stasimon

S1T1A1S1I1M3O1N1

noun

A song of the chorus during a tragedy, continued without the interruption of dialogue or anapaestics.

Scrabble 10

Meanings

nounstasimon (plural stasima)

plural stasima

  1. Ancient GreekbroadcastingA song of the chorus during a tragedy, continued without the interruption of dialogue or anapaestics.

    the lively measures of the Hyporcheme which holds the place of THIRD STASIMON ( V ) speak for themselves

    1883, Richard Claverhouse Jebb, Sophocles: The Plays and Fragments
    3 more examples

    1950, Amy Marjorie Dale, Stasimon and Hyporcheme, Eranos, XLVIII, pages 14-20, reprinted in 1969, Collected Papers of A. M. Dale, Volume 2, page 34, In the Parados the chorus is 'coming on', and has to move on to and across the orchestra to take its place in the middle; in all the stasima, however active and lively the dance, its evolutions are performed from that middle position (a choro tenente stationes suas, as Hermann said in 1844), and do no involve processional movement.

    It is interesting to consider the treatment of the stasima in relation to their context. Especially remarkable is the way in which the first stasimon (224 ff.), a hymn to Apollo praying for the success of Dolon's enterprise, is largely composed of sentiments repeated, with many verbal echoes, from the preceding dialogue[…].

    1964, William Ritchie, The Authenticity of the Rhesus of Euripides, page 338

    The first stasimon sings of the wonders of man, which culminates in man's city-building and his ethical community.[…]Episodes can be interpreted in the light of the choral stasima.

    2013, Jonathan N. Badger, Sophocles and the Politics of Tragedy: Cities and Transcendence, page 78

Origin

  1. Ancient Greekστάσιμον“stationary”
  2. Englishstasimon

From Ancient Greek στάσιμον (stásimon, “stationary”); compare stasis.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

stasimon. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/stasimon

MLA

“stasimon.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/stasimon. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “stasimon,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/stasimon.

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