Pondoscopy

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In epic poems and drama, the oral report of a figure who sees and describes processes arising from artistic or (on the stage ) is referred to as pondoscopy (Greek τειχοσκοπία, teichoskopia, from τεῖχος, city ​​wall and σκοπεῖν, to observe ) or wall show ) cannot be displayed for practical reasons.

Formally, the pondoscopy is a monologue , which can be interrupted by questions, or a dialogue between people standing on the “wall” and discussing what they see with one another. In contrast to the messenger report , which introduces past events into the action, the pondoscopy allows simultaneous events to be treated at the same time.

In terms of content, these can be duels or accidents, deploying armies or entire battles, but also natural phenomena, such as the description of the star firmament or the sunrise.

The word "wall show" is derived from a famous trick in Homer's Iliad , where in Canto III, verses 121-244, Helena - standing on the Trojan city wall - King Priam expertly describes the approaching Greek heroes, whom she knows particularly well, because they have all courted her before. A special case is Kassandra's vision in the Agamemnon tragedy of Seneca ; here the prophetess sees through the walls, as it were, the simultaneous murder of Agamemnon inside the palace.

Classic pondoscopy is also the report by the tower keeper Lynkeus of the murder of Philemon and Baucis in Act V of Goethe's Faust II .

In Asterix on Corsica , a fight between Corsicans and Roman soldiers is reproduced in the teichoscopic conversation of some old men who, unlike the reader, are watching what is happening.

In the Muppet show , Waldorf and Statler , two elderly men in a theater box , take on such a wall show: They comment sarcastically on what is happening on the stage.

Remarks

  1. Seneca, Agamemnon 872 ff.

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