Etymologically it derives from the Greek stikhos ("row, line of verse") + muthos ("speech, talk").
The rhythmic intensity of the alternating lines combined with quick, biting ripostes in the dialogue can create a powerful effect.
Stichomythia originated in Greek drama,[4] where, in the early plays of Aeschylus it applies to exchanges between the protagonist and the chorus.
[2] J. Leonard Hancock differs in this regard, not finding overwhelming evidence for any particular origin theory, but admitting that the role of musical symmetry must have been significant.
Instead he finds that the trends, within Ancient Greek aesthetics, toward agonistic expression, subtlety in language, and love of symmetry, helped to give rise to stichomythia as a popular dialogue device.
Finally, and most substantially, Seneca's tragedies are much more prone to revolve around literary quibbles, even leaving aside the plot of the play for entire sections while the characters engage in an essentially linguistic tangent.
Where they did occur, they tended to follow the lead of Seneca in using “catchwords” as launching points for each subsequent line.
[6] In terms of character relationships, stichomythia can represent interactions as mundane as question-and-answer exchanges, or as tense as heated rapid-fire arguments.
[1] In terms of how stichomythia moves forward as a section of dialogue, the Ancient Greeks tended to favor subtle flavorings and reflavorings of grammatical particles, whereas Senecan (and by extension Renaissance) stichomythic passages often turned on verbal minutiae or “catchwords”.
Modern theatre, on the other hand, uses the technique in such a manner that the characters use each line to add depth to a shared idea or metaphor.
A further intensification is often achieved by antilabe, in which a single verse line is distributed on alternating speakers.
[13] Don Diègue (an old man, the hero's father) has been appointed the prince's tutor, a post that the Count (le Comte) wanted.
DON DIÈGUE: Qui l'a gagné sur vous l'avoit mieux merité.
DON DIÈGUE: En être refusė n'est pas un bon signe.
LE COMTE: Vous l'avez eu par brigue, ėtant vieux courtisan.
DON DIÈGUE: L'éclat de mes hauts faits fut mon seul partisan.
LE COMTE: Et par là cet honneur n'était dû qu'à mon bras.
LE COMTE: Ton impudence, Téméraire viellard, aura son récompense.
[Il lui donne un soufflet [14]: translation In the scene in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's opera The Marriage of Figaro, libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte, where Susanna learns that Marcellina is Figaro's mother, she repeats her disbelief (Sua madre?, that is, "his mother?")
[15] For another example from opera, the following passage from the libretto by Andrea Maffei for Giuseppe Verdi's I masnadieri has been called "musical stichomythia",[16] though it does not contain repetition or antithesis: AMALIA: Qual mare, qual terra da me t'ha diviso?
[18] Another film-noir example is in Double Indemnity (dialog by Billy Wilder and Raymond Chandler).