著者

横山 義志

出版者

日本演劇学会

雑誌

演劇学論集 日本演劇学会紀要 (ISSN:13482815)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.55, pp.43-65, 2012

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<p>In my previous article "Aristotle's Theory on Acting", I showed that Aristotle's idea was a theoretical source of the European modern non-musical and prosaic theatre. But we can find another theoretical source which defends a musical and versified theatre in the thought of Middle Stoa, especially of Diogenes of Babylon (c. 240-c. 152BC), restored thanks to a new edition of Philodemus' <i>On Music</i> (2007).</p><p>Referring to Plato's theory of musical education, Diogenes justifies the Hellenistic form of the tragedy performance, focusing on the solo chant of "tragic singers [tragôidoi]". This celebration of musical theatre is also based on the Stoic view of language and religion, which favours musical and versified speeches, considered as a natural manifestation of the greatness of gods and virtuous men, and as an auto-celebration of the life itself. According to Heraclides Ponticus, a pupil of Plato, Diogenes affirms that the musical acting practice can lead to all virtues. This theory considers the acting [hupokrisis] not as an act of disguising ("hypocrisy"), but as the means of constructing oneself as a virtuous man, referring to the model of "tragic singers" who construct their musical body through everyday training. This way of thinking about the musical, acting body offers a vision totally different from Aristotle's, who considered the same kind of body as the body of a slave.</p>