (mit besonderem Blick auf die Dareios-Szene in den Persern)

Framing and change of frames make ritual become self-reflexive. Already the fact that a ritual is incorporated into a Dionysian performance creating ‚ritual in ritual‘ makes mimesis metaritual. At the same time such re-enactments of ritual or connected mythic narratives are reassembled with other components to new and impressive scenes that tragedians deploy for the dramatic effect. Since ritual and theater are deeply connected each re-enactment of ritual on stage possesses a genuinely theatrical dimension. Aeschylus tends to dramatically display ritual as a mise en abyme, reflecting the macrostructure of the play in the microstructure. Thus in the central and striking necromantic scene of Dareius in Persians Aeschylus can reflect key motifs and religious themes of the whole tragedy. The conjured up king from the dead even becomes a voice to interpret the intricacies of the recent historical past in hermeneutical tones fusing the Persian with the Greek perspective. Ritual practice is usually represented by the choral group acting out a multimodal performance on the level of song, dance, rhythm, and music. Therefore staging religion becomes self-reflexive in a double sense. First, choral self-reference highlights the ritual action in the form of a speech-act, and second, choreia represents ritual action in the purest sense, embedding other ritual re-enactments that aim at highly spectacular performances.