I think that in the play Oedipus, Sophocles intended the Chorus to be a constant significant part of the play, observing and reacting to situations, whilst never being the centre of attention during the main story, and only coming to the fore during the narrative passages of the play.
However, in addressing the role of the Chorus in this play, I think it is vital that one decides whether the role of the Chorus is and objective role, inserted in to the play by Sophocles and unaffected by the audiences perception, or whether the role is subjective, and the significance of the role depends upon the viewer's perception of the Chorus' role in the play.
In my opinion, the role of the Chorus is certainly subjective and depends almost entirely upon the audience. I think that although the basic participation of the Chorus in the play can't be changed, the significance of their part can certainly alter quite considerably depending to the type of audience or viewer and their own perception due to experience. Consequently, the role of the Chorus would have a different significance for an ancient Greek audience and a 20th century audience.
The Greek audience would, no doubt, place a great deal more significance on the role of the Chorus than a 20th century audience would. The common use of a Chorus in Greek plays meant that the audiences almost expected any play to contain one, therefore, the concept of a Chorus was not one they were not used to. Therefore, the Greek audiences would have understood the many voices speaking together much more easily than a 20th century viewer. Also, the narrative passages spoken by the Chorus would be better received by the Greek audience, as they are used to this type of narration, once more this would be alien to a 20th century audience. Furthermore, the environment in which the play Oedipus was originally performed was the Greek amphitheatre. This held approximately 17000 people.
