While the actors were upon the stage, and the dialogue was in progress, the chorus continued to stand with their backs towards the spectators, and their faces towards the stage, so as to follow the course of the action.[912] This was their normal position during the play, and, although it may seem strange to our modern ideas, it was a necessary consequence of the peculiar circumstances under which the Greek drama was developed. When the stage was empty, the pauses between the acts were filled up by the choral odes called stasima. There is no reliable information as to the position and movements of the chorus during the performance of the stasima. As the singing was accompanied by dancing, the choreutae must have been moving to and fro. But in the absence of evidence it seems useless to venture on conjectures as to the exact nature of the evolutions. One thing may be regarded as certain, that during the performance of the stasima the chorus did not continue to face towards the empty stage, and turn their backs upon the audience. Such a position would have been quite unnatural and unmeaning. In the Old Comedy there was a peculiar sort of interlude called the parabasis, which came during a pause in the action, and consisted of a series of lyrics and addresses, delivered by the chorus, and dealing with ordinary topics of the day. While reciting the first part of the parabasis the chorus wheeled completely round so as to face the spectators. Hence the name ‘parabasis’, which means ‘a turning aside’. The latter part was antistrophical in form, and during its delivery the chorus separated into two divisions, which stood facing one another. The different portions of the parabasis were then given by each division in turn.[913] Sometimes, though not often, in the course of a play the chorus left the orchestra for a short period, and made a second entrance later on.[914] The instances of the practice which occur in the Eumenides and the Ajax were necessitated by the change of scene in those plays.[915] There is another example in the Helena of Euripides. Helen and the chorus retire into the palace, to inquire about the fate of Menelaus from Theonoe. In their absence Menelaus enters the stage, and recounts his adventures to the audience. Then Helen and the chorus return, and the recognition gradually takes place.[916] Similar temporary departures of the chorus are to be found in the Alcestis and the Ecclesiazusae; but they seem to have been of very rare occurrence.[917] At the end of the play the chorus retired by the passage from which it had entered, and was preceded by the flute-player.[918] In the Seven against Thebes the chorus leave the orchestra in two divisions, one following the body of Polyneices, the other that of Eteocles. But in most cases they probably marched but in the same rectangular formation in which they had entered. § 5. _The Delivery of the Choral Part._