From Homer to Hip Hop: Orature and Griots, Ancient and Present

Contemporary re-mixes of classic texts and narratives such as The Seven Against Thebes and Cain and Abel are prominent in the young canon of Hip Hop Theatre. In addition, Hip Hop Theatre's cultural and performative relationship to orality link it to the African diasporic performance aesthetic of Orature, while also connecting it to certain scholars' understanding of the role that oral composition plays in Homer and other Greek classics. The function of Hip Hop Theatre within a Hip Hop cultural context thus mirrors certain aspects of the sociological function of epic poetry and Athenian tragedy in classical Greek society.