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THE ATTIC THEATRE
HAIGH
HENRY FROWDE
Oxford University Press Warehouse
Amen Corner, E.G.
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The Attic Theatre
A DESCRIPTION OF THE STAGE AND THEATRE
OF THE ATHENIANS, AND OF THE DRAMATIC
PERFORMANCES AT ATHENS
BY
A. E. HAIGH, M.A.
LATE FELLOW OF HERTFORD, AND CLASSICAL LECTURER AT CORPUS
CHRISTI AND WADHAM COLLEGES, OXFORD
WITH FA C SIM HE S AND ILLUSTRATIONS
AT THE CLARENDON PRESS
1889
\^All rights reserved "l
REPLACING
401 Ll1
14IA-9
PREFACE.
My purpose in this book has been to collect and piece
together all the available information concerning the outward
features and surroundings of the old Athenian dramatic per-
formances ; in other words, to write a history of the Attic drama
from the theatrical; as opposed to the literary, point of view.
The subject is one which has been practically revolutionised
during the last half century, partly through the labours of
various scholars in interpreting the notices of the old gram-
marians, but more especially owing to the rich discoveries of
inscriptions relating to theatrical affairs, and the information
supplied by excavations in the old Greek theatres. But in spite
of the copious accession of fresh materials, it is now more than
fifty years since any work has appeared in English, in which
this particular department of Greek dramatic history has been
treated in a comprehensive manner. The neglect is all the
more remarkable, as the subject is undeniably of great interest
and importance, and this for two distinct reasons. In the first
place it is difficult to understand and appreciate the peculiar
qualities of the existing Greek plays, without acquiring some
knowledge of the circumstances under which they were pro-
duced, and the limitations within which the ancient dramatic
poets had to work. In the second place, as the Attic drama
was essentially a public institution, and formed one of the most
conspicuous elements in the national life, the various details
connected with its management are incidentally most instructive,
because of the curious light which they throw upon the habits,
feelings, and tastes of the old Athenians. It is owing to these
M851088
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vi PREFACE.
several considerations that the present work has been under-
taken.
Unfortunately, with the exception of a list of names and
definitions in Pollux, and a few observations upon the theatre in
Vitruvius, none of the ancient treatises, which dealt with the
various portions of the subject, have been preserved. The
materials have in consequence to be collected from the most
multifarious sources — from casual remarks in ancient authors,
from incidental references in the Greek dramas, from obscure
and often contradictory notices in the scholiasts and gram-
marians, from old inscriptions, and the ruins of Greek theatres,
from vases, statuettes, wall-paintings, and other works of art.
In the treatment of questions, which depend upon evidence of
this intricate and complex character, it is inevitable that great
diversity of opinion should arise, and that numberless oppor-
tunities should be afforded for ingenious conjectures and
fanciful combinations. As a matter of fact the whole history of
the Attic drama has been to a certain extent obscured by the
mass of controversy and hypothesis to which it has given rise.
My purpose throughout the following pages has been to keep
close to the original sources of information, to restrict myself
unreservedly to such facts as seem to be fairly well established
by the evidence, and to clear the subject of all those fine-drawn
theories and conjectures, which have no definite foundation to
depend upon. For every statement concerning the Attic drama
I have been careful to quote the ultimate authority, and the plan
which I have adopted, in the citation of evidence, has been as
follows. Where a passage is appealed to in support of some
mere matter of fact, about which there could be no particular
difference of opinion, I have been content to simply give the
reference. But in cases where the inference is more dubious,
I have quoted the original authorities in full, so as to enable the
reader to judge for himself as to the validity of the views
adopted in the text. It would have been impossible, within the
limits of a single volume, to discuss in detail all the points con-
cerning which controversies have been raised. The more im-
portant questions I have treated at considerable length ; but as
PREFACE. vii
regards matters of minute detail and trivial interest, I have
merely given my own opinion in the text, and appended a
complete statement of the evidence in the notes.
The various books, articles, monographs, and dissertations,
which have been written on the subject of the Attic theatre and
dramatic performances, are sufficient in themselves to constitute
a considerable literature. It will be sufficient in the present
place to enumerate those to which I have been principally
indebted. Of writings in which the subject is treated as a
whole the most important is Albert M tiller's Lehrbuch der
Griechtschen Buhnenalterthiimer (Freiburg, 1886) — a work which
is conspicuous for the industry, learning, and sound judgment
displayed in its compilation, and for the lucid manner in which
an immense amount of information is compressed into a com-
paratively limited space. The exhaustive account which it
contains of the bibliography of the subject is especially valuable.
Another book which I have found of the greatest help is
Schneider's Das Attische Theaterwesen (Weimar, 1835). It
consists mainly of a citation in full of all the ancient passages
which refer to performances in the theatre; and although
Schneider's own views and inferences are now mostly anti-
quated, and his collection of ^ Quelle ' requires to be sup-
plemented, the work will always be most interesting • and
serviceable to students of the Attic drama. The description of
the Greek dramatic performances in the third volume of Bergk's
Griechische Liter aturgeschichte (Berlin, 1884) has been ex-
ceedingly useful and suggestive ; and considerable assistance
has been derived from the similar account in vol. ii. pt. 2
of Bernhardy's Griindriss der Griechtschen Litterahir (Halle,
1880).
As far as the separate portions of the subject are concerned,
I have been greatly indebted, for information regarding the
Dionysiac festivals, to Bockh's dissertation, Vom Unterschiede
der Lenderif Anthesterien, und Idndlichen Dionysien (Abhandi.
der Akad. der Wissensch. zu Berlin, 1816-1817), and to A.
Mommsen's Heortologie (Leipzig, 1864). The account of the
regulations relating to the dramatic contests is based largely
viii PREFACE.
upon the evidence supplied by the recently discovered inscrip-
tions, which have been collected and carefully edited by Kohler
in the second volume of the Corpus Inscriptiommi Atticarum.
These inscriptions have, among other things, made it perfectly
plain that the dramatic competitions had nothing to do with
the tribes, but were merely contests between individuals. On
the subject of the Proagon I have followed mainly Rohde's
valuable article in Rhein. Museum xxxviii, and on the subject of
the selection of the judges I have been greatly assisted by
Sauppe's paper, Ueher die Wahl der Richter, etc. (Sachs. Gesell-
schaft der Wissensch, zu Leipzig^ phil.-hist, Classe, 1855), and by
Petersen's Preisrichter der grossen Dionysien (Progr. Dorpat.
1878). For various points connected with the production of
a play I have consulted the dissertation by Lipsius, Ueher die
dramatische Choregie {Sachs. Gesell. der Wissensch., phil.-hist.
Classe, 1885), with advantage. To turn next to the question of
the construction and arrangement of the Greek theatre. My
principal authority, as far as regards the theatre of Dionysus
at Athens, has been Kawerau's article Theatergehdude, in vol. iii.
of Baumeister's Denkmdler des klassischen Alterthums (Munich
and Leipzig, 1888). This article contains the results of Dr.
Dorpfeld's recent investigations, together with a new plan of
the theatre, and has in some respects superseded all the
previous accounts. I may also mention Vischer's Die Ent-
deckungen im Dionysostheater {Neues Schweizerisches Museum,
1863), Julius' article. Das Theater des Dionysos {Zeitschrift fur
bild. Kunst, 1878), and J. R. Wheeler's Theatre of Dionysus
(Papers of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens,
vol. i). The description of the theatre at Epidaurus has been
derived from the papers by Kabbadias in UpaKTiKo. rrjs iv "AB^vms
dpxatoXoyiK^s iraiplas, i88i and 1883. On the subject of the Greek
theatre in general I would mention the exhaustive account by
Wieseler in vol. 83 of Ersch and Gruber's Allgemeine Encyklo-
pddie (Leipzig, 1866), from which I have obtained many
interesting particulars. The plans and illustrations in Wiese-
ler's Theatergehdude und Denkmdler des Buhnenwesens bei
Grtechen und Romern (Gottingen, 1851) have also been of the
PREFACE. ix
greatest service ; and I have obtained some help from Strack,
Das altgriechische Theatergebdude (Potsdam, 1843). ^vo-
ceeding next to the question of the scenery I have to acknow-
ledge my obligations to Niejahr's Quaestiones Artstophaneae
Scaenicae (Greifswald, 1877), and Sommerbrodt's De Aeschyli
re scenica (in Scenica, Berlin, 1876). On the subject of the
acting and the actors in the Greek drama much information is
to be derived from Grysar, De Graecorum tragoedia^ etc. (Coin,
1830) ; K. F. Hermann, De distrihutione personarum inter his-
triones in tragoediis graecis (Marburg, 1840) ; Beer, Ueher die
Zahl der Schauspieler bei Aristophanes (Leipzig, 1844) ; and from
Sommerbrodt's two articles De Histrionibus and De Ai^te His-
trionum, in his Scenica. Concerning the costume of the Greek
actors I have learned much from Dierk's two dissertations, De
tragicortim histrionum habitu scaenico apiid Graecos (Gottingen,
1883), Ueber das CostUm der griechischen Schauspieler in der
alten Komodie [ArchaeoL Zeitung xliii) ; and from Wieseler's
Das Satyrspiel (Gottingen, 1848). I should also mention the
valuable illustrations of theatrical masks and costumes to be
found in Wieseler's Theatergebdude und Denkmdler, etc. ; and
those given by Maass in Monumenti Inediti, xi. 30-32, and by
Robert in ArchaeoL Zeitung for 1878, and in Monum. Inedit. xi.
13. In discussing the question of the relative proportion of
speech, song, and recitative in the Greek drama 1 have fre-
quently consulted Christ's Metrik der Griechen und Ronier
(Leipzig, 1879). Among works dealing with the chorus I
would mention K. O. M tiller's Dissertations on the Eumenides
(Engl, transl., London, 1853), G. Hermann's De choro Eume-
nidum (Opusc. ii. p. 129 foil.), Schultze's De chori Graecorum
tragici habitu externo (Berlin, 1857), Sommerbrodt's De chori
tragici principibus, in Scenica^ p. 5 foil., and lastly Arnoldt's
Die Chorpartieen bei Aristophanes (Leipzig, 1873).
In conclusion I wish to express my obligations to Professor
Gardner for his assistance in various questions connected with
archaeology, and to Mr. Evelyn Abbott for many valuable
suggestions and criticisms. I have to thank the Council of the
Hellenic Society for their permission to reproduce the two
X PREFACE.
photographs of the theatre at Athens, and the illustration of
a chorus of birds. I desire at the same time to acknowledge
the great courtesy with which Dr. Dorpfeld, of the German
Archaeological Institute, has supplied me with the latest inform-
ation concerning his excavations in the theatre of Dionysus,
and his views on Greek theatres in general.
Oxford, June, 1889.
CONTENTS.
Chap. I. Dramatic Contests at Athens
§ I. General Characteristics of the Attic drama
§ 2. First institution of dramatic competitions
§ 3. The City Dionysia ....
§ 4. Tragedy at the City Dionysia in the fifth century
§ 5. Trilogies and Tetralogies
§ 6. Tragedy at the City Dionysia in later times
§ 7. Comedy at the City Dionysia
§ 8. Order of Contests at the City Dionysia
§ 9. The Lenaea
§ lo. The Rural Dionysia and Anthesteria
§ II. The Judges
§ 12. The Prizes
§ 13. Contests between actors
§ 14. Records of dramatic contests
Chap. II, The Production of a Play .
§ I. The Poets ....
§ 2. Appointment of the Choregi .
§ 3. Selection of the Actors
§ 4. The training of the Chorus .
§ 5. Expenses of the Choregia
§ 6. The Performances in the Theatre
§ 7. Reproduction of. Old Plays .
Chap. III. The Theatre ....
§ I. General character of a Greek theatre
§ 2. The old wooden theatres at Athens
§ 3. History of the Theatre of Dionysus
PAGE
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xii CONTENTS.
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§4. Site of the Theatre of Dionysus no
§5. The Auditorium 113
§ 6. The Orchestra 125
§ 7. The Stage-buildings 136
§ 8. The Stage 141
§9. Relative position of Actors and Chorus .... 150
§ 10. Various details 158
Chap. IV. The Scenery 164
§ I. General character of the Scenery 164
§ 2. Mechanical arrangements for the Scenery . . . .170
§3. The entrances to the Stage 173
§4. Changes of Scene 178
§ 5. Stage Properties, etc. . . 183
§ 6. The Ekkyklema 185
§ 7. The Mechane 189
§ 8. Other Mechanical Contrivances 192
Chap. V. The Actors 197
§1. Rise of the Actor's Profession 197
§ 2. The distribution of the Parts among the Actors . . . 207
§ 3. Extra Performers 212
§4. Costume of the Tragic Actors 216
§5. Costume of Satyric Actors 231
§6. Costume of Comic Actors 233
§ 7. Speech, Song, and Recitative . . . . . .241
§ 8. Importance of the Voice in Greek Acting .... 245
§ 9. Style of Greek Acting ' . 249
§ ID. The Actors' Guild 251
§ II. Social position of Actors 254
§ 12. Celebrated Athenian Actors 255
Chap. VI. The Chorus 259
§ I. History of the Chorus 259
§ 2. Size of the Chorus . . 262
§ 3. Costume of the Chorus 263
§ 4. Arrangement of the Chorus . 268
§5. The Delivery of the choral part 276
§ 6. The Dancing 283
§ 7. The Music 291
CONTENTS. xiii
PAGE
Chap. VII. The Audience 295
§1. Composition of the Audience 295
§ 2. Price of Admission 302
§ 3. The Distribution of the Seats 304
§ 4. Various arrangements in connection with the Audience , 311
§5. Character of Attic Audiences 313
Appendix A 319
Appendix B
Greek Index
General Index
321
329
333
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
View of the theatre of Dionysus from the east .... Frontispiece.
View of the theatre of Dionysus from the south .... to face p. loi
Ground-plan of the theatre of Dionysus ..... page 112
Part of the auditorium in the theatre of Dionysus . . . ,, 118
Coin with view of the theatre of Dionysus ,, 121
Ground-plan of the theatre at Epidaurus ,, 130
Gates in the theatre at Epidaurus ,, 134
Part of the hyposkenion in the theatre at Epidaurus ... ,, 147
Scene from a comedy, showing the steps up to the stage . . ,, 148
A tragic actor „ 218
Tragic masks „ 222
Scene from a tragedy, showing the size of the cothurni . . ,, 224
Two tragic scenes „ 230
Actors in a satyric drama „ 232
Scene from a comedy of the Phlyakes . . r . . „ 234
Comic masks „ 238
A comic scene „ 240
Members of a satyric chorus . . . . . . . ,, 265
A chorus of Birds „ 267
Diagram illustrating the entrance of the chorus .... ,, 270
Throne of the priest of Dionysus „ 308
THE ATTIC THEATRE.
CHAPTER I.
DRAMATIC CONTESTS AT ATHENS.
§ I. General Characteristics of the Attic drama.
The ancient Athenian drama was in many respects unlike
any kind of dramatic performance that we are accustomed to
in modern times. The difference extended not only to the
character of the plays themselves, and the manner in which
they were presented upon the stage, but also to the circum-
stances under which the production took place. In order to
form an accurate conception of the external features of the old
Greek drama it will be necessary to dismiss from the mind
many of the associations with which the modern stage is con-
nected. In the first place, the luxury of having theatrical
entertainments at every season of the year was a thing
never heard of among the ancient Athenians. The dramatic
performances at Athens, instead of being spread over the
whole year, were confined within very limited p eriods. They
were restricted to the two_great festivals of Dionysus, the
Lenaea and the City Dionysia. It is true that at these fes-
tivals the number of plays exhibited was large enough to
satisfy the most enthusiastic playgoer. Several days in suc-
cession were devoted entirely to the drama, and on each day
B
% DRAMATIC CONTESTS AT ATHENS. [Ch.
tragedies and comedies followed one another without inter-
mission from morning till evening. But with the exception
of the two festivals of Dionysus there was no other occasion
on which plays were acted in the Athenian theatre. There
were dramatic exhibitions in the various townships of Attica
during the Rural Dionysia ; but in Athens itself the drama
was restricted to the two periods already mentioned. In fact,
as far as regards the time and duration of the performances,
the ancient drama had much in common with the modern
musical festival, in which at certain fixed seasons several days
in succession are devoted entirely to music.
Another vital point of difference lay in the fact that the
ancient drama was managed wholly by the state. To provide
for the amusement of the people was considered to be one of
the regular duties of the government. In England theatres are
simply private enterprises. In some foreign countries certain
theatres receive subventions from the state, and are subject to
a code of rules ; but for practical purposes their connexion with
the state is only a slight one. But in Athens the superin-
tendence of the annual dramatic performances was just as much
a part of the public administration of affairs as was the repair
of the dockyards, the equipment of fleets, or the despatch of
armies. Poets and actors were both selected by the state.
The cost of the performance was a tax upon the richer classes.
Every wealthy citizen had in his turn to defray the expenses of
a tragedy or a comedy, just as he had to pay for one of the
ships of the fleet, or perform any other of the state burdens.
The theatre was a public institution for the benefit of the whole
people. Every Athenian citizen of whatever degree was en-
titled to be present at the annual dramatic performances ; and
if he was too poor to pay the entrance fee, he received the price
of admission from the state.
The audience consisted practically of the whole body of the
people. In a modern theatre, owing to its limited dimensions,
the spectators are few in number, and have no representative
character about them. But the theatre of Dionysus at Athens
was capable of containing nearly thirty thousand people. Every
I.] GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS. 3
Athenian attended the performances at the Dionysia as a matter
of course. The audience therefore to which the Athenian dramatic
poet addressed himself was in reality a gathering of the whole
body of his fellow-countrymen. In those days books were not
plentiful, and their use was confined to a limited class. The
ordinary Athenian depended for his literary pleasures upon the
various public performances and recitations of poetical com-
positions. The drama was therefore much more to him than to
a modern playgoer. At the present day, when continual
supplies of fresh literature are accessible to every one, it is
hard to realise the excitement and expectancy with which an
Athenian looked forward to the annual exhibition of dramas at
the Dionysia. It was here that his taste for novelty in literature
was gratified. It was here that he found an equivalent for
the books, magazines, and newspapers of modern civilization.
Hence he was able to sit day after day, from morning to
evening, listening to tragedy and comedy, without any feeling
of satiety. The enthusiasm with which the drama was gene-
rally regarded, and the direct manner in which the author was
brought into contact with the whole body of his countrymen,
contributed to make the vocation of the dramatic writer one
of the very greatest importance. The leading tragic poets
especially are known to have exercised a most profound in-
fluence upon the national mind and character. They were
spoken of as the teachers of the people. Their writings were
invested with a sort of Homeric sanctity, and appealed to as
authorities upon questions of science and morality. Maxims
and quotations from their plays were upon every one's lips.
Many passages in Plato and Aristophanes prove the enormous
influence for good and evil which was exercised by the Greek
tragic poets, and there is probably no other instance in history
of a drama which was so thoroughly popular, and formed such
an essential part of the national life \
Another prominent characteristic of the Attic stage, which
distinguishes it from that of modern times, was the fact that
almost every dramatic performance took the form of a contest.
^ See especially Plat. Rep. 598 D,E; Aristoph. Ran, 1008 ff., 1054 ff.
B 2
4 DRAMATIC CONTESTS AT ATHENS. [Ch.
In the best period of the Greek drama the production of a play
by itself, as a mere exhibition, was a thing unknown. In later
times celebrated plays by the great dramatists were sometimes
exhibited alone. But in the period covered by the names of
Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, and Aristophanes, the only
mode of exhibiting plays was by competing in the dramatic
contests at the festivals of Dionysus. Prizes were offered by
the state. A limited number of poets, after careful selection by
the state, were allowed to take part in the competition. The
result was decided by a jury publicly appointed. It is curious
to notice how strongly implanted in the Greek nature was this
passion for anything in the shape of a contest. It is seen in
the case of most branches of poetry and music. Dithyrambs were
generally produced in competitions at festivals between rival
poets and choruses. Recitations of the old epic poems took
the form of contests between rhapsodists. Public performances
on flute and harp were mostly of the same character. There
can be no doubt that the stimulus of rivalr y and competition had
a considerable effect upon the genius of the poets. It is re-
markable in how many instances the Athenian dramatic writers
retained the full vigour of their intellect even in extreme old
age. For example, the tragedies composed in their latest years
by the three great tragic poets show not the slightest symptoms
of decaying power. The Agamemnon of Aeschylus, one of the
most splendid products of the Greek drama, was brought out
shortly before the poet's death. The Oedipus Coloneus of
Sophocles and the Bacchae of Euripides were both written very
late in life. The reason of this extraordinary vitaHty was no
doubt partly due to the excitement caused by the public com-
petitions in the theatre, which acted as a stimulus to the mind,
and prevented that decay of power which usually accompanies
old age.
But the most conspicuous difference between the ancient and
modern drama lay in the essentially religious character of the
former. The Athenian drama was not only an amusement for
the people : it was also part of a great religious celebration.
Throughout its history it never ceased to be closely connected
I.] GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS. 5
with the rehgion of the state. It was developed original.ly
out of the songs and hymns in honour of Dionysus, the god of
wine. In later times its range was widened, and its tone se-
cularised : but it continued to be performed solely at the
festivals of Dionysus. Together with the other contests and
ceremonials it was regarded as a celebration in honour of the
god. The spectator who sat watching a tragedy or a comedy
was not merely providing for his own amusement, but was also
joining in an act of worship. Many facts tend to show the
sacred character of the festivals of Dionysus, and the per-
formances which accompanied them. The fes tivals_ themselves
were not mere human institutions, but were established in
obedience to the direct commands of the oracle. On these
occasions the whole city gave itself up to pleasure, and to the
worship of the genial wine-god. For the time being there
was an end of business and litigation. Peace and harmony
were supposed to prevail universally, and nothing was allowed
to disturb the general enjoyment. Distraints for debt were
forbidden by law during the continuance of the festival.
Prisoners were temporarily released from gaol, to enable them
to join in the worship of the god. Assaults and outrages, if
committed during the Dionysia, were regarded as offences
against religion, and were punished with the utmost severity.
The ordinary course of law was not considered sufficient, and
they were dealt with under an exceptional process at a special
meeting of the Assembly. As a proof of the indignation
which was aroused by such violations of the harmony of the
festival it is recorded that on one occasion a certain Ctesicles
was put to death for merely striking a personal enemy during
the procession. To preserve the sanctity of the festival from
contamination, no person suffering from civil disability was
allowed to take part in a chorus at the Dionysia, or even to
superintend the training of it. The performances in the
theatre, being the most conspicuous part of the proceedings
at the festival, were equally sacred in character. The god
Dionysus was supposed to be present in person to witness and
enjoy them. This belief was symbolised by a curious old
6 DRAMATIC CONTESTS AT ATHENS. [Ch.
custom. On the evening before the dramatic contests began,
the Ephebi used to take the statue of the god out of its shrine,
and carry it in procession by torchhght to the theatre, and
place it in the orchestra in full view of the stage. There it
remained until the end of the festival, in token of the presence
of the god. The religious character of the dramatic per-
formances is still further shown by the fact that most of the front
seats in the theatre were given up to the priests of the different
deities. In the centre of the front row, and in the best seat of
all, sat the priest of Dionysus, presiding over the celebrations in
honour of the god. The theatre itself was regarded as a temple
of Dionysus, and possessed all the sanctity attaching to such a
place. Any form of insult committed there during the Dionysia
was doubly criminal. Merely to eject a man from a seat he had
taken wrongfully was a piece of sacrilege punishable with death.
The people who took part in the different contests, the poets,
choregi, actors, and singers, were regarded as ministers of the
god Dionysus. Their persons and dresses were sacred. To
strike a choregus in the theatre, as Meidias struck Demos-
thenes, was an offence against religion and the gods. In
order to understand the outward character and surroundings
of the old Greek drama it is most essential to realise the fact
that the whole proceedings were part of a religious celebration,
and were intended to be an act of homage to the god, as well
as an amusement for the people \
§ 2. First institution of dramatic competitions.
The date^ of the first institution of dramatic contests in
Athens may be determined approximately, though the exact
year cannot be fixed. During the earlier stages of the de-
velopment of tragedy and comedy there was nothing in the
' Most of the details concerning the and schol. ad loc. For the practice of
religious character of the proceedings placing the statue of Dionysus in the
at the Dionysia are derived from De- theatre see Corp. Inscr. Att. ii. 470, 471.
mosth. Meid. §§ 8-10, 16, 51-53, 55, Most of the front seats were given up to
58-60, 178-180. As to the release of priests : see Corp. Inscr. Att. iii. 240-384;
prisoners see Demosth. Androt. § 68, Hesych. v. vefi-qaas Oias.
I.] THEIR FIRST INSTITUTION. 7
shape of a contest. The first rude innovations upon the
old hymns to Dionysus were mere tentative experiments by
individuals, exhibited upon their own responsibility. ThesjMS
has the credit of having introduced tragedy into Athens. At
first he was without a rival or competitor, and gave exhibitions
of the new form of art merely as a private enterprise. One of
these performances is said to have been witnessed by Solon.
As Solon died not later than 558 B.C., it follows that Thespis
must have begun to exhibit before that date \ The progress of
tragedy in popular favour was so rapid, that it was speedily
accepted as a regular form of entertainment, and public contests
were established even during the lifetime of Thespis. Aris-
tophanes says distinctly that Thespis ' competed * with his
tragedies. The Parian Marble puts the date of the first contest
in which Thespis took part, and for which the prize was a goat,
between the years 542 and 520 B.C. Suidas gives 535 as the
date of the first appearance of Thespis. He is doubtless
referring, not to his early exhibitions of the new form of art,
but to his first appearance in a regular public contest. If these
dates are to be relied upon, it follows that Thespis began his
innovations during the first half of the sixth century, and that
public competitions in tragedy were established early in the
second half^. Everything connected with the life and art of
Thespis is wrapped in great obscurity, and it is therefore uncer-
tain how far the above traditions can be accepted as true. But at
any rate there is no doubt that long before the end of the sixth
century contests in tragedy were flourishing in full vigour.
The names of three tragic poets, who lived in the generation
after Thespis, are recorded. These were Choerilus, Phrynichus,
and Pratinas. Choerilus is said to have first 'engaged in
contests' in the year 523. Phrynichus won the prize for
tragedy in 511. In 499 Aeschylus made his first public appear-
* Plut. Solon p. 95 B dpxoiJt.iva}V 5e tSjv Oiffiriv avrbv vvoicpivo/xevov k.t.X.
nepl ©eamv rjdi] TTjv Tpayq)diav KLveTv, Koi * Aristoph. Vesp. 1479; Marmor
5ia TTjv KaivoTTjTa tovj ttoXXovs dyovros Par. ep. 43 d^' ov ©icrins 6 iroiTjTTjs
Tov TTpayfiaTos, ov-noj b\ els dfxiWav ha- [e^dj/?;], irpa/ros 6s kSida^e [Sp]d[yua kv
ydiviov ^rjyfxevov, cpvau (piX-qKoos Sjv koX a\aT[ii, koI €'\T€9r] 6 [r^payos [d^Aor],
(pi\ofjt.adfjs 6 SoAcuj/ . . . (deaaaTO tov err] k.t,\. ; Suidas v. Qiams.
8 DRAMATIC CONTESTS AT ATHENS, [Ch.
ance. His competitors on this occasion were Choerilus and
Pratinas. By this time it is probable that the arrangements
for the tragic contests had been reduced to a regular system.
During the greater part of the fifth century the ordinary rule
was for three poets to take part in the competition, and for
each poet to exhibit three tragedies and one satyric drama,
making four plays in all. It is probable that this rule had
already been established when Aeschylus made his first appear-
ance in public. An arrangement of this kind would of course
be the growth of time, and during the earlier tragic contests
there was no doubt much irregularity in regard to the number
of poets competing, and the number of plays exhibited. For
instance, Pratinas is said to have brought out fifty plays, thirty-
two of which were satyric dramas. He cannot therefore have
been accustomed to exhibit three tragedies along with each
satyric drama. On the other hand the number of plays as-
cribed to Choerilus was one hundred and sixty. It follows
that during the greater part of his career he must have been
accustomed to exhibit as many as four plays annually, else
he could not have found occasions for producing so large
a number. Hence it is probable that by the time of Aeschylus
the system of tragic contests had already been reduced to
that shape which afterwards prevailed, and that each poet
was expected to produce four plays \
Comedy, as we learn from Aristotle, was much later than
-^tvT tragedy in being recognised by the state. For a long time it
was kept up by voluntary enterprise, and not much importance
was attached to it. The first Athenian comic poets of note
were Chionides and Magnes. Chionides began to exhibit in
487 B.C. It is hardly likely that the date of his first appearance
would have been preserved with such accuracy, if comedy had
still been merely a private undertaking, without any connexion
with the state. There seems therefore to be good ground for
assuming that the institution of public contests in comedy was
not later than 487 b.c.^ At any rate it cannot have been later
* Suidas vv, XoipiXos, ^pvvixos, TlpaTivas.
2 Aristot. Poet. cc. 3, 5 ; Suidas v. YuouvidTjs.
I.] THEIR FIRST INSTITUTION, 9
than 459 B.C. This is proved by an inscription which records
the names of the victors at the City Dionysia, and among them
gives the name of the victor in comedy. The exact year to
which the inscription refers is unknown, but at any rate it was
anterior to 458 b.c. It follows that 459 is the very latest date
to which the institution of public contests in comedy can be
assigned ^
Speaking roughly then the recognition of tragedy by the
state, and the institution of annual competitions, date from the
latter half of the sixth century. The similar recognition of
comedy dates from the first half of the fifth century. These
contests took place at the festivals of Dionysus. The Greek
drama was essentially an offshoot of the worship of Dionysus,
and throughout its history, as far as Athens was concerned, it
continued to retain its close connexion with that worship. In
other parts of Greece, when the drama had been fully estab-
lished as a form of art, dramatic exhibitions were occasionally
introduced ~ into festivals with which originally they had no
connexion. Thus they were introduced in later times into the
Pythian games. But the Athenians were more conservative,
and confined the drama to the festivals of Dionysus^. In
Athens there were three of these festivals, the Anthesteria, the
Great or City Dionysia, and the Lenaea. There were also the
Rural Dionysia, celebrated in the various demes of Attica. Of
the Athenian festivals the Anthesteria was the oldest ^ But
it had little, if any, connexion with the drama. The important
festivals in the history of Greek drama were the City Dionysia
and the Lenaea. They were themselves of late origin, and
^ The inscription in Corp, Inscr. Att. ^ Schol. Aristoph. Nub. 311; Plut.
ii. 971 a records the fact that at the Symp. p, 674 D.
City Dionysia Magnes won the prize for ^ Thucyd. ii. 15 calls the Anthesteria
comedy, Aeschylus for tragedy. There the dpxaiorepa Aiovvaia, as opposed to
is another inscription (given in the 'E(})r]fx. the City Dionysia. That the Lenaea was
'ApxaioX. 1886, pt. 4) which records that a later institution than the Anthesteria
in 458 B.C. Euphronius won the prize for seems to follow from the statement in
comedy, Aeschylus for tragedy. As this Suidas v. rd etc rwv d/xa^aiv aKojixfiara'
was the last appearance of Aeschylus as 'A9r]vr}(n ydp kv rf) tSjv Xowv eoprrj ol Kcti-
a tragic poet, it follows that the first p.di^ovT(s kvl tSjv dp,a^wv tovs aTravTwvTas
inscription cannot refer to a later year eaKoovTov re /ml €\oiS6povv rb 8' avrb
than 459 B.C. KoX rois Arjvaiois varepov k-noiovv.
lO DRAMATIC CONTESTS AT ATHENS. [Ch.
therefore offered a more suitable occasion for the introduction
of a new form of art. The date of their institution and de-
velopment is wrapt in obscurity. Various theories have been
started as to their early history, but in the absence of definite
facts it seems hardly worth while to hazard conjectures on such
a subject. All that is required in an account of the Greek
drama is to describe as fully as possible the character of these
festivals during the fifth and succeeding centuries, and thus
enable the reader to picture to himself the circumstances and
surroundings which accompanied an Athenian theatrical per-
formance.
§ 3. The City Dionysia.
By far the most splendid of the festivals of Dionysus was
the Great or City Dionysia \ It was called the City Dionysia
in opposition to the Lenaea. The signific ance of the names
is not perfectly clear. The Lenaea was so called because it
was held in the Lenaeum, or sacred enclosure of Dionysus on
the south side of the Acropolis. The contests at this festival
were called 'contests at the Lenaeum.* On the other hand,
contests at the Great Dionysia were called 'contests in the city.*
But as the Lenaeum was from the earliest times a part of the city,
it is difficult to see the reason of the distinction '^. And besides
this, the contests at the Great Dionysia were, during all the
period with which we are acquainted, held in the very same
place as those at the Lenaea. The most plausible explanation
is as follows. The Lenaea was a small festival ; and the whole
of the celebrations connected with it took place in or near the
Lenaeum. At the Great Dionysia the festivities were on a larger
' Atoi/yo'taTa/x€7(i\aCorp.Inscr.Attii. Plut. X orat. 839 D. A victory at the
3i2,33i,Atoi/u(rtaTd€j/acrTetCorp.Inscr. City Dionysia was vikti aaTiid} Diog.
Att. ii. 341, 402, 404, ^lovvaia ra aoriKo. Laert. viii. 90.
Thucyd. v. 20. To produce plays at the ^ Aristoph. Acharn. 504 oxjttI Arjvaiqi
City Dionysia was iv darei diSdaKciv r a-^wv. That the Lenaeum was from
Schol. Aristoph. Ran.67,or cisd'cTytfa^t- early times inside the city is plain from
tVai Arg. ii. Aristoph. Aves. The play or Thucyd. ii. 15.
plays so produced were di5a<TKa\ia daTiKrj
I.] THE CITY DIONYSIA, II
scale ; and in addition to the contests in the sacred enclosure
of Dionysus there were also other ceremonies in various parts
of the city, more especially the chorus in the market-place before
the statues of the twelve gods. It is probable therefore that
the festival was called the City Dionysia to denote the wider
area over which the various celebrations were spread. The
date of the City Dionysia can be fixed with a fair amount
of certainty. It took place 2P_Elaphebolion, a month which
answers to the last half of March and the first half of April. It
must have terminated on the 15th, and begun on the loth or
iith\ It could hardly have lasted less than five days. The
long series of performances and celebrations which had to be
gone through could not have been packed into a smaller space
of time. Whether it extended to six days is a point that cannot
be determined.
Before proceeding to describe the dramatic part of the per-
formances at the City Dionysia it may be as well first of all to
collect together such information as is attainable concerning
the g^eneral character of the festival. It was held at a time
of year when the spring was just commencing, and the sea had
again become navigable. Occasionally stormy weather inter-
fered with the proceedings. In the time of Demetrius the
procession through the city was prevented by a heavy fall of
snow. But the winter was generally at an end ^ The city was
full of visitors from all parts of Greece. During the period of
Athenian supremacy it was at this season of the year that the
allies came to Athens to pay the annual tribute. Ambassadors
frequently chose this time for the transaction of public business.
There were also the crowds of visitors who were attracted
^ This is proved by certain passages § 8. The feast of Asclepius and the
in Aeschines and Demosthenes. After Proagon were on the 8th, Aeschin.
the City Dionysia came the Pandia; Ctesiph. § 67. But the Proagon took
next day was the l/f«A77(Tta li/ Atovvcoi; ; place 'a few days* before the City
then followed the i8th of Elaphebolion, Dionysia, Schol. Aeschin. Ctesiph. § 67.
the day of the first assembly mentioned The City Dionysia cannot therefore
by Aeschines and Demosthenes. Hence have begun before the loth.
the City Dionysia must have termin- ^ Theophrast. Char. 3 j Plut. Demetr.
atedon the 15th. See Aeschin. Ctesiph. p. 894 B.
§ 68, Fals. Leg. § 6i ; Demosth. Meid.
12 DRAMATIC CONTESTS AT ATHENS. [Ch.
to Athens merely from a desire to see the splendours of the
festival. The consequence was that the streets were thronged
with strangers, and the city presented an animated appear-
ance in marked contrast to the quietness of the winter festival
of the Lenaea\ The Athenians were glad of the opportunity
of displaying the magnificence of their city before such a vast
concourse of foreign Greeks. The procession through the
streets, the sacrifices to the gods, the dithyrambs, the tragedies,
and the comedies were all calculated to impress strangers with
the wealth and public spirit and literary taste of the Athenians.
In addition to the ordinary proceedings of the festival one or
two ceremonies of a striking character were introduced for the
express purpose of emphasising the power of Athens in the eyes
of the visitors. At the commencement of the performances
in the theatre the tribute collected from the allies was solemnly
deposited in the orchestra in the presence of the assembled
multitude. On the same occasion the herald made an announce-
ment concerning the crowns which had been bestowed by foreign
states upon Athens or upon Athenian citizens, and the crowns
themselves were brought forward and laid in the orchestra
beside the tribute I By scenes of this kind the festival was
made an occasion for glorifying Athens in the presence of
foreign Greeks. In the fourth century, after the fall of the
Athenian Empire, the political splendour of the City Dionysia
came to an end. But the magnificence of the spectacle and
the vastness of the gathering do not seem to have been in
any way diminished. Visitors were attracted from all parts
of Greece, not by political business, but by the celebrity of
the dramatic exhibitions. Demosthenes speaks of the 'multi-
tudes of strangers ' who were present, and Aeschines describes
the audience at the City Dionysia as consisting of 'the whole
Greek nation ^' Though Athens was shorn of her pohtical
power, the crowds which continued to attend the festival
testified to her unimpaired supremacy in art and literature.
^ Aristoph. Achar. 505, 506 ; Thucyd. Ctesiph. §§ 32-48.
V. 23. 3 Ugi^^ yitxdi. § 74 ; Aeschin. Ctesiph.
2 Isocrat. Orat. viii. § 82 ; Aeschin. § 43.
I.] THE CITY DIONYSIA. 13
One of the most brilliant spectacles at the City Dionysia was
the great procession Jnhonour of Dionysus^ which was probably
held upon the first day of the festival. Athenians of every
class, men, women, and even girls, made a point of being
present to witness or take part in it. Vast crowds filled the
streets ; and the casual encounters which took place on these
occasions often served as a foundation to the plots of the New
Comedy \ The members of the procession wore brilliantly-
coloured garments and ornaments of gold. Many of-them had
their faces covered with masks. Some were in chariots ;
others walked on foot. Among the people who took part in
the procession were the choregi to the different choruses. For
instance, when Demosthenes was choregus, he had a golden
crown and mantle made specially for use at the procession.
Alcibiades on a similar occasion was dressed in purple, and
excited much admiration by his beauty ^ It is not improbable
that the performers in the various lyric and dramatic com-
petitions also joined in the procession. Part of the show
consisted of the trains of victims which were afterwards to be
sacrificed to Dionysus. An old inscription records how the
Ephebi offered a bull to Dionysus at the City Dionysia, after
first taking it round in the procession. Many victims were
publicly provided by the state, and many others were doubtless
offered by individuals, or by different classes of the population.
All these would be conducted round in the procession. Con-
spicuous among the train of people were the canephori, or
virgins bearing upon their heads the baskets containing the
sacrificial implements. The procession, in the course of its
march, halted in the market-place, and a chorus danced and
sung in front of the statues of the twelve gods ^ Further details
concerning the order of the proceedings are nowhere recorded,
but it is easy to imagine that the brilliant colours of the pro-
cession itself, the vast crowds of spectators, and the splendid
^ Demosth. Meid. § 10; Menand. ^ 'Ecfirjfxepls 'ApxaioXoyiK^i, i860, No.
Frag. Incert. 32. 4098, 1862, No. 180; Corp. Inscr. Gr.
2 Dem. Meid. § 22 ; Plut. Cupid. i. 157 ; Xen. Hipparch. iii. 2.
Divit. 527 E; Athen. 543 C.
14 DRAMATIC CONTESTS AT ATHENS. [Ch.
public buildings of Athens in the background, combined to form
an effective spectacle.
The entertainments provided in the theatre during the City
Dionysia were of two kinds. In the first place there were the
dramatic competitions, at which tragedies, comedies, and satyric
dramas were exhibited. In the second place there were the
choral competitions, which consisted of performances of dithy-
rambs to the accompaniment of the flute. It is most important
not to confuse together the details of these two classes of
contest. Even in the most recent works upon the Greek drama
many mistakes have been caused by filling out the description
of the dramatic performances with facts and circumstances
which had really nothing to do with them, but applied solely to
the choral competitions. At the City Dionysia there were two
of these choral competitions, one between choruses of boys, and
the other between choruses of men \ The choruses were called
cyclic choruses, because of the circular form in which they
stood. Each of them was composed of fifty members. There
were five choruses of boys and five choruses of men, and each
chorus was supplied by one of the ten tribes of Attica. In this
way all ten tribes took part in one or other of the two com-
petitions^. The important point to remember in regard to
^ Demosth. Meid. § lo koX rois kv [KariaTr^aav] Kara (pvX^v niVT-qKovra
aarei Aiovvoiois rj TroyLin] koL ol vaiSes iraiSoJu x^pov fj avSpcuv, ware yeueaOai
[«ai oi dVSpes] /cal 6 KU/fios Kal ol koj/xcvSoI Sena xopovs, kireidri (Se) Kal 8e«a cpvXai.
Kol ol TpaywSoi. The words koI ol dvbpfs Siayoovt^ovTai Se dWT}\ois SiOypdn^co,
have obviously fallen out. There is (pyXarrovTos (MS. (l)v\dTTovTes)Tovxop'r]-
abundant evidence to prove that there yovvros iKaora) xppwv rd ktriTqdiia. 6 S'
were chorusesof men, as wellas of boys, oZv viK-fjaas x^P^? Tpinoda Xafx^dvei, bv
at the City Dionysia. Corp. Inscr. Gr. dvariOr^ai tw Aiovvao). Xiyovrai h\ ol
213 contains a list of all members of diOvpajx^oi x^pot kvkXioi, koi x^P^^
the tribe Pandionis who had been vie- kukXios. A chorus of men is called
torious iTcuaiv rj dvdpdcriv at the City rather loosely avXT)ral dv8p€s by Demo-
Dionysia. On the lists of victors at the sthenes (Meid. § 156), not because it
City Dionysia (Corp. Inscr. Att. ii. 971 consisted of flute-players, but because it
a-e) the contests enumerated are always sang dithyrambs to the accompaniment
the same, viz. choruses of boys, choruses of the flute. This is made clear by other
of men, comedy, tragedy. Cp. Lysias passages in the speech, e.g. §§ 15, 17.
Orat. xxi. § 2 dvSpdcxi xopr)ya)v ds Ato- See Wieseler das Satyrspiel pp. 46-48.
vvaia. Misled by the phrase the author of the
^ There is a full account of the first argument to the Meid ias erroneously
chjpruses of boys and men in Schol. asserts that there were avXrjru/v x^'P"' ^^
Aeschin. Tijinarch. § 1 1 If 'iOovs 'AOijvaioi the City Dionysia.
I.] TRAGEDY AT THE CITY DIONYSIA. 15
these dithyrambic choruses is that the contest in which they
were engaged was essentially a tribaL one. In the dramatic
competitions the rivalry was confined to the individual poets and
choregi. The choruses were selected indiscriminately from the
whole population. But each dithyrambic chorus represented
one of the ten tribes. Its choregus was a member of that tribe.
The singers were exclusively chosen from the same tribe ^. The
victory of the chorus was a victory for the tribe to which it
belonged. The prize of victory, the tripod, though presented
to the choregus, and erected in some public place at his expense,
was regarded as appertaining equally to the tribe ^ In the
records of victories with dithyrambic choruses, preserved on
inscriptions and elsewhere, the name of the tribe to which the
chorus belonged is always given in a prominent position. On
the other hand the records of dramatic victories give merely
the names of the choregus, the poet, and the principal actor.
There is no mention of any tribe ^ It follows that the tribes
had nothing to do with the dramatic contests. In order to
avoid error it is most important to keep this fact clearly in view,
that in the dithyrambic contests the competitors were really the
ten tribes of Attica, while the drama was a matter with which
only individual citizens were concerned.
§ 4. Tragedy at the City Dionysia in the fifth century.
We come now to the dramatic performances at the City
Dionysia. These were of two kinds, tragic and comic. The
^ Demosth. Meid. § 13; Antiphon to be choregus to one's tribe is con-
orat. vi. §§ 12, 13. trasted with being choregus to a tragic
2 Lysias orat. xxi. § 2 ; Demosth. chorus. Bentley's emendation (Phalaris
Meid. § 5 rris (pvXfjs dS'iKOJS dfaipe- p. 360 t^ fxev (pvXrj ets Aiovvaia x^PV'
Be'KTtjs Tov TpiiToSa. The choregus to yqaas rfrapros iyivcTO rpaywdois, nal
a dithyrambic chorus was said x^PV' iruppixLOTois varaTos) is quite unneces-
yetv rri (pv\TJ, since he represented his sary, and contains the fatal error of
tribe in the contest, while the dramatic making Dicaeogenes/(?wr//^ in the tragic
choregus represented no one but him- contest, though the number of com-
self; cp. Plut. X orat. 835 B ex°PV- petitors in tragedy never exceeded three.
yrjae kvkXiw x^PV "^V o.vtov (pvXrj dy<u- ^ Corp. Inscr. Gr. vol. i. pp. 342-348 ;
viCofievrj Si9vpaiJt.l3a>: Isaeus orat. v. § 36 Corp. Inscr. Att. ii. 971. Cp. the record
oItos yap rfj /xev ({>v\y (is Aiovvaia x^PV' of victors at the City Dionysia quoted
yrjaas Terapros kyiv^ro, rpaywSois Si real on p. 59.
irvppixiOTTais varaTos. In this passage
l6 DRAMATIC CONTESTS AT ATHENS. [Ch.
first point to be considered is the number of the competing
poets, and the number of the plays produced, at each celebration
of the festival. The most difficult part of the enquiry is that
which concerns tragedy during the fifth century. In the fourth
century various changes and innovations were introduced, which
call for separate consideration. The fifth century stands by
itself, and the question as to the number of tragedies produced
during that period at each celebration of the City Dionysia is
one of considerable intricacy. But it deserves to be considered
in detail, as it is of much more interest than a mere question of
numbers, and practically involves the whole subject of trilogies
and tetralogies. The practice of writing plays in trilogies and
tetralogies produced the most profound effect upon the art of
Aeschylus. Any enquiry therefore into the origin and character
of this practice will throw light upon one of the most interesting
parts in the history of the Greek drama. It will be best in the
first place to enumerate all the records which bear upon the
subject. Fortunately a sufficient number have been preserved to
enable us to determine with moderate certainty the regulations
as to the number of tragic poets and tragedies at the City
Dionysia during the fifth century.
The earliest,^ record is for the year 499 b. c, when Aeschylus
made his first public appearance, and his competitors were
Choerilus and Pratinas. Nothing is known as to the plays
produced on this occasion \ The next record refers to the
year 472. In this year Aeschylus produced the Phineus,
Persae, Glaucus, and Prometheus, and was successful in
winning the first prize. The Prometheus here mentioned
was of course not the Prometheus Vinctus, but a satyric play
in which the same myth was treated humorously, and of
which two or three fragments are preserved ^. For the year 467
there is a very complete record of the tragic competition.
Aeschylus was again first, and his plays were the Laius,
Oedipus, Septem versus Thebas, and satyric play Sphinx.
Aristias was second with the Perseus, Tantalus, and satyric
play Palaestae written by his father Pratinas. Polyphradmon
^ Suidas V. Upar'ivas. 2 ^yg^ j-q Aesch. Persae.
I.] TRAGEDY AT THE CITY DIONYSIA. 17
was third with the Lycurgean tetralogy \ According to this
notice Aristias only exhibited three plays, while his competitors
each exhibited four. But there can be little doubt that the name
of one of his plays has dropped out accidentally, and that he
produced four like the rest. This is proved by a comparison
with the records of other tragic contests, of which a large
number exist, referring to very different periods. In these
records varieties are found both in the number of poets com-
peting, and in the number of plays exhibited by each poet.
But in one respect complete uniformity prevails. With the
exception of the case before us there is no instance of poets
competing in the same festival with a different number of
plays. There can hardly then be any doubt that in the
present instance the three poets each exhibited four plays.
The next record is for the year 458. This was the year in
which Aeschylus made his last appearance as a dramatic poet.
He produced the Orestean tetralogy, consisting of the Aga-
memnon, Choephori, Eumenides, and satyric drama Proteus.
The names of the other poets are not mentioned ^ In addition
to the above notices it is also known that on one occasion
Aeschylus competed with the four plays composing his Lycur-
gean tetralogy. The tetralogy dealt with the fate of Lycurgus,
king of the Edoni, and consisted of the Edoni, Bassarides,
Neanisci, and satyric play Lycurgus. On another occasion
he exhibited a trilogy dealing with the legend of Prometheus.
This trilogy, of which the Prometheus Vinctus was the central
play, no doubt concluded with a satyric drama ; but there
is no record of it among ancient writers ^ After the death
of Aeschylus there is a gap in our information till the year 438,
when Sophocles and Euripides were competitors. Sophocles
was first; Euripides second with the Cressae, Alcmaeon in
Psophis, Telephus, and Alcestis. In 431 they were again com-
petitors, but this time the first place was taken by Euphorion.
Sophocles was second ; Euripides third with the Medea,
^ Arg. to Aesch. Theb. to Aesch. Prom. ; Schol. Aesch. Prom.
^ Arg. to Aesch. Agam. 94.
* Schol. Aristoph. Thesm. 142 ; Arg.
C
1 8 DRAMATIC CONTESTS AT ATHENS, [Ch.
Philoctetes, Dictys, and satyric play Theristae. In 428 the
Hippolytus of Euripides was produced ; but for this year only
the names of the poets have been preserved. Euripides was
first, lophon second, Ion third \ The year 415 was memorable
for the defeat of Euripides by an obscure poet called Xenocles.
On this occasion Xenocles was first with the Oedipus, Lycaon,
Bacchae, and satyric play Athamas. Euripides was second
with the Alexander, Palamedes, Troades, and satyric play
Sisyphus. The only other record which bears upon the pre-
sent subject is to the effect that after the death of Euripides,
and therefore after 406 b.c, his Iphigeneia in Aulis, Alcmaeon,
and Bacchae were produced by his son at the City Dionysia I
In the above notices and records the name of the festival
at which the contest took place, and the plays were produced,
is usually not mentioned. An exception is made in one case.
It is expressly stated that it was at the City Dionysia that the
three posthumous tragedies of Euripides were exhibited. Other-
wise nothing is said about the festival. But there is not the
slightest doubt that all the above notices refer to the City Dio-
nysia. In one instance there is positive proof of the fact. An
inscription recently discovered in the Acropolis shows that it was
at the City Dionysia that the Orestean tetralogy was produced ^
Various considerations make it practically certain that the
other notices refer to the same festival. At the Lenaea the
performances of tragedy were always comparatively unim-
portant. It is doubtful whether they existed at all during the
earlier half of the fifth century. In the fourth century they
^ Args. to Euripid. Alcest., Med., iSiSac/ffi/. The combination of four
Hippol. kinds of contests, with boys' choruses,
^ Aelian Var. Hist. ii. 8; Schol. choruses ofmen,comedies,and tragedies,
Aristoph. Ran. 6'j. proves that the festival was the City
^ This inscription was discovered in Dionysia. That the plays exhibited on
the Acropolis in 1886, and published in this occasion by Aeschylus were the
the 'E077^6pts 'Apxc'0^07'^'7 for 1886, pt. Orestean tetralogy is proved by the
4. It runs as follows: 'Yarl ^iKok\€ovs Arg. to the Agamemnon: kdiSdxOrj to
Olvrjh iraiScov, | ArjfxoSoKOS kxopri'^n' \ Spafxa ewl apxovros <^ikoK\4ovs oXvfjLTridSi
'Imro9a}VTlsa.v5pS>v,\'EvKTTjfj.0Jv''E\evaivios dySoijKoar^ erei devrtpof. trpojTos Alaxv-
kxop'qyd' I KQjjxwhoJv EvpvK\d5r]s ^X'^P'h' ^^s 'Ayafxefivovt, Xor)(p6pois, 'Evfievici,
yei, I 'EvcppovLos ISiSatrArf | rpayqidvbv UpcoreT aarvpiKo), kxoprjyei B^voKKfjs
BevoK\TJs*A(pi5vaiosix^PVy^h I A.laxv\os 'A(pi5vevs.
I.] TRAGEDY AT THE CITY DIONYSIA, 19
came to be confined to mere reproductions of old tragedies.
It is impossible to suppose that the three great masters of
tragedy,— Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, — during the
height of their reputation, produced their plays at this rela-
tively insignificant festival. The omission of all mention of the
festival in the notices about their tragedies is in itself a con-
clusive proof that there could be no doubt upon the subject,
and that it was a matter of general knowledge that they were
brought out at the City Dionysia. The case was very different
in comedy. Come dy flourished with equal vigour at both
festivals. Hence in the records about the plays of Aristophanes
care is generally taken to notify the festival at which they
were produced. In the case of tragedy it was felt that any such
specification was unnecessary.
From the notices and records enumerated above two con-
clusions may be drawn concerning the tragic contests at the
City Dionysia during the fifth century. The numb er _of
poets who took part in the competition was limited to three,
and each poet was expected to exhibit four plays, consist-
ing of three tragedies and a satyric drama. As regards the
number of poets, it might perhaps be suggested that the
records give, not the names of all the competitors, but merely
those of the three most successful ones. But the evidence
of the comic didascaliae proves that this was not the case.
It is known for a fact that after the beginning of the fourth
century the number of competitors in comedy was five. But
the comic didascaliae of the period invariably give the names
of all five competitors, together with the plays they produced \
When therefore only three poets are mentioned, it follows
that the number of competitors was limited to three. The
practice of recording the names of all the competing
poets need cause no surprise. As a matter of fact it was a
considerable distinction for a poet to be allow^ed to exhibit
at all at one of the annual festivals. In addition to the
^ Arg. to Aristoph. Plutus hdihaxOr] lirl fievovs Se 'ASfi-qro!, Nt/co^cuvTOS Se 'ASw-
dpxovTos 'AvTiTrcLTpov, dvTaycovi^ofj.€vov vi5i, 'A\Kaiov 8e TlaffKpd'p. Corp. Inscr.
avT^ 'NiKoxapovs filv Adfcuaiv, ^Apiffro- Att. ii. 972, 975.
C 2
20 DRAMATIC CONTESTS AT ATHENS. [Ch.
testimony of the didascaliae there is the following direct
evidence concerning the number of the tragic poets. It is
expressly stated that in 499 the competitors in the tragic
contest were the three poets Aeschylus, Choerilus, and Pra-
tinas. Then again it is recorded of Sophocles that he 'won
twenty victories, was often second, never third.* This form
of statement seems clearly to imply that the number of com-
petitors in tragedy never exceeded three \ Even on general
grounds it is evident that the number could hardly have been
greater. If there had been four or five poets, it would have
implied the production of sixteen or twenty tragedies. But
it is difficult to see how such a large number of tragedies
could have been compressed within the limited period of the
festival, along with the comedies and dithyrambs, and various
other festivities and entertainments.
The fact then that each poet exhibited three tragedies and a
satyric play is clearly demonstrated by the records, and also
confirmed by a statement in Diogenes Laertius ^ The practice of
terminating the tragic pieces with the boisterous licence of the
satyric drama suggested to Ion of Chios, the tragic poet of the
fifth century, his well-known remark that virtue, like a tragic
poet's group of plays, should always contain a satyric element ^
It is noticeable that on one occasion Euripides substituted the
Alcestis, a short tragedy with a tinge of comedy about it, for the
usual satyric drama. This may have been not infrequently the
case, especially during the latter half of the fifth century. The
^ Suidas V. Tiparivas ; vita Sophoclis oTov ckhvoi . . . TerpaXoyia is apparently
(p. 3 Dindf.). an explanatory interpolation by Dioge-
* Diog. Laert. iii. 56 GpaavWos 54 nes himself. The statement that the
<pT](n Kot Kara Tr)v TpayiK^v TerpaXoyiav four plays of a tetralogy were per-
kKdovvat avTov rovs SiaXoyovs' olov formed at four different festivals is
kKfivoi Terpacri Spafiacriv •^ycuvi^ovTo, manifestly absurd in itself, and abund-
Aiovvffiois, hrjvaiois, IlavaOrjvaioLS , Xv- antly disproved by the inscriptions.
Tpois, S)v TO TiTaprov rjv aarvpiKov ra Moreover, it is expressly recorded that
Sf T€TTapa hpajxara eKaKcTro TerpaXoyia. the Iphigeneia in Aulis, Alcmaeon, and
fieri Toivvv, (prjaiv, ot vavT^s avrZ yv-qaioi Bacchae of Euripides were brought out
hiaXoyoi, K.T.X. Thrasyllus was a phi- together at the City Dionysia (Schol.
losopher who flourished in the time of Aristoph. Ran. 67).
the emperor Tiberius. The passage ^ See note on next page.
^
I.] TRILOGIES AND TETRALOGIES, ai
statement in the last notice, that the Iphigeneia, Alcmaeon, and
Bacchae of Euripides were brought out by his son at the City
Dionysia, does not necessarily imply that they were brought
out by themselves, without any satyric play to make up the
number four. It is possible indeed that at this late period the
satyric play had begun to be occasionally dispensed with. But
on the other hand it is very likely that the satyric play in this
case was supplied by the younger Euripides. That no mention
of it is made in the above statement is easily intelligible, since
the writer does not profess to give a record of the tragic
contest for the year, but is merely concerned with the
biography of the elder Euripides.
§ 5. Trilogies and Tetralogies*
The four plays exhibited by each poet might either be inde-
pendent works of art, totally unconnected in subject, or they
might deal with the same legend, and be fused together into a
single artistic whole. When the four plays were connected by
community of subject, they were called tetralogies. Similarly
the three tragedies, regarded apart from the satyric drama,
were called trilogies when connected together in this manner \
The practice of exhibiting trilogies and tetralogies is insepar-
^ The general word for a play or rov Spapia vpbs Spd/xa dyon'l^fcrOai, dWd
group of plays produced by one poet at firj TerpaXoyiav. These words can only
the same festival was 8ida<TKa\ia. Thus mean that Sophocles exhibited the same
Ion remarked (Plut. Peric. p. 154 E) that number of plays as his rivals, but that
virtue, like a rpayiK^ di5aaKa\ia, should his plays did not form a tetralogy, that
contain a satyric element. The rpayiKri is to say, were not connected together
diSaffKoXia in Ion's time usually con- by unity of subject. Another proof is
sisted of three tragedies and a satyric afforded by the use of the word nrpa-
drama. Cp. also Anthol. Pal. vii. 37 Koyia in Greek writers. There are four
97 S' kvl x^P^^i-^ Kovpifjios, Ik ttoitjs i]5e places in which it is applied to particu-
diSaaKaXiijs : Plut. X orat, 839 D lar groups of plays. It is applied to
diSaaKaXias dcrriKas KaOrJKev t^ . . . Kal the Oresteia of Aeschylus (Schol. Aris-
iripas 5vo ATjva'iKas. The word rerpa- toph. Ran. 1155), the Pandionis of
\oyia was not applied to all groups of Philocles (Schol, Aristoph. Av. 282),
four plays, but only to those groups in theLycurgeia of Aeschylus (Schol. Aris-
which the separate plays were connected toph. Thesm. 135), and the Lycurgeia
together by unity of subject. This is of Polyphradmon(Arg.toAesch.Theb.).
proved by the words of Suidas in his All these were groups of plays upon a
account of Sophocles : Kal avrbs ^p^€ single subject.
21 DRAMATIC CONTESTS AT ATHENS. [Ch.
ably connected with the name of Aeschylus. Unfortunately
there is no information as to the origin and development of the
custom. It is not known whether he invented it, or inherited it
from his predecessors. But we know that before the time of
Aeschylus tragedy as a form of art had made but little progress.
It was he that inspired it with dignity and splendour. It is far
from likely that the rough and unfinished productions of his
predecessors should have been cast an the elaborate mould of
the tetralogy. And the largeness of design involved in tracing
the same tragic story through three successive dramas is a con-
ception peculiarly akin to the grandeur of Aeschylus* genius.
Hence it is exceedingly probable, though not certain, that the
system was his invention. He did not employ it on all occa-
sions. In one of the records quoted above the four plays which
he is said to have exhibited together are apparently quite un-
connected in subject. These are the Phineus, Persae, Glaucus,
and Prometheus, produced in 472. As a matter of fact the
only tetralogies of Aeschylus for which there is direct evidence
are the four already mentioned, dealing with the legends of
Oedipus, Lycurgus, Prometheus, and Orestes. How many
more he wrote is a matter of uncertainty. If the system of
tetralogies was invented by him, it could hardly have been de-
veloped in its full completeness all at once. It is probable
that he began his career by exhibiting groups of isolated
plays. Even in later times the record just referred to
proves that he did not invariably employ the form of the
tetralogy.
Fortunately for our knowledge of the Greek drama, a spe-
cimen of the Aeschylean trilogy has been preserved in the
Oresteia. This was the latest work of its author, and in it
the trilogic form of composition is brought to the highest per-
fection. A great crime is committed, and its consequences are
traced through successive plays, until finally tKe guilt is ex-
piated, and the ministers of vengeance satisfied. The whole
forms a magnificent work of art ; and the separate plays, though
complete in themselves, gain additional significance and impres-
siveness from their position in the trilogy. The general effect
I.] TRILOGIES AND TETRALOGIES. 23
can be appreciated even by a modern reader, but must have
been still more striking to an ancient audience, before whom
the three plays were performed in succession in the course of
the same morning. But it would be a mistake to suppose that
all the trilogies of Aeschylus were equally perfect in construc-
tion. Probably in some cases they treated of one subject
without possessing much real artistic unity. The three plays,
while depicting successive stages in some great national legend,
may have been strung together after the fashion of a chronicle
or history, rather than welded into one compact whole.
This seems to have been to some extent the case with the
Oedipodeia. The third play of this trilogy, the Seven against
Thebes, certainly did not bring the legend to a conclusion in
the same artistic and satisfying manner in which the Oresteia is
concluded by the Eumenides. The final scene of the Seven
against Thebes is like the prelude to a new play. In this scene
Antigone proclaims her resolve to bury the corpse of her
brother in spite of Creon's prohibition, and the herald warns
her of the risk she will incur by setting the authorities at de-
fiance ^^ Here then is an instance of a trilogy which breaks off
in the middle of a legend, at a point where there is no artistic
necessity for it to do so. The concluding play of the three,
instead of bringing matters to a final settlement, ends with a
suggestion of future difficulties and crimes. A trilogy of this
kind resembles the poems of the Epic Cycle, in which legends
were linked together in chronological order, and the point at
which the story began and ended was determined by purely
accidental considerations. Other trilogies of Aeschylus may
1 The didascalia to the Septem v. of the three, in which the same subject
Thebas was first brought to light by was treated as in the Antigone of Sopho-
Franz in 1848 (Didasc. zu Aesch. Sept., cles. The publication of the didascalia
Berl. 1848). Previously to the discovery revealed the fact that the Septem was
of this didascalia there was hardly any after all the concluding play of the
point upon which the critics were more group, and that the trilogy consisted of
unanimous than that the Septem must the Laius, the Oedipus, and the Septem.
have been the middle play of a trilogy. Nothing could have more clearly
The concluding scene, in which Anti- demonstrated the futility of endeavour-
gone proclaims her resolve to bury the ing, by mere conjecture, to arrange the
corpse of her brother, was supposed to lost plays of Aeschylus in tetralogies,
obviously pave the way to the final play
24 DRAMATIC CONTESTS AT ATHENS. [Ch.
have approximated to the same type. At any rate it is most un-
likely that they were all as perfect and harmonious in construc-
tion as the Oresteia. Attempts have been made, especially by
Hermann and Welcker, to take the titles of the lost plays of
Aeschylus, and group them together into tetralogies. But it
is clear that conjectural arrangements of this kind must
be received with the very greatest caution, and this for
two reasons. In the first place it is uncertain how many
of the tetralogies of Aeschylus conformed to the perfect model
of the Oresteia. In the second place it is -probable that a
large number of his plays were not composed in tetralogies
at all.
The relation of the satyric play to the three tragedies which
preceded it is a question of some importance in connexion with
the composition of tetralogies. The usual theory seems to have
been that the satyric play should deal with the same subject as
the trilogy, but from a humorous point of view ; and that some
of the personages out of the trilogy should appear in it. The
king or hero whose sufferings had already been depicted was
now to be exhibited in a different aspect, amid the wij^ sur-
roundings of a satyr's existence* It was necessary to give
a certain tinge of poetry and romance to the composition,
and not jar the feelings with a sense of incongruity, by intro-
ducing the tragic personage into scenes of ordinary comedy.
This is well expressed in the lines of Horace : — •
Verum ita risores, ita commendare dicaces
Conveniet Satyros, ita vertere seria ludo,
Ne quicumque deus, quicumque adhibebitur heros,
Regali conspectus in auro nuper et ostro,
Migret in obscuras humili sermone tabernas,
Aut dum vitet humum nubes et inania captet^.
The satyric plays of Aeschylus seem, when they formed part of
a tetralogy, to have been of this type. The Oedipodeia con-
cluded with the Sphinx, the Lycurgeia with the Lycurgus. In
both these plays some of the personages out of the preceding
trilogy must have appeared. The Oresteia is called a tetralogy,
^ Hor. Ars Poet. 225 foil.
I.] TRILOGIES AND TETRALOGIES, 25
and therefore the Proteus, the satyric play with which it con-
cluded, was probably connected with the other three plays in
subject. But in the absence of information it is impossible to
say what that connexion was, and what personages took the
leading part in the play. Curiously enough the satyric play
Prometheus did not conclude the Promethean trilogy, as we
should have expected, but was performed along with the
Persae, and two other independent plays. The practice of
terminating a trilogy with a satyric play upon the same subject
may seem questionable to modern taste, and can hardly be
defended on artistic grounds. Like many other customs of
the Greek drama, it was an accident due to the circumstances
in which tragedy originated. Tragedy was developed out of
the odes to Dionysus sung by choruses of satyrs ; and as it
departed more and more from its original character, a regard for
antiquity required that the satyric element should be retained in
some form or another. Hence the practice of concluding every
tragic performance with a satyric play of the old-fashioned
type.
Sopho cles is said to have been the first to aban don, the
system of writing plays in tetralogies ^ Each of his dramas
formed an independent work of art. It appears to be implied
that before his time the practice of writing tetralogies had
been very generally adopted ; and it is only natural to suppose
that the commanding genius of Aeschylus would cause his ex-
ample to be widely followed. But the fashion set by Sophocles
was adopted by the younger poets. In 467, the very next
year after the first tragic victory of Sophocles, when Aeschylus
produced his Theban tetralogy, and Polyphradmon his Lycur-
geia, the third poet Aristias appears to have exhibited a group
of independent plays ^. After the death of Aeschylus the prac-
tice of composing tetralogies rapidly went into disuse. The
records show that Euripides abandoned the system. In
fact, during the latter half of the fifth century only three
tetralogies are mentioned. A Pandionis was written by
Philocles, the nephew of Aeschylus, who naturally continued
^ Suidas V. So^o/tA^s. "^ Arg. to Aeschyl. Theb.
26 DRAMATIC CONTESTS AT ATHENS, [Ch.
the traditions of the Aeschylean system. An Oedipodeia,
apparently a tetralogy, was composed by Meletus, the prose-
cutor of Socrates. Plato is said to have written a tetralogy
in his youth, but to have abandoned poetry for philosophy
before it was exhibited. In the course of the succeeding
century the practice of writing tetralogies came to be so little
regarded that Aristotle never even mentions it in his
Poetics \
Some difficulty has been made as to the derivation of the
words trilogy and tetralogy^ As far as their etymology goes
they ought to denote groups of speeches rather than groups of
plays. In their dramatic sense the words do not occur fre-
quently, and were of comparatively late origin. The word
tetralogy, as applied to the drama, is not found before the
time of Aristotle ; the word trilogy not before that of Aristo-
phanes the grammarian-. It is quite possible that the dra-
matic meaning of a tetralogy may have been a secondary
one, and that the word was used at first in reference to
oratory. It was the custom of the Greek orators to write
groups of four speeches, two for the prosecution and two for
the defence, about fictitious cases, to serve as models for their
pupils. Three groups of this kind, composed by Antiphon,
have come down to us, and are called tetralogies. It is
very likely that this was the original meaning of the word,
and that it was only in the course of the fourth century that
it came to be applied by analogy to the drama. It would
be convenient to have a generic term to denote groups of
four plays composed about a single subject in the Aeschy-
lean fashion. When the word tetralogy had [once acquired
this sense, it would be an easy step to form by analogy the
^ Schol. Aristoph. Av. 282 ; Schol. The other passages in which the word
Plat. Apol. p. 330, ed. Bekk. ; Aelian T(Tpa\oyia occurs in a dramatic sense
Var. Hist, ii, 30. are Diog. Laert. iii. 56, ix. 45 ; Schol.
^ Schol. Aristoph, Ran. 1 1 55 rerpa- Plat. Apol. p. 330; Schol. Aristoph.
\oyiav <pepovai t^v ^Opfareiav at AtSa- Ran. 1155, Av. 282, Thesm, 142;
ffKoXiai. The Didascaliae is the work Arg. to Aeschyl. Theb. The word rpiko-
of Aristotle. Diog. Laert. iii. 61 evioi yia only occurs in three places, viz.
de, u)v kari Kal'AptffTotpdvTjs 6 ypafi/jjari- Schol. Aristoph. Ran. I155; Diog.
Kos, (is rpikoyias i\Kov(Tt rous dia\6yovs. Laert. iii. 61 ', Suidas v. NiK6ft.axos.
I.] TRAGEDY AT THE CITY DIONYSIA, 27
word trilogy, to denote the three tragedies apart from the
satyric play. Satyric plays were treated with comparative
neglect in later times, and were easily separable from the
tragedies which preceded them. Possibly also in many cases
the three tragedies may have been connected in subject ^with
one another, but independent of the satyric play. Hence
the convenience of a term to denote the three tragedies by
themselves. It is said that the grammarians Aristarchus and
Apollonius preferred to disregard the satyric plays altogether,
and to speak only of trilogies. But although the generic terms
trilogy and tetralogy were of relatively late origin, it was cus-
tomary at a much earlier period to give a common name to
groups of plays composed on the tetralogic system. The poet
Aristophanes cites the group of plays about Lycurgus under
the title of the Lycurgeia ; and in the same way he cites the
group of plays about Orestes as the Oresteia^ These and
similar titles no doubt dated from the time of Aeschylus
himself.
§ 6. Tragedy at the City Dionysia in later times.
It has been worth while to discuss in some detail the
question as to the number of traged ies produced each year aL
the City Dipnysja during the fifth century, because of the
interest of the subject. The fourth century is a period of decay
as far as tragedy is concerned. For the first half of the century
there is a complete blank in our information as to the system
of tragic competitions at the City Dionysia. On coming to the
latter half of the century it is found that considerable changes
had been made. An inscription discovered in recent years
gives a copious record of the tragic contests at the City
Dionysia for the years 341 and 340 1 From this record it
appears that the satyric drama had now been completely
separated from tragedy. The proceedings commenced with
the performance of a single satyric play. Then followed a
* Aristoph. Thesm. 135, Ran. 11 24. * Corp. Inscr. Att. ii. 973.
a8 DRAMATIC CONTESTS AT ATHENS. [Ch.
representation of an old tragedy by one of the great tragic
poets. In 341 the old tragedy was the ' Iphigeneia' of Euripides ;
in 340 it was the Orestes of Euripides. Then at length after
the satyric play and the old tragedy had been performed, came
the competition with new and original tragedies. The number of
competing poets was still three, as it had been from the earliest
times. But the number of tragedies varied from year to year.
In 341 each poet exhibited three tragedies; in 340 each poet
exhibited two. Here the information ends. It appears then
that by the latter half of the fourth century the satyric drama
had receded still further into the background. In the fifth
century each poet had exhibited one satyric play at the end
of his three tragedies. But now a single satyric play at the
commencement of the proceedings was considered sufficient.
The poet who was to have the honour of performing this play
would be selected beforehand by the archon. There is no
evidence to show when the new system came into existence ;
but it must have been in the course of the first half of the
fourth century. Another point to be noticed is the gradual
decrease in the number of new tragedies produced each year.
In 341 it was nine ; in 340 it was only six. It is impossible
to say with certainty what was the practice during the first
half of the fourth century. When the change in regard to
the satyric drama was first made, the tragic poets may
have continued to produce four plays apiece, substituting a
tragedy for the old satyric play, just as Euripides had done
in 438, when he exhibited the Alcestis. Or on the other
hand the change may have consisted in simply discon-
tinuing the satyric play, and leaving the tragic poets to
compete with three tragedies only. There is very little
evidence which bears upon the subject, but such as it is, it
rather points to the conclusion that at first the number four
was retained. Theodectes, the rhetorician and tragic poet,
flourished in the middle of the fourth century. He wrote
'fifty tragedies,* and engaged in thirteen contests. These
numbers seem to imply that in most of the contests in
I.] TRAGEDY AT THE CITY DIONYSIA, 29
which he was engaged he exhibited four tragedies*. Again,
Aphareus, the tragic poet, wrote thirty-five confessedly genuine
tragedies, and engaged in eight contests ranging in date from
368 to 341. Here too the inference seems to be that he must
have exhibited four tragedies on most of these occasions ^. The
only way to escape such an inference would be to suppose that
both Aphareus and Theodectes wrote a considerable number
of plays jw hich were never intended fo r the stage. Such a
practice was not unknown at this time. The tragic poet
Chaeremon, the contemporary of Aphareus and Theodectes,
wrote tragedies which were simply intended to be read ^ But
as yet the practice was unusual, and nothing of the kind is
related of Theodectes and Aphareus. Hence the probability
is that during the earlier part of the fourth century each poet
at the City Dionysia exhibited four tragedies. But owing to
the scantiness of the evidence it is impossible to come to any
certain conclusion on the subject.
It has been seen that in 340 the total number of new
tragedies produced at the City Dionysia was only six. The
decrease in numbers points to the gradual decay of traged y at
Athens. With the close of the fourth century the productive
period of Attic tragedy came to an end. The centre of literary
activity was transferred from Athens to Alexandria, and to this
city the more creative poetical minds were attracted. During
the third century we meet with the names of many celebrated
tragic poets at Alexandria. On the other hand, after the fourth
century hardly a single Athenian tragic poet is mentioned.
Competitions in tragedy continued to be held in Athens at the
City Dionysia even down to Roman times. But in most cases
the tragedies exhibited must have been old ones. It is true that
in public decrees recording the proclamation of crowns at the
City Dionysia the phrase ' at the performance of new tragedies *
continues to occur as late as Roman times. But there can
have been no significance in the phrase. It was merely an
^ Suidas V. ©coSc/ctt;?; Steph. Byzant. v. ^ao-j/Xt?.
2 Plut. X orat. 839 D. ^ Aristot. Rhet. iii. 11,
30 DRAMATIC CONTESTS AT ATHENS. [Ch.
instance of the retention of an old formula when its meaning
was obsolete \
§ 7. Comedy at the City Dionysia.
The history of the tragic contests at the City Dionysia having
now been traced down to the latest times, the contests in
comedy have next to be considered. This is a subject of much
less difficulty. It has already been pointed out that it was
in the course of the earlier half of the fifth century that comedy
was first recognised by the state. The performances of comedy,
which had previously been mere voluntary undertakings,
were now superintended by the archon, and regular public
contests were instituted. It is impossible to determine the
exact date of their institution. Nor is there any certain
evidence to show whether it was at the Lenaea or the
City Dionysia that comedy was first officially recognised.
As far as the City Dionysia is concerned the only fact that
can be established with certainty is that contests in comedy
were fully elaborated at any rate as early as the year
459 B.C. This is proved by the inscriptions already referred
to on a previous page^ Whether they had existed for many
years previously is a question which there is no evidence to
determine.
The number of poets who were allowed to take part in the
comic contests at the City Dionysia differed at different periods.
During the fifth century it was limited to three, as in tragedy.
The Clouds, the Peace, and the Birds of Aristophanes were
all brought out at the City Dionysia during the latter part
of the fifth century; and on each of these occasions Aristo-
'*■ Dio Chrysost. xiii. p. 246 (Dindf.). a-yajvi tZ Kaivw, Atovvaiojy tcuv kv ciffrei
KaiToi rpaywdovs eKacTTOTe 6pa.T€ roTs Kaivoi^' rpaywSoTs, Aiovvaicju tu)v ev darei
Aiovvaiois. Corp, Inscr. Att. ii. 334, rpayaiSuv ra> Kaivai dyuvi, Aiovvaioov
341, 402, 444-446, 465-471, 479, 481. Tuiv ev darei to) Kaiva> aywvi, Aiovvaioju
These inscriptions range in date from twu fxeydXojv rip Kaivw dywvi.
about 270 B.C. to 50 B.C. There are ^ Corp. Inscr. Att. ii. 971 compared
slight differences in the formula, e. g. with the inscription in 'Ecprjfj,. 'ApxaioK.
Aiovvaiojv jwv jiiydXctiv rpayaiZujv rw 1 886, pt. 4. See above p. 9.
I.] COMEDY AT THE CITY DIONYSIA. 31
phanes was opposed by two competitors \ At the Lenaea
during the fifth century the number of the competing poets
was also three. In the beginning of the fourth century the
number was raised to five at both festivals, and appears to
have continued unchanged throughout the subsequent history
of the Attic drama ^ The reason of the increase was probably
due to the disappearance of the chorus from comed y. A
comedy without a chorus would be less expensive, and would
take less time to perform. A larger number of comedies was
therefore provided, and the number of poets had consequently
to be increased.
It does not appear however that comedy was ever exhibited
at Athens on the same large scale as tragedy. It has already
been shown that during the most flourishing period of Attic
tragedy each poet was accustomed to produce no less than
four plays at the annual festival. But in comedy it was the
invariable practice to c ompete with single plays only. In
all the notices of comic contests which remain there is no
instance of a poet competing with more than one play. The
total number of comedies produced each year at the City
Dionysia would be three during the fifth century, and five
during the succeeding centuries. These figures appear small
compared with the number of tragedies produced each year
at the same festival. But although each poet competed
with a single play, it was not impossible for a man to
exhibit two comedies at the same contest. However in
order to do so he had to appear really as two poets, and to
compete as it were against himself. The total number of
comedies remained the same, but the poet was allowed to
appear twice over, and to run a double chance of success.
Instances of such an occurrence are occasionally found. In
422 Philonides took the place of two poets, and exhibited
both the Prelude and the Wasps. He was first with the
^ Args.to Aristoph.Nubes,Pax, Aves. every case the number of the poets
^ Arg. to Aristoph. Plutus ; Corp. appears as five. It is therefore practi-
Inscr. Att. ii. 972, 975. It is not always cally certain that the number was raised
known to which of the two festivals to five at both festivals after the fifth
these . various, notices refer. But in century.
32 DRAMATIC CONTESTS AT ATHENS. [Ch.
Prelude, and second with the Wasps, and his antagonist
Leucon was third with the Ambassadors \ Both the Prelude
and the Wasps were really plays of Aristophanes, but were
brought out in the name of the poet Philonides. Again
iri 353 Diodorus made a double appearance, and was
second with the Corpse, and third with the Madman'^. Such
instances of a poet taking the place of two competitors,
and thus running a double chance of obtaining the first
position, cannot have been of common occurrence. They were
probably due, when they did occur, either to an exceptional
dearth of new comedies, or to very marked inferiority on
the part of the other poets who had applied for permission to
compete.
It has already been pointed out that comedy was much later
than tragedy in being officially recognised by the state. It
also lasted much longer. One of the most brilliant periods
of Attic comedy falls at a time when tragedy had practically
come to an end. A sure symptom of decay, both in tragedy
and comedy, was the tendency to fall back upon the past, and
reproduce old plays, instead of striking out new developments.
As regards tragedy this practice had already become pre-
valent by the middle of the fourth century. But in comedy the
creative impulse was still at that time predominant. A fresh
direction was being given to the art by the development of
the New Co medy,^ or comedy of manners. There was not
as yet any tendency to have recourse to the past. In the
record of the exhibitions of comedy for the year 353 there is
no trace of any reproduction of old plays. When the practice
first commenced it is impossible to say. Probably it was
not until the more productive period of the New Comedy
had come to an end, and the creative instinct had begun to
flag. There is a complete break in our information from the
middle of the fourth century to the beginning of the second.
When we come to the second century, the practice of repro-
ducing old comedies is found to have become a regular
occurrence. This appears from the series of inscriptions
* Arg. to Aristoph. Vespae. ^ Corp. Inscr. Att. ii. 972.
I.] ORDER OF CONTESTS AT THE CITY DIONYSIA. '>^'>,
recording the comic exhibitions at the City Dionysia during
the earlier half of the second century. It is seen that the
five new comedies were regularly preceded by an old one,
just as in tragedy, a hundred and fifty years before, the
proceedings had commenced with the performance of an old
play. Among the old comedies reproduced in this manner
appear Menander's Ghost and Misogynist, Philemon's Pho-
cians, Posidippus' Outcast, and Philippides' Lover of the
Athenians. It is noticeable that all these plays belong to
the New Comedy, and that there are no traces of any ten-
dency to fall back upon the Middle or the Old Comedy. The
records just referred to prove that the New Comedy retained
its vitality and productiveness much longer than had been
previously suspected, and that original comedies were fre-
quently exhibited at the City Dionysia as late as the second
century. On every occasion when there was a contest the full
complement of five new plays was produced. How long this
lasted it is impossible to determine. Even in these records
of the second century there are symptoms of approaching decay
in the productiveness of the comic drama. Almost every other
year, and sometimes for two or three years in succession, occur
the ominous words, ' This year there was no exhibition of
comedies.* Probably by the end of the second century the
performances of new and original comedies had become a
very exceptional occurrence.
§ 8. Order of Contests at the City Dionysia.
The regulations concerning the dramatic contests at the City
Dionysia have now been described in detail. Before passing
on to the Lenaea it will be well to take a general sur vey of the
various competitions at the City Dionysia. There were two
dithyrambic contests, one between five choruses of boys, and
the other between five choruses of men. There was a tragic
contest in which three poets took part. During the fifth and
earlier part of the fourth century each of these poets exhibited
four plays. Later on the number of original plays began to
be diminished, and the competition was preceded by an old
D
34 DRAMATIC CONTESTS AT ATHENS, [Ch.
tragedy. There was also a contest in comedy in which ori-
ginally three poets took part ; but in the course of the fourth
century the number of poets was raised to five. Each poet
exhibited a single comedy.
As to the o rder in which the various performances took
place, and the method in which they were grouped together,
there is very little evidence. One thing may be regarded
as certain, and that is that the three groups of tragedies
were performed on three successive days. It is difficult
to see what other arrangement would have been possible,
as two groups, consisting of eight tragedies, would have
been too much for a single day\ As to the relative ar-
rangement of dithyrambs, comedies, and tragedies not much
can be laid down for certain. In all the records which refer
to the City Dionysia the various competitions are always
enumerated in the same order. First come the choruses of
boys, then the choruses of men, then comedy, then tragedy.
Also in the law of Evegorus the same order is observed in
recounting the different performances at the City Dionysia ^
It has been argued that this was the order in which the
contests took place ; that the dithyrambs came first, then the
comedies, and the tragedies last of all. But there seems to
be very little justification for such an inference. It is quite
as likely that the order followed in these lists was based upon
the relative importance of the different contests. In fact, the
only piece of evidence in regard to the subject which has any
appearance of certainty about it seems to show that at any rate
during the fifth century the comedies followed the tragedies
at the City Dionysia. This evidence is contained in a passage
^ Aristotle in the Poetics (c. 24), suppose a performance of four tragedies
speaking of the proper size of an epic on one day would harmonise very well
poem, says that it should be shorter than with the statement of Aristotle. Four
the old epics, and about equal in length tragedies would contain about 6000
to the tragedies performed on a single lines, and the Iliad contains about
day (7r/)os Se to ir\^0os -rpaywSiwv twv 15,000 lines, the Odyssey about 12,000.
eis ixiav dupoaffiv rtOffievcov iraprjKoiev). ^ Corp. Inscr. Att. ii, 971 ; 'Ecpijfi.
It has already been shown that it is not 'ApxaioX. 1886, pt. 4; Demosth. Meid,
quite clear what the practice was at the § 10.
time to which Aristotle refers. But to
I.] ORDER OF CONTESTS AT THE CITY DIONYSIA. '>^^
in the Birds of Aristophanes. The Birds was performed at the
City Dionysia. In that play the chorus, in the course of a
short ode, remark how dehghtful it would be to have wings.
They say that if one of the spectators was tired with the tragic
choruses, he might fly away home, and have his dinner, and
then fly back again to the comic choruses \ It follows that at
that time the comedies were performed after the tragedies. In
the fifth century there were three comedies performed at the
City Dionysia, and three groups of tragedies. Most likely
therefore each group of tragedies was performed in the morn-
ings of three successive days, and was followed in the afternoon
by a comedy. In the fourth century, when the number of
comedies was raised to five, a new arrangement would be
necessary. Possibly the comedies were then transferred to
a single day by themselves. But on these and other points
of the same kind there is really no available evidence. One
thing is certain, that the whole series of performances, consist-
ing of ten dithyrambs, three to five comedies, and twelve
tragedies, cannot have taken up less than four days in the
performance ^ Even if they could have been compressed into
three days, it would have exceeded the limits of human en-
' Aristoph. Av. 785-789 ovZkv kffr Tpa70f;5cDi/, and supposes that the contrast
dfiuvov ov8' '^diov fj (pvaai irrfpa. \ avrix is between fjfxus, the chorus of Birds, and
vtiojv Tojv OearSjv et tis ^u vironrepos, \ ol rpvyatdoi, the oi/ier comic choruses.
etra ireivSiv toTs x^P'^^^'- '^^^ rpaycvhwv Hence he infers that at the City Dionysia
Tjx'^iTo, I (KrrTofXfvos av ovtos TjpicrTTjffev all the comedies were performed on a
ckOcijv o'lKaSe, | Kar av (fxirXTjaOeh k(p' single day by themselves. But Tpvy<u5oi
Tjixas av9is av KaTtnTaro. Miiller is a perfectly gratuitous emendation, and
(Griech. Biihnen. p. 322) and others makes the whole passage both feeble
take €<{)' ruids to mean generally * to us and obscure.
in the theatre ' ; and deny that it refers ^ Polus is said to have acted eight
to the comic chorus in particular. But tragedies in four days when he was
in that case there would be no point in seventy years old (Plut. An seni &c.
the sentence. There is obviously a con- 785 C). If it was at the City Dionysia, he
trast between vp.Hs, the spectators, and might have done so, supposing that the
^/xefs, the comic chorus. The same old tragedy was performed on the first
contrast is strongly emphasised through- day, and the new tragedies on the three
out the previous group of trochaics, vv. following days. But as there is nothing
753-768. Lipsius (Berichte der K. S. to show whether the feat of Polus was
Gesellschaft derWissenschaften zuLeip- performed at Athens or elsewhere, it is
zig, philol.-histor, Classe, 1885, p. 417) impossible to base any conclusions upon
adopts the old conjecture rpvy^dwv for the statement.
D 2
^6 DRAMATIC CONTESTS AT ATHENS. [Ch.
durance to have sat out performances of such enormous length.
The festival as a whole, with the procession and other minor
amusements, lasted probably either five or six days, as was
previously pointed out.
§ 9. The Lenaea,
We now come to the other great Athenian festival of
Dionysus at which dramatic performances took place. The
name of this festival was the Lenaea. It der ived its name
from the Lenaeum, an enclosure on the south-east of the
Acropolis, sacred to Dionysus, the god of the wine-press. It
was also called 'the contest at the Lenaeum,' or 'the festival
of Dionysus at the Lenaeum.* A victor at this festival was
said to have 'won a prize at the Lenaeum \* On the other
hand, the Great Dionysia was called 'the festival of Dionysus
in the City.* It has already been remarked that the Lenaeum
was itself within the city, and that the contests at the
Lenaea and the City Dionysia were held in the very same
place. The distinction of names was probably due to the
fact that while the Lenaea was a small festival, and took place
entirely within the sacred enclosure, the City Dionysia was
altogether on a grander scale, and many of the ceremonies
which accompanied it were celebrated in different parts of the
city. The Lenaea was held in^ he month ^f Gamelion, cor-
responding to the last half of January and the first half of Feb-
ruary. It was still winter, and the sea was dangerous for
voyagers. H ence there were few strangers or visitors in Athens.
The Lenaea was in fact a domestic sort of festival, confined to
the Athenians themselves. The proceedings were quiet and
insignificant, in comparison with the splendour of the City
Dionysia, when Athens was crowded with visitors from all parts
of Greece. In the Acharnians, which was exhibited at the
Lenaea, Aristophanes remarks that he can abuse Athens as
much as he likes, without incurring the imputation of lowering
^ Heysch. v. Itti Arjvaio) dyuv; Aris- Aeschin. Fals, Leg. § 15 viKciv Itti Atj-
toph. Acharn. 504 ; Corp. Inscr. Att. ii. vaiw ; Diog. Laert. viii. 90 vikij Aijval'Kri ;
714 Aiovvaia ra km Ar]vaia); Schol. Plut. X orat. 839 D 5i5ao-/fa\ta Ajyi/attfTj.
I.] THE LENAEA. ^^
her in the eyes of foreigners ^ The proceedings at the Lenaea
consisted of a procession, and of exhibitions of tragedy
and comedy. The procession was not Hke that at the
City Dionysia, but was more in imitation of the proceedings
at the Anthesteria, and was accompanied by the rough jesting
and ribald abuse which were characteristic of the worship of
Dionysus and Demeter. There were no dithyramb ic contests
during the period with which we are concerned. The fes-
tival as a whole was much shorter than the City Dionysia ^
Tragedy at the Lenaea seems to have been at all times
subordinate Jp_ comedy. The law of Evegorus, in enumerating
the proceedings at the City Dionysia and the Dionysiac fes-
tival in the Peiraeeus, places tragedy last in each case, as being
the most important. But in the list of the proceedings at the
Lenaea it places comedy last, obviously because comedy was
the principal feature of the festival. It is uncertain when
tragic competi tions at the Lenaea were first ins titute An
argument has been founded on the didascaliae prefixed to the
plays of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides. In these didas-
caliae there is no mention of the festival at which the plays
were produced. Hence it has been argued that during that
period there can only have been one festival at which tragic
competitions took place. If there had been two festivals, then,
it is said, the didascaliae would have recorded the name of the
particular festival at which the tragedies they refer to were
exhibited. As they do not do so, it would follow that during
the lifetime of the three great tragic poets the only tragic
contests in existence were those at the City Dionysia, and that
tragedy at the Lenaea was unknown before the very end of the
fifth century. But the argument is unsound. The omission
' Bekk. Anecd. p. 235, 6; Plat. quotation from the Meidias, and also by
Symp. 223 C; Theophrast. Char. 3; Corp. Inscr. Gr. no. 213, which contains
Aristoph. Acharn. 501 foil. a list of the festivals at which dithyram-
2 Demosth. Meid. § 10 kcu 57 Iit\ A77- bic choruses competed, viz. the City
vaio) iTOfxir^ nal ol rpaycfidol fcal 01 KUfuv- Dionysia, Thargelia, Prometheia, and
SoL Suidas v. to. kn rSJv afxa^wv cr/fw/*- Hephaesteia. The inscription in 'E(pT)fi.
fiara. That there were no dithyrambs 'ApxaioK. 1862, i. 219, recording a vic-
at the Lenaea during the period we are tory at the Lenaea with a dithyramb,
dealing with is proved by the above must refer to late times.
38 DRAMATIC CONTESTS AT ATHENS. [Ch.
of the name of the festival in the didascaliae does not prove
so much as is supposed. It is known for a fact that there were
tragic contests at the Lenaea as early as the year 416, for in
that year Agathon won a tragic victory at the Lenaea. But
there are two notices about plays of Sophocles subsequent to
this date, in which there is no mention of the festival. It is
stated that the Philoctetes was produced in 409, and the Oedi-
pus Coloneus in 401 ; but in neither case is the name of the
festival mentioned \ It cannot therefore be contended that the
omission of the festival in the tragic didascaliae proves that
during that time there was only one festival at which tragedies
were exhibited. All it proves is that the City Dionysia was
of much more importance than the Lenaea, and that every one
was supposed to know that this was the festival at which the
great tragic poets were competitors.
As to the date of the institution of tragic contests at the
Lenaea, there is positive evidence to prove that they were
of regular occurrence before the year 416. An inscription
which was previously given in a very mutilated condition
in Bockh's collection has been recently published in a more
complete form^ It is a record of tragic competitions in
the years 419 and 418. In both these years the number of
competing poets was two, and each of them exhibited three
tragedies. There is no mention of a satyric play. It seems
certain that the record must refer to the Lenaea, since it has been
shown that at the City Dionysia the number of competitors was
regularly three, and that each of them exhibited four plays.
If then the Lenaea is the festival referred to, it would appear
that tragic contests at the Lenaea were a regular institution
as early as 419 b.c. For how many years they had existed
previously is uncertain. There is a dubious notice about
Euripides which may perhaps bear upon the subject ^ It is
^ Athen. p. 217 A; Args. to Soph. ' Aix(pi\6x(i>, 'liiovi, | vneKpcveTo KaXKini-
Phil. and Oed. Col. drjs' | vitoKpiT^s KaWiiriSrjs €i'iKa.
2 Corp.Inscr. Att.ii. 972. The record ' Vita Eurip. (p. 4 Dindf.) Tjp^aro Se
for the year 418 runs as follows : — kirl 5i5daK€iv kwl KaAXiou apxovros KaroL
'Apxiov ... I Hvpoi, T ...,..., I vireKpi- oXvfimdSa ira erei a, vpwTov dl kSiSa^e
vero AvffiKpdrrjs. \ KaXXiarpaTos . . . . , | rds IIcAtdSas, 6t€ koi rpiros kyiveTO.
I.] THE LENAEA, 39
said that Euripides began to exhibit tragedies in the year 455,
and that 'the first play he brought out was the Daughters of
Pehas, on which occasion he was third/ If the statement is
to be depended upon, and is not a mere looseness of expression
on the part of the grammarian, it implies that Euripides com-
peted on this occasion with a single play. If so it must have
been at the Lenaea, and it would follow that there were tragic
contests at the Lenaea as early as 455, but on a small scale,
three poets competing with a single tragedy apiece. At any
rate, during the last quarter of the fifth century tragedy had
become a regular part of the proceedings at the Lenaea. Until
the middle of the fourth century new tragedies continued to
be performed at this festival. In 367 Dionysius, the tyrant of
Syracuse, won the prize for tragedy at the Lenaea. Aphareus,
whose dramatic career extended from 368 to 341, exhibited at
the Lenaea on two occasions. Theodectes, the pupil and friend
of Aristotle, was victorious on one occasion at the Lenaea ^
As to the details of the contest, and the number of poets and
plays, there is not enough evidence to form any conclusion.
In 419 and 418 there were two poets, each exhibiting three
tragedies. If the inference from the notice about Euripides
is reliable, it would follow that at first each poet only exhibited
a single play. Very likely the arrangements were changed
from time to time ^ By the middle of the fourth century the
career of Attic tragedy began to draw to a close. There were
signs of decay in productive power. New tragedies were not so
plentiful as in previous times; and henceforward they were
given only at the City Dionysia. Tragedy at the Lenaea came
' Diod. Sic. XV, 74 5 Plut. X orat. SeSiSaxoTOs'AOrivrjcnArjvaioisTpaycuSiav),
839 D. Theodectes is known to have to the effect that Agathon and Diony-
won eight tragic victories (Steph. sius exhibited single tragedies. Pro-
Byzant. v. ^darjXts). From Corp. Inscr. bably rrj Trpdrrr) TpayqjSia vlkolv is a loose
Att. ii. 977 frag, b it appears that he expression for ' winning one's first tragic
won seven victories at the City Diony- victory'; and StSatr/feij' T/)a7a;S/ai/ means
sia. It follows that one of his victories generally ' to exhibit in the tragic con-
must have been at the Lenaea. tests.' It seems certain that in Aga-
"^ No inference can be drawn from the thon's time it was customary for each
expression in Plat. Symp. 173 A {oTi rfj poet to exhibit three tragedies at the
irpwrri Tpaya^bia kviKijffev 'AydOcuv), and Lenaea ; and the number was probably
in Diod. Sic. xv. 74 (Aiovvaiov roivvv not less in the time of Dionysius.
40 DRAMATIC CONTESTS AT ATHENS. [Ch.
to be confined to the reproduction of old plays. It is about
the middle of the fourth century that the phrase 'at the City
Dionysia, at the performance of the new tragedies ' begins to
appear, in public documents and elsewhere, implying that at
the Lenaea only old tragedies were exhibited \ For how
long a period afterwards tragedy in this shape continued to
form a part of the Lenaea is a point which cannot be determined.
Comedy, as we have seen, was the principal feature of the
Lenaea. Public contests in comedy were instituted by the
state in the course of the earlier half of the fifth century. From
the very first they no doubt formed part of the proceedings at
the Lenaea. But there is no actual evidence on the subject till
the time of Aristophanes. Four of his plays— the Acharnians,
Knights, Wasps, and Frogs — are known to have been brought
out at the Lenaea. From the arguments prefixed to these plays
it appears that during the fifth century it was the custom at the
Lenaea, as well as at the City Dionysia, for three comic poets to
take part in the competition, each exhibiting a single play. In
the fourth century, as was previously shown, the number of poets
was raised to five, and this continued to be the number in sub-
sequent times. Comedy continued to flourish at the Lenaea, as
well as at the City Dionysia, until the third century. Eudoxus,
a poet of the New Comedy, is said to have obtained three
victories at the City Dionysia, and five at the Lenaea ^. It is
therefore clear that during the third century the comic com-
petitions were kept up with full vigour at both festivals.
Indeed, considering the vast number of plays which were
written by the poets of the Middle and New Comedy, and the
fact that only five plays could be produced at one festival, it
would require not less than two festivals in the year to give an
opportunity for the production of the plays that were written.
^ Plut. deexil. 603B 7rA^j//i£aj/57)W(/3ai', It has been suggested that the ' new
kv ^ BevoKpcLTTjs Kad' (KaoTov 6T0S ets d(TTv tragedies ' at the City Dionysia were
KaTT^H Aiovvaiajv Kaivois Tpajabois. opposed, not to old tragedies at the
Aeschin. Ctesiph. § 34 Tpaywdwv dyouvi- Lenaea, but to the one old tragedy
^ofxivQjv Kaivuv. Dem. de Cor. § 84 which was performed each year at the
Koi dvayopevcxai rov <TTi(pavov kv ry City Dionysia. But the old interpreta-
OiaTpCf} Aiovvoiois, TpayqiSoTs Kaivois. tion is much the most probable.
Corp. Inscr. Att. ii. 331, 341, 402, &c. ^ Diog. Laert. viii. 90.
I.] THE LENAEA. 41
After the third century there is no further evidence as to the
performances of comedy at the Lenaea.
Before leaving this part of the subject a few observations may
be made concerning the comparative importance of the dramatic
performances at the two festivals. The City Dionysia was of
course a much grander and more splendid gathering than the
Lenaea. Its superiority is shown by the fact that at the City
Dionysia aliens were not allowed to take part in the choruses,
and metics were forbidden to serve as choregi \ At the Lenaea
there were no such prohibitions. It must have been a much
greater honour for a poet to produce his plays at the City
Dionysia, before the crowds of visitors and natives, than at the
comparatively quiet Lenaea. This was especially the case in re-
gard to tragedy. The great tragic poets, after their reputation
was established, would confine themselves to the City Dionysia ;
and it is probable that the tragedies at the Lenaea were mostly
the work of inferior poets, or of young and untried ones. Such
slight evidence as we possess is in favour of this opinion.
Agathon won his first victory at the Lenaea. The poet Callis-
tratus, who exhibited at the Lenaea in 418, is absolutely
unknown, except for the inscription which records his name^
Probably also foreign poets were in most cases confined to the
Lenaea. Thus it was at the Lenaea that Dionysius, the tyrant
of Syracuse, won his victory ^ The case was not quite the same
in respect to comedy. It appears that Aristophanes produced
his plays indifferently at the Lenaea as well as the City
Dionysia \ It must be remembered that comedy was the great
feature of the Lenaea, while tragedy was an appendage. Also
the Old Comedy, with its local and personal allusions, would be
best appreciated by a purely Athenian audience. It is not
therefore remarkable that the leading poets of the Old Comedy
should have been as anxious to exhibit at the Lenaea as at the
greater festival. There is also the fact that comic poets only
exhibited one play at a time. Even if they competed at both
^ Schol. Aristoph. Plut. 954. ^ Diod. Sic. xv. 74.
2 Athen. p. 217 A ; Corp. Inscr. Att. * Args. to Aristoph.'s Comedies,
ii. 972.
42 DRAMATIC CONTESTS AT ATHENS, [Cli.
festivals in the same year, it would only involve the composition
of two comedies, as opposed to the three or four tragedies of
the tragic poet. Consequently a comic poet of a productive
intellect would be bound to exhibit at both the festivals. But
when the New Comedy, with its plots of general interest, had
taken the place of the Old Comedy of personal allusion and
satire, it can hardly be doubt-ed that it was a much greater
honour to exhibit at the City Dionysia than at the Lenaea.
There would no longer be any advantage in the small and
purely Athenian audience.
§ lo. The Rural Dionysia and Anthesteria.
After the drama had been thoroughly established at Athens,
the different Attic demes proceeded to institute dramatic per-
formances at their own Rural Dionysia. These festivals were
held in the month of Poseidon, corresponding to the modern
December. The Dionysiac festival at the Peiraeeus was cele-
brated on a large scale, and was a gathering of some im-
portance. There was a procession, followed by competitions
in comedy and tragedy. On one occasion Euripides brought
out a new tragedy at the Peiraeeus, and we are told that
Socrates came to see it. There were performances of tragedy
and comedy at Collytus; and it was here that Aeschines acted
the part of Oenomaus in the play of Sophocles, whence he is
styled by Demosthenes 'the rustic Oenomaus.' Exhibitions
of tragedy were of regular occurrence at Salamis and Eleusis,
and it was customary on these occasions to make public procla-
mation of the crowns which had been bestowed upon deserving
citizens. At Aixone there were performances of comedies,
but no mention is made of tragedies. At Phlya there were
dramatic performances, probably of both kinds. The remains
of a theatre have been discovered at Thoricus. From these
few indications it is plain that the drama was cultivated with
great energy throughout the country districts of Attica \ Prob-
^ Demosth. Meid. § lo orav 17 irofxir^ Kal ol rpaycu^oL Aelian Var. Hist. ii.
^ TO) Aiovva<i> kv Ilcipaiei Kal 01 KOJfi^dol 13; Aeschin. Timarch. § 157 kv rots
I.] THE ANTHESTERIA. 43
ably it was only on very rare occasions, and at the more
important demes, that new and original plays were brought
out. The performances would generally be confined to the
reproduction of plays which had been successful in the com-
petitions at Athens. The proceedings took the form of contests
between troupes of actors, who exhibited plays of established
reputation. Prizes were offered by the different demes, and
companies seem to have been formed in Athens for the purpose
of travelling about the country, and taking part in these pro-
vincial competitions. Aeschines was at one time tritagonist
in a company of this kind, having been hired for a provincial
tour by Simylus and Socrates, 'the Ranters,' as they were
called \ The number and frequency of these rustic perform-
ances exhibit in very clear light the vigorous life and wide-
spread popularity of the old drama. Even the country districts
of Attica, in the course of their annual festivals, must have
become familiar with the masterpieces of Attic tragedy.
In Athens itself the only festivals at which dramatic per-
formances took place were the Lenaea and the City Dionysia.
At the Anthesteria, the oldest of the Athenian festivals of
Dionysus, there were competitions between comic actors, but
no regular performances of dramas. Our knowledge of these
competitions is derived from a rather obscure statement about
Lycurgus the Orator. It is said that he re-introduced an old
custom, which had latterly fallen into disuse. This custom
appears to have been as follows. At the Chytri, the last day
of the Anthesteria, a contest between comic protagonists was
held in the theatre, and the protagonist who was victorious was
allowed the undisputed right of acting at the forthcoming City
Dionysia ^ The Chytri took place about a month before the
Kar dypovs Aiovvaiois KwpKuScuv ovtcov kv Kafxaiduv dyuva tois Xvrpois kTnTC\(Tv
KoWvTa>. Dem. de Cor. § 180; Corp. ((pdfiiWov kv tw OeaTpo), koi tov vi/cfj-
Inscr. Att. ii. 469, 470, 585, 594; 'E<^77^. aavra eh darv KaraXeyeaOai, irporepov
'ApxaioX. 1884, p. 71 ; Isaeus orat. viii. ovk k^ov, dva\a^0dvcov tov dywva c/c-
§ 15 ; Wieseler Denkmaler &c. p. 7. XeXotnoTa. The contest is plainly the
^ Dem. de Cor. § 262. same as the dyaives Xvrpivoi quoted
2 This appears to be the meaning of from Philochorus by the Scholiast on
the passage in Plut. X orat. 841 F Aristoph. Ran. 220.
eicTjviyKe 5c Kal v6/*ovs, tov nepl tcDi'
44 DRAMATIC CONTESTS AT ATHENS. [Ch.
City Dionysia. Of course the privilege of acting as protagonist
at the City Dionysia was a very considerable one. There
were only five comedies performed, and consequently only five
protagonists would be required. There would naturally be a
keen competition among the comic actors of the time to get
themselves selected among the five. The victor in this con-
test at the Chytri was selected as a matter of course. There
is nothing to show what the nature of the contest was; but
most likely it consisted in the recitation of selected portions
of a comedy. This competition between comic actors at the
Anthesteria is the only trace to be found, as far as Athens is
concerned, of anything connected with the drama taking place
at any festival other than the Lenaea and City Dionysia.
§ II. The Judges,
The institution of the dramatic contests at the different Attic
festivals has now been described in detail. As regards the
management of the competition many points still remain to
be considered, viz, the selection of the judges, the mode of
giving the verdict, the prizes for poets and actors, and the
public records of the results. First as to the judges. The
number of the judges in the comic contests was five^ The
number in the tragic contests was probably the same, but there
is no direct evidence upon the subject. The s election of the
judges was a most elaborate affair, and consisted of a combi-
nation of two principles, that of election by vote, and that of
appointment by lot. A large preliminary list of judges was
first elected by vote. At the beginning of the contest a second
list of ten judges was chosen by lot from the first one. At
the end of the contest a third list of five judges was selected
by lot from the second list, and these five judges decided the
result of the competition. The object o f ?11 these elaborate
arrajigements and precautions was to make the names of the
actual judges a matter of uncertainty as long as possible, and
to prevent them from being tampered with by the partisans
^ Schol. Aristoph. Aves 445 ; Suidas v. Iv irivn Kpiruy y6vaffi.
I.]
THE JUDGES.
45
of the different competitors. The details of the whole process
were as follows \ Several days before the actual commence-
ment of the festival the Council, assisted by the choregi, drew
up the preliminary list of judges. A certain number of names
were selected from each of the ten tribes of Attica. The different
choregi; as was natural, endeavoured to get their own partisans
upon the list. The names of the persons chosen were then
inscribed upon tablets, and the tablets were placed in ten
urns, each urn containing the names belonging to a single
tribe. The urns were then carefully locked up and sealed
in the presence of the prytanes and choregi, handed over to
the custody of the treasurers, and deposited in the Acropolis.
The preliminary list of judges was kept a secret from every one
^ There is no consecutive account in
any ancient writer of the mode of select-
ing the judges and of voting. Our know-
ledge of the subject has to be pieced to-
gether from the three following passages :
(i) Plut. Cim. p. 483 E lOiVTO 8' eis
jivrifJt.T]v aiiTov Kal r^v tSjv Tpayq)Swv
Kpiaiv dvofj.a(TTi)v yevofjieuTjv. npwTTjv
yap diBacTKaXiav rod So0o/cA.6Ovs €Ti veov
KaOevTos, 'Aipeipioov 6 dpxo^v, (piKoveiKias
ov(TT]s KOI Trapard^ecus tSjv Oearuiv, Kpirds
filv ovK kKK-qpoiOe tov dycuvos, ojs Se
Kipicov fxerd tuv avaTparrjyctJV npoeKOuiv
eis TO Oearpov eiroirjaaro to; ^eo) rds vevo-
fufffxevas jnovdds, ovk dfpfjKiv avrovs
direXOeTv, dAA.' opKuaas ■qvdyKacre Kadiaai
Kal Kpivai Se«a oj/tos, dnb (pv\r]s fiids
tKaarov. (2) Isocrat. xvii. § 33 livOo-
Sojpov yap TOV aKtjviTTjv KaXovfievov, 6s
iirep Tlaaiajvos diravra Kal Kcyci Kal irpdr-
T€i, Tis OVK oldev vfiwv vkpvGiv dvoi^avTa
rds vSpias Kal rovs Kpirds e^eXovra tovs vtto
TTJs (iovXTJs d(rl3Xr]9(VTas ; Kairoi oaris
fUKpojv ev€Ka Kal nepl rod (TufxaTOS KivSv-
vevoov ra'uras vnavoiyeiv eToXfii^ffev, at
a(ar}iJ.aafj,€vai p.\v ^crav virb tSjv irpvrd-
Viuv, Kareacppayia/xevai S' virb tuv X'^PV'
yojv, ((pvXaTTOVTO 5' vvb tSjv rajxicuv,
(KeiVTO S' ev dKpoiroXei, ri Set 6avp.d^Hv
ei K.T.X. (3) Lysias iv. § 3 k^ovKofxrjv
8' dv^ fxi) diToXax^tv avrbv KpirrjV Aiovv-
aiois, 'iv' vpav (pavepbs tyivero kfiol SirjK-
Xay fxevos, Kpivas rTjv €jxt)v cpvX'tjv viKav.
vvv 5e 'eypa\p€ fxkv ravTa ds to ypapLfxa-
Teiov, direXax^ 8c. Kal on dXijOr] ravra
Xiyco <^iXivos Kal AiokXtjs toaatV dXX'
OVK 'iar avToTs frnprvp^aai fir} Siofioaa-
fiivois TTfpl T^s alrias rjs eyw (pevyou, cird
Ga(pCi)s eyvcor' dv on tjixhs -qfi^v avrbv ol
KpirrfV cfi^aXovres, Kal ■qp.wv d'veKa
eKade^ero. The first of these passages
refers to a dramatic contest, the third to
a dithyrambic one. It is uncertain to
which the second refers. But there is
no reason to suppose that the mode of
selecting the judges was different in the
dramatic and the dithyrambic contests.
That a second list of judges was ap-
pointed by lot from the larger list de/ore
the commencement of each contest, and
that this second list consisted of ten per-
sons, one from each of the ten tribes, seems
to be proved by the words of Plutarch,
Kpirds fiev ovk kKX'qpooae rod dyaivos . . .
dirb (pvXrjs fiids eKaarov. That there was
another selection of judges by lot after
the contest, and that the number of judges
who actually decided the result was
smaller than the number of those who
sat through the performance and voted,
is proved by two expressions in the
above passages : (l) eypaipe ixlv ravra
ds rb ypapLfiareTov, direXax^ 5e, i. e. he
voted in my favour, but his vote was
not drawn; (2) ■^piojv e'iveKa iKaOi^iro.
Kaei^eiv and KaOi^iaBaL were the regu-
lar words used of a judge at a contest.
It is clear therefore that the person
46 DRAMATIC CONTESTS AT ATHENS. [Ch.
except the Council and the choregi. The penalty for tampering
with the urns was death. The reason for all the secrecy was
obviously to prevent undue influence being brought to bear
upon the persons nominated. It is not known from what class
the nominees were selected, or whether any property quali-
fication was necessary. It is plain that the judges in the
dramatic and dithyrambic contests had a very delicate office
to perform. If their verdict was to be of value, it was necessary
that they should be men of culture and discernment. It is
most likely therefore that there was some limitation upon the
number of persons qualified to act in this capacity.
Until the time of the festival the preliminary list of citizens
remained sealed up in urns in the Acropolis. On the first day
of the competitions the ten urns were produced in the theatre,
and placed in some prominent position. The persons whose
names were contained in the urns were all present in the theatre.
Probably they received a special summons from the archon
shortly before the festival. At the commencement of the
contest the archon proceeded to draw a single name from all the
urns in succession. The ten persons, whose names were drawn,
constituted the second list of judges, and each of them repre-
sented one of the ten tribes of Attica. After being selected
by lot in the manner described, they were called forward by the
archon, and took a solemn oath that they would give an im-
partial verdict \ They were then condXicted to seats specially
appointed for them, and the contest began. At the end of the
performances each of them gave his vote, writing upon a tablet
the names of the competitors in order of merit ^ These tablets.
here referred to sat through the perform- bpOoj^ del. The judges addressed by
ance as a judge, but that after the per- Aristophanes here and elsewhere were
formance was over his vote was not of course the second body of judges,
drawn by lot. It may be remarked from whom the third body of five was
that any doubt as to the truth of the chosen at the end of the contest,
story in Plutarch does not destroy its ^ Special seats were assigned to the
value as an example of the mode of judges at Alexandria, and no doubt the
judging in the Athenian theatre. Attic custom was followed there : cp.
^ Dem. Meid. § 17 dfivvovffi irapeffTT]- Vitruv. vii. praef. § 5 cum secretae sedes
Kus ToTs KpiraTs. Aristoph. Eccles. 1160 iudicibus essent distributae. For the
fjL^ 'iTiopKeTy, dWd fcpiveiv tovs x^po^^ practice of recording the votes on a
I.] THE JUDGES. 47
ten in number, were then placed in an urn, and the archon
proceeded to draw forth five of them at random. The majority
of these five votes decided the competition, and the persons
whose votes were drawn from the urn constituted the ultimate
body of five judges. It thus appears that up to the very last
the judges who recorded their votes were not sure whether
the votes would eventually have effect, or turn out to be so
m.uch waste paper. This uncertainty was of course a great
obstacle to intimidation and bribery. After the competition was
over, and the verdict announced, the names of the five judges,
whose votes had decided the day, were not kept secret. It was
known how each of them had voted. But the other votes,
which had been recorded but not drawn from the urn, were
destroyed without being made public \ It was of course
considered a much greater honour to win a victory by the
unanimous vote of all five judges, than by a mere majority
of one^ But it is very doubtful whether any public record
was kept of the number of votes by which a victory was gained.
Whether the decision of the judges was generally given
with discernment, and how far it corresponded with the ultimate
verdict of posterity, is a question of some interest. Both
Aeschylus and Sophocles were usually successful, and this
speaks highly for the taste of the judges. Aeschylus won
thirteen victories; and as he produced four plays on each
occasion, it follows that no less than fifty- two of his plays
obtained the first prize. Whether the total number of his
plays was seventy or ninety, the proportion of victories was
very large ^ Sophocles was equally fortunate. He won
eighteen victories at the City Dionysia. The number of his
plays, as given by different authorities, varies from a hundred-
tablet cp. Aelian Var. Hist, ii, 13 kcH vikov' vvv 8e eypa^pe fxev ravra els to
vpocreraTTOV toTs KpnaTs dvcuOev ^Apiffro- ypafi/xaTeiov, direXax^ Se.
(l>dvi]v dwd n^ dWov ypdcpdv. Lysias * Aristoph. Aves 445-447 XO. ofivvfi
iv. 3 'dypaipe fiev ravra ks to ypapma- km tovtois, ndcri vikov toTs Kpirais | koI
Ttiov. Tois Oearcus Tidaiv. IIE. earai Tavrayi.
1 This follows from Lysias iv. § 3 | XO. €t 5^ napapairjv, kvl KpiT^ vixdv
kPov\6fir]v 8' dv pr) diroKax^Tv avrbv Kpi- fxovov.
rfjv Aiovvciois, tv vp.iv (pavipbs kyevero ^ Vita Aeschyli ; Suidas v. AtVxvAos.
(fiol 5ir]\\ayp.ivos, Kpivas r^v kfi^v (j)v\^v
48 DRAMATIC CONTESTS AT ATHENS, [Ch.
and-four to a hundred-and-thirty. Thus on the lowest estimate
considerably more than half his plays gained the first position ^.
Euripides was not so successful. He only won five victories;
though he wrote between ninety and a hundred plays. The
cause of his failure was partly due to the fact that he often
had the misfortune to contend against Sophocles. He was
beaten by Sophocles in 439 and 432, and probably on many
other occasions of which no record has been preserved. But
at other times he was defeated by very inferior poets. In 415
he was beaten by Xenocles, and on another occasion by the
obscure poet Nicomachus ^ But the most surprising verdict of
which there is any record is the defeat of the Oedipus Tyrannus
of Sophocles by Philocles the nephew of Aeschylus ^ Of
course the other three plays, along with which the Oedipus
Tyrannus was produced, may not have been of equal merit. Still
it must always seem an extraordinary fact, and a proof of the
uncertainty of Athenian judges, that a play which is generally
allowed to be one of the greatest dramas of antiquity should
have been defeated by a third-rate poet such as Philocles.
Verdicts of this indefensible character might be due to various
causes. The j udges might be corru pt or might be intimidated.
The spirit of emulation ran very high at these contests, and
men were often not very particular as to the means by which
they obtained the victory. There is an instance in one of the
speeches of Lysias. The defendant is showing that the prose-
cutor had been on very friendly terms with him a short time
before. The proof he brings forward is that when he was
choregus at the City Dionysia, he got the prosecutor appointed
on the preliminary list of judges for the express purpose of
voting for his own chorus. The prosecutor was pledged to
vote for the chorus of the defendant, whether it was good or
^ The victories of Sophocles are given bited at that festival during the later
as 18 by Diod. Sic. (xiii. 103), as 20 in part of his career. The number of his
the Vita Soph., and as 24 by Suidas v. plays is given as 123 by Suidas, and as
'2o(poK\7]s. That he won 18 victories 104 or 130 in the Life,
at the City Dionysia is proved by Corp. ^ vita Eurip., Args. to Alcestis and
Inscr. Att. ii. 977, frag. a. It is possible Medea ; Aelian Var. Hist. ii. 8 ; Suidas
that he won other victories at the Lenaea, v. Nt/<ro/xaxos.
though it is not probable that he exhi- ^ Arg. to Soph. Oed. Tyr.
I.] THE JUDGES. 49
bad. He appears to have actually done so ; but unfortunately,
at the final drawing, his name was not selected, and his vote
was therefore of no valued Another example of the use of
corruption is afforded by the case of Meidias, who is said to
have won the victory with his chorus of men at the City Dionysia
by bribing or intimidating the judges ^ Similarly at a contest of
boys' choruses, Alcibiades, in spite of his outrageous conduct
on the occasion, won the first prize, because some of the judges
were afraid to vote against him, and others had been bought
over to his side ^. The verdict of each individual judge was
made public. Hence it is easy to see that judges might often
be afraid to incur the hostility of rich and unscrupulous citizens
by voting against them. The above instances all refer to
dithyrambic contests. No doubt in these cases, as the whole
tribe was concerned with the result, party feeling ran excep-
tionally high. In the dramatic competitions only individuals
were engaged, and there was less general excitement about
the result. Yet even here corrupt influences were sometimes
employed. Menander, the greatest comic poet of his time, was
often defeated by Philemon owing to jobbery and intrigue
similar to that described above ^
One not unfrequent cause then of unfair verdicts must
have been corruption and intimidation. There is also another
point to be kept in view, in estimating the value of the
decisions of the ancient judges. The plays of Sophocles
and Euripides were no doubt immeasurably superior, as
literary works, to the plays of Philocles, Xenocles, and Nico-
machus, by which they were defeated. And yet in these
and similar instances the verdicts of the judges may per-
haps have had some justification. One is apt to forget
the importance of the manner in which the play was pre-
sented upon the stage. Even in modern times an inferior
play, if well mounted and acted, is more impressive than a good
play badly performed. This must have been still more the
^ Lysias iv. § 3. Kpiruv oi ijl\v (po$ovfi€voi ol Sc x°/""
2 Dem. Meid. §§ 5, 17, 65. ^ofxevoi vikSlv €Kpivav avrov.
3 Andocid. Alcibiad. § 20 aWa tS>v * Aul. Gell. N. A. 17. 4.
E
50 DRAMATIC CONTESTS AT ATHENS. [Ch.
case in the ancient drama, where the singing and dancing of
the chorus formed such an important element in the success
of the performance. It can easily be seen that, however well
a play was written, if it was ill-mounted, and if the chorus
was badly trained, this would greatly diminish the chances of
success. Now the ancient poet was dependent upon his
choregus for the mounting of the piece and for the selection
of the chorus. If the choregus was rich and generous, the
play was put upon the stage in the very best manner, with all
the advantages of fine dresses and a well-trained chorus. An
ambitious choregus spared no pains to do his part of the work
thoroughly. But if the choregus was a miserly man, he tried
to do the thing as cheaply as possible. He hired inferior
singers, and cut down the prices of the dresses and other
accessories. Hence the success of a play d.e pended nearly aa
much upon the choregus as upon the poet . Several examples
illustrate this fact. Demosthenes, shortly before his death,
is said to have dreamt that he was acting in a tragedy in a
contest with Archias ; but although he was highly successful,
and produced a great impression upon the audience, he was
defeated in the contest because of the wretched manner
in which the play was mounted upon the stage. Then
there is the case of Nicias. He was a man of great wealth,
but not of commanding talents. Accordingly he tried to win
popularity by the magnificence with which he performed
his duties as choregus. The result was that although he
took part in many competitions, he was always victorious.
Antisthenes is another instance of a rich choregus who,
although he knew nothing about music and poetry, was always
successful in his contests, because he spared no expense in
the preparations ^ There is an example of a different kind
of choregus in one of the speeches of Isaeus. A certain Dicaeo-
genes regarded his office of choregus merely as a burden, and
tried to perform it in the most economical manner. The result
was that he was always unsuccessful. He engaged in a dithy-
^ Plut. Demosth. 859 D (vrjufpujv Se cKevrjs koI xoprjyias KpaT€ia6ai,id.l!^icia.s,
Kai KUTtxcuv TO Oiarpov hSiiq. napa- 524 D ; Xen. Memor. iii. 4. 3.
I.l THE JUDGES. 5 1
rambic and tragic contest, and in a contest of pyrrhic dancers.
On the first occasion he was last but one, on the other two
occasions he was last^ Obviously the tragic poet who had
the misfortune to be associated with Dicaeogenes would have
a very small chance of success. The above examples show
very clearly that the money of the choregus was almost as
important towards securing victory as the genius of the poet.
It is necessary therefore, in criticising the verdicts of the
Athenian judges, to remember that we know nothing of the
circumstances of the different performances, and of the extent
to which the choregus may have been responsible for success or
failure. Possibly if all the facts were known in regard to the
occasions when Sophocles and Euripides were defeated, it would
be found that there was some justification. The best critics^
would attend mainly to the merits of the piece in itself, apart
from the splendour of the accompaniments. But the mass of the
spectators would be dazzled by gorgeous dresses and effective
singing and dancing. And the mass of the spectators had a
great deal to do with the verdict. If they were strongly in
favour of a particular poet, it was difficult for the judges to act in
opposition to their wishes. The judges were liable to prosecu-
tion and imprisonment, if their verdict was supposed to be unjust ;
and the case would of course be tried before a jury chosen from
the very audience they had thwarted ^ It was hardly therefore
to be expected that they would venture to give a verdict in
opposition to the loudly pronounced opinion of the multitude.
That the multitude on occasions made their wishes known
most emphatically, and brought great pressure to bear upon
the judges, is shown by Aelian's account of the first perform-
ance of the Clouds. The story is a fable, but is interesting
as an illustration of the occasional behaviour of an Athenian
audience. It is said that the people were so delighted with the
Clouds, that they applauded the poet more than they had ever
done before, and insisted on the judges placing the name of
Aristophanes first upon the list ^ Such unanimous expressions
* Isaeus V. § 36. ^ Aelian Var. Hist. ii. 13.
2 Aeschin. Ctesiph. § 232.
£ 2
S^ DRAMATIC CONTESTS AT ATHENS. [Ch.
of opinion on the part of the spectators could hardly be re-
sisted by judges who had the fear of prosecution before their
eyes. Plato laments on several occasions the despotism
exercised by the audience in the theatre. In former times,
he says, the verdict was not decided by ' hisses and unmusical
shouts, as at the present day, nor by applause and clapping
of hands,* but the rabble were compelled by the attendants to
keep quiet. In another place he says that the judge should
be the instructor, not the pupil, of the audience, and should
refuse to be intimidated by their shouts into giving a false
verdict. But at the present day, he adds, the decision rests
with the multitude, and is practically decided by pubhc vote,
and the result is the degeneracy of the poets and spectators
alike \ These passages of Plato prove how much the judges
were under the dominion of the audience ; and a general
audience would be especially likely to be carried away by the
splendour of the choregic part of the exhibition, by the music,
dancing, and scenery. But on the whole, in spite of occasional
cases of corruption, and in spite of the despotism of the multitude,
one would be inclined to say, arguing from results, that the
judges performed their duties well. The best proof of their fair-
ness lies in the continued success of Aeschylus and Sophocles,
§ 12. The Prizes.
When the contest was ended, and the decision of the judges
had been announced, the names of the victorious poet and of
his choregus were publicly proclaimed by the herald, and they
were crowned with garlands of ivy in the presence of the spec-
tators. The crowning probably took place upon the stage, and
was performed by the archon ^. There is no mention of any
special prize for the choregus, in addition to the honour of the
crown and the public proclamation of his victory. It is usually
stated that the successful choregus received a tripod from the
^ Plato, Legg. 700C-701 A,659 A-C. hrivaxois \ Aristid. vol. ii. p. 2 (Dindf.)
"^ Alciphron ii. 3 ; Plut. An seni &c. tovtov (XT€(l)avovv koi irpurov dvayopeveiv.
p. 785 B; Athen. p. 217 A arecpavovTai
I.] The prizes. ^^^
state, which he erected upon a monument in some public place,
with an inscription recording his victory. But this was only
the case in the dithyrambic contests. There is no mention or
record of a tripod being bestowed upon the choregus of a
dramatic chorus. All the notices of tripods as the prize of
victory refer to dithyrambic contests \ The memorials of
victory erected by the choregi to the dramatic choruses appear
to have taken the form of tablets, differing in style and cost-
liness according to the wealth and taste of the individuals.
For instance, Themistocles after his victory with a tragic
chorus erected a 'tablet* in honour of the event, as also did
Thrasippus after his victory in the comic contests. It is a trait
in the character of the mean man in Theophrastus, that when
he has been successful with a tragic chorus, he erects merely
a wooden scroll in commemoration of his victory^. It appears
then that the only prize or symbol of victory which was bestowed
upon the choregus to a dramatic chorus was the crown of ivy.
As to the rewards for the poets^ the tradition was that in
the earliest times the prize for tragedy was a goat, the prize
for comedy a basket of figs and a jar of wine ^ After the
dramatic contests had been regularly organised, each of the
competing poets received a payment of money from the state,
differing no doubt in amount, according to the place he gained
in the competition *. Nothing is known as to the value of these
prizes, but it must have been something considerable, as the
^ Dem. Meid, § 5 ; Lysias xxi. § 2 ; c/fcv^s dvaOeffei eKmiScKa fivas. In this
Schol. Aeschin. Timarch. § 11 ; Isaeus last case some article of theatrical cos-
vii. § 40 ; 2nd Arg. to Dem. Meid. p. tume seems to have been dedicated as a
510. The monuments of Lysicrates memorial of the victory. It is known
and Thrasyllus, which were surmounted that masks were occasionally dedicated
with tripods (Stuart and Revett, Anti- in this way by successful actors,
quities of Athens, vol. i. chap. iv. pt. 3, ^ Marmor Par. epp. 39, 43.
vol. ii. p. 31), were in honour of vie- * Schol. Aristoph. Ran. 367 Toj//it(r0oj/
tories with dithyrambic choruses; cp. ruv Kojfiqjduv kfieicuaav -, Eccles. 102 rdv
Corp. Inscr. Gr. 221, 224. fiia9dv rwv -noirjTwv avverefie ; Hesych.
^ Plut.Themist.il 4C 7rtVa«aT^s»'ttf77s y. fxiaOos' to tnaOXov tSjv Kai/iiKu/v . . .
dv€6j]K€. Aristot. Pol, viii. 6 !« rod efxixiaOoi Se ttcVtc ^aav. As the com-
irivaKos bv dvidrjKe &pd(ninros. Theo- petitors in comedy were five, this last
phrast. Char. 22 raivia ^vXivrf. Cp. passage proves that all the competing
Lysias xxi. § 4 KOjfxwSoTs xopr)l<^v 'K.rj(pi- poets received a reward of money.
ooZwp<f) kviicwv, Kal dyr)\ojaa aiiv tjj t^s
54 DRAMATIC CONTESTS AT ATHENS. [Ch.
demands upon the time and energy of the ancient dramatist
were very great. He had not merely to write his plays, but
also to superintend their production. Hence the profession of
the dramatic poet was distinctly an arduous one, and the re-
wards would be correspondingly large. The exact amount is
unknown, but some idea of the scale on which the sums were
graduated, according to the place of each poet in the competi-
tion, may be gathered from the analogy of the dithyrambic
contests instituted by Lycurgus in the Peiraeeus. In these con-
tests not less than three choruses were to take part, and the
prizes were to be ten minae for the first chorus, eight for the
second, and six for the third \ The payment of the dramatic
poets was probably arranged in a somewhat similar proportion.
Towards the end of the fifth century the prizes were reduced
in amount by certain commissioners of the Treasury, named
Archinus and Agyrrhius. Accordingly in the Frogs of Aristo-
phanes these two statesmen are placed in the list of bad men
who are not allowed to join the chorus of the initiated ^ The
fact that all of the competing poets received a reward of money
need cause no surprise. They were the poets chosen, after
selection, to provide the entertainment at the annual festivals.
They were not selected until their plays had been carefully
examined by the archon, and found to be of the requisite
merit. To be allowed to exhibit at all was a considerable
distinction. There was nothing dishonourable for an ordinary
poet in being placed last in the competition. Of course, for
one of the great dramatic writers such a position was regarded
as a disgrace. When Aristophanes was third, it is spoken of
as a distinct rebuff. But to obtain the second place was always
creditable. It is mentioned as a proof of the greatness of
Sophocles that he 'obtained twenty victories and was often
second.* When he was defeated for the first place by Phi-
locles, the disgrace consisted, not in his being second, but in
his being beaten by such an inferior poet ^ At the same time
* Plut. X orat. 842 A. ^ Arg. Aristoph. Nub. ; Vit. Soph.
^ Aristoph. Ran. 367, and Schol. Aristid. vol. ii. p. 344 (Dindf.)
ad loc.
I.] CONTESTS BETWEEN ACTORS. ^^
to be second was never regarded as a 'victory.* The title of
victor was reserved for the first poet. This is proved by the
passage about Sophocles just quoted, and also by the fact that
in the list of victors in the contests at the City Dionysia only
the names of the first poets in the tragic and comic contests are
enumerated. It is clearly owing to an error that the second
poet is sometimes spoken of as a victor \
§ 13. Contests between actors.
In addition to the rewards just mentioned, prizes for acting
were instituted in later times. At first the principal compe-
titors in the dramatic contests were the choregus and the poet.
Upon their efforts the success of a play mainly depended.
It was to them that the rewards of victory were assigned, and it
was their names which were recorded in the public monuments.
But as time went on the profession of the actor gradually in-
creased in importance. Eventually the success of a play came
to depend principally upon the actors. The competition was
extended to them. A prize was offered for the most successful
actor as well as for the most successful poet. The names of
the actors began to be recorded in the public monuments.
The exact date of these innovations is unknown ; but the in-
scriptions prove that the competition between the tragic actors
had become a regular institution by the year 420 b. c. There
is no record of a competition between comic actors before the
year 354 b.c.^ It is therefore probable that the actors' contest
was established in tragedy much sooner than in comedy. At
any rate the importance of the tragic actor began to be re-
cognised at an earlier period than that of the comic actor,
as is proved by the lists of the victors at the City Dionysia.
^ Arg. Aristoph. Vesp. kviKa rrpuTos kp/xrjv XoioKporrjs) is emended by Rose
^iXwvidris. Arg, Nub. ore Kparivos jxkv into hv'iKa "Eppicuv 6 vTroKpiT'^s. If this
eviKa HvTivri, 'Afxei^pias S^ Kovvqi. Arg. were correct, it would prove the exist-
Pax eviKTjae di tw hpapLari 6 iroirjr^s ence of contests between comic actors as
. . . divT€pos 'ApiarocpdvTjs 'EXprqvri. early as 421 B. C. But the emendation is
^ Corp. Inscr. Att. ii. 972. The con- exceedingly doubtful. Dindorf suggests
elusion of the 2nd Arg. to the Pax {to ^AiroWodoipos, ^v'tKa It* ^v vvoKpiT'rjs.
8i dpaiM vneKpivaro 'AiroWodcopos, ^v'lKa
5(5 DRAMATIC CONTESTS AT ATHENS. [Ch.
In the earlier lists belonging to the first half of the fifth century
no actors' names are recorded. The only names given are
those of the choregus and the poet. But after the middle of
the fifth century, in every record of a tragic contest, the name
of the actor begins to be appended, as well as the name of the
poet. On the other hand, there is no mention of a comic actor
even as late as the middle of the fourth century. It follows
that at this period the comic actors were thought much less
worthy of record than the tragic actors ; and it is probable that
the contest in acting was only adopted in comedy after it had
already existed for some time in tragedy. After the middle of
the fourth century competitions in acting became a regular
accompaniment of all dramatic performances whether tragic
or comic \
These contests were limited to the principal actors or prot-
agonists in each play. The subordinate actors, the deuter-
agonist and tritagonist, had nothing to do with them. The
principal actor in a Greek play was a much more important
personage than even the ' star * in a modern company. The
actors in a Greek play were limited to three in number, and
each of them had to play several parts in succession, by means
of changes in dress and mask. Hence the protagonist had to
perform not only the principal part, but also several of the
subordinate ones. Besides this the composition of a Greek
tragedy was designed almost solely with the view of bringing
out into strong relief the character of the principal personage.
The incidents were intended to draw forth his different emo-
tions : the subordinate characters were so many foils to him.
The success of a Greek play depended almost wholly upon the
protagonist. In the ordinary language of the times he was said
to 'act the play,* as if the other performers were of no im-
portance. To take an example from existing inscriptions, it
is recorded that in 341 'Astydamas was victorious with the
Parthenopaeus, acted by Thessalus, and the Lycaon, acted by
Neoptolemus.' This is the regular form of the old records
both in tragedy and comedy. Demosthenes uses similar lan-
1 Corp. Inscr. Att. ii. 971-973, 975.
I.] CONTESTS BETWEEN ACTORS. ^j
guage. Referring to the Phoenix of Euripides, he says that
* Theodorus and Aristodemus never acted this play.* The form
of the language is proof of the overwhelming importance of the
protagonist ^ These considerations will remove any surprise
which might have been felt at the fact of the contest in acting
being confined solely to the principal actor in each play.
As to the nature of the contest, the only other point to be
noticed is that the success of the actor was quite independent
of the success of the play in which he was performing. Thus
in one of the comic contests of the second century the prize for
acting was won by Onesimus. But the play in which he acted,
the Shipwrecked Mariner, only won the second place. The
successful comedy, the Ephesians, was acted by Sophilus. Simi-
larly in the tragic contests of the year 418 the prize for acting
was won by Callippides ; but the poet Callistratus, whose three
tragedies he performed, was only second. The tragedies of the
successful poet were acted by Lysicrates. It will be seen that
in this contest each of the tragic poets had one protagonist all
to himself, and his three plays were performed by the same
actor. This was the usual practice in the tragic contests during
the fifth century. But in the fourth century a new arrangement
was made. All the protagonists acted in turn for all the poets.
If a tragic poet exhibited three plays, each play was performed
by a different protagonist, and the same protagonists appeared
in the plays of his rivals. Under this system the competition
between the actors was necessarily quite independent of that
between the poets. But even in the earlier period of tragedy,
when one actor and one poet were closely associated together,
we have seen that the success of the poet did not imply the
success of the actor. The two competitions were quite separate*
The same was always the case in comedy ^.
The actors' contests which we have hitherto been describing
took place at the performance of new tragedies and comedies,
and existed side by side with contests between poets and
choregi. But there were other occasions in which actors met
^ Corp. Inscr. Att. ii. 973 ; Dem. Fals. Leg. § 246.
2 Corp. Inscr, Att. ii. 975 ^, 972, 973.
58 DRAMATIC CONTESTS AT ATHENS, [Ch.
in competition. The reproduction of old plays generally took
the form of contests between actors. These contests were of
two kinds. In the first kind each actor performed a different
play. At the same time the victory was decided, not by the
merits of the play, but by the skill of the actor. There are
several references to competitions of this sort. For instance,
before the battle of Arginusae, Thrasyllus is said to have
dreamt that he was engaged in a contest in the theatre at
Athens, and that he and his fellow-generals were acting the
Phoenissae of Euripides, while their opponents were acting the
Supplices\ The most frequent occasion for reproductions of
old plays in this manner must have been afforded by the Rural
Dionysia in the different townships of Attica. At most of these
festivals there were dramatic performances, which were gene-
rally confined to the exhibition of old tragedies and comedies.
The town offered a prize for acting, and the leading Athenian
actors came down with their companies and took part in the
competition, each performing a different play. As far as tra-
gedy is concerned, similar contests must have existed at the
Lenaea in later times, after the tragic performances at this
festival had come to be confined to the reproduction of old
plays. But in the case of comedy there are no traces of such
contests at the great Athenian festivals. The fertility of Attic
comedy was so great that there was no deficiency in the pro-
duction of new and original comedies within the period we
have to deal with.
The first then of the two kinds of competitions with old
plays was of the character just described. Each actor per-
formed a different play. The second kind differed from the
first in this respect, that each actor performed the same
play. For instance, Licymnius, the tragic actor, is said
to have defeated Critias and Hippasus in the Propompi of
Aeschylus. Andronicus, another tragic actor, was successful in
the Epigoni on one occasion ; and it is implied that his oppo-
* Diod. Sic. xiii. 97. Of course the Athens in the time of the Peloponnesian
story is an anachronism, as competitions War. But it illustrates the practice of
with old tragedies did not exist at later centuries.
J.] RECORDS OF DRAMATIC CONTESTS. 59
nents acted the same play\ In contests of this description it
is not probable that the whole play was acted by each of the
competitors, but only special portions of it. The contest
would be useful for purposes of selection. It has been shown
that in later times all performances of new tragedies and new
comedies were preceded by the reproduction of a single play by
one of the old poets. The actor who was to have the privilege
of performing the play would have to be selected by the state.
It is very probable that the selection was determined by a com-
petition of the kind we are describing, in which a portion of an
old play was performed by each of the candidates. The con-
tests between comic actors at the Chytri have already been
referred to. Most likely they were of the same description.
§ 14. Records of dramatic contests.
It is difficult in modern times to fully realise the keenness of
the interest with which the various dramatic contests were
regarded by the old Athenians, and the value which was
attached to victories obtained in them. The greatest states-
man was proud to be successful with a chorus in tragedy or
comedy. It was a proof both of his taste and of his muni-
ficence. The tragic poet held as high a place in the popular
estimation as the orator or the general. Victorious competitors
were not content with the mere temporary glory they obtained.
Every care was taken to perpetuate the memory of their success
in a permanent form. Elaborate records were also erected by
the state. A description of the various kinds of memorials, of
which fragments have been preserved, will be a convincing
proof of the enthusiasm with which the drama was regarded in
ancient times.
It may be assumed that from the earliest period records
of the results of the different contests were preserved by the
* Alciphron iii. 48 KaKos KaKws dir6- \ov UpoirofjiiToiis k.t.\. Athen. p. 584 D
\oiTO Kal dcpojvos uij AiKVfxvios TTJs 'AvdpoviKov Si Tov rpaycpSov Ait' ayu/vos
rpayqjdias v-noKpnrjS. ws yap kviKa tovs tivos, kv ^ rovs ''Eniyovovs evrjiiep^Kti,
avTir^xvovs Kpniav tov KKeoovaiov Kal iriveiv {xiWovTOS nap' airy k.t.\.
"Iniraaov rbv ' Aixfipajtiwriju tovs Alax^-
6o DRAMATIC CONTESTS AT ATHENS. [Ch.
state in the public archives. In addition to this, the choregi
in the dramatic competitions were accustomed to erect
monuments of some sort or another in commemoration of their
victory. The inscriptions upon these monuments were of the
briefest character, and consisted merely of the names of the
poet and choregus, and of the archon for the year. Probably in
later times the name of the actor was appended. The following
notice is from the monument erected by Themistocles in honour
of his victory with a tragic chorus in the year 476 b.c.^ : —
Choregus, Themistocles of Phrearria :
Poet, Phrynichus :
Archon, Adeimantus.
In addition to these choregic records, elaborate monuments of
various kinds were erected by the state in or near to the
theatre of Dionysus. Considerable fragments of these monu-
ments have been discovered by recent excavations. They may
be divided into three classes. The first class consisted of
records of all the contests at some one particular festival. Such
records were of the most general description, and consisted
merely of a list of victors' names. Fragments have been dis-
covered of the records of the contests at the City Dionysia
during the fifth and fourth centuries I The style is the same
throughout. The boys' choruses are mentioned first, then the
choruses of men, then comedy, and tragedy last of all. In the
dithyrambic contests the names of the victorious tribe and
choregus are given ; in the dramatic contests the names of the
victorious choregus and poet. The only difference between
the earlier and later portions of the record is that towards the
end of the fifth century the name of the tragic actor begins to
be appended. The following specimen, which refers to the year
458, is of especial interest, since it was in this year that Aeschy-
lus brought out his Orestean tetralogy : —
Archonship of Philocles :
Boys' chorus, tribe Oeneis :
Choregus, Demodocus :
Chorus 01 men, tribe Hippothontis :
Choregus, Euctemon of Eleusis :
^ Phit. Themist. 114C.
2 Corp. Inscr. Att. ii. 971 ; 'E^jy/i. 'ApxaioX. 1886, pt. 4.
I.] RECORDS OF DRAMATIC CONTESTS. 6l
Comedy :
Choregus, Eurycleides :
Poet, Euphronius :
Tragedy :
Choregus, Xenocles of Aphidna :
Poet, Aeschylus.
The second class of public monuments was devoted to the
record of one particular kind of contest at a particular festival.
It went into much greater detail than the class already men-
tioned. Fragments of several monuments of this class have
been preserved. There is part of a record of the tragic
contests at the Lenaea towards the end of the fifth century,
and of the tragic contests at the City Dionysia in the fourth
century. There are fragments of a record of comic contests
in the fourth century, and very considerable remains of a
record of comic contests in the second century \ In these lists
the names of all the competing poets are given, together with
the titles of the plays they produced, and the names of the actors
who performed them. At the end comes the name of the actor
who won the prize for acting. If there was any reproduction of
an old tragedy or comedy, the name of the play is given, together
with the name of the actor. The following specimen is a record
of the tragic contests at the City Dionysia in the year 340 b. c. : —
Archonship of Nicomachus : Satyric Play,
The Lycurgus of Timocles ;
Old Tragedy, actor Neoptolemus :
Play, the Orestes of Euripides :
Poets : Astydamas first
With the Parthenopaeus, actor Thessalus,
The Lycaon, actor Neoptolemus :
Timocles second with the Phrixus,
Actor Thessalus,
The Oedipus, actor Neoptolemus:
Evaretus third
actor Thessalus,
, . . . , actor Neoptolemus :
Prize for acting, Thessalus.
The records of the comic contests are numerous, but in no case
do they extend over a whole year. The general style of them
will be best exemplified by giving the first part of one year's
list, and the last part of another : —
1 Corp. Inscr. Att. ii. 972, 973, 975.
63 DRAMATIC CONTESTS AT ATHENS. [Ch.
Archonship of Xenocles : Old Comedy,
Actor Monimus : Play, Menander's Ghost :
Poets : Paranomus first with . . . ,
Actor, Damon :
Criton second with the Aetolian,
Actor, Monimus :
Biottus third with the Poet,
Actor Damon :
&c., &c.
The following is the termination of another list : —
Sogenes fourth with the Devoted Slave,
Actor Hecataeus :
Philemon the Younger fifth with the Girl of Miletus :
Actor, Crates:
Prize for acting, Onesimus.
The third class of monument was of a different kind alto-
gether. It consisted of lists of tragic and comic actors, and
tragic and comic poets, with numerals after each of them,
denoting the number of victories they had won in the course
of their career. There were separate lists for the City
Dionysia and the Lenaea. There were consequently eight lists
in all, four for each festival. Numerous fragments have been
discovered, but unfortunately the most interesting parts are not
always the best preserved \ Still they throw light upon several
small points in connexion with the drama. One fragment con-
firms the account of Diodorus, that the number of Sophocles'
victories was eighteen. At any rate that is proved to have been
the number of his victories at the City Dionysia. Cratinus is
represented as having won three victories at the City Dionysia
and six at the Lenaea. This tallies exactly with the account of
Suidas, who gives the total number of his victories as nine^
The following specimen is a list of comic poets, with the number
of their victories at the City Dionysia : —
Xenophilus I. Hermippus IIII.
Telecleides V. Phrynichus II.
Aristomenes II. Myrtilus I,
Cratinus III. Eupolis III.
Pherecrates II.
None of the public monuments, of which fragments have been
* Corp. Inscr. Att. ii. 977. ^ Diod. Sic. xiii, 103 ; Suidas v. Kparivos.
I.] RECORDS OF DRAMATIC CONTESTS, 6^
recovered, appear to have been erected before the third century
B.C. But there can be no doubt that similar monuments had
existed at a much earHer period. These records, together with the
choregic inscriptions and the documents in the pubHc archives,
must have been the source from which Aristotle derived the
information contained in his two books about the contests at the
Dionysia. Of these two books the first was called ' Dionysiac
Victories,' and though it is never quoted by ancient writers, it
probably contained the same sort of information as the first and
third classes of public monuments. The other book was called
the ' Didascaliae,* and is very frequently referred to and quoted
from ^ It contained lists of the poets who competed at each
festival, together with the names of the plays they produced.
It was therefore similar to the second class of monuments.
The origin of the title of the book is as follows. ' Didascalia,'
in its dramatic sense, meant originally the teaching and training
of a chorus. It then came to denote the play or group of plays
produced by a poet at a single festival ^. Lastly, it was used to
denote a record of the circumstances of the production of a
play or group of plays. It is in this sense that Aristotle used
it as the title of his book. The work would not be a mere com-
pilation from existing records and monuments. It must have
required some care and research. For instance, when a poet
had his plays brought out vicariously, we cannot doubt that the
name of the nominal author was entered in the public records,
and not that of the real poet. Aristophanes usually brought
out his plays in this manner. Then again a poet's plays were
sometimes brought out after his death in the name of his son.
In these and similar cases it would be the duty of the compiler
of a work like Aristotle's to correct the mistakes of the public
records, and to substitute where necessary the name of the real
poet of the play. Corrections of this kind were no doubt made
by Aristotle and his successors. The Didascaliae of Aristotle
is the ultimate source of our information as to the production
•
^ Diog. Laert. v. i. 26. A complete totle, vol. v. p. 1572.
list of the quotations from Aristotle's ^ See above, p. 21 note; chap. ii. p.
Ai8aaKa\iai is given in Bekker's Aris- 80.
64 DRAMATIC CONTESTS AT ATHENS,
and the success of the plays of the great Athenian dramatists*
Callimachus, the grammarian of Alexandria, wrote a book of
a similar kind, based upon Aristotle's work. It was from Calli-
machus that Aristophanes, the grammarian, derived the in-
formation which he incorporated in his Arguments to the Greek
plays. The existing Arguments are mainly fragments of the
work of Aristophanes. The facts about the production of the
plays are thus ultimately derived from Aristotle \ The authen-
ticity of the information contained in these Arguments has been
strikingly proved by a recent discovery. The list of victors at
the City Dionysia for the year 458, which was dug up at Athens
a year or two ago, tallies in every particular with the facts
recorded in the Argument to the Agamemnon of Aeschylus ^.
^ Suidas V. KaXXifiaxos ; Schol. Aris- Arte Trag. Judic. p. 3 foil,
toph. Nub. 552 ; Etym. Mag. v. irtVo^; ^ 'Ecprjfi. 'ApxaioK. i886, pt. 4. See
Trendelenberg, Grammat. Graec. de above, p. 18.
CHAPTER II.
THE PRODUCTION OF A PLAY.
§ I, The Poets,
It has already been pointed out that the dramatic perform-
ances at Athens were managed entirely by the state. No such
thing was known as for an individual citizen to give an ex-
hibition of plays as a private speculation. The drama was one
of the principal ornaments of the great festivals of Dionysus,
and the regulation of the drama was as much the duty of the
government as the management of a public sacrifice or other
religious ceremonial. Of the two festivals to which dramatic
performances were confined, the Lenaea was superintended
by the archon basileus, while the archon eponymus was re-
sponsible for the City Dionysia ^ These two archons had there-
fore to undertake the general arrangement of the dramatic
exhibitions at their respective festivals. They had not much to
do with the details of preparation. Their functions mainly
consisted in selecting the proper persons, and setting them to
work, and seeing that they performed their duties satisfactorily.
At Athens this was a matter of some complexity. Several
persons had to co-operate in the production of a play. The
expenses of the chorus were defrayed by the choregus, who
fulfilled this duty as one of the public burdens to which the
richer citizens were liable. The play was written, and the
chorus trained, by the poet. The principal actor, at any rate
in later times, was chosen by the state, and assigned to the
poet by lot. It was the duty of the archon to bring together
^ Pollux viii. 89, 90,
F
^fi THE PRODUCTION OF A PLAY. [Ch.
these three persons, the choregus, the poet, and the actor,
and to see that they did not neglect the work of preparation.
It is the object of the present chapter to explain in detail
the system on which these preliminary arrangements were
conducted, as well as the other circumstances which attended
the production of a play at Athens.
When a poet wished to bring out a play, he sent in his
application to the archon. If he was a young poet, he would
probably be content to exhibit at the Lenaea, and would
apply to the archon basileus. The City Dionysia was re-
served for the more distinguished poets. The plays offered
for exhibition were carefully examined by the archon, who
proceeded to select, from among the various applicants, the
number of poets required by the particular festival \ If it
was tragedy at the City Dionysia that he was superintending,
three poets would be chosen. If it was comedy, the number
of poets would be three, or in later times five. When a
poet applied for permission to exhibit, he was said to ^ ask
for a chorus,* because the first step taken by the archon
was to assign him a choregus, who defrayed the expenses of
his chorus. Similarly, when the archon acceded to a poet's
application, he was said to 'grant him a chorus ^.' The number
of applicants must often have been very large, especially for
the City Dionysia; and to decide between their rival claims
would be a task of great delicacy. It appears that the whole
responsibility was thrown upon the archon. It was he who
selected the poets, and assigned the choruses ^ It was in-
evitable that functions of this kind should sometimes have been
performed with partiality and unfairness. An author who had
interest with the archon for the year would have a better
chance of obtaining a chorus than a mere stranger. Mention
^ Suidas V. x^poi/ SiSojfii' ev taw t& victor was reserved for the poet who
(vSoKificTv Kal vikSlv irapa ycip rots ^A9t]- obtained the first place in the competi-
j/atots xopoO eTvyx^^(>^ KwpxuZlas Kal tion. See chap. I, p. 55.
TpayaiBias iToirjTai ov iravres d\ka ol ^ Athen. p. 638 F ; Suidas 1. c.
€v8oKifJi.ovuT€s KOI doKifiadOfVTfs a^ioi. ^ Aristot. Poet. c. 5 ; Cratinus, Bov-
To be allowed to compete was an KiXoi^ frag. I, (Meineke Frag. Com.
honour, but was not regarded as a vie- Gr. ii. p. 27),
tory, as Suidas asserts. The title of
\
II.] ' THE POETS, ^ 6T
is made of an archon who refused a chorus to the great comic
poet Cratinus. Another archon is said to have given a chorus
to one Cleomachus in preference to Sophocles \ The only
check upon such favouritism was public opinion. In a place
like Athens, where the magistrates were entirely at the mercy
of the people, and were subjected to severe scrutiny at the end
of their year of office, it would be impossible for an archon
to disregard public opinion in a very flagrant manner. It is
therefore probable that in most cases the best poets were
chosen.
It is often stated erroneously that there was a law regulating
the age at which poets were permitted to compete. One of the
scholiasts on the Clouds says that no poet was allowed to
exhibit until he had reached the age of thirty. Another
scholiast puts the age at forty or thirty. These are the only
authorities for the existence of any such law^ Their state-
ments upon the point appear to be mere conjectures, invented
to explain the fact that Aristophanes did not at first produce
his plays in his own person. Possibly they were misled by a
confused recollection of the law that no man could be choregus
to a chorus of boys until he had reached the age of forty. In
regard to poets, there cannot have been any law of the kind
they mention. Take the case of Aristophanes. His first play
was the Banqueters, which he brought out in another man's
name in 427, while he was still ' almost a boy.* Three years
later he brought out the Knights in his own name. If he was
almost a boy in 427, he cannot have been anything like thirty
when he exhibited the Knights I The other great poets began
to exhibit at a very early age. Aeschylus was only twenty-five
at the time of his first dramatic contest. Sophocles won his
first tragic victory at the age of twenty-eight. Euripides began
to contend when he was twenty-six *. All that appears to have
been required was that the poet should have reached the age of
twenty, passed his docimasia, and been enrolled in the list of
• ^ Cratinus 1. c. Aristoph. Equites.
"^ Schol. Aristoph. Nub. 510, 530. * Suidas v. Aio-xuAoj ; Mannor Par.
^ Schol. Aristoph. Ran. 504 ; Arg. to ep. 56 ; Vita 1 Eurip.
F 2
68 THE PRODUCTION OF A PLAY. [Ch,
citizens. Before this it is not likely that he would be allowed
to take part in the contests. Eupolis is said to have been only
seventeen when he began to produce comedies. But if this
was really the case, probably his earlier plays were brought out
by friends, and not in his own name ^
It seems to have been not an uncommon practice for a poet
to have his plays produced by a friend, instead of coming
forward in his own person. Various reasons might induce him
to do so. In the first place a young poet might feel diffident
of his powers, and might wish to conceal his identity until he
had tested them by experience. This seems to have been the
reason why the first three plays of Aristophanes, the Ban-
queters, the Babylonians, and the Acharnians, were produced
by Callistratus ^ Aristophanes did not come forward in his
own name till the year 424, when he brought out his Knights.
In the parabasis of this play he explains at some length the
reasons which induced him to keep in the background at first.
His reasons were partly the difficulty of writing comedies,
partly the fickleness of the Athenians, partly a feeling that
one ought to proceed warily in the business, and advance by
slow degrees, just as the steersman of a ship begins by serving
as a common oarsman. He says nothing about any law which
would have prevented him producing his early plays in his
own name, but ascribes his conduct entirely to youthful
modesty. Referring to the same subject in the Clouds he
expresses similar ideas in a metaphorical way, by saying that at
the time when the Banqueters came out his Muse was still a
virgin, and too young to have a child of her own^ One
reason then for this vicarious production of plays was merely
the diffidence of youth, and a desire to make the first experiments
anonymously. A second and quite a different motive was that
which actuated old poets, when they allowed their sons to
bring out their plays, and have the credit of the authorship, in
^ Suidas V. EuTroXts. S^/zos ; Arg. Aristoph. Acharn.
2 Schol. Aristoph. Nub. 531; Anon. ^ Aristoph. Equit. 512-544, Nub.
de Comoed. (Dindorf, Prolegom. de 528-531.
Comoed. p. 24) ; Suidas v. Xa/juuv 6
11.] THE POETS. 69
order to give them a successful start in their dramatic career,
Aristophanes for this reason entrusted to his son Araros the
production of his two latest comedies. lophon also was sus-
pected of exhibiting in his own name the tragedies of his father
Sophocles \ A third case was that in which wealthy citizens,
who had a wish for poetical distinction, bought plays from
needy authors, and exhibited them as their own. Plato, the
poet of the Old Comedy, is said to have been compelled by
poverty to sell his comedies in this manner \ A fourth
reason was probably the desire to avoid the labour and the
trouble of bringing out a play. The earlier dramatic poets
were stage-managers as well as authors, and the superintend-
ence of the production of a play was part of the business
of their profession. But in later times when play-writing had
a tendency to become more entirely a literary pursuit, authors
appear to have entrusted their plays to friends who had more
experience in theatrical affairs. It is true that a professional
trainer might be procured, who thoroughly understood the
business of producing a play. But still a certain amount of
trouble and responsibility must have devolved upon the person
in whose name the play was brought out, and to whom the
archon granted the chorus. It was most likely some reason of
this kind which induced the tragic poet Aphareus never to
bring out his plays in his own name^ He was quite as much a
rhetorician as a dramatist, and probably knew nothing at all
about the details of stage-management. Though he exhibited
tragedies on eight occasions, they were always entrusted for
production to a friend. A similar reason may have induced
Aristophanes, during the middle of his career, to entrust so
many of his plays to Callistratus and Philonides. For in-
stance, the Birds and the Lysistrata were exhibited by
Callistratus, the Wasps, the Proagon, the Frogs, and the
Amphiaraus by Philonides*. In addition to the examples
already mentioned there are other instances of vicarious pro^
1 Arg. to Aristoph. Plutus ; Schol. ^ Pliit. X orat. 839 D.
Aristoph. Ran. 73. * Args. to Aristoph. Av., Lysist.,
^ Suidas V, 'ApKaSas itifiov^ivoi, Vesp., Ran.
70 THE PRODUCTION OF A PLAY. [Ch.
duction, where it is very difficult to discover what the motives
really were. Philip, one of the sons of Aristophanes, is said to
have ' frequently competed with plays of Eubulus.* The Auto-
lycus of Eupolis was brought out by an obscure poet called
Demostratus\ In these cases there may have been special
circumstances which are unknown to us. But as far as our
information goes, the only plausible reasons for having plays
brought out vicariously appear to be the four already men-
tioned, the timidity of youth, the stress of poverty, kindness
towards a relative, or the desire to escape responsibility.
Other reasons have been suggested. For instance it has been
conjectured that on certain occasions a poet's friend might
have a better chance than the poet himself of obtaining a
chorus from the archon. But there does not seem to be much
plausibility in the suggestion. No one would be more likely
to obtain a chorus from the archon than a poet of well-
established reputation. The reasons already given are the
only ones which stand the test of examination.
As to the relationship between the poet and the friend who
produced his plays for him a few points require to be noticed.
It was the nominal poet who made the application to the archon,
received the chorus, and undertook the whole responsibility \
At the same time it appears that the name of the real poet was
often perfectly well known. Of course if secrecy was an object,
this would not be so. When a father gave his plays to his son,
he kept his own name concealed. The real authorship was
only revealed in later times. lophon was merely suspected of
having competed with the plays of his father Sophocles, and
was not known for certain to have done so. But in other
instances the real poet was known from the very first. Aristo-
phanes in the Knights says that many people had been asking
him why he gave his plays to Callistratus, and did not ask for
a chorus in his own name. Again in the Wasps, which was
brought out by Philonides, the chorus refer to the author of
^ Vit. Aristoph. (Dindf. Prolegom. de BaviiA^uv vfiwv (prjffiv iroWovs avrw
Comoed. p. 39); Athen. p. 216 D. TrpoaiovTas, \ KalPaaavl^eiVfWsovxlrrdXcu
^Aristoph. Equit. 512, 513 d 5^ x^poj' aiTot?/ /cad' lavroj' tf.T.A.
11.] APPOINTMENT OF CHOREGL 71
the play in terms which are only applicable to Aristophanes \
It follows that from the very first the real authorship q{ the
plays of Aristophanes was more or less an open secret. Hence
it is most likely that when the author of the Babylonians was
prosecuted by Cleon, it was the real author Aristophanes, and
not the nominal author Callistratus, who was attacked. At the
same time the nominal author was the one officially recognised
by the state. There can be no doubt that it was his name
which was entered as victor in the public archives, and that he
received the prize and the other rewards of victory, such as
the public proclamation and the crown. The existing dida-
scaliae in cascb of vicarious production give the name of the
real author, with a note to the effect that the play was actually
brought out by such and such a person. This can hardly have
been the form adopted originally in the public records, but
must be due to the corrections of Aristotle and his successors.
§ 2. Appointment of the Choregt.
To return to the preliminary arrangements in connexion
with the dramatic exhibitions. For every play or group of
plays a choregus was required to provide and pay for the
chorus. The appointment of the choregi was a matter for
which the archon was responsible'''. For the dithyrambic
contests each tribe was bound to provide one choregus.
These contests, as was pointed out in the last chapter, were
essentially a tribal affair. There were five choruses of boys
and five choruses of men ; and each of the ten tribes took part
in the contest, and provided one choregus and one chorus.
But it is a mistake to apply the same system to the tragic and
comic choruses, and to suppose, as is usually done, that each
tribe had to supply a choregus for tragedy and comedy as well.
The dramatic contests had nothing to do with the tribes, but
were contests between individuals. Consequently the choregi
were chosen without distinction from the whole body of the
citizens, and were not specially appointed by the tribes.
^ Aristoph. Equites I.e., Vespae 1016-1022. * Demosth. Meid. § 13. .
7a THE PRODUCTION OF A PLAY. [Ch.
Whenever a man is said to have been choregus for his tribe,
it is a chorus of boys or men that is referred to, and not a
dramatic chorus \ If each of the ten tribes had suppHed a
choregus for the dramatic choruses, there would have been
more of them than was necessary, since the number of tragic
and comic choruses at any one festival was never more than
eight, and in early times was only six or five. As far then as
tragedy and comedy are concerned, the choregi were chosen,
without any distinction of tribe, from the general body of
citizens. The dramatic choregia was a burden, which, like the
other public burdens, had to be undertaken in turn by the
members of the wealthier Classes. The order was fixed by
law. But a man of more than usual ambition or generosity
might volunteer for the office of choregus out of his proper
turn. The defendant in one of the speeches of Lysias points
out that he had been choregus to no less than eight choruses
in a space of nine years, in addition to such expenses as the
war-tax and the trierarchy. He adds that if he had only
undertaken such burdens as he was compelled to perform by
law, he would not have spent a quarter of the money^
A man was liable to be selected as choregus as soon as he
had reached the age of twenty, and been enrolled as a full
citizen. The defendant in the speech of Lysias just referred
to passed his docimasia in the archonship of Theopompus, and
in that very same year he acted as choregus to a tragic chorus,
and to a chorus of men ^ There was a law that no one should
be choregus to a boys' chorus till he had reached the age of
forty. But this law had nothing to do with the choruses of men,
Or the choruses in tragedy or comedy*. There was occasion-
ally some difficulty in finding a sufficient number of rich men to
fill the office. In the time of Demosthenes the tribe Pandionis
was for three years unable to supply a choregus for the dithy-
rambic contests. At a much earlier period, towards the end of
^ Demosth. Meid. § 13; Plut. X ^ Lysias orat. xxi. §§ 1-5.
orat. 835 B ; Isaeus orat. v. § 36, ^ Lysias 1. c.
where to be choregus to one's tribe is * Aeschin. Timarch. §§ 11, 12 ; Har-
contrasted with being choregus to a pocrat. v. oti vofios.
tragic chorus. Corp. Inscr. Gr. 2 24, &c.
II.] APPOINTMENT OF CHOREGf, T^
the Peloponnesian War, when there had been long and heavy
drains upon the resources of the state, it was found necessary
to lighten the burden of the choregia. Accordingly in 406 a
law was passed enacting that each dramatic chorus at the City
Dionysia should be provided by two choregi instead of one.
Thus the cost to individuals was diminished by half\ The
same law was probably passed in reference to the choruses at
the Lenaea. It was only a temporary expedient, due to the
distress caused by the Peloponnesian War. At any rate there
are several instances in later times of single individuals acting
as choregi to tragic choruses. For example, a certain AristO'
phanes was tragic choregus twice, Meidias once^. Towards
the end of the fourth century, or the beginning of the third,
the choregia was abolished altogether. A new system was
introduced in its stead. The providing and the training of
all the choruses was undertaken by the state, and an officer
called the Agonothetes was elected annually to carry out the
arrangements. His duties would mainly consist in providing
the dithyrambic choruses. By the beginning of the third
century the chorus had practically disappeared from comedy.
Tragedy at Athens was in most cases confined to the reprO'
duction of old plays, and it is very doubtful whether in these
reproductions the chorus was retained in its integrity. Such
dramatic choruses as were still required in this late period were
provided by the Agonothetes, acting as the representative of
the people ^
When the archon had selected the poets whose plays were to
be performed at the approaching festiv^al, and the list had been
made up of the choregi who were to supply the choruses, the
next thing to be done was to arrange the choregi and poets
together in pairs. Each choregus had one poet assigned to
him, for whose chorus he was responsible. There is no defi-
nite information as to the manner in which this arrangement
^ Demosth. Meid. § 13; Schol. Aris- ^ Corp. Inscr. Gr. 225, 226; Corp.
toph. Ran. 406. Inscr. Att. ii. 302, 307, 314, 331 ;
^ Lysias orat. xix. §§ 29, 42 ; Dem. Kohler's article in Mittheil, des deut.
Meid. § 156. arch, Inst. iii. p. 231 ff.
74 THE PRODUCTION OF A PLAY. [Ch.
was carried out in the case of tragic and comic choruses. But
in the case of the dithyrambic choruses there are full accounts
of the manner in which similar arrangements were made ; and
it will not be difficult, from the analogy of these proceedings, to
form a fairly clear conception of the proceedings in regard to
tragedy and comedy. Every dithyrambic chorus required a
flute-player. These flute-players were first selected by the
state, and then distributed among the different choregi. Some
time before the festival a meeting of the ecclesia was held, at
which the distribution took place under the superintendence of
the archon. The proceedings were quite public, and any
Athenian citizen who wished could be present. The system
was as follows. There were of course ten choregi and ten
flute-players. The choregi first drew lots for order of choice,
and then each chose his own flute-player. The choregus who
had obtained the privilege of choosing first selected the flute-
player whom he considered to be the best of the ten. So they
went on till all the flute-players were chosen. The scene was
a lively one. The success of the choregus, and in consequence
the success of his tribe, depended to a certain extent upon his
luck in getting a good or bad flute-player. Hence the whole
process was followed with the greatest interest by the crowds
of spectators present. As each lot was drawn, the result was
greeted with expressions of triumph or disappointment by the
partisans of the different choregi ^ The above information is
derived from the account given by Demosthenes, in the speech
against Meidias, of the preliminary arrangements for the dithy-
rambic contests. Nothing is there said about the choice or
assignation of the poets. Probably in this contest only old dithy-
rambs were reproduced, and there were no poets to be assigned.
That such was often the case is proved by inscriptions ^ But
* Demosth. Meid. §§ 13, 14; 2nd the dithyramb performed was the Elpe-
Arg. to Meidias, p. 510. nor of the celebrated poet Timotheus.
^ Mittheil. desdeut. arch.Inst. x.p. 231 When old dithyrambs were performed,
IHiKias NtKoSrjfjLov3un€Taiojvdv€0i]K€viKri- and no poet was necessary, a profes-
aas xop-q-yoji/ Ke/epoTriSi iraiSuv Tlavra- sional trainer was hired to look after
Kiaiv ^iKvuvios r}v\€f aafia 'E\irrjvup the chorus. Such was the SiMcKaXos
TifioOfov Niaixfios ^px^v- In this case mentioned by Demosthenes (Meid. § 17)1.
II.] THE SELECTION OF THE ACTORS. 75
when the contest was with original dithyrambs, and poets were
required, they seem to have been allotted to the choregi in much
the same manner as the flute-players. The defendant in one
of the speeches of Antiphon says that, when he was choregus
to a chorus of boys at the Thargelia, the poet Pantacles was
assigned to him by lot \ The system then in the case of the
dithyrambic choruses was that at a meeting of the ecclesia, held
under the superintendence of the archon, the choregi drew lots
for the flute-players, and (where necessary) for the poets.
Probably much the same system was adopted in tragedy and
comedy. Some time before the festival the choregi would
meet, and after the order of choice had been determined by
lot, each choregus would choose his poet. Quite as much
depended upon this allotment, in the case of tragedy and
comedy, as in the case of the dithyrambic contests. A choregus
who obtained an inferior poet would be heavily handicapped in
the competition ; and a poet who was joined to a mean and
unambitious choregus would be equally unfortunate. If a
matter of such importance had been left to be decided by
individual will, it would have given endless opportunities for
unfairness and favouritism. The best precaution against such
an evil was to arrange the matter by lot.
§ 3. Selection of the Actors.
Poets and choregi having been associated together in pairs,
there still remained the selection and appointment of the actors.
The manner in which they were appointed differed very consi-
derably at different periods. To take the case of tragic actors
first. Before the time of Aeschylus, when tragedy was more
* Antiphon orat. vi. §11 t-nn'bri hiSjvrfruvrpaycfhiojv.'AvTiipojvlv Tunrtpl
Xoprjybs KaT«TTa6r]v fls (dapyrjXia Kal tov xop^vrov' eXaxov, <prj<n, HavraKXia
fkaxov HavraKXea diSdcKaXov k.t.K. SiddcrKaKov on yap 6 IlavTaK\7Js iroirjTrjs,
Pantacles was a poet, and not a mere 5(5tiXo}K€v 'ApiaroreXrjs kv rah AiSaffna-
trainer of choruses, like the 8i8d<TKaKos \iais. When there was a poet, a pro-
hired by Demosthenes. This is proved fessional trainer was not usually required,
by a passage in Etym. Mag. v. SiddaKa- The poet undertook the training of the
\os' iSiusSidaaKoKovsKeyovaivoi^ATriKol chorus.
TOVS irOlTJTCLS TUV dlOvjMfi^OJV Tj TOIV KMfM^-
^6 THE PRODUCTION OF A PLA F. [Ch.
a lyrical than a dramatic performance, consisting of long choral
odes interspersed with recitatives, actors did not exist as a
separate class. Only one actor was required in each play, and
his part was taken by the poet\ But when Aeschylus increased
the number of actors to two, and converted tragedy from a
lyrical into a dramatic form of art, the poets ceased to perform
in their own plays, and the actor's profession came into exist-
ence. For the next fifty years or so it does not appear that the
state took any part in the selection of the actors. It left the
matter in the hands of the poets. Particular actors are found
to have been permanently connected with particular poets.
Aeschylus is said to have first employed Cleander as his actor,
and to have afterwards associated a second actor with him
in the person of Mynniscus. Tlepolemus acted continuously
for Sophocles. It is stated, on the authority of Ister, that
Sophocles was accustomed to write his plays with a view to
the capacities of his actors ^ This story, whether true or
not, shows that he chose his actors himself, at any rate during
the earlier part of his career. But long before the end of the
fifth century the system was altogether changed. As the
actors grew in importance their selection was no longer left
to the choice of individual poets, but was undertaken by the
state. The actors chosen by the state were distributed among
the poets by lot. Towards the end of the fifth century we
no longer hear of particular poets and actors being perma-
nently connected together. The statement of Thomas Magister,
that Cephisophon was the actor of Euripides, appears to
be a mere conjecture, as Cephisophon is nowhere else de-
scribed in that way. Under the new arrangement the mode of
distribution was as follows. Three protagonists were first of
all selected by the archon. There is no information as to the
way in which they were selected. They may have been chosen
by means of a small competition, similar to that between comic
actors at the Chytri. The subordinate actors were not chosen
by the state, but each protagonist was allowed to provide his
* Aristot. Rhet. iii. i.
^ Vit. Aeschyl. ; Schol. Aristoph. Clouds 1267 ; Vit. Soph, and Eurip.
II.] THE SELECTION OF THE ACTORS. 77
own deuteragonist and tritagonist. When the three leading
actors had been chosen they were assigned to the three com-
peting tragic poets by lot. Probably the system was the same
as in the assignation of the flute-players to the dithyrambic
choruses. The poets would first draw lots for order of choice,
and then each poet would choose his actor. The actor per-
formed all the tragedies of the poet to whom he was allotted.^
Thus in 418 the three tragedies of Callistratus were acted by
Callippides ; the three tragedies of his rival were acted by
Lysicrates. The actor who won the prize for acting was per-
mitted to compete as a matter of course at the next festival
without having to submit to the process of selection by the
archon. Such was the system adopted during the latter half
of the fifth century \ How long it lasted cannot be deter-
mined ; but when we come to the middle of the fourth century,
a further alteration is found to have been introduced. By
this time the importance of the actors had increased to a still
greater extent. In fact, Aristotle says that in his day the
success of a play depended much more upon the actor than
the poet^ It was probably felt that under the old arrangement
the poet who obtained by lot the greatest actor had an unfair
advantage over his rivals. A new system was therefore intro-
duced, by which the talents of the actors were divided with
perfect equality among the poets. Each tragedy was performed
^ Suidas V. v^ixrjaus vnoKpiTwv' 01 each tragic contest, and not the three
iroiijTal kXdfifiavov rpeis viroKpiras KX-qpcp actors required by each poet. This is
ve/xr]9evTas, vnoKpivofiifovs ra dpafmra' proved by the words cSf oviKrjcas, which
S)v 6 viKTjaas els Tovniov dfcpiTos irapaXafi- imply that the three actors mentioned
pdverai. The interpretation of this all took part in the actors' contest. But
passage had long been a mystery ; but the actors' contest was limited to the
the discovery of the existence of an protagonists ; the subordinate actors
actors' contest, side by side with that had nothing to do with it. See chapter
between the poets, has made the matter I, p. 56. Moreover, it is known that in
comparatively clear. Obviously 6 vlkt]- the time of Demosthenes the subordin-
d-as denotes, not the victorious poet, ate actors were hired by the protago-
nor yet the actor who acted for him, nists ; and this was probably the case
but the actor who won the prize for at a much earlier period. Cp. Demosth.
acting. ToviTiov apparently means ' the Fals. Leg. § 10 cx'"*' "lax^^^pov rbv
next festival.' The victorious actor was NioiTToXifiov SevTepaycovKXTrjv, Ibid,
allowed to act at the next festival as a § 246 ; de Cor. § 262.
matter of course. The ' three actors ' ^ Aristot Rhet. iii. i ,
are the three protagonists required at
78 THE PRODUCTION OF A PLAY, [Ch.
by a separate actor. All the actors appeared in turn in the
service of each of the poets. Thus in 341 Astydamas exhibited
three tragedies. His Achilles was acted by Thessalus, his
Athamas by Neoptolemus, his Antigone by Athenodorus. The
three tragedies of each of his competitors were performed by
the same three actors \ By this arrangement no poet had any
advantage over his rivals, but as far as the excellence of the
actors was concerned all were on exactly the same level. The
system just described appears to have been retained without
alteration during the remaining period of Attic tragedy.
The mode of distributing the actors in comed}^ was much the
same as that in tragedy. During the earlier part of the fifth
century the poets were left to choose their own actors. Thus the
comic poet Crates is said to have begun his career as actor to
Cratinus. But in later times no instances are to be found of
comic actors being permanently connected with particular poets.
The story that Philonides and Callistratus were actors of Aristo-
phanes is a mere fiction of one of the old commentators, based
upon a misunderstanding ^ It is evident, therefore, that the
state began to undertake the selection and appointment of the
comic actors about the same time that a corresponding change
was made in regard to tragedy. No doubt the mode of distri-
bution was identical. The actors were first appointed by the
state, and the poets then drew lots for them. As the comic
poets competed with single plays, only one method of distribu-
tion was possible, and there was no need of the further alter-
ation which was afterwards made in tragedy. The number of
poets in the comic contests was originally three, and in later
times five. A corresponding number of actors would be re-
quired. Sometimes however a smaller number was selected,
and one actor appeared in two comedies. In 353 Aristomachus
was the actor assigned both to Simylus and Diodorus. In later
times Damon is found occasionally acting in two comedies at
^ Corp. Inscr, Att. ii. 973. certain plays of Aristophanes were
^ Schol. Aristoph. Equit. 534 ; brought out by Philonides and Callis-
Vita Aristoph. (Dindf. Prolegom. de tratus (ISiSdx^'? Sta ^CK(avihov k.t.\.),
Comoed. p. 36). The commentator, concluded that these persons were
misunderstanding the expression that actors.
II.] THE TRAINING OF THE CHORUS. 79
the same competition \ It is not likely that such a course was
adopted except on occasions when it was impossible to obtain
five comic actors of fairly equal merit.
§ 4. The training of the Chorus.
The archon had now for the present finished his part of the
business. He had seen that the proper number of poets, actors,
and choregi had been chosen. He had seen that each choregus
was provided with his own poet and actor. It was now the
duty of choregus and poet to attend to the subsequent pre-
parations. The choregus was responsible for the selection and
payment of the chorus. He had also to provide a room for
them to rehearse in ^ Very little is known concerning the
relations between the choregus and his chorus. Such few
details as have been recorded refer rather to the dithyrambic,
than to the dramatic, choruses. The dithyrambic contests were
contests between the tribes, and each dithyrambic chorus was
selected exclusively from the tribe which it represented in the
competition. Each tribe had a specially appointed agent, who
was employed by the choregus to collect his chorus for him'.
But the drama had nothing to do with the tribes, and there was
no limitation upon the selection of the dramatic choruses.
Aristotle happens in one place to remark that a tragic and
a comic chorus often consisted of much the same individual
members \ It is quite clear, therefore, that the dramatic
choruses were chosen from the general body of citizens, and
not from particular tribes, and that a man might serve in two
of these choruses at the same time. There was probably
a class of professional singers who made their livelihood by
serving in the dramatic choruses. A rich choregus would have
a great advantage over his rivals by offering higher pay, and so
securing better singers. The stories about the boarding and
1 Corp. Inscr. Att. ii. 972, 975 c and^T. Pollux iv. 106, ix. 42).
2 Xen. Hiero ix. 4, Resp. Athen. i. ^ Antiphon orat. vi. §§ 11-13 ; Pollux
13. The training room was called iv.io6. The agent was called xo/JoA-c/fTT/s.
bi^cKaKuov (Antiphon orat. vi. § 11), * Aristot. Pol. iii. 3.
or x°Pni^^^^ (Bekk. Anecd. p. 72, 17 ;
Hq THE PRODUCTION OF A PLAY, [Ch.
lodging of the choreutae also refer mainly to the dithyrambic
choruses. The choregus in Antiphon's speech lodged his
chorus in his own house, and gave special directions that every
delicacy which was ordered by the trainer should be provided
for them. But this was a chorus of boys. The professionals
who served in the dramatic choruses are not likely to have been
lodged in the house of the choregus, especially as they were
often in the service of two choregi at the same time. However,
it seems that the diet of the choruses was well attended to, so
that the members should appear in the best possible condition
on the day of the contests. Plutarch mentions eels, lettuce,
garlic, and cheese as delicacies provided for the choruses. The
appetite of the Attic choreutae passed into a proverb \
During the earlier period of the Athenian drama the principal
part in the training and instruction of the chorus was under-
taken by the poet himself In fact, the regular name at Athens
for a dramatic or dithyrambic poet was didaskalos, or *the
teacher,* owing to the part he took in teaching his play or
poem to the chorus. In the same way, when a poet brought
out a tragedy or a comedy, the technical expression was that
he 'taught* such and such a play. The play, or group
of plays, exhibited by a single poet was called a ' teaching ^'
In addition to the evidence supplied by these expres-
sions, there is also no lack of direct testimony as to the
important part taken by the older poets in the production of
their plays. In fact, they were quite as much stage-managers as
poets. The older dramatic writers, such as Thespis, Pratinas,
Cratinus, and Phrynichus, were called Mancers,' not only
because of the prominent part which the chorus and the
dancing filled in their plays, but also because they gave in-
struction in choric dancing. Aeschylus is said to have
^ Antiphon I.e. ; Plutarch Glor. Anthol. Pal. vii. 37 (of a mask of An-
Athen. 349 A ; Suidas v. (papvyyivSrjv ws tigone or Electra) l« voirjs ijSe Sida-
dpiaTivSrjv OKwirrovTis yap r^v yaarpi- (TKaKiTjs ; Plut. Pericles 154 E d\\' "Icova
fiapyiav jSiV xop^vraiv 'Attikoi ovtoj fikv uffirep rpayiK^v SidacKaXiav d^iovvra
Kiyovai. rfjv dper^v cx^ti' Ti iravTcos Koi ffarvpiKov
' Suidas V. SiSdffKaXos ; Aristoph. fxepos Iwficv,
Ran, 1026 fJra diSd^as Utpaas k.t.\.
II,] THE TRAINING OF THE CHORUS, 8r
superintended personally the whole of the training of his
choruses, and to have invented many new dances and move-
ments for them. His innovations in regard to the scenery and
the dresses of the actors entirely transformed the outward
appearance of the drama \ This intimate connexion between
the poet and the stage, between the literary and the theatrical
part of dramatic production, continued to exist during the great
period of Athenian drama. Sophocles appeared personally in
some of his plays. In the Thamyris he played the harp. In
the Nausicaa he won great applause by the skill with which he
played ball in the scene where Nausicaa is sporting with her
maidens ^ Euripides also seems to have superintended the
training of his choruses in person, as there is a story in
Plutarch which represents him as singing over one of his odes
to the choreutae ^
Originally then the principal part of the training was done
by the poet himself He was assisted in his task by a subor-
dinate, who looked after the routine part of the work, and
was called a hypodidaskalos, or ^assistant teacher.' This was
the proper term to denote the professional trainer, as opposed to
the didaskalos, or poet ^ But towards the end of the fifth and
the beginning of the fourth century the practice in these matters
underwent a change. Poetry and stage-management began to
be sharply discriminated from one another. A class of literary
dramatic writers arose, such as Theodectes and Aphareus, who
were quite as much rhetoricians as poets. They knew nothing
about the details of training a chorus, or preparing a play for
representation. Under these circumstances the greater part of
the management was undertaken by the professional trainer.
The term didaskalos, which had originally been confined to the
poet, was now applied to these hired trainers ^ A class of men
came into existence who made it their business to look after the
instruction of choruses. One of these, named Sannio, is men-
^ Athen. pp. 21 C, 22 A; Vit. Ae- * Photius v. i/rroSiSd<r«aAos ; Plat. Ion
schyli; Philostrat. Vit. Apol. vi. 11 p. 536 A.
(vol. i. p. 220, ed. Kayser). ^ Thus the trainer hired by Demo-
" Eustath. Odyss. p. 1553. sthenesfor his chorus is called 5tSa(ryfa\os,
3 Plut. De Andiendo, 46 B. Dem. Meid. § 17.
G
Hz THE PRODUCTION OF A PLAY, [Ch.
tioned by Demosthenes, and was celebrated for his skill in
training tragic choruses. These professional trainers were
hired and paid by the choregus. A rich choregus had a great
advantage in being able to secure the most skilful trainer.
Socrates mentions the case of a certain choregus called Anti-
sthenes, who knew little or nothing about music and choruses
himself, but was always successful in his competitions, because
he took care to provide himself with the very best trainers
procurable \ It is obvious that in these later times, when the
poets ceased to attend to the details of stage-management, the
importance of the professional trainers must have very much
increased. The hiring of a good trainer would be one of the
first conditions of success.
§ 5. Expenses of the Choregia.
It will now be possible to form some conception of the
expenses which the choregus had to meet. The principal
item was the hire of the chorus during the whole period of
training. This part of the expenditure was borne entirely by
the choregus without any assistance from the stated Then
again, he had to provide an instructor for his chorus. As the
competition between rich choregi was of the keenest character,
the services of a really good instructor must have been ex-
pensive. In the third place, a flute-player was required. In
the dithyrambic choruses the flute-players were selected by the
^ Dem. Meid. §§ 58, 59 ; Xen. Mem. to be merely a loose way of saying that
iii. 4. 3. the dramatic choruses were provided by
^ Xen. Resp. Athen. i. 13 xop'/Touo't choregi appointed by the state. The
{ikv ot irXovaioi, xopr)yHTai Se 6 Brj/xos . . . author of the 2nd Arg. to the Meidias
a^ioi ovv dpyvpiov Xajxfiavnv 6 drjfios koi says that the choregus 'received sums of
aSojv Kal rpixojv koX dpxovfjLfvos . . . i'va money for the support of the chorus.'
avTus T6 (XV '^°-'- 0*' TrXovcnoi Trevearcpoi But his authority is of the v^'eakest
yiyvojVTai. First Arg. to Demosth. description. He is utterly mistaken as
Meidias, p. 509 x^pvyos . . . ora dvaKw- to the Dionysiac festivals, imagining
fxara nap^xajv to. inpl rbv xopov. Plut. that the Great Dionysia was a triennial
Glor. Athen. 349 B. The statement of affair, as opposed to the Small or annual
the Scholiast on Dionysius Thrax celebration. Hence his testimony is of
(Bekk, Anecd. p. 746), that every comic no value in the face of other authori-
and tragic poet was supplied with a ties,
chorus ' supported by the state,' appears
I
il,l THE EXPENSES OF THE CHOREGIA. 83
state, and assigned by lot to the choregi. There is no evidence
to show whether the flute-player of a dramatic chorus was
chosen by the choregus or by the state ; but in any case the
choregus would have to pay his salary. Fourthly, the various
mute characters that appeared upon the stage, such as the at-
tendants upon kings and queens, were supplied by the choregus.
This is proved by the story in Plutarch of a tragedian at Athens
who was going to act the part of a queen, and who refused to
perform unless the choregus would provide him with a train of
female attendants dressed in expensive fashion \ The number
and splendour of the mute characters would add greatly to
the magnificence of the spectacle, and form a considerable item
in the expenses of a wealthy choregus. It is also probable that
in early times, when the actors were chosen by the poets, their
salary was paid by the choregus. But later the selection
and payment of the actors were undertaken entirely by the
stated The principal part then of the expenditure of the
choregus consisted in paying the salaries of the various per-
sons just mentioned. In addition to this, he had to provide
the dresses of the chorus, which were often very magnificent.
For example, the comic poet Antiphanes mentions the case of
a choregus who ruined himself by dressing his chorus in gold.
Demosthenes supplied his chorus of men with golden crowns ^
Sometimes the love of splendour degenerated into mere vulgar
ostentation. Unnecessary magnificence in the appointments of
a comic chorus is mentioned by Aristotle as a proof of vul-
garity. On the other hand, economical choregi saved expense
by hiring second-hand dresses from the dealers in theatrical
costumes *. Another item in the expenses of the choregia was
the supply of dresses for the various mute characters and
subordinate personages. With the dresses of the actors them-
selves the choregus had probably nothing to do. As for the
^ Plut. Phocion. p. 750 C. ^ Antiphanes apud Athen. p. 103 E;
^ The actors were assigned by the Dem Meid. § 16.
state to the poets, and jjot to the * Aristot. Eth. Nic. iv. 6 ; Pollux vii.
choregi : hence it is quite clear that in 78 rom 5c ra.^ kaOrJTas d-nofMaOovvras
later times the choregi did not pay for roTi x'^PVf'^^^ ot f^ev vioi IfuiTiofxiaOas
them. See Suidas v. ve^rfaeis vnoKpiruiv. IkoXovv, ol h\ naXaiol ifxaTiofJuadcuTas.
G 2
84 THE PRODUCTION OF A PLAY. [Ch.
ordinary kinds of scenery, they were part of the permanent
fixtures of the theatre, and would be provided by the lessee.
But when anything very special in the way of scenery was
required by the necessities of a particular play, it is most
probable that the expenses in such cases were borne by the
choregus. As far, then, as can be gathered from ancient
notices, the expenses of the choregia consisted in the hire of
the chorus, the instructor, the flute-player, and the mute cha-
racters ; in providing dresses for the chorus and the mute
characters ; and in supplying such exceptional scenery as the
theatre did not possess.
A choregus who was anxious for victory, and who was
ready to spend money over the production of the play,
would easily be put to very considerable expense. The
defendant in one of the speeches of Lysias gives some in-
teresting details about the expenses of the different kinds
of choruses. He is enumerating the various public burdens
which he undertook since he was enrolled as a citizen,
and the amount of money which he spent upon each of them.
A tragic chorus cost him thirty minae. He spent sixteen minae
upon a comic chorus, and fifteen upon a chorus of boys. It
follows that a comic chorus was only about half as expensive as
a tragic one, and cost about the same as a chorus of boys. On
the other hand, a chorus of men at the City Dionysia cost fifty
minae. These figures bear out the statement of Demosthenes,
that a chorus of men was much more expensive than a tragic
chorus. The chorus of men consisted of fifty members ; and
the payment of so large a number, together with the dresses
and crowns which the choregi used to provide them with, would
easily account for the expense. A tragic chorus consisted of
only fifteen members, and yet it cost about twice as much as
a comic chorus, which consisted of twenty-four. But we must
remember that the tragic chorus had to perform in several
plays, the comic chorus in only one. Also it does not appear
to have been customary to spend very much money upon a
comedy. In another speech of Lysias, a certain Aristophanes
is said to have expended fifty minae over two tragic choruses.
II.] THE EXPENSES OF THE CHOREGIA. 85
He was therefore rather more economical than the person
mentioned above, who spent thirty minae over one ^ It would
be very interesting to be able to form some conception of the
amount which these sums would represent at the present day.
But of course it is exceedingly hard to find a standard by
which to measure the comparative value of money in two such
different civilizations as that of ancient Athens and that of
modern England. It appears that in the time of Aristophanes
the daily wages for common and unskilled labour were three
oboist If we take as a modern equivalent the case of the
agricultural labourer who gets ten shillings a week, or one
shilling and eight-pence per day, it follows that three obols
in ancient Attica were equivalent to about one shilling and
eight-pence at the present time. If this calculation is any-
where near the mark, then a choregus who spent thirty minae
on a tragic chorus would be spending a sum equivalent to
about £500 of our money. The sixteen minae paid for a
comic chorus would represent about £266. Comparisons of
this kind are very conjectural ; but they enable one to form
some idea of the immense sums of money which must have
been spent at Athens in the course of a single year upon
dramatic and choral performances. There were eight dramatic
and ten dithyrambic choruses at the City Dionysia. There were
seven or eight dramatic choruses at the Lenaea. Besides this
there were dithyrambic choruses at the Thargelia, Prometheia,
and Hephaesteia; and dithyrambic and pyrrhic choruses at the
Panathenaea. The expenses of all these choruses were drawn
from a single small state, about the size of an English county,
in which wealth was by no means abundant. It is easy to
see that there was not much exaggeration in the complaint
of Demosthenes, that the Athenians spent more upon their
festivals than they ever spent upon a naval expedition ^
If the choregi neglected their duties, and were careless about
the efficiency of their choruses, it was the duty of the archon to
^ Lysias orat. xxi. §§ 1-5, xix. §§ 29, Economy of Athens, i. p. 157 (Engl.
42 ; Dem. Meid. § 156. transl.).
2 Aristoph.Eccles.307 ; Bockh,Pnblic ^ Demosth. Philipp. i. § 35.
86 ' THE PRODUCTION OF A PLAY. [Cb.
bring pressure to bear upon them \ But such interference was
not often necessary. On the contrary the rivalry between the
choregi was so keen, and their desire for victory so great, that
it often led them into expenses which they could not afford.
Demosthenes says that men frequently spent all their property
upon these competitions^ The choregus in Antiphanes has
already been referred to, who reduced himself to beggary by
his extravagance in providing golden dresses for his chorus.
Besides the mere spirit of emulation there was another induce-
ment to lavish vast sums upon these choregic displays. For a
wealthy politician it was an easy means of gaining popularity,
and increasing his influence in the state. Nicias is said to
have owed a great deal of his power to the splendour of his
choruses, upon which he spent more money than any of his
contemporaries or predecessors ^ With the double motives of
ambition and emulation at work, it was natural that considerable
jealousy should be excited between the rival choregi, the
'anti-choregi,' as they were called. Sometimes this hostility
ended in blows. When Taureas and Alcibiades were com-
petitors with choruses of boys, a dispute having arisen as to
the parentage of one of the boys in Alcibiades' chorus, the
matter ended in a personal conflict in the orchestra. Demo-
sthenes, in his speech against Meidias, cites many examples of
the bitterness and animosity with which choregi regarded one
another. He adds that there would have been some excuse
for the assault of Meidias upon himself if it had been caused by
the jealousy of a rival choregus ^,
§ 6. The Performances in the Theatre,
When the preparations were all completed, a few days
before the actual festival there was a preliminary ceremony
^ Xen. Hiero ix. 4 Koi yap orav kvSeus n iroiovaiv.
Xopovs rjpiv ^ovXcjfjifOa dyojvi^faOai, ^ Dem. Meid. § 61.
a.6\a fiev 6 dpxojv irpoTi$T]aiv,a.9poii^etv dk ^ Plutarch Nicias p. 524 D.
avToiis TTpoaTfTaKTat xopvy^'^^ f^^^'' aWois * Dem. Meid. §§ 58-66; Andocid.
8i8d<TK(iv, Kal dvdyKTjv irpoaTiOivai rots Alcibiad. § 20,
II.] THE PERFORMANCES IN THE THEATRE. 87
called the Proagon. It took place in the Odeum, a sort of
smaller theatre to the south of the Acropolis, not far from the
theatre of Dionysus. The Proagon was a kind of show or
spectacle, and served as an introduction to the actual per-
formances at the festival. Each of the tragic poets who were
about to compete in the approaching contest appeared upon
the stage in the presence of the people, accompanied by his
choregus, his actors, and the members of the chorus. All of
them wore crowns upon their heads ; but the actors were
without their masks and their stage dresses. As they paraded
upon the stage some announcement was made to the people, of
which the exact nature is not known. But it is very likely that
this occasion was taken for making known to the people the
names of the poet and his actors, together with the titles of the
tragedies shortly to be performed, and other information of a
similar character. At the same time the people would have an
opportunity of becoming acquainted with poets and actors who
were making their first appearance. The splendour of the
dresses of choruses and choregi, upon which great sums of
money were spent, would make a spectacle of some magnifi-
cence, and appeal to the popular taste. At the Proagon which
followed shortly after the death of Euripides it is said that
Sophocles appeared upon the stage in a dark-coloured dress, and
introduced his actors and chorus without the usual crowns. It
is nowhere definitely stated that the comic and dithyrambic
poets and choruses took part in the Proagon. But the whole
of our information about the ceremony is derived from one or
two brief and casual notices, in which very few details are
given. It is hardly probable that only tragedy should have
been represented. The magnificence of the spectacle would be
very much increased by the large and gorgeously-dressed
choruses of boys and men \
On the evening before the festival the statue of the god
Dionysus was taken out of his temple by the Ephebi, and
^ Our knowledge of the Proagon is ttpo rojv fieydKwv Aiowaioju ■qfitpais oAt-
derived from the following passages : — yais efxirpoaOcv Iv tw (jJSeio; KaXovfiivcu
Schol. Aeschin. Ctesiph. § 67 kyiyvovTO twv rpayc^lwv uyuv koL kniSu^is uv
88
THE PRODUCTION OF A PLAY.
[Ch.
conveyed by torchlight to the theatre. It was there placed
in the orchestra, in full view of the stage, so that the god might
enjoy the approaching exhibitions as well as his worshippers ^
This curious ceremony, of which the existence has only lately
been discovered from inscriptions, gives additional appropriate-
ness to the selection of Dionysus in the Frogs as the repre-
sentative of dramatic criticism at Athens. He was the one
spectator who had been present at every dramatic performance
from first to last. The ceremony is often referred to by later
writers in the course of their denunciations of the gladiatorial
shows with which the theatre at Athens had come to be
polluted. The blood of human beings, they say, is shed in the
very orchestra which the god Dionysus occasionally visits ;
and he is implored not to come near the scene of such
defilement ^
During the period of the actual contests the audience met in
fieWovai SpafiaTCUv dyojvi^eaOai hv tSj
Oedrpar- 5l' 6 ervfius Trpodycou Ka\€tTai.
iloiaci Se S'X'* irpocruTTcvv ol vnoKpiTot
yvfxvoi Vita Euripid. Xeyovai 5e Kal
^o({)OKXia, aKovaavra on (TeXcvrrjcrf,
avTOV p.\v IjxaTLCO (pai^ tjtoi iropcpvpo) trpo-
€\6(iv, Tov 8e xopbv Kal rovs vtroKpirds
doT((pav6jT0vs flaayayuv Iv ra) Trpodyut'i,
fcal SaKpvaai tov drj/xov. Aeschin.
Ctesiph. §§ 66, 67 6 yap pii(TaXi^av5pos
vvvi (pdaKOJV iivai . . . ypdcpei iprjipiffpia
. . . eKK\T](Tiav iroiftv rovs irpvrdvHs tt)
07S0T7 larapL^vov rov eXacprj^oXiuivos
fjirfv6s, or tjV tSi ' AckXtjitiSi 77 Ovaia Kal
vpodycuv. Schol. Aristoph. Wasps 1104
01 5' kv cfScicp- eari tottos OcarpoeiSrjs,
iv a> flcjOaai rd Troirjixara dirayyeXXciv
irplv T^s (Is TO Oearpov dnayyeXias,
That the Proagon was a contest is out
of the question. The contest was to
follow some days later. Nor can it
have been a dress rehearsal, as part of
one day would not have sufficed for the
rehearsal of twelve tragedies and five
comedies. Tlpodyouv denotes ' the cere-
mony before the contest,' just as irpoya-
fios means * the ceremony before the
marriage.' The word dirayyiXXfiv , in
the note of the Scholiast on the Wasps,
must denote some announcement about
the plays, and not an actual perform-
ance of them. That there was a Proa-
gon before the Lenaea as well as the
City Dionysia seems natural in itself,
and is implied by the use of the plural
in such inscriptions as Corp. Inscr. Att.
ii. 307 kitiTeXecn 8e Kot rovs Trpodycuvat
Tovs kv rots Upois K.r.X. The passage
in Plato's Symposium 194 A (kmXTja/xojv
fjifvr' dv ciTjv, w 'AydOojv, . . . et WcJv rf]v
afjv dvdpuav Kal p.eyaXocppoavvqv dva-
fiaivovTOS knl rov oKpiffavra pifrd rwv
vTTOKpiruiv Kal ^Xixpavros kvavria roaovrco
Oedrpcp, fieXXovros kmSd^eaOai aavrov
Xoyovs, Kal ov5' oTtooariovv eK-irXayevroi
K.r.X.) probably refers to the Proagon.
' Corp. Inscr. Att. ii. 470, 471.
2 Philostrat. vit. Apoll. iv. 22 (vol. i.,
p. 142, ed. Kayser) ; Dio Chrysostom.
xxxi. § 1 2 1 (63 1 R). The discovery of the
practice of placing the statue of Dionysus
in the orchestra explains the passage in
Aristoph. Equit. 535, 536 (bv xpw^^^ '^"^
TTportpas viKas wivdv kv ra> itpvravHCf, \
Koi fiT) Xrjpeiv, dXXd OiaaOai Xivapbv irapcL
rq> Atovvao}) which previously caused
some difficulty.
II.] THE PERFORMANCES IN THE THEATRE, 89
the theatre every morning soon after daybreak. Considering
the number of plays which had to be produced, it was neces-
sary that the proceedings should begin at an early hour^ The
vast gathering of spectators, like all public meetings at Athens,
was first of all purified by the offer of a small sacrifice. Then
libations were poured in front of the statue of the god Dio-
nysus ^ If the festival was the City Dionysia, before the
tragedies began the opportunity was taken to proclaim the
names of citizens upon whom crowns had been bestowed,
together with the services for which they had been granted.
The proclamation before such a vast multitude of citizens was
naturally considered a very great honour. During the period
of Athenian supremacy another striking ceremony preceded
the tragedies at the City Dionysia. The tribute collected from
the dependent states was divided into talents, and solemnly
deposited in the orchestra. Then the orphans whose fathers
had been killed in battle, and who had been educated by the
state, and had now reached the age of manhood, were brought
forward upon the stage equipped in complete armour. The
herald made a proclamation, recounting what the state had
done for them, and they were then publicly discharged from
state control to take their place as ordinary citizens ^ After
these preliminaries had been gone through the dramatic
performances commenced. The order in which the different
plays were to be performed was determined by lot. Each
poet, as his turn came, was summoned by name by the public
herald and ordered to produce his play. The phrase emplo3^ed
seems to have been ' lead in your chorus.* But it is not likely
that the poet appeared in person at the head of his chorus.
And in fact most plays began with speeches from the stage,
and the chorus only came in later on. The phrase was an old
formula, applicable to the times when tragedy and comedy
were mainly lyrical, and the poet was the chief actor and led in
^ Aeschin. Ctesiph. § 76 a\ia rrj 104; Plut. Cimon p. 483E ; Philostrat,
"fjulpa -qyiiTO Tois vpeaPecriv fls to 6ed- vit. Apoll. iv. 22.
Tpov. Demosth. Meid. § 74. ^ Aeschin. Ctesiph. §§ 48, 153, 154,
2 Suidas V. Kadapciov ; Pollux viii. 230, 231 ; Isocrates ircpt iipfqvris § 82.
90 THE PRODUCTION OF A PLAY. [Ch.
his chorus in person. It was retained after its hteral signi-
ficance had become obsolete \ The summons to each poet
was accompanied in later times by the blowing of a trumpet.
The object was to ensure that the performers should be ready
at the proper time. On one occasion an actor called Hermon
had left the building, expecting that his comedy would come on
late. But as it was called for sooner than he expected, there
was a hitch in the proceedings owing to his absence. The
blowing of the trumpet was therefore instituted to mark the
commencement of each new performance, and let people in the
neighbourhood of the theatre know at what rate the contest
was progressing^ The order in which the poets competed was
determined by lot, as stated above. It was considered an
advantage to be drawn last, as the latest performance left the
most vivid impression upon the minds of the judges. This
would be especially the case in such competitions as lasted
over three days. The Ecclesiazusae of Aristophanes was
drawn first for performance. The poet therefore, in the course
of this play, implores the judges not to let the ballot damage
his chances, but to judge the choruses on their merits, unlike
the courtesans, who forget all except their latest lovers ^
At the end of each competition the judges wrote their
verdicts upon tablets. Five of these tablets were drawn by
lot, and decided the result. The names of the victorious poet
and choregus were then proclaimed by the herald, and they
were crowned with a chaplet of ivy in the presence of the
spectators. At the conclusion of the festival the successful
poet celebrated his victory by a solemn sacrifice, followed by a
grand banquet, at which most of his friends were present.
The members of the chorus were also there, and probably the
choregus and the actors. The scene of Plato's Symposium is
^ Aristid. ittpi pr^ropiKris vol. ii. p. 2 for assuming, with Miiller (Griech.
(Dindf.). Aristoph. Acharn. ii 6 S* BUhnen. p. 373), that before the com-
avf:Tir€v, f'iaa-y, w &€oyvi, rbv x^P^^' mencement of each play the poet and
The passage from Philochorus (Athen. his chorus entered the orchestra and
p. 464 E Kal Tois xopoTs daiovffiv kvex^o^ offered a libation to Dionysus.
iriveiv Kal Sirjyojviafievois or' k^erropfv- ^ Pollux iv. 88.
ovTo (Vix^ov rrdkiv) affords no warrant ^ Aristoph. Eccles. 1154^".
IL] THE PERFORMANCES IN THE THEATRE, 91
laid in Agathon's house the day after the banquet in honour of
his first tragic victory. Socrates had avoided the banquet
itself, because of the crush of people, but came next day to a
more private gathering. A victory, especially at the City
Dionysia, was regarded as a splendid distinction. On one
occasion Ion of Chios, after winning the first prize in both
the tragic and the dithyrambic contests at the same festival,
showed the extent of his joy by making a present of a jar of
Chian wine to every Athenian citizen \
The next day but one after the conclusion of the City
Dionysia a special assembly of the people was convened in the
theatre of Dionysus to discuss matters connected with the
festival. No doubt a similar assembly was held after the
Lenaea, though the fact is nowhere actually stated. At this
assembly the conduct of the archon, who had had the manage-
ment of the festival which was just over, was taken into con-
sideration. Any neglect of his duties, or any unfairness in the
choice of poets and actors, would be punished. At the same
time crowns and other distinctions were voted in honour of
officials who had performed their duties in connexion with the
festival satisfactorily. It has been pointed out that the judges
in the dramatic and dithyrambic contests were liable to prose-
cution and punishment if they were suspected of dishonesty in
their verdicts. Probably such charges were brought forward
and decided at this assembly in the theatre. Then came the
hearing of complaints as to any violation of the sanctity of the
festival. It was illegal during the days of the festival to make
distraints upon debtors. All assaults and offences against the
person, however trifling in themselves, were regarded as sacri-
lege if they were committed during the festival. Complaints
of this kind were brought forward at the assembly in the
theatre, and a special procedure called the Probole was adopted
in regard to them. The aggrieved person stated his charges
before the assembled people : the defendant made his reply :
the people then proceeded to vote. If they acquitted the
1 Plat. Symp. 173 A, 174 A ; Athen. p. 3 F ; Schol. Aristoph. Pax 835.
92 THE PRODUCTION OF A PLAY. [Ch,
defendant there was an end of the matter. But if they voted
against him the prosecutor then carried the case before the
ordinary law-courts, where of course the previous verdict of
the people weighed very much in his favour \
§ 7. Reproduction of Old Plays.
The process of bringing out a play at Athens has now been
traced from first to last, from the selection of the poet by the
archon to the meeting of the people in the theatre at the con-
clusion of the festival. Hitherto only the production of new
and original plays has been discussed. The reproduction of
old plays is a matter of some interest in connexion with the
history of the drama. At Athens, during the great period of
the Attic drama, plays were exhibited once, and once only. A
repetition of the same play was a most exceptional occurrence.
The theatre was large enough to contain the whole body of the
citizens : every man had a chance of seeing a play when it was
first brought out ; and there was not therefore any need for it
to be repeated in order to give a fresh audience a chance of
witnessing it. The Athenians were fond of novelty. Aristo-
phanes, in the Clouds, takes credit to himself for his originality,
and for his cleverness in never introducing the same plot twice
over ^ This love of novelty prevented the repetition or repro-
duction of old plays at Athens, as long as there was an unfailing
supply of new ones. And during the flourishing period of the
drama there was never any lack of productive talent. The
number of poets, both in tragedy and comedy, was more than
sufficient to supply the demand for new dramas. Hence, after
a play had been once performed, unless it was of very excep-
tional merit, it was never seen again, as far as the Athenian
stage was concerned. It is stated on the authority of
Dicaearchus that the Frogs of Aristophanes ^was so much ad-
mired on account of its parabasis that it was actually repeated ^'
* Demosth. Meid. §§ 8-10; Corp. ^Arg.Aristoph. Ran, ovrcyS^l^av/iao-^?;
Inscr. Att. ii. 114, 307, 420. rb Spafxa Sia ttiv kv avrw irapdfiafftv
^ Aristoph. Nub. 545-548. wore koi dvididdx0Ti,&s (prjai AtKaiapxos,
II.] REPRODUCTION OF OLD PLAYS. 93
The language here used implies that such a repetition was a
very unusual occurrence. It is true that when the Capture of
Miletus, the historical play of Phrynichus, caused such a com-
motion in the theatre, the Athenians are said to have passed a law
that ^ for the future no one should exhibit this drama ^* But the
law must have referred to its reproduction at the Rural Dionysia.
It has already been pointed out that it was customary to bring
out in the rural demes plays which had been successful in
Athens ; and by the time of Phrynichus it is probable that
many of the more important demes, especially those in the
immediate neighbourhood of Athens, had their dramatic con-
tests. The decree about the Capture of Miletus must have
referred to these rural festivals. The statement of Dicaearchus
makes it perfectly plain that in Athens itself, during the fifth
century, a play was never repeated, unless it was of unusual
jnerit, and the people specially demanded its reproduction.
Even successful plays then were only exhibited once. But if
a play was unsuccessful, the poet was allowed to revise and
rewrite it, and to compete with it again in its improved shape ^,
The revision of unsuccessful plays seems to have been a common
practice with the Athenian dramatic writers. It is mentioned
as rather a peculiarity in the comic poet Anaxandrides,
that when one of his comedies was unsuccessful, he used to
destroy it at once, without taking the trouble to revise it, and
try his fortunes with it a second time^. Many plays were
revised and re-exhibited in this manner, and in consequence
many plays existed in ancient times in a double form. The
Thyestes, the Phineus, the Tyro, and the Lemnian Women
of Sophocles were all exhibited a second time in an improved
shape. The Hippolytus of Euripides which we at present
possess is a revised edition pruned of its original defects. The
Autolycus and Phrixus of Euripides also existed in a double
form. The Clouds of Aristophanes in its original shape was
very unsuccessful, and was altered in many important particulars
' Herod, vi. 21. called Staa/cefT?, Athen. p. 1 10 C.
'^ A revised edition of a play ^vas ^ Athen. p. 374 A.
94 THE PRODUCTION OF A PLAY. [Ch.
before it reached the form in which we now possess it. Among
the other plays of Aristophanes, the Peace, the Plutus, and the
Thesmophoriazusae were brought out a second time in a re-
vised form. Instances of the revision of plays are not un-
common among the writers of the Middle and New Comedy.
Sometimes the original title was retained in the revised version,
as for instance in the Heiress of Menander. Sometimes a
new title was adopted. Thus the Braggart Captain of Diphilus
appeared subsequently as the Eunuch \
It seems then that during the fifth century the dramatic com-
petitions at Athens were limited to new plays, or to plays which
had been so far altered and revised as to be equivalent to new
ones. The one exception to the rule was in the case of
Aeschylus. In the Life of Aeschylus it is said that the Athenians
felt such an admiration for him, that they passed a decree after
his death that any one who offered to exhibit his plays should
receive a chorus from the archon. This does not mean that his
plays were to be performed as a mere isolated exhibition, apart
from the regular contests. Such a reproduction of old plays
appears to have been unknown at Athens during the fifth cen-
tury. The meaning is that any person might be allowed to
compete at the ordinary tragic contests with plays of Aeschylus
instead of new plays of his own. If any one offered to do so,
the archon was bound to give him a chorus. He would then
take his place as one of the three competing poets ; but while
his rivals exhibited new and original tragedies, he would con-
fine himself to reproducing tragedies of Aeschylus. Probably
the men who undertook these revivals were in most cases cele-
brated actors. In this way the plays of Aeschylus were often
brought into competition with the plays of later writers, and
appear to have been generally successful. Philostratus refers
^ Arg. to Aristoph. Nub., Pax ; Arg. found in the Autolycus of Eupolis,
Eurip. Hippolytus. For the facts about the Synoris of Diphilus, and the Phryx
the other plays see Nauck's Frag. Trag. of Alexis. The Demetrius of Alexis
Graec. pp. 146, 170, 217, 226, 350, 492 ; appeared subsequently as the Philetae-
and Meineke's Frag. Com. Graec. rus, the "AypoiKoi. of Antiphanes as the
ii. 1074, 1 1 30, iv. 116, 377. Additional Butalion. See Meineke's Frag. Com.
instances of revision of plays are to be Graec. ii. 440, iii. 36, 403, 500, iv. 412.
II.] REPRODUCTION OF OLD PLAYS. 95
to the custom\ He says that the Athenians invited Aeschylus
after his death to the festivals of Dionysus, and that his plays
were acted over again, and were victorious a second time. This
passage makes it quite clear that the tragedies of Aeschylus
were exhibited in the ordinary contests, and not as a separate
performance by themselves. There is a reference in the begin-
ning of the Acharnians to a competition of this kind. Dicae-
opolis had come to the theatre to see the tragic contests. He
was expecting that the performance would commence with plays
of Aeschylus ; but to his disgust the frigid Theognis was the
first to be called upon. Here then is a picture of a contest
in which the tragic poet Theognis was opposed by a compe-
titor who exhibited, not plays of his own, but plays of Aeschylus^
It is to the practice of reproducing his plays after his death that
Aeschylus alludes in the Frogs, when he remarks that his
poetry has not died with him, like that of Euripides. Quin-
tilian refers to the same custom, though his language is not
quite accurate. He says that the tragedies of Aeschylus were
sublime, but rough and unfinished; and therefore the Athenians
permitted subsequent poets to polish and revise them, and
exhibit them at the competitions in their amended form ; and
in this way many of his plays won the prize. This story
of the revision of the plays of Aeschylus by subsequent
poets is not confirmed by anything in the Greek authorities, nor
is it probable in itself. In the fourth century a law was passed
providing for the preservation of the exact original text of the
plays of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides. It is hardly likely
that the Athenians of the fifth century should have been less con-
servative about the text of Aeschylus than the Athenians of the
fourth, to whose taste Aeschylus had begun to seem antiquated.
It is most probable therefore that the story of the subsequent
correction of the plays is a mistake of Quintilian's\
From this reproduction of old plays of Aeschylus must be
carefully distinguished those instances where plays, which
* Philostrat. vit. Apoll. vi. 11 (vol. i. ^ Aristoph. Ran. 868, 869; Quintil.
p. 220, ed. Kayser). Inst. x. i. 66; Plut, X orat. 841 F.
2 Aristoph. Acham. 9-12.
g6 THE PRODUCTION OF A PLA V. [Ch.
Aeschylus had left unpublished at his death, were produced
for the first time by his son Euphorion. It is said that
Euphorion won four victories with his father's unpublished
tragedies. In a similar manner the Oedipus Coloneus of
Sophocles was produced for the first time by his grandson
four years after the poet's death. And after the death of
Euripides, his Iphigeneia in Aulis, Alcmaeon, and Bacchae were
brought out by his son at the City Dionysia. On such occa-
sions as these, when a poet's unpublished plays were exhibited
by a relative after his death, although no doubt the real author-
ship of the plays was perfectly well known at the time, the
relative appeared as the nominal author. He asked for a
chorus from the archon in his own name. The plays he pro-
duced were new ones. There is therefore no similarity between
instances of this kind, and those occasions when a man asked
for a chorus, not in his own name, but in order to produce old
plays of Aeschylus^
At Athens then during the fifth century the reproduction of
old plays was confined to tragedies of Aeschylus, and remark-
ably successful dramas such as the Frogs of Aristophanes.
Otherwise when a play had been once exhibited on the
Athenian stage, it was relegated to the Rural Dionysia.
It was not till the fourth century that the reproduction of
old plays developed into a regular custom. The practice
was at first confined to tragedy. This branch of the drama
had passed beyond the period of healthy growth, and already
showed symptoms of decay. The three great tragic poets
of the fifth century had in their several lines exhausted the
capabilities of Attic tragedy. Their successors were mostly
feeble imitators of Euripides. Under such circumstances the
tendency to fall back upon the old tragedies naturally became
more and more frequent. The reproductions were of two
kinds, as was pointed out in the last chapter. Sometimes
an old tragedy was exhibited by itself, as a prelude to the new
tragedies. This was the case at the City Dionysia in the latter
* Suidas V. Ev<popicuv; Arg. Soph. Oed. Col.; Schol. Aristoph. Ran. 67.
II.] REPRODUCTION OF OLD PLAYS. 97
part of the fourth century. Sometimes a number of old
tragedies were performed in competition by different actors.
In such cases the prize was given to the best actor, and not to •
the best tragedy. The tragic contests at the Lenaea in later
times were probably of this kind. Very few details are known
as to the management of these reproductions. Probably the
leading actors applied to the archon, and if selected by him they
received a chorus, and undertook the general superintendence
of the revival. The middle of the fourth century was the great
age of Athenian acting. The principal actors of the period
filled a more important place in the history of tragedy than did
the tragic poets themselves. The different interpretations of
the old tragedies by the celebrated actors excited more interest
than the feeble productions of the contemporary dramatists.
Apparently the actors were sometimes inclined to tamper with
the old plays, and to introduce what they considered improve-
ments, just as the plays of Shakespeare were adapted for the
stage by Garrick in the last century. A law was passed by the
orator Lycurgus to put a stop to this practice. It was enacted
that a public copy should be made of the works of Aeschylus,
Sophocles, and Euripides, and deposited in the state archives ;
and that the actors, in their performances, should not be allowed
to deviate from the text of the copy^ It is very probable that
this authorised version eventually found its way to Alexandria.
Ptolemy the Third was a great collector of manuscripts. He
borrowed from the Athenians an old copy of the works of
Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, promising to return it
after he had made a transcript, and depositing fifteen talents as
security. The transcript was made in the best possible style.
Ptolemy then proceeded to keep the original manuscript for
himself, and sent back merely the transcript to Athens. The
^ Plut. X orat. 841 r d<TTjveyK€ 5^ vaiyapavTasviroKpiv(o$ai. The general
Kal vofxovs . . . rov 8e, ihs x^*^^^ etKovas meaning of the passage is clear, though
dvaOdvai t5jv ■troirjrwv, Aiaxv^ov, Xo(})o- the text is corrupt. Various emenda-
K\eovs, EvpimSoVy ual ras Tpaycudias av- tions have been proposed, e. g. ■wap*
Tuiv kv KOLV^ ypaipafxevovs (pvXaTreiv, avras vTroKpiveaOat, Wyttenbach ; aiiras
Kal Tov T^s ir(5X€<us ypafifiaria vapava- aXkas inroKpivfoOai, Grysar; ycip aWois
yiyvuCKfiv TOis viroKpivofiivois' ovk l^cf- inoKplvfaOai, Diibner.
98 THE PRODUCTION OF A PLAY. [Ch.
Athenians had to console themselves with the fifteen talents
which were forfeited. This old copy of the tragic writers was
most probably that made in accordance with the law of
Lycurgus\
Athenian comedy, as was pointed out in the last chapter, con-
tinued to grow and develop long after tragedy had come to an
end. Reproductions of old comedies at Athens do not seem to
have become prevalent till towards the end of the third century.
As far as our information goes such reproductions were confined
to the exhibition of a single old comedy as a prelude to the new
ones. In all the instances recorded the plays are taken from the
New Comedy. The Old Comedy, with its special and personal
allusions, would have been unsuited for popular representation
in a later age^
To return once more to tragedy. The fourth century was
especially the age of great actors, just as the fifth century had
been the age of great poets. The leading actors of the fourth
century were chiefly celebrated for their impersonations of
characters out of the great tragedies of the past. From the
frequent references to the subject it is possible to collect some
interesting details as to the popular taste in regard to these
revivals. The three great masters of tragedy, Aeschylus,
Sophocles, and Euripides, occupied a position by themselves
in popular estimation, and quite overshadowed all other poets.
This is proved by the law of Lycurgus providing for the strict
preservation of the text of their works, and prohibiting the
interpolations of the actors. But though the existence of the
law shows that the tragedies of Aeschylus were occasionally
reproduced, and were therefore liable to corruption, it does
not appear that in this later age Aeschylus was very popular
upon the stage. The only allusion to a particular revival of
his plays is that which occurs in one of the letters of Alciphron,
where the tragic actor Licymnius is said to have been victo-
rious in the Propompi of Aeschylus ^ On the other hand the
reproductions of plays of Sophocles and Euripides are very
^ Galen Comm. ii. on Hippocrat. "^ See chap. I, p. 32.
Epidem. iii. (p. 607 Kiihn). ^ Alciphron Epist. iii. 48. *
II.]" REPRODUCTION OF OLD PLAYS. 99
frequently referred to. And it is a significant fact that when the
actor Satyrus was consoling Demosthenes for the ill-success of
his first speech before the assembly, and wished to point out to
him the defectiveness of his elocution, he asked him to repeat ' a
speech out of Sophocles or Euripides,' implying that these were
the two poets whom everyone knew\ In the Poetics of Aristotle
the laws of the drama are based upon the plays of Sophocles
and Euripides, while Aeschylus is comparatively disregarded.
The simplicity of his plots, and the elevation and occasional
obscurity of his language were distasteful to an age which
looked for ingenuity in the management of the incidents, and
rhetorical facility in the style. These qualities were found to
perfection in Euripides : hence his great popularity. There
can be no doubt that Euripides was the favourite poet of the
fourth century. A striking proof of the fact is supplied by the
records of the tragic performances at the City Dionysia for the
years 341-339 b.c. In each of these years the old tragedy
selected for exhibition was one by Euripides. In 341 it was
the Iphigeneia, in 340 it was the Orestes. The title of the play
produced in 339 is lost, but the author was Euripides ^ Other
plays of his which were favourites upon the stage at this time
were the Cresphontes, the Oenomaus, and the Hecuba, in all
of which Aeschines is said to have played the part of tritagonist.
The Oenomaus and the Hecuba are also mentioned as plays in
which the great actor Theodorus was especially effective. In
the dream of Thrasyllus before the battle of Arginusae the plays
which were being acted were the Phoenissae and the Supplices
of Euripides ^ Though the story of the dream is apocryphal,
these two tragedies were doubtless popular ones during the
fourth century. As to the plays of Sophocles, it is said that
Polus, the contemporary of Demosthenes, and the greatest
actor of his time, was celebrated for his performance of the
leading parts in the Oedipus Tyrannus, the Oedipus Coloneus,
and the Electra. The Antigone of Sophocles was often acted
^ Plut. Demosth. p. 849 A. Aelian Var. Hist. xiv. 40 ; Plut. Fort.
2 Corp. Inscr. Att. ii. 973. Alexand. 333 F ; Diod. Sic. xiii. 97.
» Demosth. de Cor. §§ 180, 267 ;
H 2
lOO THE PRODUCTION OF A PLAY.
by Theodorus and by Aristodemus. A certain Timotheus used
to make a great impression in the part of Ajax. Lastly, the
Epigoni of Sophocles is mentioned in connexion with Androni-
cLis, another contemporary of Demosthenes \ It is interesting
to observe that of the plays which the popular taste of the fourth
century had begun to select for revival by far the greater num-
ber are among those which are still extant.
^ Aul. Gell. vii. 5; Stob. Flor. 97, Fals. Leg. § 246; Schol. Soph. Ajax
28 (ii. p. 211 Meineke) ; Demosth. 865 ; Athen. p. 584 D.
Collotype.
Oxford University Press,
Theatre of Dionysus, from the South.
Copied by permission of the Council of the Hellenic Society from a photograph
published for the Hellenic Society by the Autotype Company.
CHAPTER III.
THE THEATRE.
§ I. General character of a Greek theatre.
The regulations concerning the dramatic competitions al
Athens have now been described in detail, together with the
circumstances attending the production of a play. The next
point to be considered is the construction and general arrange-
ment of the theatre. It would be beyond the scope of the
present work to attempt to give any account of all the Greek
theatres of which remains are in existence. In the following
pages our attention will be confined mainly to the theatre of
Dionysus at Athens, which will serve as a specimen of the
Greek type of theatre in general. The theatre at Athens,
whether regarded from" the historical or the architectural
point of view, is one of the most interesting buildings in
the world. It was the prototype of all other ancient theatres,
both Greek and Roman. It was the theatre in which the plays
of the great Athenian dramatists, from Aeschylus to Menander,
were produced. In connexion with a building of such import-
ance the smallest details are not without interest. The object
of the chapter will be, in the first place, to give an account
of the existing remains and present condition of this theatre ;
and, in the second place, to endeavour to determine what
must have been its original form and appearance during the
great days of the Attic drama, before the primitive design had
been obscured by later alterations. At the same time it will be
necessary to make occasional references to other Greek theatres,
102 THE THEATRE, . [Ch.
both for the purpose of illustration and comparison, and also in
order to fill up the gaps in our information caused by the ruinous
condition of the Athenian theatre. Of the other theatres, the
most interesting is that of Epidaurus. It is by far the best
preserved of all theatres of purely Greek origin. It has lately
been excavated in a thorough and systematic manner, and the
result of the excavations has been to throw an altogether new
light upon various questions connected with the Greek stage.
The construction and general arrangement of a Greek theatre
differed widely from any form of theatre to be found at the
present day. In this respect, as in most others, a comparison
between the ancient and modern drama reveals as many points
of contrast as of similarity. The Greek theatre was of course
exposed to the open air, and had no roof or covering of any
kind. It was generally built upon the slope of a hill in or near
the city. It was of enormous magnitude, compared with a
modern theatre, being intended to contain at one and the same
time the whole theatre-going population of the city. The
largest part of it consisted of the auditorium, or tiers of stone
seats for the spectators. These seats rose one above the other
like a flight of steps, and were arranged in the form of a semi-
circle with the two ends prolonged. The flat space at the
bottom of the auditorium, corresponding to the stalls and pit in
a modern theatre, was called the orchestra, or 'dancing-place,'
and was used "by the chorus only, the spectators being entirely
excluded from it. At the further end of the orchestra, facing
the tiers of seats, rose the stage and the stage-buildings.
The stage was a long and narrow platform, much higher than
a modern stage, and only a few feet in depth. It was reserved
for the actors, as opposed to the chorus. Thus it is obvious
that the general spectacle presented by the interior of a
Greek theatre during the representation of a drama must have
been quite unlike anything we are accustomed to in modern
times. The open-air building, the performance in broad day-
light, the vast crowds of spectators, the chorus grouped together
in the centre, the actors standing on the lofty stage behind
them — all these characteristics of a Greek theatrical exhibition
ITL] THE OLD WOODEN THEATRES. 103
must have combined to produce a scene to which there
is no exact parallel at the present day. This fact should be
kept clearly in view, in discussing all questions connected
with the Greek stage. Many errors have been caused, and
many unnecessary difficulties have been raised, owing to the
failure to realise the essential difference between the external
features of the ancient and the modern drama.
§ 2. The old wooden theatres at Athens.
The type of theatre described above was of course only
developed very gradually by the Athenians. It came into ex-
istence side by side with the growth of their drama. At first
there was no permanent theatre. At tic tragedy and co medy
grew out of the dithyrambs and phallic songs w hich were per-
formed by choruses in honour of Dionysus. For such exhibi-
tions all that was required was an orchestra, or circular dancing-
place. The chorus performed in the middle, the spectators
ranged themselves all round the ring. The first innovation
was the introducti on of tke tab le upon which the leader of the
chorus took his stand, while he carried on a dialogue with the
rest of the choreutae in the intervals between the choral odes \
As the dialogue between the leader and the chorus was the
germ out of which the drama was subsequently developed, in
the same way the table on which the leader took his stand was
the prototype of the stage in the later Greek theatre. The
next step was the mtroduction_ of a single actor by Thespis.
The actor had to play many parts in succession, and it was
necessary that he should have some room or covered place to
change his dress and mask in. A tent or booth L-Was erected
for the purpose at the back of the small platform on which he
performed. Out of this tent or booth were gradually developed
the stage-buildings of the Greek theatre. The recollection of
their origin was preserved in their name. Even in the latest
times, when the stage-buildings of a Greek theatre had come to
^ Poll. iv. 123 lAfoy 8* ^1/ rpaiti^a dpxaia, k<p' ■f]V itpb Qiamhos (is Tis dvafids
Tois xo/>ci'Tars dveKpivaTo.
104 THE THEATRE. [Ch.
be elaborate structures of stone, they were still called by the
name 'skene,' which means properly a booth or tent. The
platform and dressing-room for the actor, having now become a
regular accompaniment of a dramatic performance, occupied
one end of the original orchestra. The spectators, who had
formerly been ranged all round the circle in which the chorus
was performing, had to confine themselves to two-thirds of
that circle. The remaining portion was taken up by the stage.
At this early period the seats provided for the spectators were
only temporary erections. They were called * ikria,' and con-
sisted of wooden benches rising in tiers one above the other,
and resting on wooden supports \ The stage and the dressing-
rooms were also mere temporary constructions of wood. But
in these rude erections, hastily put up each year for the annual
performances, were already to be found all the essential parts
of the later Greek theatres. Nothing more was required
than to change the material from 'wood to stone, and to
introduce greater elaboration into the design. In course
of time the booth and platform of the Thespian period were
developed into imposing stage-buildiiggs ; the wooden benches
became permanent amphitheatres of stone.
In this sketch of the early history of the Greek theatre one
point deserves especial notice. The mostJinpor tant part of the
whole building, and that which formed the starting-point in the
process of development, was_the orchestra, or place for the
chorus. The auditorium and the stage-buildings were only later
additions. In all theatres of purely Greek origin the orchestra
continued to maintain its prominent position. All the other
parts were subordinated to it. The general conception of a
Greek theatre was that of a building with a circular dancing-
place in the centre, and with tiers of seats arranged round two-
thirds of the ring, while the remaining side was occupied by the
stage. The result of this arrangement was that all the spec-
^ Hesych. v. Trap' aly4tpov Ola- . . . to. Olarpov. Cp. also Bekk. Anecd. p.
iKpia, a kariv opOd ^v\a, exovra aaviSas 354 ; Hesych. and Suidas v. Upia ;
Trpoadide/xivas, oiov Padfxovs, l(p' ah Eustath. Od. p. 1472,
iKaOi^ovTO vpb Tov KaraaKfvaaGrjvai rb
III.] THE OLD WOODEN THEATRES, 105
tators had an equally good view of the orchestra, and the
chorus performing in it ; while many of them had only a very
poor view of the stage. In theatres built under Roman in-
fluence this was not so much the case. The arrangements were
considerably modified. The orchestra and auditorium were re-
stricted in size to a semicircle \ The consequence was that the
stage became a much more prominent object, and all the spec-
tators had a fairly good view of it. But in purely Greek
theatres, which were built as much for choral performances as
for dramatic ones, the orchestra was always the principal
object of attention. The primary purpose of the whole design
was to give every member of the audience a clear and direct
view of the orchestra. The view on to the stage was a matter
of secondary importance.
It was not till the fifth century that the Athenians felt the
need of a permanent stone theatre. Before that time they were
content with the wooden erections just described. As to the
place in which the ^arj y dramatic performances we re held, two
distinct traditions have been preserved. According to one set
of notices they were held in the market-place ; according to the
other set they were held in the Lenaeum, the sacred enclosure
of Dionysus to the south-east of the Acropolis '^. It seems un-
necessary to choose between these two statements. It is most
probable that both of them are true, and that dramatic perform-
ances were held in each of the places mentioned. The Lenaeum
would of course be the most appropriate scene for such per-
formances, being sacred to Dionysus, in whose worship the
drama originated. It was in fact in the Lenaeum that the stone
theatre was subsequently built. But the market-place was also
in any Greek city a natural place for exhibitions of various
kinds. Plato, referring to his ideal city, lays down the law that
tragic poets shall not be allowed to 'erect their stages in the
* All theatres, in which the orchestra place according to Phot. v. Xnpia,
consists of an exact semicircle, are Eustath. Od. p. 1472 ; in the Lenaeum
either Roman, or built under Roman according to Hesych. v. \-n\ Arjvaio}
influence. See Vitruv. v. 6, 7. dyojv, Phot. v. Arjvaiov, Bekk. Anecd,
^ They were held in the market- p. 278.
106 THE THEATRE. [Ch.
market-place \' There seems therefore to be no reason to
doubt that in early times at Athens dramatic representations were
given in the market-place as well as in the Lenaeum. The exact
site of the primitive performances in the Lenaeum has probably
been discovered by Dr. Dorpfeld. In the course of his recent
excavations in the theatre of Dionysus he has come across
the remains of an old orchestra some yards to the south-east of
the orchestra of the existing theatre ^ This old orchestra was
doubtless the scene of the exhibitions of Thespis and his
immediate successors. It appears also that in early times
there was a regular orchestra in the market-place. In the
course of the fifth century this orchestra disappeared, but the
portion of the market-place in which it had originally stood con-
tinued to be called The Orchestra at a much later period. In
Plato's time books were sold there. Socrates, in his Apology,
remarks that any one could buy the works of Anaxagoras in
The Orchestra for a drachma I It was here no doubt that in
early times, while the orchestra was still in existence, dramatic
representations were occasionally given. There was an old
proverb in use at Athens, which the commentators explained by
a reference to the primitive drama. A bad seat at any spectacle
was called 'the view from the poplar.* It was said that at the
old dramatic exhibitions the wooden benches for the spectators
reached as far as a certain poplar, and that the people who
could not get seats on the benches used to scramble up the
poplar*. Whether the poplar was supposed to be in the
Lenaeum or the market-place is uncertain. The whole story
^ Plat. Legg. 817 C. Kovis. The statues of Harmodius and
^ Dr. Dorpfeld, in a letter of Nov. 7th, Aristogeiton were in the market-place :
1888, writes to me as follows: ' Von der cp. Rangabe, ii. 565 iiKova oTTJaai . . .
alten Orchestra ist ein Stlick, aus poly- kv dyopa irXijv ■nap' 'Ap/jioSiov koX 'Apiaro-
gonalen Kalk-Steinen erbaut, erhalten. ydrova. See Wachsmuth die Stadt
Der Mittelpunkt dieser alten Kreisrun- Athen, p. 170. The passage in Plato's
den Orchestra liegt von dem Mittel- Apology (p. 26 D) doubtless refers to
punkt der Lykurgischen Orchestra the orchestra in the market-place, and
einige Meter weiter nach Siidost.' not to that in the theatre.
' Phot. V. opxTjarpa, irpu/rov €k\t}0t] * Eustath. Od. p. 1472 ; Suidas v.
ev T^ dyopa. Timaeus Lex. Plat. v. dw' aiyelpov Oia; Hesych. vv. alydpov
dpxr](TTpa- Tonos eirKpavrjs (Is navrjyvpiv, 64a, irap' aiyelpov Ota, $ia -nap' aiydpqi.
evda 'ApfJLodiov Kal 'ApiaToyuTovos ii-
III.] HISTORY OF THE THEATRE OF DIONYSUS. 107
has a rather suspicious appearance, and was very likel}^
mere guesswork, invented to account for a current proverbial
expression.
§ 3. History of the Theatre of Dionysus.
The determination of the Athenians to build a stone theatre
wa s due to an acc ident at one of their dramatic performances.
In the year 499 the competitors in the tragic contest were
Pratinas, Choerilus, and Aeschylus. While Pratinas was ex-
hibiting, the wooden benches for the spectators collapsed. In
order to avoid such dangers in the future it was resolved to
build a permanent theatre \ Some doubt has been thrown
upon the credibility of this tradition because of the fact that
Aristophanes speaks of ' benches ' (ikria) in connexion with the
theatre^. Hence it has been argued that in the time of Aristo-
phanes the seats in the theatre must have been of wood, and
that consequently the construction of a stone theatre cannot
have been anterior to the fourth century. But the use of the
word ' ikria ' by Aristophanes was merely the survival of an old
term, after it had become no longer literally correct. Such
survivals are common enough in all languages, and might be
illustrated by numerous examples. It would be just as plausible
to argue that during the fifth century the seats in the Pnyx
were of wood, because Aristophanes, in the Acharnians, speaks
of the presidents jostling one another for the 'front benchl'
But there is another passage in Aristophanes which proves that
they were of stone. In the well-known scene in the Knights, where
Demos is represented as sitting in the Pnyx, the sausage-seller
comes forward and presents him with a cushion to alleviate the
discomfort of ' sitting on the hard rock *.' This example shows
* Suidas V. nparivas. to tov Qtov Trpoarajfia.
2 Aristoph. Thesm. 395, 6 wo-t' «'^i»s ^ Aristoph. Acharn. 24, 25 (Ira 8'
elaiovTfs drro tuv 'iKpicvv | viroPXiirova' wcrriovvTai irws 8oK(ts \ f\$6vT(s dWr}-
Tjfias. The word Inpia is also used of Koiai ire pi vpojrov ^vXov.
the seats in the theatre by Cratinus, * Aristoph. Equit. 754 orav 5* km
Frag. Incert. 51 iKpiwv \p6<prjais, and by ravrrjol KaOrjrai rrjs irirpas, 783 k-nl
Dio Chrysost. Or. 33, p. 3 Dindf. k-nfl raiffi irhpais ov (ppovri^ei OK\r)pws ae
5k :$a}Kpdrr]s dvev aKrjvrjs Kal 'iKpioiv irroUi KaO^fXivov ovtws, and Schol. ad loc.
lo8 THE THEATRE. [Ch.
the danger of arguing from a single phrase in Aristophanes.
There can be no doubt that when Aristophanes employs the
word ' ikria * in reference to the theatre of his time, it is merely
an instance of the survival in common language of a term
which had originated in connexion with the wooden theatres of
the sixth century. We may therefore conclude that the stone
theatre was commenced after the accident in 499 \ It was not
finally completed till the latter part of the fourth century, but
doubtless at a much earlier period enough was done to make it
sufficient for all practical purposes. There is very little in-
formation concerning the progress of the building. It is
known that in the year 330 b.c. works were being carried
on in connexion with it. A decree of the people has been
preserved, belonging to that year, in which a vote of thanks
is passed to a certain Eudemus of Plataea, for lending a
thousand yoke of oxen for 'the construction of the Pana-
thenaic race-course and the theatre I' The final completion
was due to Lycurgus. As Lycurgus died about 325 b.c,
it follows that the work must have been brought to a
termination sometime between the years 330 and 325. Con-
siderable doubt exists as to the condition of the theatre before
the time of Lycurgus, and as to the exact character of the works
Se'iKwai yap avTa> iTpo(TK€(pdkaiov . . . I'm banishment to Sicily. This is said to
fi^ em ipiKoTs tois ^adpois kmKaBi^rjTai. contradict the tradition that the collapse
^ Wilamowitz-Mollendorf, in Hermes took place in 499 B. C. But the con-
for 1886, p. 597 ff., argues in favour nexion of Aeschylus' retirement to Sicily
of the view that there was no stone with the fall of the benches is obviously
theatre at Athens in the fifth cen- a foolish conjecture of some commen-
tury. His reasons are as follows: tator. Aeschylus, as poet, would be in
— (i) The use of the word 'Upia by no way responsible for the safety of the
Aristophanes and Cratinus. (2) The benches. Other equally impossible con-
passage in Bekk. Anecd. p. 354 at7€t- jectures were invented to account for the
pov Oia' 'A6r}vr)ffiv a'lye os ^v, ^s ttXtj- same circumstance. Aeschylus' first
aiov ra 'Upia kirqyvvvTo eh t^v 6eav npb retirement to Sicily took place before
Tov Oearpov yevecrOar ovtqj Kparivos. 476, the date of the foundation of Aetna.
He says this proves that the stone Yet according to one story it was due to
theatre was not commenced in the time disgust at his defeat by Sophocles in
of Cratinus. But all it proves is that 468 ; according to another it was due
Cratinus used the proverbial expression to the terror caused by his chorus of
aiyeipov Oka. (3) The story in Suid. v. Eumenides in 458.
AtVxuAos that the collapse of the wooden ^ Corp. Inscr. Att. ii. 176.
benches was the cause of Aeschylus'
III.] HISTORY OF THE THEATRE OF DIONYSUS. 109
which he carried on there. It is uncertain whether they con-
sisted mainly in new erections, or in restorations of the old
building. Unfortunately the various notices upon the subject
are too vague and general in their language to admit of any
definite inference ^ All that is certain is that the theatre was
finally completed by about 325 b. c.
After the fourth century there is no further record concerning
the history of the building for many centuries. In late Roman
times, probably in the third century a.d., a new stage in the
Roman fashion was erected by a certain Phaedrus, who com-
memorated the fact by an inscription upon one of the steps, to
the effect that ' Phaedrus, son of Zo'ilus, ruler of life-giving
Attica, erected this beautiful stage.* At this point all traces of
the history of the theatre are lost. During the Middle Ages
it disappeared so completely from view, that its very site was
forgotten. For a long time modern travellers knew nothing
upon the subject. The true site was first pointed out by
Chandler. In 1862 excavations were commenced by the
German architect Strack, and continued for three years.
The theatre was again exposed to view, and large portions
of it were found to have been preserved. Some further
discoveries were made in 1877. Lastly, in 1886, new ex-
cavations have been carried on under the direction of Dr.
Dorpfeld, acting for the German Archaeological Institute.
The result of these latest investigations has been to throw
considerable additional light upon the original arrangement
of the orchestra and stage-buildings ^
^ Plut. X orat. 841 C koX to ev vewpia, rpirqpeis hrroiijaaTO, \ifi4vas. The
Aiovvaov Oiarpov kiriaraTaiv (TfXevTijaf, statement of Hyperides, that the theatre
ibid. Psephism. iii, irpbs 8k tovtois was ' built ' by Lycurgus, is obviously
^fiiepya irapaXafiuv rovs re veuaoiKovs a rhetorical exaggeration. AH the
ml r^v (TKevo0rjKrjv Kal to OiaTpov to other authorities, including the Pseph-
AiopvaiaKov k^eipyAcraTo Kal kireTiXeae. ism, say that it was merely ' completed.'
Paus. i. 29. 16 olKoSofiTjpaTa Si €it€T€- ^ Wheeler's Theatre of Dionysus,
\fffe pXv TO 64aTpov iTtpoov virap^aixivotv . in Papers of the American School at
Hyperid. apud Apsines, Rhet. Gr. i. Athens, vol. i. ; Baumeister's Denk-
p. 387 (Spengel) TaxOih b\ km t^ maler des Klassischen Alterthums, vol.
SioiKrjffei Toiv xp-qpuaToiv fZpf iropovs, iii., V. Theatergebaude.
(^Ko86nr]<T€ 8e TO Qiarpov, rb (fhdov, to.
no THE THEATRE. [Ch.
§ 4. Site of the Theatre of Dionysus.
Such is the history of the theatre, as far as it can be collected
from ancient notices and records. In proceeding to describe its
form and construction it will be convenient to take the different
portions in succession. A Greek the atre is naturally divided
into three parts, the auditorium, the orchestra, and the stage-
buildings. In the following description the auditorium will be
considered first, the orchestra next. The stage-buildings, as
forming the most difficult part of the whole subject, will be
reserved for the last. The object of the chapter, as already
stated, is partly to describe the present condition of the theatre,
partly to determine its original shape and appearance. As far
as the latter object is concerned there are three principal
sources of inform ation. The most important evidence is of
course that afforded by the existing ruins. Where these are
defective, or where the original construction has been obliterated
by later alterations, the gaps in our knowledge can occasionally
be supplied by the evidence from the ruins of other theatres,
more especially the theatre of Epidaurus. A third great source
of information consists in the notices scattered up and down the
* works of the ancient grammarians and commentators. These
notices, though often confused and contradictory, and though
sometimes hardly applicable to the theatre at Athens in the fifth
ancl fourth centuries, are nevertheless of the greatest value in
illustrating and supplementing the evidence supplied by the
actual ruins.
The site chosen for the new theatre was on the south-eastern
slopes of the Acropolis. There was here an enclosure called
the Lenaeum, sacred to Dionysus, the god of the 'lenos/ or
wine-press. The spot was also called the Marshes. Within
this enclosure were two temples of Dionysus, of which the
foundations have recently been discovered. The oldest of
these was the nearest to the Acropolis, and is that marked D in
the accompanying plan. It contained the statue of Dionysus
Eleuthereus. It was probably this statue which was taken into
III.] SITE OF THE THEATRE OF DIONYSUS. iii
the theatre every year during the dramatic performances, and
deposited in the orchestra. The more recent temple stood a
few yards to the south of the old one, and is indicated by the
letter E in the plan. It contained a statue of Dionysus by a
certain Alcamenes, made of ivory and gold. Nearly in front of
the more ancient temple of Dionysus stood the old orches tra in
which Thespis and his successors had performed. The site
chosen for the new theatr e was a few yards to the north-west of
the old orchestral The reasons^ for the choic e are obvious.
In the first place it was natural that the theatre, being regarded
as a sort of temple of Dionysus, and being designed for
celebrations in his honour, should be erected in his sacred
enclosure. In the second place the slopes of the Acropolis
afforded an excellent foundation for the tiers of seats, and the
necessity of erecting costly substructures was avoided. In one
respect the position of the theatre differed from that usu ally
adopted^ in l ater t ijpes. The auditorium faced almost directly
towards the south. This arrangement was generally avoided
by the Greeks, and Vitruvius expressly warns architects against
the danger of adopting it, because of the terrible heat caused by
the midday sun glaring into the concavity of the theatre'^. But
at Athens there were special reason s on the other side. If
the theatre was to be built in the Lenaeum at all, the only
natural position for the auditorium was along the slopes of the
Acropolis, and facing towards the south. We must also re-
member that at Athens the competitions for which the theatre
was principally designed were held in the late winter or the
early spring, when the cold was more to be dreaded than the
heat. For performances at this period of the year the theatre
was admirably adapted. It not only received the full warmth
of the sun, but was also protected from the north wind by the
rocks of the Acropolis behind it. At Athens therefore there
were special reasons for preferring the southern aspect. The
^ Hesych. v. Itti AtjvoIo) dycuv; Alterthums, vol. iii. p. 1736.
Thucyd. ii. 15 ; Pausan. i. 20. 3; Bau- ^ Vitruv. v. 3. 2.
meister's Denkmaler des Klassischen
113
THE THEATRE.
[Ch.
f tiie AcropoJis ^'--—
ASCLEPIEION
IIL] THE AUDITORIUM, 1 13
official name of the building was The Theatre of Dionysus. It
was also sometimes called The Lenaic Theatre \
§ 5. The Auditorium.
Following the arrangement previously mentioned we come
first of all to the auditorium. A plan of the existing remains of
the theatre is here inserted '^. Together with the two views of
the theatre, which are given in the frontispiece and at the
commencement of the present chapter, it will enable the reader
to understand the following details without much difficulty.
The auditorium, or the portion of the theatre containing the
seats for the spectators, was called the ' cavea ' in Latin ; but
there was no technical terrn for it in Greek. In almost all
Greek theatres it was built upon the side of a hill, so that the
natural slope of the ground might serve as a foundation for the
tiers of seats. At Athens the rising ground at the foot of the
Acropolis was utilised for this purpose. It was only at the
extremities of the two wings, on the east and the west, that
artificial substructures were necessary, in order to bring the
back seats up to the proper height. In the other parts of the
building the rising ground served as a foundation, after being
altered to the requisite shape. The walls by which the
auditorium was bounded on the outside have been preserved
to a certain extent, and suffice to mark clearly the original
shape of the building. On the western side of the theatre,
from a to Z>, there are two boundary walls, an inner and an
outer one. The inner wall is built of conglomerate, and
* Corp. Inscr. Att. ii. 240 to Oearpov existing remains of the theatre have
TO AiovvffiaKov. Cp. Phot, and Hesych. been Vischer's article in the Neues
(v. iKpia) TO kv Aiovvciov Otarpov '. Poll. Schweizerisches Museum, 1863, Bd. 3:
iv. 121 TO AijvuiKov (Oiarpov). Wheeler's Theatre of Dionysus, in
^ The plan is taken from Baumeister's Papers of the American School at
Denkmaler, v. Theatergebiude, and, Athens, vol. i. ; Das Theater des Dio-
as Dr. Dorpfeld informs me, con- nysus, by Julius and Ziller, in Zeit-
tains substantially the results of his schrift fUr bildende Kunst, vol. xiii. ;
recent excavations. Dr. Dorpfeld's Murray's Handbook to Greece, vol. i.
own more elaborate plan has unfortu- p. 228 ff. ; Baumeister's Denkmaler
nately not yet been published. My des Klassischen Alterthums, vol. iii. v.
authorities for the description of the Theatergebaude.
114 THE THEATRE. ^ [Ch.
formed the real supporting wall of the auditorium in this part.
The outer wall is built of Peiraic limestone, and merely served
as a cover and protection to the inner one. The two walls are
connected at intervals by lateral arms, which are also continued
some distance beyond the inner wall. On the eastern side of
the building almost all traces of the boundary walls have dis-
appeared, but probably the general construction was very much
the same as that on the western side just described. At the
point h a wall of Peiraic limestone, marked c in the plan, and
closely connected with the wall a-b, runs off westwards. The
small piece of wall stretching northwards from c is of mediaeval
construction. A little to the north of wall c another wall d,
made of conglomerate, also runs off westwards in a nearly
parallel direction. Between these two walls the boundary wall
of the theatre is discontinued. It is obvious therefore that at
this point there was an entrance into the auditorium. Very
possibly there was a similar entrance on the opposite side ; but
the remains there are not sufficiently well preserved to deter-
mine the question. From the point d the boundary wall pro-
ceeds in a curve towards the north-east. There is no inner
wall in this part, as in the lower half of the western side. The
single wall which here forms the boundary of the theatre is
built of conglomerate faced with Peiraic limestone, and is con-
tinued in the same line with the outer wall from a to h. At the
point e some extra seats are built upon the rocky slopes of the
Acropolis, outside the boundary wall of the theatre, and sup-
ported by a special wall marked e, Further eastwards the
rock of the Acropolis abutted upon the theatre, and has been
hollowed out into a regular curve. This is without doubt the
portion of the~theatre referred to by the ancients as Katatome,
or 'The Cutting \' In the rock is a natural grotto enlarged
by artificial means, and 34 ft. long by 20 ft. broad. Here
^ Harp. V. KaTaroix-q- 'Tirepeidrjs iv x^PVl^'' Trato-t, Kal kneypaipev Itti rr/v
to) KaTOL At] fJioaOh'ovs' real KaOrjfievos Kararofxriv ttjs irerpas. Bekk, Anec'l.
K<XTO} vTrb rrj KaTaTOjJLrj. ^tAoxopos 6e kv p. 270. 21 Karaioix^ 77 upxr^arpa ij vvv
€KTr} ovTcvs' AlfTXpaios 'AvayvpaaL09 aiyna, fj fieposri rov Oedrpov Karerfirfdr],
dviOrjKf rbv virfp Ofdrpov rpiiroha Karap- eird kv 6p€i KareCKevaaTai k.t.X.
yvpojffas, veviKTjKws to) nporepov erti
III.] THE AUDITORIUM, 1 15
Thrasyllus erected an elaborate monument to commemorate
his victor3^ with a chorus of men in 319 B.C. In the front of
the grotto stood three columns supporting an entablature, and
surmounted by a statue of Dionysus. On the architrave was
an inscription recording the victory of Thrasyllus. Inside the
grotto were statues of Apollo and Artemis, destroying the
children of Niobe. In modern times the grotto has been
converted into a chapel of Our Lady. The columns and en-
tablature were in excellent preservation when Stuart visited
Athens, but they were shattered by a mine during the Greek
revolution. Above the grotto are two columns, which were
erected to commemorate victories with dithyrambic choruses.
On the capitals can still be seen the holes made to receive the
legs of the tripods ^ After the Katatome there are very few
remains of the boundary of the theatre upon the eastern side.
But enough is left to show the general outline, as may be
seen from the plan. The two wings of the auditorium are
terminated on the south by the walls marked a-a and f-f.
The walls are of unequal lengt h, the eastern wall being about
III ft., the western only 88 ft. The eastern wing was there-
fore considerably wider than the western. The two walls are
of conglomerate faced with Peiraic limestone. They are^not in
the same^ stcaightjine, but if continued inwards would meet in
an obtuse angle in the orchestra. A comparison of the various
Greek theatres shows that two different plans were adopted in
regard to the position of these walls. Sometimes, as in the
theatre at Athens, they were so arranged as to form an angle
if prolonged. This is the case with most of the theatres of
Asia Minor, and the same plan has been adopted in the
theatres at Epidaurus, Mantineia, and the Peiraeeus. Some-
^ Pans. i. 21. 5. Stuart and Revett's view of the theatre given at the corn-
Antiquities of Athens, ii. 8. The mencement of the chapter the katatome,
inscription on the monument was as together with the grotto and the two
follows (Corp. Inscr. Gr. 224), @p:i<yvK- choregic columns, are clearly visible.
\os SpaavWov AeKeXeevs dviOrjKev x^PV- Above the grotto is seen the. old wall
ywv viKTjaas dvSpdffiv 'iTnToOcuvTidi (pvXfj, of Cimon, covered over with a modern
Evios Xa\Kid€vs r)v\€t, N^'atxAtos ripx^v, casing.
KapKidafios Swrtos edlSaffKfv. In the
I 2
Il6 THE THEATRE, [Ch.
times, on the other hand, the walls were arranged in one and
the same straight line, so as to be exactly parallel with the
stage. The theatres of Sicily are mostly of this pattern, as is
also the theatre at Megalopolis ^
The above description, together with the plan, will give a fair
idea of the general outline of the auditorium. It will readily be
seen that the Athenian theatre had none of tha t sym nietry and
harmonious beauty of design which is conspicuous in so many
of the later Greek theatres. Its shape was far from regular.
A glance at the plan of the theatre of Epidaurus, which was
built by the younger Polycleitus in the middle of the fourth
century, will show at once the great inferiority of the Athenian
theatre in point of grace and symmetry of outlined In most
Greek theatres the auditorium was of the same width from one
end to the other, and was shaped in a symmetrical curve. In
the theatre at Athens the two wings of the auditorium are
narrowed so considerably towards the south, as to be less than
half the depth of the central part. The outside boundary does
not run in a regular curve, but is very much flattened where it
encounters the rock of the Acropolis, and terminates in a
straight line at each of the southern corners. But the
strangest point of all is that the eastern wing, at its termina-
tion, is several yards wider than the western wing — an arrange-
ment utterly destructive of symmetry of design. A similar
disregard for mere appearance is shown by the erection of
extra seats on the slopes of the Acropolis outside the north-
western boundary wall. The theatre at Athens was built for
use rather than for show. It was not, like the theatre at
Epidaurus, designed on one symmetrical plan. Its shape was
determined by the conformation of the ground and by the
situation of the adjoining rocks. Hence the irregularity of its
outline. Although therefore it is the most interesting of Greek
theatres on account of its historical associations, in point of
mere beauty it cannot take the highest rank.
We now come to the interior of the auditorium. The boundary
^ Mliller's Griech. Biihnenalterthumer, p. 29.
* See the plan of the theatre of Epidaurus on p. 1 30.
III.] THE AUDITORIUM. 117
between the auditorium and the orchestra is denoted by the
dark Hne in the plan. It will be observed that in the theatre of
Dionysus the inside boundar y of the au djtorium consists of a
semicircle with the two ends prolonged in parallel straight ^
lines. This was not the plan usually adopted in Greek theatres.
In most of the later theatres the two ends of the semicircle
were prolonged in the same curve as before, so that the inside ^ .
boundary of the auditorium formed about two-thirds of a regular
circle. The effect of this arrangement was that the spectators
sitting at the extremities of the two wings faced towards the
centre of the orchestra, and away from the stage. This need
not surprise us when we remember that in purely Greek theatres
the orchestra was always the most important part of the whole
building. But the arrangement adopted at Athens, of prolong-
ing the two ends of the semicircle in a straight line, had the
advantage of giving the spectators on the wings a much better
view of the stage. The same plan was also adopted in the
theatre of the Peiraeeus, and in the theatres at Acrae in Sicily,
and Termessus in Asia Minor. At Epidaurus a third plan was J
pursued, differing from both the above. The two ends of the
semicircle were prolonged, not in a straight line, nor yet in the
same curve as before, but in the shape of an ellipse, so that
while they converged to a certain extent, they did not converge
so much as in the ordinary Greek theatres \ This arrangement
is perhaps the most beautiful of the three. But as far as the
view of the stage is concerned the design adopted in the theatre
of Dionysus has decidedly the advantage.
The interior of the auditorium consisted of a series of stone
seats rising tier above tier in a gentle slope from the boundary
of the orchestra to the outside extremities of the building.
Immediately under the cliff of the Acropolis the seats were
carved out of the living rock. With this exception they were
made of Peiraic Hmestone. In some of the upper portions of the
theatre they were fixed upon conglomerate foundations. But in
most parts they were placed directly upon the bare earth, and
1 Muller's Biihnenalterthumer, p. 29.
8
THE THEATRE.
[Cb.
were therefore easily capable of being removed. For this reason
the greater number of them have disappeared, having been
taken away during the Middle Ages for building purposes. All
that remain are from twenty to thirty rows in the bottom of the
auditorium, and portions of a few rows at the top. From these
however it is possible to obtain a clear conception of the style
and arrangement of the auditorium. In order to make the
following description clearer, an illustration is here inserted,
consisting of a restoration of the extremity of the eastern wing\
In this illustration a is the orchestra, h the eastern entrance
into the orchestra, c the southern boundary wall of the east wing
of the auditorium.
To proceed with the description of the seats . The lowest
step of the auditorium rose a few inches above the level of
the orchestra, and then sloped gently upwards towards the
first row of seats. It was built of large slabs of stone. It
was wider at the sides than in the centre, the width at the sides
being nine feet ten inches, the width at the centre only six feet
seven inches. The line of seats therefore did not coincide
exactly with the boundary line of the auditorium and orchestra,
^ The illustration is copied, with a few alterations, from the Zeitschrift fiir
bildende Kunst, xiii. p.- 197.
III.] THE AUDITORIUM. 1 19
but receded slightly on the two wings. The first row of seats
consisted of marble thrones with backs to them. In the front of
each throne was an inscription recording the title of the priest
or official for whom the seat was reserved. The thrones were
25 inches wide, and 23^ inches deep. In the centre was the
throne of the priest of Dionysus, slightly larger than the others,
and elaborately and beautifully carved. Behind the line of
thrones was a passage 33 inches wide. Then came a small
step, 7 inches high, and 17I inches deep, for the people on the
seat above to rest their feet upon. Then began the first of the
ordinary tiers of seats, which were continued in exactly the
same style from this point up to the top of the building. Their
shape and dimensions were as follows. Each seat was I2|
inches high, and was hollowed out slightly in front, so that the
person sitting on it could put his heels back as far as he liked.
The depth of the seat was 33 inches, and its surface was
divided into three distinct portions. The first part was for
sitting upon, and was 12 1 inches deep. The second part was
several inches lower, and was intended to receive the feet of the
persons upon the seat above. It was \6\ inches across. The
third part was merely a narrow edge, of the same level as the
first part, and 4 inches in depth. Thus the whole surface came
to 33 inches. All the seats throughout the building, with
the exception of the row of thrones, were of exactly the
same construction. Along the front of each tier of seats were
vertical lines engraved in the stone at intervals of about 13
inches. The lines were doubtless intended to help in discrimin- • " ^" *
ating each person's seat from his neighbour's. - ^ L<r-CfLttr ^ xt*^^^^^ 2 a-
For the purpose of giving access to the different parts of the
auditorium a series of passages ran in divergent lines, like the
spokes of a wheel, from the orchestra up to the outside boundary.
The passages were fourteen in number, and the two upon the
extreme south at each side adjoined immediately upon the
boundary walls. In a theatre like that at Athens, where an
immense number of people had to be accommodated with seats
in tolerable proximity to the orchestra and stage, the greatest
economy had to be observed in the use of space. These vertical
120 THE THEATRE. [Ch.
passages were therefore made only 27 1 inches wide, so that
not more than one person could ascend at a time. The arrange-
ment of the steps along the passages was altogether exceptional.
In every Greek theatre, except that at Athens, each tier of seats
had two steps corresponding to it in the vertical passages. But
at Athens there was only one step for each tier of seats ; and as
the seats were 12 J inches high, while the steps were only
8 1 inches, it was necessary to make up the difference by
building the steps with a sloping surface. The surface was
furrowed over, to render the ascent more easy. The fourteen
passages divided the auditorium into thirteen blocks . Such
blocks were called 'cunei' or 'wedges* in Latin, because of
their shape. In Greek they were called 'kerkides,' from their
resemblance to the 'kerkis,' or tapering rod used in weaving\
The front row in each ' kerkis ' contained five marble thrones,
with the exception of the two ' kerkides ' on the extreme south
of each wing, which contained six thrones each ; so that the
total number of marble thrones was sixty-seven. In addition
to the vertical passages all Greek theatres of any size were also
intersected by one or two longitudinal pas sages, called 'pra e-
cincti ones* in Latin. These passages divided the auditorium
into sections, called * belts ' or ' girdles ' in Greek technical
terminology". In the theatre of Dionysus no traces of such
passages can be discovered, owing to the total destruction of
the upper part of the auditorium. But we have seen that there
was an entrance into the building on the western side at the
point marked c in the plan. There was in all probability a
corresponding entrance on the opposite side, and a longitudinal
passage ran from entrance to entrance, following the direction
of the tiers of seats in the manner indicated by the dotted lines
in the plan. This supposition is confirmed by a coin in the
British Museum, which contains on one side a rude representa-
tion of the Theatre at Athens. In spite of the roughness and
inaccuracy of the design, there are clear traces of a longitudinal
passage intersecting the upper portion of the auditorium. A copy
^ Pollux, iv. 123.
* Sto^fw/xara, Corp. Inscr. Gr. 4283; ^wvat, Malal. p. 222.
III.]
THE AUDITORIUM.
121
of the coin is here inserted \ The position of the 'praecinctio '
in the Athenian theatre has not a very symmetrical appear-
ance. But symmetry of design was not the characteristic of the
theatre of Dionysus. In most Greek theatres the auditorium
was of the same width from end to end, and was divided by the
longitudinal passages into equal and symmetrical portions.
The plan of the theatre of Epidaurus will serve as a specimen'.
But in the theatre at Athens it was impossible to arrange the
longitudinal passage in this manner, owing to the narrowness of
the wings of the auditorium. As to the vertical passages, in the
Athenian theatre they appear to have run in a straight line from
the bottom to the top of the auditorium. In some theatres, as at
Epidaurus, extra passages were inserted in the upper belt of the
auditorium. In other theatres the vertical passages in the upper
belt were arranged alternately with those in the lower belt, and
not in the same straight line. But the ordinary practice was to
construct single passages in the same straight line from bottom
to top^. This is especially likely to have been the case at
Athens, as the theatre was not divided into symmetrical belts or
sections, and would not therefore naturally lend itself to the other
kinds of arrangement. It was the fashion in Roman theatres to
erect a portico along the top of the auditorium, following the
line of the uppermost tier of seats. But there are no traces of
^ The copy is taken from Wieseler's
Denkmaler des Biihnenwesens, i. i.
^ See the plan on p. 130.
^ Miiller's Buhnenalt. p. 33.
122 THE THEATRE. [Ch.
such a portico in the theatre at Athens, or in any other theatre
of purely Greek origin \
The following facts and measurements will give some idea of
the siz e an d capacity of t he Athenian theatre . The distance
between the inside corners of the auditorium was 72 feet. The
distance between the outside corners was 288 feet. In the
centre of the auditorium, from north to south, it is calculated
by Strack that there must have been about 100 tiers of seats'.
Of course on each of the two wings the number of tiers would
be considerably less than half that amount. The arrangements
throughout were designed with the view of bringing together
the largest possible number of people within the smallest
possible compass. The passages were little over two feet in
width. The seats were of the simplest construction, so that the
spectators could be packed tightly together, without any space
being wasted. As the theatre was in the open air the close
crowding of the audience was of course much less intolerable
than it would have been in a covered building. At the same
time the situation of the spectator cannot have been a very com-
fortable one. He had to remain cramped up in one position,
with no back to lean against, and with very little opportunity of
moving his limbs. That the Athenians were willing to put up
with such inconveniences for several days in succession is a
proof of their enthusiastic devotion to music and the drama.
The total number of people which could be accommodated in
the theatre at Athens is said by Plato to have been ' more than
thirty thousand.' Modern investigations, based on the existing
remains, lead to the conclusion that the number was 27,500.
In any case the theatre was not so capacious as that of
Megalopolis, which is calculated to have held 44,000 people.
It was however one of the four largest theatres in Greece
proper. Tiie other three were those of Megalopolis, Epidaurus,
and Sparta^.
^ Vitruv. V. 6. 4; Miiller's Biihnen- ' Plat. Symp. 175 E; Zeitschrift fUr
alt. p. 36. bild. Kunst, xiii. p. 202 ; Strack's Alt-
'•^ Strack's Altgriech. Theatergebaude, griech. Theatergebaude, p. 2 ; Miiller's
P- 2. Biihnenalt. p. 47.
•lil.] THE AUDITORIUM. * I2<5
There still remains the question as to the date of the.construc;
tion of the au dito rium. All the authorities are agreed that the
existing remains belong to the original building, and that there
has been no reconstruction in later times in this part of the
theatre, as there was in the case of the orchestra and the stage-
buildings. But as to the date there is considerable difference
of opinion. The tradition recorded by Suidas has already been
referred to. It states that the construction of a stone theatre
was due to the collapse of the wooden benches in 499 B.C., when
Pratinas was exhibiting in the tragic contest, and his competitors
were Aeschylus and Choerilus. There is a precision about the
details of this tradition which gives it an appearance of authen-
ticity and credibility. We are probably therefore justified iii
concluding that the construction of the auditorium was com- ^
menced early in the fifth century. Nothing is known as to the
progress of the work, or the extent to which it suffered during
the Persian invasion. Julius assigns its completion to the 'C-.
middle of the fifth century. Others put it about fifty years later, c.
They refer to a certain slab with an inscription upon it, which
is built into the south-western wall of the auditorium with the
inscription inverted \ If the date of the inscription could be
determined with certainty, it would fix the time before which the
auditorium could not have been completed. But unfortunately
on this point there is a difference of opinion. Julius, judging Ji.
from the style of the inscription, ascribes it to the middle of the
fifth century; Kirchhofif on the same grounds assigns it to the <-
year 408 b.c. It is impossible therefore to base any exact con-
clusions on this particular piece of evidence. All that can fairly
be inferred is that the greater part of the auditorium was finished
in the course of the fifth century. Of course in a work of this
kind, consisting simply of "tiers upon tiers of stone seats, it is
not by any means necessary that it should have been all built
at the same time. It may have been added to at different
-periods. It is quite possible that it was not fully completed
until the fourth century. But the probability seems to be that
* The inscription is given in Corp. Inscr. Att. i. 499.
124 * THE THEATRE. [Ch.
by far the larger portion of it was constructed in the course of
the fifth century.
A totallydifibreiitLQfiinion concerning the date of the auditorium
has lately been propounded ^3r^n^Dorp^feld. He ascribes the
whole building to the latter part _oflJhe_jQUjth century, and
asserts that before this time there was no such thing at Athens
as a permanent stone theatre. Until the end of the fourth
century the seats of the spectators consisted, according to his
account, merely of rows of wooden benches. The stone theatre
was begun and completed in the time of Lycurgus. His reasons
for this novel theory are not however by any means conclusive^,
and are more than counterbalanced by the arguments o n the other
side. There is the precise statement in Suidas that the stone
• theatre was commenced in 499 b.c. Then again it is known that
\ . at Epidaurus and at the Peiraeeus stone theatres had been erected
as early as the middle of the fourth century ^ It is impossible to
believe that Athens, the city in which the drama was originally
developed, and whose theatrical representations continued to
be the admiration of all the rest of Greece, should have been
later than Epidaurus, and later than her own sea-port the
Peiraeeus, in providing herself with a permanent theatre. It is
also difficult to suppose that if the Athenian theatre had been
built after that of Epidaurus, it would have been so much
C. inferior in symmetry of design. The theatre at Athens, with
^ Dr. Dorpfeld, in a letter of Nov. inscription on the slab already referred
7th, 1888, gives the following as his to,thedateof which is assigned variously
reasons for assigning the , constru ction to 450 or 408 B. c. Here again there is
of the auditorium to the latter part p f nothing to carry us beyond the fifth
the fourth cent ury— (il The material. century. (4) The use of the word i'/fpta
But Julius, Wheeler, and others make by Cratinus and Aristophanes. This
the style and general character of the argument has already been discussed on
work one of their reasons for assigning p. 107. (5) The notices concerning the
it to the fifth century. Where there is work carried out in the theatre by
such difference of opinion, it is obviously Lycurgus. These notices, as was
difficult to place reliance upon argu- pointed out on p. 109, are far too vague
ments of this kind. (2) Certain stone- and general to lead to any definite con-
mason's marks, among which the letter elusion. There is nothing in them
n appears. But the letter H was form- which is inconsistent with the supposi-
ally adopted at Athens in 403 B. c, so tion that the auditorium was sub-
that even if the evidence of these marks stantially the work of the fifth century,
is to be relied on, it only brings us down ^ Paus. ii. 27. 5 ; Corp. Inscr. Att. ii.
to the end of the fifth century. (3) The 573.
III.] THE ORCHESTRA. 1 25
its irregularity, and its adaptation to the natural conformation
of the ground, has distinctly the appearance of being the
earliest work of the kind. On every ground therefore it is
difficult to resist the conclusion that the auditorium of which
the remains still exist was substantially the work of the fifth
century. It may have been added to by Lycurgus ; the com-
pletion of every detail may have been due to him ; but that the
work as a whole belonged to the latter half of the fourth
century is a suggestion which it is hardly possible to accept.
One point has still to be noticed, and that is the date o f the
marWe^ thrones. The general opinion is that they are of later
origin than the rest of the auditorium. The inscriptions upon
them mostly belong to the Christian era, but in many cases half
obliterated traces of older inscriptions are to be discovered
underneath. Some of the inscriptions, however, are thought to
be as early as the Macedonian period. The probability is that
the marble thrones were erected by Lycurgus in the course of
his completion of the theatre. Whether before the time of
Lycurgus the front row of seats was in any way superior to
the rest is uncertain. At Epidaurus the seats in the front row
were all provided with backs, but otherwise were quite simple
in design, and far less imposing than the marble thrones in the
Athenian theatre ^ It is possible that at Athens, before the
alterations of Lycurgus, the front row was distinguished in
some way from the other rows behind it, without displaying
any very great magnificence.
§ 6. The Orchestra.
After the auditorium the next great division of the theatre is
the orchestra. This was the name given to the flat surface
enclosed between the stage-buildings and the inside boundary
of the auditorium. It was called the orchestra, or ^dancing-
place,' because in Greek theatres it was reserved for the
performances of the chorus. In later times it was also called
the Sigma^ because its shape resembled the semicircular figure
^ UpaKTiKoL TTJs kv 'AO^vats dpxaio\. haipias 1883, p. 46 ff.
126 THE THEATRE. [Ch,
which was adopted in the fourth century as the symbol of th^
letter sigma\ In one place the word 'konistra,' is used to-
denote the orchestra. Konistra means a surface of earth or
sand. It is possible therefore that the term originated in the
early period of the Greek drama, when the orchestras were not
as yet covered with pavement, but consisted merely of the
ordinary soil. On the other hand the word may be of late
origin, as applied to the theatre. In Roman times the
orchestras of Greek theatres were occasionally the scene of
gladiatorial combats, and were probably strewn with sand for
the purpose. It may be the case that the use of the word
'konistra,' as applied to the orchestra, arose in later times in
consequence of this practice. As the term only occurs in one
place, it is impossible to speak with any certainty on the
subject^ In Roman theatres the orchestra was given up to
the spectators, and the performances of singers and dancers
took place upon the stage. The same practice was gradually
adopted, under the Roman Empire, in the Greek theatres also.
Hence the later Greek commentators and grammarians often
use the word ' orchestra * improperly to denote the stage, which
in their time was the actual dancing-place. This later signifi-
cation of the term has given rise to much confusion. When a
Greek scholiast speaks of the orchestra, it is necessary to look
carefully to the context, to see whether he means the stage, or
the orchestra in its proper sensed
In the early Greek theatres, as already pointed out, the
orchestra was the most important part. The stage-buildings
^ Phot. V. bpxqc^Tpa (i), rrpwrov appears; in the latter 6px'70"'"/3a is sub-
eKkrjOrj kv rrj dyopa' eJra Kal rod Oedrpov stituted.
TO KOLTOJ fjpiK'iKXiov, ov Kol ol x^pot p5ov ^ E. g, Schol. Arlstoph. Equit. 505
Kat wpxovvTo. Bekk. Anecd. p. 286 (of the chorus) eardcrL piXv yap fcaTcL
opxrjCfTpa Tov O^cnpov rb vvv Xeyo/xevov otoixov ol irpos t^v opxtJOTpav dnol3\e-
Giyixa' oovopidaOr] 5e ovtws kvel (kKei) vovrer orav hi irapa^waiv, ecp^^TJi karoj-
wpXOVVTO 01 X^po'- Tfs Kal Trpus tovs Oeards fiXenovres rbv
^ Snidas v. aKrjvrj ... 97 Koviarpa, Xoyov voiovvTai. Here bpx'rj(T'rpa ob-
TovTeaTiTbKdTa}'e5a(posTov9(dTpov. The xionsly = Xoyeiov. Cp. also Suidas s. v.
same scholium is repeated in Schol. cktjvt) ; Isidor. Origg. xviii. 44 ' orche-
Gregor. Nazianz. laud. patr. 355 B (see stra autem pulpitus erat scaenae, ubi
Hermes, vi. p. 490), and in Etym. Mag. saltator agere posset, aut duo inter se
In the former the word Koviorpa again disputare.'
ni.] - THE ORCHESTRA. I27
were a mere appendage to the orchestra. The seats of the
spectators were so arranged, that while everyone had . an
excellent view of the orchestra, the view of the stage was in
many cases a very poor one. When the Romans gave up the
orchestra to the spectators, and transferred all the performances
to the stage, they made considerable alterations in the arrange-
ment and proportions of the theatre. They largely diminished
the size of the orchestra, by bringing the stage several yards
forward; and at the same time they cut off considerable
portions from the two ends of the auditorium. In this way they
were enabled to make the stage much deeper, so as to accom-
modate a larger number of performers. By shortening the
wings of the auditorium they abolished those seats which looked
away from the stage. Vitruvius gives some interesting direc-
tions for determining the proper proportions of a Gree k and
Ro man theatre \ According to his figures the orchestra in a
Roman theatre constituted an exact semicircle. The front
line of the stage coincided precisely with the diameter of the
orchestra. In a Greek theatre the stage was placed much
further back. The distance between the central point of the
front line of the stage, and the central point in the opposite
circumference of the orchestra, was six-sevenths of the diameter
of the orchestra. In a Greek theatre therefore, according to
this statement, if the circumference of the orchestra was pro-
longed so as to form a complete circle, it would be found that
the front line of the stage only intersected a very small portion
of that circle. None of the existing Greek theatres coincide
exactly with the rules laid down b}^ Vitruvius; but in most
cases they approximate closely. In the theatres at Epi-
daurus and the Peiraeeus the stage is placed a little further
back than Vitruvius directs. At Athens this is still more the
case. If the curve of the lowest step of the auditorium is
prolonged so as to form a complete circle, the circumference of
that circle does not touch the front line of the oldest existing
stage. These facts enable one to realise the subordinate
position occupied by the stage in early times. In the old Greek
' Vitruv. V. 6, 7.
3 28 THE THEATRE. [Ch.
theatres the original circle of the orchestra was still preserved
intact, or was only encroached upon to a very small extent by
the line of the stage-buildings.
The question as to the character_and appear^anceof the
orchestra in the Athenian theatre during the great period of
the Attic drama is one of the highest interest. Unfortunately
the present state of the theatre does not throw much light upon
the subject. The central part of the building is mostly of very
late date, and only slight traces of the original orchestra are to
be discovered. It will be convenient first of all to give a brief
description of the present orchestra, and then to see whether
the deficiency in our information can be supplied from other
sources. In the Athenian theatre the front of the auditorium
consists of a broad and gently-sloping step, which rises a few
inches above the level of the orchestra, and varies in width from
about seven feet in the centre to about ten feet at the two sides.
Along the edge of this step runs a marble balustrade, marked
by the dark fine in the plan. It consists of large slabs of
marble, bound together by iron clamps, and 43 inches in
height. On the southern side the orchestra is bounded by the
stage of Phaedrus, a work of the third century a. d., which has
already been referred to. About half of it is preserved, and is
marked g in the plan. The two ends of this stage, as originally
constructed, joined on to the two ends of the balustrade, so as
to block up the entrances into the orchestra. Inside the balus-
trade there is a gutter made of limestone, 35I inches in width.
An outlet for the water runs off in a south-easterly direction.
The gutter was originally open, except opposite the vertical
passages, where it was bridged over with coverings of lime-
stone. In later times it was covered over entirely with slabs
of marble, with rosette-shaped openings at intervals. Some of
these openings are still preserved, and are indicated in the
plan. Inside the gutter is a narrow strip of Pentelic marble.
Within this the orchestra is paved with slabs of different kinds
of marble, arranged in lines parallel to the stage of Phaedrus.
In the centre is a large rhombus-shaped figure, bounded by two
strips of marble. The interior of the figure is paved with
III.] THE ORCHESTRA. 129
small slabs of marble, also rhombus-shaped, and of different
colours. In the middle of the figure is a block of Pentelic
marble, 41 inches long, and 17^ inches broad. The centre of
the block contains a shallow circular depression, which may
have been intended to receive an altar of Dionysus. In the
south-west corner of the orchestra there formerly stood a
cistern. It is marked in the plan, but has lately been removed.
Of the various portions of the orchestra which have just been
described, the only one which belongs to the original building
is the gutter. This was made of limestone, like the auditorium,
and had no covering at first, with the exception of the bridges
opposite the passages. It was intended to drain off the water
from the auditorium. With the construction of the balustrade
its usefulness in this respect was destroyed. The pavement of
the orchestra is of excellent workmanship, and probably belongs
to the time of the early Caesars. The balustrade, the stage of
Phaedrus, and the marble covering of the gutter, are of later
date, and are all ascribed by Dorpfeld to one period, probably
the beginning of the third century a.d. The stage of Phaedrus
encroaches on the orchestra in the Roman fashion. The balus-
trade is entirely a Roman idea. In Greek theatres there was
never any obstacle between the orchestra and the auditorium.
As far as one can see, the erection of the balustrade must have
been due to the practice of holding gladiatorial combats in the
orchestra. As for the rhombus-shaped figure, it is uncertain
whether it was inserted, as a mere ornament, or was intended
for any particular purpose. At any rate, it throws no light upon
the question of the style and appearance of the old Greek
orchestras. The whole of the existing orchestra is far too late
in time, and far too Roman in its character, to be of any use in
this respect.
Fortunately for our knowledge of the orchestras of the early
Greek theatres the recent excavations at Epidaurus have
brought to light a theatre in which this portion of the building
has been preserved in its original condition ^ The theatr e,^
^ Paus. ii. 27. 5 'YLniZavpiois 5e hari Okas d^iov ra fxlv yap 'Poofiaicov iroXv St;
Oearpov kv tw Upcv, fidXiara kiiol dofcfiv ri tirepTJpKe twv iravTaxov to) K6<Tutp,
K
130
THE THEATRE.
[Ch.
E^idaurus was, according to Pausanias, the most beautiful
theatre in the whole world. It was built by the younger
Polycleitus in the middle of the fourth century. It did not-
suffer from subsequent reconstructions, like the theatre at
Athens ; and consequently the present remains are of the very
greatest interest. The orchestra, the greater part of the
auditorium, and the foundations of the stage-buildings are
!f^l,:iOO\
well preserved. A plan of the whole building is here inserted.
The beauty of the general design is conspicuous at the first
glance. The arrangement of the orchestra is as follows.
Immediately in front of the lowest step of the auditorium
there is a channel 6 feet 10 inches in width, and 8 inches
deeper than the rest of the orchestra. The channel is paved
with limestone, and reaches a little more than half way round
lieyfOd 5e 'ApKdSa>v to (v MfyaXr) iroXd'
apfxovias 5e ^ kclWovs eVewa dpxiTeKTOJV
iroios h d/xiX\av YloXvKXfiTW yevoir' av
d^i6xp(<^s ; TIo\vK\eiT09 yap koX Oearpov
rovTO Kcu o'lKTjfjux T^ iTepifpcpes 6 iroirjoas^v.
The account of the present state of the
theatre is derived from the UpaKTiKcL rrjs
(V 'AOrjvais dpxaioX. kraipias for 1883.
The plan is from Baumeister's Denk-
maler, vol. iii., v. Theatergebaude.
TIL] THE ORCHESTRA. 1 31
the orchestra, so as to be rather larger than a semicircle. At
each end of it there are two holes, with outlets for water. It
was obviously constructed for the purpose of draining off the
water which descended from the auditorium. Inside the channel
is a large circle, 66 feet in diameter. The circumference of the
circle is marked by a border of stone, 15 inches wide, and on
the same level as the rest of the orchestra. The interior of the
circle is not paved in any way, but consists merely of earth
beaten down hard and flat. In the very centre of the orchestra
a circular stone, 28 inches in diameter, is sunk into the ground,
so as to be on the same level as the surface round about it. In
the middle of the stone is a circular hole. The purpose of the
stone cannot be determined with certainty, but the most prob-
able conjecture is that it was intended for the reception of
a small stone altar. The outer border of the circle ap-
proaches within about a yard of the front line of the stage-
buildings.
From the evidence afforded by these interesting remains the
following conclusions may be drawn . In the first place it
would appear that in the early Greek orchestras a complete
circle was marked off for the performances of the chorus, slightly
less in diameter than the orchestra itself. This was probably
the case at Athens. On looking at the plan of the Athenian
theatre it will be found that there was ample room for such
a circle. The curved border of the orchestra, if prolonged so
as to form an entire circle, would not reach as far as the front
of the oldest proscenium, indicated in the plan by the letter B.
Most probably, therefore, the orchestra at Athens, as at Epidau-
rus, had a circular dancing-place marked out for the chorus,
and surrounded with a stone border. The border would run.
immediately inside the old limestone gutter already referred
to\ In the second place, the evidence of the Epidaurian
^ Dr. Dorpfeld writes to me as fol- Auch das jiingere Proskenion mit den
lows : — In Lykurgs Zeit war die Or- Saulen (auf dem Plane B) soweit von
chestra ein voller Kreis, weil das dem Mittelpunkt des Kreises entfernt
Skenengebaude soweit von dem Mittel- liegt, dass die Orchestra einen ganzen
punkt des Kreises entfernt ist, dass man Kreis bildet.
den ganzen Kreis zeichnen kann . . ,
K 2
132 THE THEATRE. [Ch.
theatre seems to show that in the fifth and fourth centuries the
surface of the orchestra was not paved^with stone, but consisted
merely of earth beaten down. There is no reason to suppose
that a different plan was adopted at Athens. The statement which
used to be frequently met with, that the orchestra was covered
with planks, was due to ignorance of the fact that later Greek
writers often used the word * orchestra * to denote the stage \
In the existing Greek theatres the orchestras are, almost with-
out exception, paved with stone. But these pavements are of
comparatively late date, and do not affect the value of the
evidence afforded by the theatre of Epidaurus as to the practice
in the fourth and preceding centuries. Lastly, as to the
positi on of the altar of Dionysus. That there was an
altar in some part of the orchestra is proved by the ex-
press testimony of ancient writers, and by the circumstance
that the dramatic performances were preceded by a sacrifice ^
The altar probably stood in the very centre of the orchestra.
This was the arrangement in the earliest times, when the drama
was still a purely lyrical performance ; and it is not likely that
any alteration was made afterwards ^ The evidence supplied
by the theatres of Epidaurus and the Peiraeeus is distinctly in
favour of the same view. In each of these theatres there is
a circular hole in the centre of the orchestra. The only plaus-
ible explanation of the holes is that they were intended for the
reception of small stone altars. On the above grounds therefore
it seems reasonable to conclude that the position of the altar was
in the centre. This would, in fact, be the most natural and ap-
propriate place. The altar of a theatre was called the T hymele ,
^ Suidas V. CKr^v^y . . . nera rrfv ffKrj- ri ovcra ('ire )3cu//oy. For the sacrifices
V'^v €v$vi KOL ra irapaaKrjvia 77 opx'rjO'Tpa. in the theatre see on p. 89.
avTT] Se k(TTiu 6 ToTTOs o eK (Tavidojv ex<^v ^ Evanthius de trag. et comoed.
r() eSacpos, d<p' ov Ofarpi^ovrnv ot fiipLoi. (Gronov, Thesaur. viii. 1681), Comoe-
Here the word dpxr](^Tpa, as was first dia fere vetus, ut ipsa quoque olim
pointed out by Wieseler, and as the tragoedia, simplex carmen, quemadmo-
context proves, is used = Xo7erov. dum iam diximus, fuit ; quod chorus
^ Suidas V. OKrjv^y . . . dra fi^ra t^v circa aras fumantes nunc spatiatus,
bpxqOTpav (i.e. the stage) Pcofibs rod nunc consistens, nunc revolvens gyros,
Aiovvaov. Poll. iv. 12397 5e upx-qcrTpa cum tibicine concinebat.
III.] THE ORCHESTRA, 133
because of the sacrifices offered upon it'. It is called by this
name in a fragment of Pratinas^ In later times the use of the
term was extended, so as to denote, not only the altar, but also
the space round about it ; and ' thymele ' became a regular
name for an orchestra ^ By an exactly similar extension of
meaning the sacred enclosure in front of a temple came to be
called a 'thymele,' though the word originally denoted merely
the altar which was erected there ^
In all Greek theatres the front of the stage-buildings was
separated from the wings of the auditorium by a vacant space
several feet in width. Tw o^ open passag es, one on the right
and one on the left, led into the orchestra. The passages were
closed on the outside by large gates, and these gates formed
the only architectural connexion between the auditorium and
the stage-buildings ^. The passages answered a double pu r-
pqse. In the first place they formed the principal entrances to
the theatre for the general public. In many theatres they
were the only entrances. In Athens there were two others at
the upper end of the auditorium ; but the main approaches in
all theatres were those between the auditorium and the stage-
buildings. The spectators came in by the orchestra, and then
ascended the vertical passages to their proper seats. In the
second_place it was by these passages that the chorus entered
the orchestra at the commencement of each play. In the
theatre at Epidaurus the gates which led into the orchestra
^ Suidas V. aKrjvq' . . . (ha fxera ttjv dWoi rivh dyoivi^ovTai- av fiivroi (v6a
opxTjcrrpav Pojfios TovAiovv(rov,bs Ka\(t- jxlv Kcu/jicv^ol Kal Tpaycudol dycovi^ovrai
rat 6vp,i\r] -napd to $v€iv. Etym. Mag. Xoydov Ipus, ev9a Se ol auAj/rat Kal 01
V. Ovfiekr], ■^ Tov Ocdrpov f^(XP^ ^^^ "^^ X^pot opxh^^Tpav, fi^ Xeye 8e 6vp,€Kr)u.
TTJs TpancCrjs wvop-aarai, vapd to Itt' * 6vfxeXrj denotes the altar before a
avT^s TO. OvT) nepi^tadai, rovriaTi to. temple in Aesch. Suppl. 666 koI yepa-
6v6fi(va tcpeia. poTcri Trpea^vrobSKOc yfpovrojv OufxiXai
^Pratinas ap. Athen. p. 617 B rts 6 (pkeyovrcuv. It is used of the sacred
66pv&os ohi ; Tt raSe rd xopfvH-ara ; | enclosure before the temple in Eur. Ion
Tis vfipis efio\ev enl Aiovvmdda -noKvird- 46 vrrlp hi dvfieKas Siopiaai irpudvp-os TfV.
Taya Ovp-eXav ; cp. Hesych. v. 6vfi(\rj ; Cp. ibid. 114, 159, 229.
Schol. Lucian. Salt. § 76. ^ Remains of such gateways are
3 Phrynich. p. 163 (Lob.) 6vp.iKr]v' found in the theatres of Epidaurus and
Tovro ol fxev dpxdioi dvrl tov Ovaiav Pergamon, See Baumeister's Denk-
(TiOovv, ol Sk vvv k-nl tov tottov (v t<£ maler, vol. iii. p. I74''
OeaTpof, iv ^ avXijTat Kal Ki6apa)8ol Kal
134
THE THEATRE,
[Ch.
stood side by side with other gates leading into the stage-
buildings. Sufficient remains of the gates have been preserved
to admit of a complete restoration of them. The present
illustration represents the two gates on the eastern side of the
theatre. The gate to the right leads into the orchestra; that
to the left leads into the stage-buildings \ In the theatre of
Dionysus at Athens the passages into the orchestra measured
nine feet across on the outside. Of course they grew gradually
wider, as one approached the orchestra, owing to the oblique
position of the boundary walls of the auditorium^. They were
* The illustration is taken from
TlpaKTiKO. Trjs kv 'A6r]v, dpxatoX. kTaipias
for 1883.
^ The building marked A in the plan
on p. 112 is the oldest of the stage-
buildings. From the outside corner of
the wings to the boundary wall of the
auditorium is a distance of about nine
feet.
III.] THE ORCHESTRA. 135
probably closed on the outside with gates as at Epidaurus.
These passages or side-entrances into the orchestra were
technically called ^ parodoi' or *eisodoi \' In Roman theatres
they were of course done away with, as the Roman stage was
brought much more forward than the Greek, and the two ends
coalesced with the wings of the auditorium. In place of the
old open passages the Romans built vaulted entrances under-
neath the auditorium, and parallel with the stage. Later
Greek writers, misled by the analogy of the Roman theatres,
sometimes apply the terms 'vault' and 'archway' to the open
side-entrances of the Greek theatre. But such language is
inaccurate ^
Before concluding this description one or two points may
be mentioned concerning Greek orchestras in general. It
appears from existing remains that the level of the orchestra
was mostly, as at Athens, very little below the level of the front
row of seats. The intermediate space was usually occupied by
a single low step. The gutter running round the edge of the
orchestra, to drain away the rain-water which flowed down
from the tiers of seats, was a regular feature of Greek theatres,
and can be traced in most of the existing ruins ^. It is recorded
that the surface of the orchestra was marked out with lines ,
to assist the chorus in their evolutions^ Similar lines are used
upon the modern stage when complicated ballets are produced.
Aristotle mentions cases of orchestras being strewed with chaff,
and remarks that when this was done the choruses were not
heard so well. But it is uncertain to what theatres or to what
occasions he is referring ^.
^ napoSot in Schol. Aristoph. Equit. are called ^aX/s in Poll. iv. 123; axl^U
149; Poll. iv. 126; ^Xaohoi in Aris- in Vit. Aristoph. (Dindf. Prolegom. de
toph. Nub. 326, Av. 296. The word Comoed. p. 36).
7ra/)o5os was also used to denote the ^ Miiller's Biihnenalt. pp. 35, 37.
entrances on to the stage, e. g. in Plut. * Hesych. v. ypafifiai.
Denietr, p. 905B; Poll. iv. 128; Athen. ^ Aristot. Prob. xi. 25 Sia li, orav
p. 622 D. dxvpojOwaiv al opx^orpai, ^ttov ol x^pot
^ Vitruv. V. 6. The side entrances ytydvaaiv ;
136 THE THEATRE, [Ch.
§ 7. The Stage-buildings.
The third and last division of the theatre consists of the
stage-buildings. Unfortunately this is a subject upon which
the information supplied by the existing ruins is very defective.
In all the remaining theatres of purely Greek origin merely the
foundations of the stage-buildings have been preserved, and
it is impossible, from such evidence, to do much more
than determine the original shape of the ground-plan. Our
knowledge of the upper part of the structure has to be derived
mainly from casual notices in the old grammarians. It will be
convenient, before proceeding to the consideration of the stage-
buildings in general, to give a brief account of the present
state of the ruins in the Theatre of Dionysus at Athens. The
stage-buildings at Athens were very frequently altered and re-
constructed in the course of their history, and the task of dis-
tinguishing between the confused remains of the different
periods has been by no means an easy one. The recent inves-
tigations of Dr. Dorpfeld in 1886 have for the first time placed
the matter in a fairly clear light. The results of his discoveries
are indicated in the plan of the theatre already given \ It is now
possible to trace out with some degree of accuracy the foundations
of the oldest stone building. These foundations are denoted in
the plan by the letter A, and by the darker shading. It will be
observed, on consulting the plan, that the first permanent
stage-buildings at Athens consisted of a rectangular structure,
very narrow in comparison with its length. In the front,
towards each end, were two projecting side-wings. Between
the side-wings, and some distance to the rear, stood the wall
at the back of the stage. According to Dorpfeld no traces are
to be found in this early building of a permanent stage rest-
ing on a stone foundation. The line marked B denotes a
^ The description of this portion of incorporated. Previous descriptions of
the theatre of Dionysus is mainly de- the stage-buildings have been more or
rived from Baumeister's Denkmaler, less superseded by Dorpfeld's dis-
art. Theatergebaude, in which the coveries.
results of Dorpfeld's excavations are
III.] THE STAGE-BUILDINGS, 137
stage belonging to a much later period. Of course it is
obviously impossible, in the case of buildings which have under-
gone so many alterations in later centuries as the old stage-
buildings of the Athenian theatre, to speak with absolute
certainty about the original design. But if Dorpfeld's con-
clusions are correct, it would follow that when permanent
stage-buildings were first erected at Athens, there was no
stone proscenium. All that was permanent was the rectangular
building with the projecting side- wings. The stage must have
been at that time a temporary wooden erection, put up between
the wings for the annual performances. This old wooden
stage would no doubt coincide more or less closely in position
with the later stage marked B in the plan.
The dat^_pf the erection of the first permanent stage-building
is a matter of some uncertainty. Dorpfeld ascribes it to the
time of Lycurgus, on the ground that it is similar to the audi-
torium in material and construction \ If this supposition were
correct, we should have to assume that the Athenians had no
permanent stage-buildings until the latter part of the fourth
century, and that they were contented with mere temporary
erections of wood during the whole of the great period of the
Attic drama. This is in itself a most niiprQ bable hvpo th_£gis.
It is obvious that in the time of the great Attic dramatists stage-(
buildings of some strength and solidity were required. Thatl
such was the case is proved by the constant use of the mechane,
an appliance by which gods and heroes were exhibited float-
ing through the air, and were lowered down from heaven
on to the stage, and vice versa. Contrivances of this kind
would have been impossible unless the wings and back.part of
the stage had been firm and substantial in construction. It
seems therefore most unlikely that during this period the
Athenians should have been contented with a wooden building,
which would be in constant need of repair, and would never be
^ In a letter of Nov. 7, 1888, Dr. es ist gleichzeitig mit dem Zuschauer-
Dorpfeld states that the oldest stage- raum, wie Material und Construction
building, marked^ in the plan, ' stammt beweisen.'
sicher aus dem 4. Jahrhundert, denn
13H THE THEATRE. [Ch.
as safe and convenient as one of stone. It has already been
shown that there is every reason to beUeve that the auditorium
belongs to the fifth century. As the earliest stage-building is
similar in style and construction it should in all likelihood be
ascribed to this date also. It is very probable that the whole
stage-building was renovated or reconstructed by Lycurgus in
the course of his completion of the theatre. But nothing short
of overwhelming evidence would induce one to believe that
before his time there was no permanent stage-building at
Athens.
As to the subsequent history of this part of the building, it ap-
pears that the first great alteration was the erection of a permanent
sta^, adorned with columns in front. At the same time the side-
wings were brought further back, and also adorned with columns
in the same manner as the stage. The line of the stage and
side-wings in the new arrangement is denoted by the letter B.
The exact date of these innovations is uncertain. Further
alterations, of which the precise nature is unknown, were
carried out in the time of the early Caesars, as is proved by the
existence of certain fragments of columns and arches obviously
belonging to that period. Lastly, in the course of the third
century a. d., the theatre was completely Romanised by a
certain Phaedrus. The old stage was done away with, and a
new stage was erected about eight yards further to the front.
This stage was only 4 feet 7 inches high, after the Roman
fashion. The front part of it, facing the orchestra, was adorned
with groups of figures carved in bold relief. In the centre a
flight of five stone steps led down from the stage into the
orchestra. The two ends of the stage, as already mentioned,
joined on to the two ends of the balustrade, so as to block up
the side entrances into the orchestra. About half of the stage
of Phaedrus has been preserved, and is denoted by the letter g
in the plan.
Such is the history of the stage-buildings in the Athenian
theatre, from the wooden erection in which Aeschylus brought
out his earliest tragedies to the Romanised proscenium built by
Phaedrus nearly eight hundred years afterwards. Our infor-
III.] THE STAGE-BUILDINGS, 139
mation concerning the construction of this portion of a Greek
theatre is derived partly from existing remains, partly from the
notices in the grammarians and commentators. The general
name for the stage-buildings in Greek was 'skene,' a word which
properly means a booth \ As to their shape, they formed a long
and narrow rectangular building facing the auditorium. For
instance the oldest stage-buildings' at Athens were about 55
yards in length, and only 11 yards in depth. In this re-
spect the difference between an ancient and a modern theatre
is very striking. In a modern theatre the depth of the stage-
buildings is usually greater than their width. The distance
from the front of the stage to the back of the stage-buildings is
as great as the distance from the front of the stage to the
furthest seats of the auditorium. The reason of the difference
is easy to discover. In a modern theatre all the performers are
upon the stage, which must therefore be of considerable depth.
But in a Greek theatre, as the majority of the performers stood
in the orchestra, and the only occupants of the stage were the
three actors, with occasional supernumeraries, a narrow stage was
sufficient. Then again, in a modern theatre the frequent changes
of scene, and the elaborate spectacular effects, require compli-
cated mechanical appliances, for which room has to be found at
the back of the buildings. But as changes of scene were almost
unknown in the Greek drama, the scenic appliances were of the
simplest character, and took up very little room. Further than
this, a deep stage would have been inconsistent with the general
arrangement of a Greek theatre. The auditorium of a Greek
^ The word OK-qvi], from having Ik rfMyiK^s aKrfvrjs. (4) The stage ;
originally denoted the booth to which e. g. Xen. Inst. Cyr, vi. i. 54 rod Se nvp-
the actor used to retire between his 701;, uairep rpayiKTJs aKijvrj^ rwv ^v\o)v
performances, came to have the follow- -naxos kxovTwv k.t.X. When the Schol.
ing various meanings, as applied to the on Soph. Ajax 330, 719 speaks of the
theatre: — (i) The stage-baildings as a chorus 'leaving the CKrjvri,' he is pro-
whole ; e.g. Hesych. v. AoYefoi'' ot^so-*?;- bably confusing the ancient orchestra
vrjsT6iioii(l>' ovolv-noKpiTaiXiyovaiv. (2) with the stage of Roman times. (5)
The wall at the back of the stage ; e. g. ' The theatre ' in a general sense, as we
Suidas V. irpoaKrjviov to vpb rrjs (rKT)v^s speak of ' the stage ' in English ; e. g.
irapaniTafffxa. (3) The decoration or Dem. de Cor. § 180 firjd" ijpa} tov
painted scenery in front of the back- wall; rvx^vra, aXXa tovtuv tivo. ruv diro rfji
e. g. Plut. Demetr. p. 900 D i\€y€ vvv oktjv^^, ' a stage hero.'
■npwTov eojpaKcvai nopvrjv vpofpxofJtiyrjv
140 THE THEATRE. [Ch.
theatre consisted of a semicircle with the two ends produced.
The result was that every one had an excellent view of the
orchestra, and the performers there ; but a large proportion
of the audience had only a side view upon the stage. If
therefore the stage had been of any great depth, as in modern
times, the back part would have been invisible to the spectators
sitting in the wings of the auditorium. For these various
reasons the stage-buildings of a Greek theatre were very long
and very narrow. In Roman theatres the arrangement was less
unlike that in modern times. When the Romans abolished
the choral performances in the orchestra, and transferred the
whole spectacle to the stage, they were necessarily compelled to
add to the depth of the stage, and in consequence to the depth
of the stage-buildings.
The back of the stage-buildings was probably adorned with
architectural embellishments, so as to form a beautiful and
striking fa9ade. Such decorations were common in Roman
theatres, as is proved by the existing remains of the theatre at
Orange ; and the Greeks would naturally beautify their buildings
in the same way. At the back would also be the principal en-
trances into the stage-buildings for the actors and other per-
formers. Thus there are three large doors at the back of the
stage-buildings at Orange'. There must also have been doors
leading from the stage-buildings, into the side-entrances to the
orchestra, to enable the chorus to enter the orchestra. These
doors are clearly visible in the ground-plan of the theatre at
Epidaurus, and are placed immediately beyond the slight pro-
jections which mark the termination of the stage at each side.
In one respect the theatre at Epidaurus is peculiar. It has
three doors leading from beneath the stage itself on to the
orchestra. One of them is exactly in the centre ; the two
others are at each end. No traces of similar doors are to be
found in the remains of other theatres.
* Wieseler's Denkmaler des Buhnenwesens, iii. 3.
TIL] THE STAGE. 141
§ 8. The Stage, &=€.
The different portions of the stage-buildings have next to be
considered in detail. To begin with the stage itself. The
usual name for the stage in Greek was the Mogeion/ or 'speak-
ing-place,' because the actors stood there and carried on the
dialogue. It was opposed to the orchestra, or dancing-place, in
which the chorus went through their performances. The stage
was also called the 'groskenion^' from its position in front of
the 'skene,' or back- wall ; and the ' okribas. ' because its surface
consisted of a wooden platform \ The height of the logeion in
the Greek theatre was, according to Vitruvius, from ten to
twelve feet above the level of the orchestra ^ This statement,
though often called in question, has lately been confirmed by
the excavati ons at E pidau rus. It has been found that the stage
in the theatre at Epidaurus was almost exactly twelve feet high ;
and the h*les or sockets in the wall, which were intended to
receive the wooden beams of the stage, are still distinctly
visible. As the proscenium at Epidaurus is probably of the
same date as the rest of the theatre, it would appear that the
height of the Greek stage had already been fixed at about twelve
feet as early as the fourth century ^ The question as to its height
during the period from Aeschylus to Aristophanes will be dis-
cussed later on. The Greek stage, as already pointed out, con-
^ Phryn. p. 163 (Lob.) ov fxevroi, Oiarpov crKrjvqv.
'4v$a fjiiv Kcvfta}5oi Kal Tpaywdol dyojvi^ov- ^ Vitruvius, v. 7-
Tat, Xoyfiov kpcis. Phot. v. rpiros ^ UpaKriKa rris Iv 'AO^vais dpxaioX.
dpiarfpov' . . . 6 (JLiv dpKTTfpos (TTOixos 6 kraipias for 1883. Kawerau, in Bau-
irpbs TO) eedrpo) ^v, 6 Sk Sc^toj rrpos to) meister's Denkmaler, vol. iii. p. 1739,
■npooK'qviw. Hesych. v. oKpiPar ro suggests that perhaps the proscenium
\oyeiov, €(p' ov ol rpa-ycoZol -qyajviCovro. in the theatre at Epidaurus was built
Other names for the stage were (i) later than the rest of the stage-buildings.
(T/cTyvf/, see above, p. 139. (2) j8^//a,cp. But there do not appear to be any
the inscription on the stage of Phaedrus, grounds for the supposition. On the
Corp. Inscr. Att. iii. 239 firjfjia eerjTpov. contrary, the relative arrangement of
(3) opxn(TTpa, an improper sense of the orchestra and proscenium seems to show
word, only found in later writers, e. g. that both were constructed at the same
Suidas v. (XKrivri. (4) OvfjiiKr}, also a time. See Kabbadias' article in the
late use of the word ; e. g. Bekk. Anecd. UpafCTiKa for 1881.
p. 42 vvv ixkv 6vfj,e\r)V KaKov/xev ttjv tov
142 THE THEATRE. [Ch.
sisted of a long and narrow platform, bounded at the back and
on each side by the walls of the stage-buildings. Vitruvius gives
some interesting rules for determining the _size_of_the_stage in
Greek and Roman theatres respectively. According to his state-
ments the depth of a Roman stage should be |th of the diameter
of the orchestra, its length should be twice the diameter. A
Greek stage ought to be rather shorter and considerably
narrower. Its depth should be ith of the diameter of the
orchestra, its length ifth of the diameter ^ These rules are
more or less confirmed by the remains of the later Greek
theatres, but hardly apply to the earlier ones, the stages
of which are a great deal shorter, and rather less deep, than
Vitruvius requires. For instance, the original stage at Athens
was hardly so long as one diameter of the orchestra, in-
stead of being nearly equal to two. The depth of the original
stage cannot be determined, since it was made entirely of
wood, and the foundations have disappeared. Then again,
the stage at Epidaurus was about 78 feet long by 8 feet
deep. According to Vitruvius it should have been about 137
feet by II. The stage in the theatre at the Peiraeeus was about
97 feet long by 10 feet deep. It should have been 146 feet by
13^. From these figures it appears that in the earliest times
the length of the Greek stage was not usually greater than the
diameter of the orchestra. It was only in later times that the
stage was extended on each side so as to project beyond the
inside corners of the auditorium. The average depth of the
early Greek stage seems to have been not more than ten feet.
This extreme narrowness, which appears surprising to our
modern notions, has already been explained as due, partly to
the fact that the majority of the performers were in the
orchestra, partly to the shape of the Greek auditorium, which
made a deep stage impossible.
Within the last few years a novel theory has been pro-
pounded in reference to the logeion or stage. It has been
suggested that during the early period of the Attic drama the
stage was never intended for the actors to perform on. The
^ Vitruv. V. 6, 7. 2 Muller's Buhnenalt. pp. 16, 19, 23.
III.]
THE STAGE.
143
actors stood in the orchestra on the same level as the chorus.
The background consisted of the wall, ten or twelve feet high,
on which the stage was supported. The stage itself was merely
used to hold various theatrical contrivances and pieces of
machinery. Such is the theory put forward by Hopken and
Dorpfeld ^ Now it is certain that at any rate as early as the
third century b.c. the actors were accustomed to appear upon
an elevated platform, and not in the orchestra. This is proved
by the numerous vase-paintings from Magna Graecia, belonging
to the third century, in which comic actors are frequently repre-
sented as standing on a raised platform, with a flight of steps
leading up from the orchestra^. Also the various notices of
the grammarians, which describe the logeion as the place for
the actors, were doubtless derived ultimately from Alexandrine
^ See Hopken's De Theatro Atlico,
He bases his theory on certain passages
in the extant dramas. But his arguments
are of no value, and their worthlessness
has been clearly demonstrated by Albert
MUller in Philol. Anzeig. xv. p. 525 ff.
One specimen will suffice. Hopken ar-
gues that when Dionysus in the Frogs
(v. 297) appeals to the priest of Diony-
sus to save him, this proves that the
actor and the priest must have been
standing on the same level ! Dr. Dorp -
feld has adopted the same theory, but
on altogether different grounds. See
Miiller's Biihnenalt. p. 109 ; Baumeis-
ter's Denkmaler, v. Theatergebaude.
His reasons are (1) the great height of
the logeion or stage. The plain answer
is that in the time of Vitruvius a height
of twelve feet was not considered exces-
sive. Yet in the time of Vitruvius it is
a matter of certainty that the actors
occupied the stage, the chorus standing
in the orchestra (Vitruv. v. 7). There
is therefore no reason for asserting that
a stage twelve feet high was an impossi-
bility at an earlier period. (2) The
s hall owness of the stage, that at Epi-
daurus being only about eight feet deep.
But there is nothing very abnormal in
this. Even according to Vitruvius' rules
the stage at Epidaurus would only have
been eleven feet deep ; and Vitruvius
was of course describing a stage in-
tended for actors to perform on. It is
obvious that if the stage was twelve feet
high, it must have been very shallow,
or else the spectators in the front rows
would have been unable to see down to
the end of it. (3) The absence of
connexion be tween logeion and orches-
tra. For example, at Epidaurus there
are no traces of stone steps leading up
to the stage. But when a connexion
was required, it was effected by means of
temporary wooden steps placed against
the front of the proscenium. See on
p. 148. For a discussion of the whole
question of the connexion between the
stage and the orchestra see below pp.
150-158. As far as the oldest stage-
buildings at Athens are concerned, there
is nothing to decide the question about
the logeion one way or the other.
Dorpfeld supposes that a temporary
wooden background was put up between
the side-wings. It is just as plausible
to suppose that a wooden stage was
erected there.
^ See Heydemann's article. Die
Phlyakendarstellungen auf bemaiten
Vasen, in Jahrb. des Kais. Deutsch.
Archaol. Inst. i886, p. 260 ff.
144 THE THEATRE. [Ch.
sources, and may be considered to settle the matter as far as
the third century is concerned. But it may be contended that
they prove nothing as to the practice which prevailed at Athens
during the fourth and fifth centuries. It is necessary therefore
to consider the question, whether there is any positive proof
that during the great period of the Attic drama the actors were
raised above the level of the chorus, and occupied an elevated
stage. In a matter of this kind no evidence could be more
convincing than that supplied by the extant jramas them selves.
. Now we are told by one of the scholiasts that in old theatrical
phraseology, when an actor made his entrance he was said to
.>Cvv^^-— 'ascend ; ' and when he made his exit he was said to 'descend.'
a/sjt ci^i^^t^The two words are actually used in this sense by Aristophanes.
6 A^^ It is difficult to see how the usage can be accounted for, except on
the supposition that the actors had been accustomed to stand
on an elevated platform \ Then again in the Wasps, when
Philocleon comes out of his house in a drunken condition, and
sees the sons of Carcinus dancing in the orchestra, he exclaims,
'I must go down to them,' and forthwith proceeds into the
orchestra to compete with them In the dance I Also in the
Birds, when Peisthetaerus wishes to point out to the Epops the
aerial kingdom of the birds, he tells him to 'look down,' then to
'look up,' then to look 'round about him.' If the Epops had
been standing on the floor of the orchestra, the request to
look down would have been meaningless, as it would have
shown him nothing but the ground at his feet ^. It appears,
^ Schol. Aristoph. Equit. 149 Ae/c- for the usage of the words.
rkov ovv oTiava^axviiv iKk-^fiTO ro kmTo ^ Aristoph. Vesp. 15 14 ara/) Korra-
XoycTov flaiivai . . . kfyerai yap Kara- fiariov y Itt' avTOvs. It might be
^aivuv TO dndWaTreadai hrevOev diru suggested that KaraPareov here means
rov iraXaiov iOovs. Aristoph. Equit. simply ' I must contend with them.'
148, 149 devpo Seup', (L (piKraTf, | dvd^aive But the literal meaning is much the more
aojTfjp TTj iToKei KOI vwv (povds, Vesp. probable.
1342 dvd^aive Sfvpo xpv(^ofj.T)\o\6v9iov, ^ Aristoph. Av. 175-178 HE. BAe-
Eccles. II5I-II53 Ti SrJTa SiaTpipeis xf/ov KaTOJ. EII. Kol 8r) jSAcTroj. IIE.
ex^^v, d\\' ovK dyeis \ raaSi KaPwv ; kv PXcire vvv dvoj. \ EET. ^Xiiro}. TIE. rre-
oaw 8e Ka7O0aiveis, eyuj | knaaofiai fieXos piaye tuv rpdxrjXov. EFI. vrj Ala, \ aTro-
Ti ficXXoSuirviKuv . In all these pas- Xavaofmi ri S', et 5iaaTpa(p:':<Tofiai. | IIE.
sages there is nothing in the particular eTSes ri ; EII. ras vecp^Xas ye koi tuv
circumstances of the drama to account ovpavov.
TIT. J THE STAGE. 145
therefore, that the testimony of Aristophanes points decisively
to the existence of a stage for the actors in the fifth century.
Besides this we are told that even before the time of Thespis
the choreutes who carried on the dialogue with the rest of the
chorus used to mount upon a sort of platform for the purpose.
The practice shows that from the earliest times the necessity of
raising the speaker above the level of the chorus had been felt^
Again, in the Symposium, Agathon, the tragic poet, is said to
have 'mounted the stage along with his actors,' and confronted
the audience without flinching. The passage no doubt refers
to the Proagon, which took place in the Odeum. But as the
Odeum was built Mike a theatre,' it is only natural to conclude
that there was a similar stage in the theatre, and that it was
used by the actors during the dramatic performances^. But
apart from the various positive proofs which might be alleged,
there are intrinsic improbabilities in Dorpfeld's theory which
make it very difficult of acceptance. In the first place,
it is hardly credible that a platform, which was erected ori-
ginally to serve as a background and hold the machinery,
should have been converted into a stage for the actors in later
times, and yet that not a single reference to the transformation
should be found in any ancient writer. Again, if the plan of the
theatre at Epidaurus is consulted, it will be found that the stone
border of the circular orchestra reaches to within two or three
feet of the front of the proscenium. If the actors had stood in
front of the proscenium, they would have been sometimes inside
the stone border and sometimes outside of it ; and the whole
arrangement strikes one as awkward and unsymmetrical. But
the most fatal objection is the following. In a Greek theatre
the front row of seats was nearly on the same level as the
orchestra, and the tiers of seats behind ascended in a very
gradual incline. If therefore the actors had stood on the floor
^ Poll. iv. 123 lAeos 5' riv rpdwe^a avvqv dvafiaivovTos (tti ruv oKpiBavra
dpxo-'iO', (<!>' "^v irpo 0€<T7ri5os efs Tis dva- furd twv vrroKpiTwv koX PXt^pavros
/3as ToTs xop^vrais dirfKpivaro. kvavria rocrovrc^ Oedrpt^ K.r.\. Schol.
2 Plat. Symp. ig^ A kmX'fjapiQjv /xivr' Aristoph. Vesp. 1104 (of the cySuov)
dv e'irjV, S) 'AydOouv, iiireiv rbv 'S.ojKpdirj, eari tottos 6eaTpO(i5rjS k.t.\.
fi iSoJv T^v arjv dvSpuav Kal ix€'fa\o(ppo-
146 THE THEATRE. [Gh.
of the orchestra, with the chorus in front of them, they would
have been hardly visible to the majority of the audience. An
occasional glimpse of them might have been caught, as the
chorus in the foreground moved to and fro, but that would have
been all. It is difficult to believe that the Athenians should
have been contented with this arrangement for more than two
hundred years, and should not have resorted to the simple
device of raising the actors upon an elevated platform. This
difficulty becomes all the more striking, when we remember that
the principal tendency of the Greek drama during the fifth
and fourth centuries was to increase the importance of the
actors, and to diminish the importance of the chorus. For
these various reasons it is impossible to accept Dorpfeld's
theory. The inherent improbabilities of the suggestion are
extremely great; and the passages in Aristophanes appear to
prove decisively that in the fifth century the actors stood on
a considerably higher level than the chorus.
The wall which supported the stage in front was called the
hyposkenioji. In the original stage-buildings at Athens there
was no permanent hyposkenion of stone, but a temporary
wooden stage was erected each year. In later times the hypo-
skenion was always built of stone. According to Pollux it was
decorated with pillars and small statues \ This statement is con-
firmed by existing remains. The front of the stage of Phaedrus
at Athens is ornamented with a series of bas-reliefs. The
hyposkenion at Epidaurus, which is very well preserved, con-
sists of a simple wall, twelve feet high, with eighteen pilasters
supporting an entablature. The illustration represents a re-
storation of one end of this hyposkenion I The letter a denotes
the door leading from the end of the hyposkenion into the
orchestra. It has been remarked already that the presence of
^ Poll. iv. 124 TO Sc vTTocKrjviov Kioai there denotes a room under the stage,
Kal dyaX/jLariois KfKofffjirjro rrpbs to 6ea- or is used generally for the whole of the
rpov T€Tpafijx€Vois, viTo TO Xoyciov Kfi- stage-buildings.
fievov. When Athenaeus (631 E) ^ The illustration is taken from Bau-
speaks of a flute-player ' waiting in the meister's Denkmaler, vol. iii. v. Theater-
hyposkenion,' till his turn came to per- gebaude.
form, it is uncertain whether the word
III.l
THE STAGE,
147
doors leading through the hyposkenion into the orchestra ap-
pears to have been a peculiarity of the theatre at Epidaurus.
The door marked b stands further back, and opens into the
side-entrance. It would be by this door, or the corresponding
one at the other end, that the chorus made their entrance into
the orchestra.
Usually the actors stood on the stage, and the chorus in
the orchestra. But sometimes the actors descended into the
orchestra; and still more frequently the chorus ascended the
stage. It was therefore necessary to have a means of com-
munication between tho se two parts of the theatre . For this
purpose steps were erected against the centre of the hypo-
skenion \ No traces of such steps have been preserved in any
of the Greek theatres. In Roman theatres they are occasionally
met with. For instance, the stage of Phaedrus at Athens, which
is entirely Roman in style, has a flight of five stone steps in the
centre leading down into the orchestra. But though there are
no actual remains of these steps in any of the Greek theatres,
they are expressly mentioned by ancient wr iters, and frequently
occur in the v ase:paintings of the t hird century b. c. from Magna
Graecia, in which comic scenes are represented. A copy of one
of the scenes is inserted on the next page, to show the style and
formation of the steps I It is probable that iii jhe Greek theatres
they were made of wood, and did not form a permanent part of
7^-:
^ Poll, iv. 127 ilaiXQovT^s Se Kajo.
7^v bpxfiOTpav tTTt r^v ffKTjvfjv dvafiai-
vovoi bia KKifLCLKCDV rris b\ K\ip.aKos oi
Pa9/jLol KKijMKTTJpis KaXovvToi. Athen.
de Mach. p. 29 (Wesch.) KareoKivaaav
Se Tiv(s ky iroXiopKia KXifxdfcoJv '^ivrj
irapanXrjffia toTs riOefievois kv rois 6ed-
rpois irpos rd irpoaKrjvia toTs viroKpirah.
^ The illustration is from Wieseler's
Denkmaler des Biihnenwesens, ix. 14.
L 2
148
THE THEATRE.
[Ch.
the hyposkenion, but were merely set up when required. In
the first place, there are not only no traces of such steps at
Epidaurus, but the architectural character of the hyposkenion
makes it clear that permanent stone steps could never have
been affixed to it. In the second place, several of the vase-
paintings from Magna Graecia depict stages with no such
steps, attached. In the third place, there is a wall painting at
Herculaneum representing one of these flights of steps standing
by itself, with an actor's mask at the top \ For these reasons
it seems fairly certain that the steps in the Greek theatres were
not permanently affixed to the stage, but could be placed there
or removed at pleasure.
Usually in Greek theatres the stage was terminated at each
end by projecting portions of the stage-buildings, called side
wings. A door led from the stage into each of these side-wings
When this arrangement was adopted the stage practically con
sisted of a long narrow strip cut out of the stage-buildings
Such was the case in the theatres at Athens and the Peiraeeus
But side-wings were not an invariable feature of Greek theatres
In some cases the stage was erected in front of the stage
buildings, and was merely terminated by a wall at each end
^ Wieseler Denkmal. ix. 15, iv. 5.
III.] THE STAGE,
149
An examination of the ground-plan of the theatre at Epidaurus
will illustrate this statement. The small projections at each
end of the stage there are not side-wings, but form part of the
stage itself. The stage is terminated at each side by a wall,
and beyond this wall there is merely a flight of steps leading
down to the ground outside. These flights of steps were prob-
ably covered over, so that persons ascending them would not be
seen by the spectators in the auditorium. Where side-wings
existed, it is probable that they were denoted by the word ^ j)ara -
skenia,* being so called because they lay on each side of the
skene or stage \
In the later Greek theatres the wall at the back o f the stage
was built in an elaborate architectural design, and ornamented
with pillars and statues. Specimens of back walls of this
character are still to be seen in the theatres at Tauromenion
and elsewhere, and Vitruvius gives minute directions for their
construction ^. Of course, when dramas were being performed
the wall at the back of the stage was covered with painted
scenery, and its architectural beauty was concealed from the
spectators. But theatres in later times were regularly used for
meetings of the people, as well as for dramatic performances.
On such occasions, when the stage was without scenic decor-
ations, the architectural elegance of the back-wall would add
greatly to the beauty of the stage-buildings, and form a pleasing
object to the eye. Speaking of the height of the back- wall,
Vitruvius directs that its top should be exactly on a level with
the uppermost part of the auditorium, as it was found that if this
proportion was observed, the acoustic properties of the audi-
^ The word ■na^aajcJivi O' is explained in chorus from making its appearance. As
two ways by the commentators.jVi) as we do not know in what way the dithy-
a place beside the stage, used for rambic choruses entered the orchestra,
storing stage-properties. Theophrastus it is difficult to decide on the exact
is mentioned as the authority for this meaning of the word paraskenia. Most
explanation. (2) As the side-entrances likely they entered in the same way as
leading on toHFhe stage. See Harp., the dramatic choruses ; and Meidias
Phot., and Etym. Mag. s.v.77apao'«)7J'ta; nailed up the doors in the side-wings
Bekk. Anecd. p. 292 ; Ulpian on which led out into the parodoi. See
Demosth. Meid. § 17. Demosthenes MeinekeFrag. Com. Gr. vol. iv. p. 722.
(1. c.) accuses Meidias of ' nailing up ^ Vitruv. v. 6 ; Wieseler Denk-
the paraskenia,' and so hindering his miiler, iii. 6.
I50 THE THEATRE. [Ch.
torium were much improved \ It is not known for certain
whether the stage in the early Greek theatres was covered with
a roof or not. At the Roman theatres of Aspendos and Orange
the existing remains prove that the theatre- was originally
roofed over ; but there is no sufficient ground for concluding that
the same was the case in Greek theatres of the early period ^.
Both Vitruvius and Pollux, in describing the scenery used in
a Greek theatre, speak of three doors at the back of the stage.
As a matter of fact, in all the later Greek theatres, the wall at
the back of the stage invariably has five doors ^ It is obvious,
therefore, that all these doors cannot have been used during
dramatic representations. When the stage was prepared for
the performance of a play, the two doors on the outside must
have been covered up by the scenery; or else, as Albert M tiller
suggests, temporary side-wings must have been erected in front
of them. This latter supposition is all the more probable, as
the stages of the later Greek theatres were of enormous length,
and might have been slightly shortened with advantage. The
rooms at the back of the stage, as already pointed out, were not
of any great depth, owing to the simplicity of the scenic appli-
ances used in the Greek drama. At Athens the distance from
the back of the stage to the back of the stage-buildings is little
more than twenty-four feet ; at Epidaurus it is rather less than
twenty.
§ 9. Relative position of Actors and Chorus.
The different portions of the theatre have now been discussed
in detail. There is still an important question to be considered,
which is closely connected with the construction of the theatre,
and that is the question as to the relative position occupied by
actors and chorus during a dramatic performance. The ancient
authorities are perfectly clear upon the subject. According to
them the actors stood upon the stage, the chorus performed in
' Vitruv, V. 6. ^ Vitruv. v, 6 ; Poll. iv. 124 ; Miiller's
^ Miiller's Biihnenalt. p. 28; Eau- Biihnenalt. j p. 120, 121.
meister's Denkmaler, iii. p. 1747.
III.] RELATIVE POSITION OF ACTORS AND CHORUS, i^i
the orchestra underneath. If it was necessary to ascend from
the orchestra to the stage, there were steps erected for that very
purpose. While the actors were upon the stage, and the
dialogue was proceeding, the chorus stood with their backs
towards the audience, and their faces towards the stage \ This
last fact places prominently before us the radical difference
between the Greek chorus, and that of a mode rn opera. It
proves conclusively that in the grouping of the actors and
chorus in a Greek theatre there could be none of that realistic
imitation of ordinary life which is sometimes to be seen upon
the modern stage. To produce effects of this kind would be
absolutely impossible, when the chorus were standing some
distance below the actors, and with their backs towards the
audience. It is most necessary therefore, in discussing the
external features of a Greek dramatic performance, not to judge
them by a modern standard, but to remember that the whole
arrangement was entirely different. The position of the chorus
in a Greek theatre was not due to any abstract considerations of
propriety, but was merely the result of the peculiar circum-
stances under which the Greek drama was developed. Originally
the performance was almost entirely lyrical, and the stage and
the actors were a mere appendage. The chorus, being the
principal performers, and the most prominent object of atten-
tion, occupied the central position in the orchestra. The actors
were placed on a stage behind them, so as to be visible to the
spectators. Eventually the dialogue between the actors com-
pletely overshadowed the songs of the chorus, and the lyrical
element in the performance faded into insignificance. But the
^ Pollux iv. 123 Kol (TKTjVrj fJi€V vnOKpi- K6s),TTpOS T^V (TKTjV^V d(p€(JlJpa, 0T€ Sc dlT€\-
rwv Uiov, Tf Se opxharpa rov x^P'^^' Oovrav tSjv vno/cpiTuv tovs ayairaiaTovs
Vitruv. V. 7 ampliorem habent orches- Sif^rjei, irpbs rov drjixov dneaTpecpeTO.
tram Graeci et scaenam recessiorem, Ibid. p. 36 ftVjfet (o xopos o KajfiiKos) Iv
minoreque latitudine pulpitum, quod TfTpayduvcv axvt^o-'ri, dcpopwv eh rots
\oyeiov appellant, ideo quod eo tragici vnofcpiTdt. Diibner Prolegom. de
et comici actores in scaena peragunt, Comoed. p. 20 uaiXeihv ovv 6 xopos eh
reliqui autem artifices suas per orches- t^v opxhorpav /xerpois Tial diekeyero
tram praestant actiones. Dindorf Pro- rofj vnoKpirah, koi irpos t^v<tkt]v^v ewpa
legom, de Comoed. p. 29 Kal ore piev jrpoj ttjs KcopqjSlas. Cp. Schol. Arist. Equit.
Toh vnoKpirds SieXeyero (o x^f^^ 6 KQjfii- 505 ; Dindf. Prolegom. de Com. p. 21.
15^ THE THEATRE. [Ch.
chorus still continued to occupy that prominent position in the
theatre which its original importance had assigned to it.
Nevertheless, great difficultie_s^ have been raised in connexion
with this subject. It has been urged that if the stage was from
ten to twelve feet high, and the chorus stood in the orchestra
underneath, any intercourse between the actors and the chorus
would have been out of the question. Before considering this
point it will be useful to collect the evidence which is supplied
by the extant Greek dramas as to the relations between actors
and chorus in the course of a dramatic performance. In the
first place in every Greek play conversations are frequent between
the actors and the chorus, or between the actors and the leader
of the chorus. Then again actors and chorus often join together
in the performance of musical passages, each singing alternate
portions. Besides this there are a few aj]imated__sceneSj^ in
which the j:horus, or the leader of Jhe^horus^ascends the stage,
and comes into actual physical contact with the actors. For
instance, in the Helen of Euripides, when Theoclymenus is
rushing back to the palace to kill his sister, the leader of the
chorus forcibly detains him. In the Oedipus Coloneus, when
Creon is attempting to carry off Antigone, he is held back by
the chorus. In the Knights of Aristophanes the coryphaeus
hands the sausage-seller an oil-flask and some garlic, to assist
him in his contest with Cleon\ In addition to these momentary
appearances of the chorus upon the stage, there are occasional
scenes in which the cJiQr us occ upies the stage for some length
of tim^. In the Prometheus Vinctus the Oceanidae enter by
the stage, and only descend into the orchestra some time after-
wards. The opening scene of the Eumenides represents the
Erinyes as sleeping in the temple of Apollo, from whence they
are subsequently driven. The Supplices of Euripides opens
with Aethra standing in front of the temple of Demeter, and the
chorus of matrons kneeling round her, and encircling her with
suppliant boughs. It is not till the end of the first scene that
^ Eur. Hel. 1621-1641 ; Soph. O. C. occur in Arist. Acharn. 324-327, Av.
856, 857 ; Arist. Equit. 490-494. 353-400.
Other examples of the same sort of thing
IIT.] RELATIVE POSITION OF ACTORS AND CHORUS. 153
they descend into the orchestra. In the Peace of Aristophanes
the chorus of farmers comes on the stage to help in hauHng up
the statue of Peace, and remains there for a considerable time'.
Still the instances of the chorus appearing upon the stage, either
momentarily, or for a length of time, are comparatively rare. In
all the forty-four Greek plays which have come down to us
hardly fifteen certain examples are to be found. On the other
hand the cases are not infrequent, in which the chorus might
naturally be expected to ascend the stage, and take part in the
action ; but while they are hesitating about doing so, their
attention is diverted by some unforeseen incident, or by the
advent of some new personage ^ Instances of this kind, in
which the poet seems to be at especial pains to avoid the neces-
sity of bringing the chorus on the sta ge, appear to show that
there were certain obstacles in the way of a free and easy inter-
course between the actors and the chorus. The general result
then of these investigations is as follows. The actors and the
chorus were able to converse together without difficulty. If
necessary the chorus could ascend the stage, and join in the
action. But they very seldom do so, even when it might natur-
ally be expected that they would. There must therefore have
been some difficulty about the appearance of the chorus upon
the stage. Their presence there must have been felt to be an
anomaly.
This conclusion tallies exactly with the facts already stated,
that the chorus stood in the orchestra underneath the stage,
with their faces towards the actors, and that the communication
between orchestra and stage was by means of steps. Under
such circumstances it is obvious that it must have been im-
possible for the Greek chorus to take a prominent part in the
proceedings upon the stage. A further question still arises,
whether, granting that the actors stood on the stage, and the
chorus in the orchestra, it is possible that the stage should have
^ Aesch.' Prom. Vinct. 128, 279; Orest. 132-206; Arist. Vesp. 403-
Eum. 179 ff. ; Eur. Suppl. 8, 359; 456.
Arist. Pax 426-550. Cp. also Aesch. '' E. g. Soph. Ajax 328 ff. ; Eur. Hec.
Suppl. 222-506; Eur. Hel. 327-515 I 1042 ff., Androm. 817 ff., &c.
154 THE THEATRE. [CK
been as high as ten or twelve feet. If the stage was of this
abnormal height, how, it is asked, could actors and chorus
even converse together with any appearance of fidelity to nature ?
In order to meet this difficulty it has been suggested that the
chorus did not stand upon the level of the orchestra, but upon a
platform erected immediately in front of the stage. This plat-
form, it is said, must have been some distance lower than the
stage, or else the persons of the actors would have been con-
cealed from view by the chorus standing in front of them. At
the same time it must have been high enough to bring the
chorus into moderate proximity to the actors, so as to enable
them to converse together without any great violation of proba-
bility. This platform for the chorus, has been rather a favourite
conception with the writers upon the subject of the Greek drama.
Its existence is defended partly upon general grounds, partly by
an appeal to certain passages in ancient authors. To take the
ancient authorities first. G. Hermann supposed that the platform
was called ' orchestra ' in a narrower sense. He cited a passage
in Suidas, where the orchestra is described as coming after the
Skene, and as being a wooden platform on which mimes per-
formed. But in this passage the context clearly proves that the
word ' orchestra ' is used in its later sense as ' the stage.'
Hermann's view has therefore been very generally discarded \
* G. Hermann Opusc. vi. 2, p. 152 ff. The passage is very corrupt, and liltle
The passage occurs in Suidas and Etym. reliance can be placed on any inferences
Mag. V. aKt]vi], and also in Schol. Greg. derived from it. The description of
Nazianz. 355 B (see Hermes for 1872, p. aKr]vr] as the * middle door,' the xa^f«
490). In all three places it is corrupt Koj^KfXKa^ and the statement that the
and mutilated, but the last version of konistra comes after the thymele, are
the three is the most complete, and runs all astonishing. But it is clear that op-
as follows : — aKr]vi] \ariv 77 yikar] Ovpa x''70"rpa here means the stage. This
Tov Oearpov, TrapaaKrjvia Ee ra evOeu Kai appears not only from the context, but
€u9eu T^j fieaijs Bvpas xaA«a KayKeXXa- also from the fact that it is said to have
u)v rd evTos /cat ttjs fxcarjs Ovpas ^ iva been the place for the /xifioi. Wieseler
(xacpfffTepov uTToo, <t/ct]vi]. /xfTo, tt)j/ (xkt]- bases upon the above passage his pecu-
v^v evOiis Koi rd irapaaiajvia fj dpx'']<^Tpa- liar theory that the thymele was the
avTT] E4 kcTTiv o TOTTOs €K (Tavidoov exojJ^ platform for the chorus, and not an altar
TO eSa</)os, e</)' cv Oearpi^ovffiv ol fii/^oi. at all. He relies on the words Terpd-
ura perd rr^v opxqaTpav ^ojfxds ^v rod yccvov olKoS6p.r]jxa kcvuv. It is true that
Aiovvcrov, TCTpdycuvov olKod6pi.T]p.a Kevov, the passage is obscure. But if it proves
67ri TOV fiiffov, b KaXiiTai $vfx,€\r) -napd one thing more than another, it proves
TOV 6v(iv, pLfrd T^v OvpeXijv fj Koviarpa, that the thymele was the altar of Diony-
TovrioTi TO Karoj iZa<poi rod Ofarpov. sus, and stood in the orchestra.
III.] RELATIVE POSITION OF ACTORS AND CHORUS. 155
Wieseler has endeavoured to prove that this platform for the
chorus was denoted by the word ' thymele.' Now ' thymele^
was a word which had a great many meanings in ancient times.
At present we are only concerned with those which had refer-
ence to the theatre. As applied to the theatre it meant originally
the altar of Dionysus in the centre of the orchestra. Subse-
quently it was extended to denote the orchestra, or space
surrounding the altar. In later times, when the Roman fashion
of transferring all performances to the stage very generally
prevailed, the two words ' orchestra ' and ' thymele ' were both
of them used to denote 'the stage.' Hence we have three
distinct and recognised meanings for the word 'thymele' as
applied to the theatre. It denoted, firstly, the altar of Dionysus,
secondly, the orchestra, thirdly, the stage. If the passages are
carefully examined, in which it is asserted that 'thymele' denotes
a platform for the chorus in front of the stage, it will be found
that in the majority of them the word is much more naturally
explained as meaning the stage itself, or the orchestra. In one
or two cases the language used is apparently due to a confusion
between the different meanings of the term. In no case is there
a clear and definite description of a platform standing halfway
up between the orchestra and the staged If such a platform had
really existed, it seems incredible that there should have been
1 For ^yftc'A?; = the altar of Dionysus Ov/jiiKais. (3) Schol. Aristid. iii. p. 536
in the orchestra see the passages quoted (Dindf.) 6 xopos ore ela^pei kv rrj opxh-
on p. 133. For 9vni\r) = dpxq(TTpa see arpa ^ (MS. ^) eon dvfiiKrj. (4) Poll,
p. 133. For 9vfjLi\j] = \oyeLov seeBekk. iv. 123 «at (tktjvt) /xkv v-noKpiTwv idiov, fj
Anecd. p. 292 aK-qv^ S' larlv fj vvv \eyo- 5e bpxh<yrpa rov x.opov, Iv ■§ fcal -q $vixe\rj,
Hivq dvpLiXq, Schol. Arist. Equit. 149 eiVe ^Tjpd ti ovaa eiVc ^cv/xos. (5)
us S' 6v OvuiXr) dl to dvd^aive. In Isidor. Origg. xviii. 47 et dicti thymelici,
addition to the Scholium quoted in the quod olim in orchestra stantescantabant
preceding note, the followirg passages super pulpitum quod thymele vocaba-
are cited to prove that BvpLiXr) some- tur. In the first and second passages
times = the special platform for the OvpLkKr} obviously = 6/)X77<^Tpa. In the
chorus, betvireen the orchestra and the third passage it --= opxharpa or ^oj/xo?
stage, (i) Anth. Pal. vii. 21 iroKKa- Aiovvaov, according as ^ or ^ is read.
Kis kv evueXyai Kal ev aKTjvfiai redijXws \ In the fourth passage there is apparently
I3\aiaus 'Axapvhrjs Kicabs k.t.K. (2) a confusion of the two meanings of
Corp. Inscr. Gr. 6750 Zo^av cpavrjeaaav 6vp.e\r) as 'a stage' and ' an altar.' In
hi OKTjvaiai Xapovaav \ vavroirjs opeTrjs the fifth passage the two meanings of
(V fiujxois, dra xopofat | ttoWolkis Iv * orchestra ' and * stage ' are confused.
15^ THE THEATRE. [Ch.
no mention of it. The language of Vitruvius in particular is
hardly explicable on the supposition that such a platform was in
use. He says that in a Roman theatre the stage was much
deeper than among the Greeks, because it had to contain all the
performers, chorus as well as actors. It was only five feet high,
in order that the senators sitting in the orchestra might be able
to see down to the end of it. In a Greek theatre on the other
hand the chorus performed in the orchestra, the actors upon the
stage. The stage was therefore much narrower, and *was from
ten to twelve feet high\ It is hardly credible that Vitruvius
would have expressed himself in this way, if the Greek chorus
had occupied a platform five or six feet below the level of the
stage. As far then as ancient authorities are concerned, the
theory as to the existence of a platform for the chorus finds
absolutely no support.
On general grounds there are several fatal objections to the
theory. In the first place, if it were correct, we should have to
beheve that the Greeks first of all constructed an orchestra for
the chorus to perform in ; then built a stage twelve feet high ;
then, finding they had made their stage a great deal too lofty,
got out of the difficulty by erecting a platform each year, to bring
the chorus within reach of the actors. To suppose that the
Greeks acted in this way would be to suppose that they were
altogether deficient in common sense. In the second place it
must not be forgotten that the performances at the City Dionysia
consisted of dithyrambs as well as dramas. The dithyrambic
choruses contained fifty members, and stood in a circular posi-
tion. They must therefore have required a very considerable
space for their performances. The oblong platform in front of
the stage would not have been large enough to accommodate
them, but would have been large enough to encroach very
extensively upon the orchestra, and to drive the dithyrambic
choruses into one end of it. That such was the case is most
improbable. In the third place, in the theatre at Epidaurus
there are no traces of any appliances for the erection of the
^ Vitruv, V. 6, 7.
III.] RELATIVE POSITION OF ACTORS AND CHORUS. 157
supposed platform. We should have expected to find holes in
the floor of the orchestra, and sockets in the hyposkenion, for
the reception of the beams by which the platform was supported.
But neither at Epidaurus nor elsewhere are any such traces to
be found. Fourthly , on the floor of the orchestra at Epidaurus
a large circle is marked out with a stone border immediately in
front of the stage. It is difficult to resist the conclusion that
this circle was intended for the performances of the chorus.
Fifthly, at the end of the Wasps the chorus make their exit
dancing, headed by Philocleon and the sons of Carcinus. If
they had occupied an elevated platform in the orchestra, this
form of exit would have been impossible. For these reasons,
combined with the silence of ancient writers, there appears to
be no doubt that the platform for the chorus in front of the stage
must be regarded as a fiction of modern times.
As to the enormous height of the Greek stage , and the
difference in altitude between the position of the chorus and
that of the actors, perhaps it will not appear so incongruous, if
we carefully dismiss from our minds all associations derived
from the modern stage, and if we remember the vast size of the
ancient theatres. We should regard the chorus in the fore-
ground, with its carefully arranged groups, as the prominent
feature in the spectacle ; while the actors on the long and
narrow stage behind formed a picturesque background, after
the fashion of a frieze or bas-relief. Still there is no doubt
some difficulty in imagining a conversation between persons in
the orchestra and persons on a stage twelve feet above them.
Perhap s during the fifth century the stage was not so high as
at a subsequent period, and this may be the solution of the
difficulty. It was only in the plays of the fifth century that
there was any very close connexion and intercourse between
chorus and actors, orchestra and stage. In the fourth century
the chorus disappeared almost entirely from comedy, and in
tragedy its functions came to be confined to the duty of merely
singing interludes. It is true that there were frequent revivals
of the tragedies of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides. But the
number of such revivals was small; compared with the number
158 THE THEATRE. [Ch.
of original plays produced at that time. Later on, even in the
plays of the great tragedians, the choral parts were curtailed or
omitted \ Speaking roughly therefore it may be said that it
was only in the drama of the fifth century that the chorus took
a prominent part in the progress of each piece, and it was only
at that period that a close connexion between the orchestra
and the stage was desirable. Now the evidence as to the
height of the Greek stage depends upon two sources, the state-
ment of Vitruvius, and the remains of the theatre at Epidaurus.
This evidence, at the earliest, does not bring us any further back
than the middle of the fourth century I All we know as to the
stage in the Athenian theatre during the fifth century is that it
was not a permanent erection at all, but merely a temporary
structure of wood. There is no need to suppose that its height
was definitely fixed at that time. It may have varied at different
periods, and the average height may have been six or seven
feet instead of ten or twelve. The subsequent raising of the
stage may have been connected with the curtailment of the
chorus. Of course all this is mere conjecture. At any rate the
suggestion that there was a special platform for the chorus has
been shown to be utterly improbable and unsupported. The
other theory, that during the fifth century actors and chorus
were both in the orchestra and on the same level, appears to be
conclusively disproved by certain passages in Aristophanes, as
well as by other considerations. All that can be regarded as
fairly well established is that from the earliest period the chorus
performed in the orchestra, and the actors upon an elevated
stage. From the middle of the fourth century onwards this
stage was from ten to twelve feet high. As to its height during
the fifth century, this is a point upon which it is impossible to
speak with certainty.
§ 10. Various details.
To return to the subject of the construction of the theatre in
general. It is obvious that, considering the enormous size of
•^ Dio Chrysost. or. xix. p. 288, Dindf. ^ See above, p. 142.
III.] VARIOUS DETAILS, 1 59
the building, and the immense number of spectators which it
was intended to accommodate, the greatest attention must have
been bestowed upon its acoustic properties. Vitruvius is most
emphatic upon the necessity of keeping this object in view,
when choosing a site for a theatre. The situation against the
side of a hill, and the gentle and symmetrical upward slope of
the tiers of seats, are mentioned as qualities by which acoustic
excellence was ensured. The height of the stage-buildings was
also of great importance. It was found that the best results
were obtained by making them exactly the same height as the
uppermost parts of the auditorium \ The wooden stag e also
contributed to make the voices of the actors more audible.
When Alexander the Great wished to have a stage built en-
tirely of bronze, it was pointed out to him that this material
would be fatal from the acoustic point of view^ Vitruvius
mentions a peculiar practice which was adopted for the purpose
of adding resonance to the voices of the actors. Hollow
vessels of bronze^ of different tones, were suspended in niches
in various parts of the auditorium. When a sound was uttered
of the same tone as that of any of the vessels, its resonance
was increased. He states that this custom, though not adopted
in Rome, existed in many Greek and Italian theatres ; and
that Mummius, after his capture of Corinth, brought back
several of these vessels from the theatre there. In the remains
of the existing theatres no traces are to be found of the niches
he describes ^ It is probable that the whole plan was merely an
experiment adopted in a few special cases. As far as Athens
was concerned, no such extraneous assistance to the voice was
necessary. Experiments at the present day have shown that
the acoustic properties of the theatre of Dionysus are excellent ;
and this must have been still more the case when the stage-
buildings were standing. Probably therefore, in spite of the
vast numbers of the audience, the persons in the back rows
could hear the words spoken in the orchestra and upon the
^.Vitruv. V. 6. ^ Vitruv. v. 5"; Baumeister's Denk-
2 Plut. Non posse suaviter &c., maler, vol. iii. p. 1741.
1096 C.
l6o THE THEATRE. [Ch.
stage much more clearly than might at first sight have been
supposed.
Another point mentioned by Vitruvius in connexion with the
theatre is the advantage of erecting porticoes.jn the rear of the
stage-buildings, to serve as a shelter for the people in case of a
sudden shower of rain, and also for the convenience of the
choregi. He adds that at Athens there were three buildings
close to the theatre, which served admirably for this purpose.
These were the Odeum, the temple of Dionysus, and the
Portico of Eumenes ^ The Odeum here referred to must be
that built by Pericles, since the only other one existing in the
time of Vitruvius was close to the spring called Enneakrounos ^
The exact position of the Odeum of Pericles has not been
determined with certainty. The temple of Dionysus mentioned
by Vitruvius is apparently the older of the two temples, marked
D in the plan, and lying to the south-west of the original stage-
buildings. The Portico of Eumenes is supposed to have been
built by Eumenes II in the beginning of the second century
B. c, and it is thought that traces of it are to be found
stretching westwards from the theatre ^ Immediately to the
south of the stage-buildings are the foundations of a hall of late
date, marked C in the plan. Possibly this may have been
some erection in connexion with the theatre, built for the
purposes described by Vitruvius. In the theatre itself there
was no pro tection foi^Jhe_p£<Qj^le^ either from the sun or from
the rain. The huge canvass awnings, suspended upon masts,
which the Latin writers refer to, were an invention of the
Italians, and were only adopted in Greek theatres at a very
late period*.
The interior of the theatre at Athens was decorated with the
statues of various public persons, some distinguished, others
not. In the time of Lycurgus bronze statues were erected in
honour of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides ^ Pausanias
^ Vitruv. V. 9. School at Athens, vol. i. p. 127.
"^ Plut. Pericles, p. 160 A ; Pausan. i. * Val. Max. ii, 4. 6 ; Corp. Inscr.
14. I- Gr. 4283.
^ Wheeler, in Papers of the American ^ Plut. X orat. p. 841 F.
ni.] VARIOUS DETAILS. l6l
mentions that in his time there were several statues of dramatic
poets in the theatre, but, with the exception of Sophocles,
Euripides, and Menander, they were all very obscure in-
dividuals \ Astydamas, the tragic poet, was voted a statue in
the theatre on account of the excellence of his tragedy called
Parthenopaeus. He wrote an epigram to be inscribed upon
the base, regretting that he had not been born in the time of
the great tragic writers, so as to be able to compete with worthy
antagonists. The Athenians were so disgusted with his con-
ceit, that they refused to allow the epigram to be inscribed, and
the expression * to praise one's self like Astydamas * passed into
a proverb'^. In addition to the statues of the dramatic poets
there were also statues of Themistocles and Miltiades, each
with a captured Persian standing beside him ^. In later times it
is stated that a statue of Eurycleides the conjuror was erected
in the theatre ^ It is probable that during the reign of Hadrian
thirteen statues of him were placed in the thirteen different
blocks of the auditorium. The inscriptions on the bases of
four of these statues have been found in the existing remains
of the theatre ^ Besides the statues there were also various
inscriptions and tablets connected with theatrical affairs. A
copy of the decree of the Amphictyonic Council, conferring
certain privileges upon the Athenian actors, was inscribed in
stone and put up in the theatre ^ Numerous records of dra-
matic and dithyrambic contests were erected either in the theatre,
or the immediate neighbourhood. There were lists of the victors
in all the competitions at the Lenaea and City Dionysia. There
were lists of all the tragedies and comedies ever produced in
the theatre at Athens. There were lists of all the poets and
actors who had competed there, with the number of their
victories appended to each name. A complete account of these
various records has already been given at the end of the first
chapter ^
^ Pausan. i. 21. i. * Athen. p. 19 E.
2 Suidas V. aavrrjv kiraiviis. ® Corp. Inscr, Att. iii. 464, 46-4668,
5 Schol. Aristid. iii. p. 535, ed. Din- « Corp. Inscr. Att. ii. 551.
dorf. ' See chap. i. pp. 59-62.
M
l62 THE THEATRE. [Ch.
Before concluding this description of the theatre of Dionysus
it may be interesting to give some account of the various other
purposes for which it was used at different times, in addition
to its primary object as a place for dramatic representations.
From the earliest period the contests between the dithyrambic
choruses were held in the theatre. The recitations of the
rhapsodists and the competitions between the harp-players were
also transferred to the same place from the Odeum in which
they had been held previously ^ Besides this various cere^
monies unconnected with art took place in the theatre during
the festivals of Dionysus. The large audiences attracted by the
dramatic performances at the City Dionysia made it a suitable
occasion for displays of various kinds. It was in the theatre
at the City Dionysia that the orphan sons of soldiers, after
being educated by the state, were publicly paraded, before
being dismissed from state control. On the same occasion
the tri bute collected from the allies was exhibited in the
orchestra, as a proof of the power and magnificence of the
Athenian empire. When crowns were bestowed upon deserv-
ing citizens, it was a special mark of honour for the fact to be
proclaimed in the theatre at the City Dionysia ^ The annual
cock-fight in commemoration of the Persian invasion was
held in the theatre ^ But the most important of the non-
dramatic purposes for which the theatre came to be used was
that of meeting-place fox the, assemblies j)f the_ people. In the
fifth and fourth centuries the regular place of assembly was the
Pnyx. But already at a very early period special assemblies
used to be held in the theatre after each festival of Dionysus, to
discuss matters connected with the festival. These semi*
religious meetings probably paved the way to the later practice
of holding ordinary meetings there. As early as the year
411, on the occasion of the overthrow of the Four Hundred,
^ Hesych. v. wZuov. depicted in the act of setting cocks to
"^ See chap. ii. p. 89. figlit. The significance of the reliefs is
^ Aelian. Var. Hist. ii. 28, On the explained by the fact that the annual
outside of the arms, in the throne of the cock-fight was held in the theatre. vSee
priest of Dionysus, there are two has- Julius in Zeitschrift fiir bildende Kunst,
reliefs, in which kneeling Cupids are vol. xiii. p. 198.
in.] VARIOUS DETAILS. 163
Thucydides mentions that an assembly of the people was held
in the theatre. It was in the theatre that the meeting was
convened which condemned Phocion and his friends to death
in 317 B. c. In 295 B. c. Demetrius, after capturing the city,
summoned a gathering of the people in the theatre ^ These
meetings were all of a special character, and were not regular
assemblies of the people ; but they served as precedents for the
use of the theatre for political, as opposed to religious and
artistic, purposes. Similarly we are told on the authority of
Aristotle that the Ephebi received their shields and spears from
the state at assemblies of the people in the theatre ^. After the
middle of the third century the theatre became the regular
meeting-place. The Pnyx henceforward was only used for
assemblies for the election of magistrates ^. In this later period
the theatre was also used for various exhibitions which seemed
unworthy of its character as a temple of Dionysus. Sword-
swallowers, conjurors, and exhibitors of pupp et-shows are
mentioned among the entertainers who occupied the stage which
had formerly been dignified by Euripides ^ But the greatest
degradation which the theatre at Athens ever suffered was when,
under the influence of Roman custom, it was given up to
gladiatorial combats. This was a pollution which called forth
indignant protests from writers such as Philostratus and Dio
Chrysostom ^.
^ Demosth. Meid. § 9 ; Thucyd. viii. their seats in the Pnyx (avo} KaOrjTo).
93,94; Plut. Phoc. p. 757D, Demetr. p. When Diodorus says that they met in
905 A ; Mliller (Biihnenalt. p. 74) is mis- the theatre, he is merely using the Ian-
taken in stating, on the authority of guage of his own time, the theatre being
Diod. xvi. 84, that on the news of the then the regular meeting-place,
capture of Elatea in 339, the Athenians ^ Harpocrat. v. irfpiiroXos.
hastily assembled in the theatre. The ^ Poll. viii. 132.
description in Diodorus is merely a * Plut. Lycurg. p. 51 E; Athen. p.
paraphrase of the celebrated description 19 E ; Alciphron iii. 20.
in Demosth. de Cor. § 169. Demos- ^ Dio Chrysost. or. xxxi. p. 386,
thenes says that at daybreak, before the Dindf. ; Philostrat. vit. ApoU. iv. 22
Senate had transacted the preliminary (vol. i. p. 142, ed. Kayser).
business, the people had already taken
M 2
CHAPTER IV.
THE SCENERY.
§ I. General character of the Scenery.
The scenery in use upon the Attic stage was simple in
character and Hmited in amount, compared with that employed
in a modern theatre. Elaborate set pieces and gorgeous spec-
tacular effects were entirely unknown. The principal expense
in the production of a play was the training of the chorus, the
payment of the actors, and the supply of suitable dresses. The
scenery was never made the prominent feature of the exhibition.
All that was desired was an appropriate background to show off
to advantage the figures of the performers. The simplicity in
the character of the ancient scenery was a necessary result of
the peculiar construction of the stage. The Attic stage was
a long and narrow strip, little more than ten feet in depth, and
bounded in the rear by an immovable wall, which could neither
be drawn asunder, nor pushed backwards or forwards. Under
these circumstances any representation of the interior of a
building was quite out of the question. All those elaborate
spectacular illusions, which are rendered practicable by the
great depth of the modern stage, were impossible in an ancient
theatre. Nothing more was required than to cover over the
permanent wall at the back with a suitable view. Then again,
in addition to the simplicity of the mechanical arrangements,
the number of scenes in use upon the Attic stage was very
limited in amount. Not only was a change of scene in the
course of the same play practically unknown, but there was
often very little difference between one play and another as
GENERAL CHARACTER OF THE SCENERY. 1.65
regards the character of the scenery required. Each of the
three great branches of the drama had a background of a con-
ventional type specially appropriated to itself, and this typical
background was the one usually adopted. When therefore a
series of tragedies was being exhibited, or a series of comedies,
it must often have happened that the same scenery would do
duty for two or three plays in succession. Thus the question
of the scenery was one of the smallest of the difficulties which
the Attic stage-manager had to contend with. Very little
variety was necessary, and the mechanical arrangements were
simple in the extreme.
At the same time it would be a mistake to suppose that there
was anything poor or mean in the scenery of the Athenian
theatre. The greatest period of the Attic drama corresponded
with the greatest period of Attic art. Poets like Aeschylus and
Sophocles personally superintended the mounting of their plays.
It is safe therefore to conclude that the scenery was thoroughly
in harmony with the rest of the performance, and was as elabo-
rate as the nature of the Greek drama required. It would have
been alien to the simplicity of the Attic taste to have allowed
the poetry and the acting to be overshadowed by gorgeous spec-
tacles and magnificent decorations. The prominent feature in
an Athenian dramatic performance was the chorus in the fore-
ground, with its graceful arrangement and picturesque dresses.
Above the chorus, on the narrow stage, stood the actors and
mute figures, arranged in line, and dressed in brilliant colours.
The long scene in the rear formed a pleasing background, and
showed off* the persons of the actors to advantage. It presented
a broad expanse to the eye ; but not much attempt was made to
convey the ideas of depth and of distance. In its general effect
the scene upon the stage resembled a long frieze or bas-relief
painted in brilliant colours, rather than a picture with a distant
perspective.
It was only by a process of very gradual development
that the scenic arrangements and general mounting of a
play were brought to that pitch of excellence which they dis-
played during the latter part of the fifth century and afterwards.
l66 THE SCENERY, [Ch.
The art of stage decoration among the Greeks grew out of very
small beginnings. During the earliest period of the drama the
background to the actor*s platform consisted merely of some
booth or covered erection for the performer to change his dress
in. Out of this booth and platform were developed the stage
and stage-buildings of a later period. At first the whole struc-
ture was of wood, and the background to the stage consisted of
a bare hoarding, with doors for the actors to enter by. There
was no painted scenery, and no attempt was made to give an
actual representation of the scene in which the action was
supposed to be taking place. Everything was left to the
imagination of the spectators. In this respect the early Attic
stage resembled our own Elizabethan drama, in which scenery
was practically unknown, and the back of the stage consisted
merely of a bare wall. When Aeschylus made his first
appearance as a tragic writer things were still in this primi-
tive condition. The pro gress of t jie_ar t of sta ge dec oratioj}
can be distinctly traced in the extant plays of Aeschylus. In
the Supplices, the earliest of his tragedies, there is no mention
of any scenery in the background, no clear definition of the
exact spot where the action is taking place. The only thing
that is distinctly referred to is the altar of the gods at which the
suppliants take shelter. In this respect, in the total absence of
local colouring, the Supplices differs from all the other Greek
plays which have been preserved. It may therefore be con-
cluded with certainty that at the time when the Supplices was
produced the scenic art was still in its infancy. The back of
the stage was merely a bare wall, and the only attempt at
decoration consisted in placing upon the stage such properties
as were required by the particular play. In the Supplices there
was an altar, and that was all \ In the Prometheus Vinctus the
scene of the action is clearly defined as a rocky region of the
Caucasus. But in all probability the rock to which Prometheus
is chained was merely built up upon the stage, and no attempt
was made to give an elaborate representation of the view. The
scene of the Persae is before the palace of King Xerxes, and the
^ Aesch. Suppl. 189.
IV.] GENERAL CHARACTER OF THE SCENERY. 167
palace is distinctly referred to in the course of the play ^ But in
the Seven against Thebes, which was produced five years after
the Persae, there is again very little local colouring. All is
vague and indistinct. The scene of the play is not far from
the Acropolis at Thebes, but there is no mention of any
palace or other building from which the actors make their
entranced In jthe O resteia, the last dramatic production of
Aeschylus, a great advance is noticeable in the art of scenic
decoration. In all the three plays of which the trilogy is
composed the scene of the action is very clearly defined,
and very frequently referred to. The first two tragedies take
place in front of the palace of Agamemnon at Argos; the
scene of the third is partly before the temple of Apollo at
Delphi, partly before that of Athene at Athens ^ By this
time painted^ce^ery had been invented, and was doubtless
used in the Oresteia. The contrast between the earliest and
the latest of the tragedies of Aeschylus, as regards local colour-
ing and allusions to the scene of action, is very marked and
conspicuous, and clearly denotes the advance which had been
made in the manner of mounting a play. It is also noticeable
that in all the three tragedies of the Oresteia the machine called
the ekkjklemajs employed ^ It is obvious, therefore, that by
this time the stage-buildings had reached a certain degree of
elaboration, else such an appliance could hardly have been
used. Whether they were still of wood, or had already been
built of stone, in any case they probably resembled in their
general character and arrangement the stage-buildings of a later
period.
By the middle of the fifth century the use of painted scenery
had fully established itself. After this period no great change
was made in the general system of mounting a play. There
was still, no doubt, much room for improvement in the manner in
which the work was carried out. The art of scene-painting was
brought to greater perfection by succeeding generations, and
1 Aesch. Pers. 159, 160. 35. 242.
2 Aesch. Theb. 240. * Aesch. Agam. 1373 ff., Choeph.
3 Aesch. Agam. 3, Choeph. 22, Eum. 973 if., Eum. 40 ff.
l68 THE SCENERY. [Ch.
various mechanical appliances and devices were introduced.
But by the middle of the fifth century the general method of
stage decoration had been finally settled, and was only modified
in details at a subsequent period. Taking this date as our
starting-point, it will be interesting to consider the question as
to the number and character of the scenes most in use upon the
Attic stage. Our principal authority will be the Greek plays
still in existence.
Vitruvius_ divides sc enery into three g lasses — tragic, comic,
and satyric. According to his description the salient features
in a tragic scene were columns, pediments, statues, and other
signs of regal magnificence. In cornedy the scene represented
a private house, with projecting balconies, and windows looking
out upon the stage. The scenery in the satyric drama con-
sisted of a rustic region, with trees, caverns, mountains, and
other objects of the same kind^ The above list is not in-
tended to be an exhaustive one. It merely describes in general
outline the type of scene which was most characteristic of each
of the three great branches of the drama. At the same time it
is more exhaustive than might at first sight be supposed. If the
extant Greek dramas are examined, it will be found that in
the great majority of cases the scenery conforms to the general
type described by Vitruvius. To take the tragic poets first.
Twenty-five tragedies by Sophocles and Euripides have been
preserved. In no less than seventeen out of the twenty- five
the scene is laid in front of a palace or a temple^. In all these
cases the general character of the scenery would be exactly
such as Vitruvius describes. The prominent feature would
be a magnificent building, with columns, pediments, and sta-
tues. Of the remaining eight tragedies, there are four in which
the scene consists of an encampment, with tents in the back-
ground ^ The other four all require special scenery. In the
Philoctetes the scene is laid in front of a cavern in a desert
^ Vitruv. V. 6. Iph. Taur., Andr., Suppl., Heraclid.
=* Viz. Soph. O. R., Antig., Electr., s Viz. Eur. Hec, Troad., Iph. Aul.,
Trach. ; Eur. Ale, Med., Hipp., Here. Rhesus.
Fur., Phoen., Hel., Orest., Bacch., Ion,
IV.] GENERAL CHARACTER OF THE SCENERY, 169
island. In the Ajax it is laid partly before the tent of Ajax,
partly in a solitary quarter by the sea-shore. The background
in the Oedipus Coloneus consists of a country region, with the
sacred enclosure of the Eumenides in the centre. Finally, the
Electra of Euripides is altogether exceptional in having its
scene laid before a humble country cottage. On the whole the
evidence of the extant tragedies tends to confirm the statement
of Vitruvius, and exemplifies the conventional character of
Greek tragic scenery. In the great majority of instances the
background would be an imposing pile of buildings, adorned
with various architectural embellishments. As to the satyric
drama, the Cyclops of Euripides is the only specimen of this
class of composition which has been preserved. The scene
there corresponds exactly to the description of Vitruvius, and
consists of a country region, with the cave of Polyphemus in
the centre. There can be little doubt that in all satyric dramas
the background was of much the same character. As the
chorus always consisted of satyrs, whose dwelling was in the
forest, the scene of the play would naturally be laid in some
deserted country district. In regard to comedy, it is necessary
to distinguish between the Old Comedy and the New. The
scene in the New Comedy was almost invariably laid in front
of an ordinary private house, as is proved by the adaptations
of Plautus and Terence. In the Old Comedy, to judge from
the extant plays of Aristophanes, the same was generally the
case. In six out of the eleven comedies of Aristophanes, the
background consists merely of a house, or of houses standing
side by side^ In four others the principal part of the action
takes place before a house. In the Thesmophoriazusae the
scene consists of a house and a temple standing side by side.
In the Lysistrata there is a private house, and near it the
entrance to the Acropolis. In the Acharnians the opening
scene takes place in the Pnyx ; the rest of the action is
carried on before the houses of Dicaeopolis, Euripides, and
Lamachus. The scene in the Knights is laid partly before the
* Viz. the Wasps, Peace, Clouds, Frogs, Ecclesiazusae, Plutus.
t70 THE SCENERY. [Cfi,
house of Demos, and partly in the Pnyx. The only comedy
in which the scenery is of an altogether exceptional character is
the Birds, in which the background consists of a wild country
region, filled with rocks, and trees, and bushes. It appears,
therefore, that even in the Old Comedy there was not much
variety in the scenery.
The result of this examination of the extant plays is to prove
that the number of scenes required on the Attic stage was not
very large. In most plays the action took place before a
palace, or a temple, or a private house. In such cases it is
probable that the same scenes were used over and over again ;
and if it was necessary to make any distinction between the
scenes in different plays, a rearrangement of the ornaments
and properties upon the stage would suffice for all practical
purposes. On the Athenian stage the scenery was entirely
subordinated to the music and the acting. It helped to carry
out the illusion, but was never allowed to predominate. To
make spectacular effects the prominent feature in a dramatic
performance would have been utterly foreign to the taste of the
Athenians.
§ 2. Mechanical arrangements for the Scenery.
The scenery consisted of painted curtains or boards, which
were affixed to the wall at the back of the stage. The ordinary
name for a scen e was skene or proskenion \ According to
Aristotle the invention of scene-painting was due to Sophocles.
Vitruvius on the other hand assigns it to Aeschylus ^ His
^ Poll. iv. 131 KaTa0\rifj.aTa Se vfda- acter of her beauty (Athen. p. 5.S7 B).
fiara fj nivaKes ^aav €X<"'7'6J ypacpas rrj ^ Aristol. Poet. c. 4 nal to tc tojv
XP^'^o, tS)v bpafxarcav irpoacfyupovr Kan- VTTOKpnwv ir^rjOos !£ kvos ds 8vo irpajros
^dWcTo 5' (irl Tci9 irepioLKTOvs opos Scik- AtVx'^^os ijyaye Kal to. tov x^pov ijKdr'
vvvra rj OdXanav i) TrorafAou •q dXKo rt roJOi Kal rbv \uyov irpcoTa-yaiviGTfjV
roiovTov. Suid. v. irpodKrjviov to itpb irapeffKevacrev. Tpfis Sc Kal GKT]t'oypa~
Trjs aKTjVTJs TTapaireTacr/jLa. For the use (piav ^o(f>oK\7Js. Vitruv. vii. praef. § 11.
of aKr]vri = the painted scenery at the Vitruvius' account is supported by the
back of the stage, see chap. iii. p. 139. statement in the Life of Aeschylus that
Nannio the courtesan was called * pro- ypa(pai were first introduced by him.
skenion ' because of the deceptive char-
IV.] MECHANICAL ARRANGEMENTS FOR SCENERY. 171
account of the matter is precise and full of detail. He says
that the first tragic scene ever painted was made by a certain
Agatharchus under the superintendence of Aeschylus, and that
Agatharchus wrote a book upon the subject. His example was
followed by Democritus and Anaxagoras, who composed similar
treatises. In these works they laid down the rules of per-
spective, and pointed out the proper method of producing upon
the flat surface of a scene the effect of gradations of distance*
The account in Vitruvius has a great appearance of accuracy,
and it is probable that he is correct in ascribing the intro-
duction of scene-painting to Aeschylus. But it is clear that
it cannot have come into use much before the middle of the
fifth century; otherwise there would have been no grounds
for assigning the invention to Sophocles, who only began to
exhibit in 468. The statements of Vitruvius prove that the art
was rapidly brought by the Greeks to a very considerable
degree of perfection.
As the mechanical arrangements for fixing up the scenery
have not been described by any of the ancient writers, a
detailed account of the matter is impossible. But several facts
of a general character can be deduced from the testimony of the
existing plays. It is therefore not difficult to form a rough
conception of the arrangements which must have been adopted
in preparing the back of the stage for a dramatic representation.
In all Greek plays the action was supposed to take place in the
open air. The scene was generally laid before some building
or tent, or in a country district with a rock or cavern in the
background. The upper portion of the painted scene repre-
sented merely the sky, and was probably the same in all
dramas. The lower portion was separable from the upper, and
on it was delineated the building or landscape which the par-
ticular play required. This lower portion of the scene must
have stood some small distance in front of the upper portion.
It is impossible that the whole scene should have been in one
piece, and have ascended in a straight line from the bottom to
the top of the stage. If this had been the case there would have
been no room for the narrow ledge or platform, which Pollux
172 THE SCENERY. [Ch.
calls the Mistegia^* The distegia was a contrivance which
enabled actors to take their stand upon the roof of a palace or
private house. Several instances of its use are to be found in
the existing Greek plays. For example, the Agamemnon of
Aeschylus opens with the watchman sitting upon the roof of
the palace at Argos, and waiting for the beacon's signal. In
the Phoenissae of Euripides Antigone and the attendant mount
upon the roof to get a view of the army encamped outside
the city. In the concluding scene of the Orestes Hermione
and Orestes are seen standing upon the roof of the palace.
Examples are also not infrequent in comedy. In the Achar-
nians the wife of Dicaeopolis views the procession from the
roof of the house. At the commencement of the Wasps
Bdelycleon is seen sleeping upon the roof, and his father
Philocleon tries to escape through the chimney. At the end of
the Clouds Strepsiades climbs up by a ladder to the roof of
the phrontisterion, in order to set it on fire. The distegia must
also have been used in such scenes as that in which Evadne
appears upon the summit of a cliff, and that in which Lysistrata
and Myrrhina are seen upon the battlements of the Acropolis '\
It follows from these examples that there must have been room
enough between the top of the palace or other building, and
the surface of the scene behind it, to allow a narrow ledge
or platform to be inserted. The arrangements for the pur-
pose could hardly have been carried out in any other way
than that described above. The scene must have con-
sisted of two portions, the upper and the lower. The upper
portion, representing the sky, must have been affixed to the
permanent wall at the back of the stage, and probably remained
the same in all dramas. The lower portion, representing the
building or landscape, would be fastened to a wooden frame a
short distance in front of the permanent back-wall. There
* Poll, iv, 129 J7 56 biOTi'^ia ttotI fi\v ovaiv rj ypqSia rj yvuaia KaraPKeirei.
kv oiKw Paaikfiq) dirjpes doj/jidTiov, olov ^ Aesch. Agam. 3 ; Eur. Phoen. 89,
a<p* ov kv ^0Lvi(T(Tais '^ 'Avriyovij /3A.67r€t 193, Orestes 1567-15 75; Aristoph.
Tov orparov, ttot€ Se Kal Kepafios, dcp' ov Acharn. 262, Vesp. 68, 144, Nub.
fiaWovcri tw KfpdpLcu' iv Se KCUfMuSiq. dird I485-I503, Lysist. 864, 874, 883.
T^s diareyias iropvofioaKoi ri Karoimv-
IV.] THE ENTRANCES TO THE STAGE, 173
would thus be room for the erection of the ledge or distegia
between the wooden frame and the wall at the back.
If the scene represented a dwelling-housC; there were windows
in the upper storey, out of which the characters could peer upon
the stage. Such windows are mentioned by Vitruvius, and in-
stances of their use occur in the extant comedies. For example
Philocleon in the Wasps tries to escape out of an upper
window, and in the Ecclesiazusae the old woman and the
young girl are seen looking out of one ^ It need hardly be
remarked that the doors of the building represented by the
painted scenery would correspond more or less closely with
the permanent doors in the back-wall, so as to admit of easy
ingress and egress to the actors. In the same way if the
scene was a cavern in a country region, the entrance to the
cavern would be made to correspond with the central door in
the wall at the back. Concerning the manner in which the
scenery was finished off at the top nothing can be laid down for
certain. It is not even known whether the stage itself was
covered with a roof or not. The fact that there was a roof to
the stage in Roman theatres is hardly sufficient ground for
forming any definite conclusion as to the Athenian theatre of
the earliest period ^
§ 3. The entrances to the Stage.
The question as to the number and the character of the
entrances leading upon the stage is one of some importance in
connexion with the Greek drama. In order to avoid con-
fusion in dealing with this subject it is necessary to carefully
distinguish between the permanent doors in the walls sur-
rounding the stage, and the temporary doors or entrances
which were left when the scenery had been put up. First, as
to the permanent door^ It will be evident from what follows
that every Greek theatre must have had at least five such
doors. There must have been three doors in the stone wall
^ Vitruv. V. 6 ; Arist. Vesp. 379, ^ See chap. iii. p. 150.
Eccles. 924, 930, 961-963.
174 THE SCENERY. [Ch.
at the back of the stage, and two doors at the sides, one
leading from each of the wings. Probably this was the plan
adopted in the earliest stage-buildings at Athens. In the later
theatres the stage was much longer than at Athens, and there
were always five doors in the wall at the back. But it has been
pointed out in the last chapter that in all probability only three of
these doors were used in the course of the actual performances,
and that the two outer ones were either covered over by the
scenery or concealed by temporary side-wings of wood \
The next point to be considered is the number of the entrances
which had to be provided when the scenery was erected, and
the stage was made ready for a dramatic performance. Pollux
and Vitruvius, in speaking of the scenery and stage-decorations,
agree in saying that there were three doors at the back of
the staged But this statement is much too universal. In
the majority of cases no doubt there were three such doors.
When the scene represented a palace, or temple, or dwelling-r
house, three doors appear to have been always used. But
when the scene was of an exceptional character, the number of
the entrances from the back of the stage would vary according
to the requirements of the play. For instance in the Philoctetes
there would only be a single entrance, that from the cavern.
In the first part of the Ajax the only entrance would be that
leading out of the tent ; in the second part there would be no
entrance at all, the background consisting merely of a solitary
region by the sea-shore. In the Cyclops the only opening at
the back of the stage was the mouth of Polyphemus' cave. In
such plays as the Prometheus of Aeschylus, and the Andro-
meda of Euripides, the background consisted of rocks and
cliffs, and there was no entrance from that quarter. It is clear
therefore that the statement that a Greek scene was provided
with three doors or entrances at the back is not universally
true, but only applies to the majority of cases.
Some details concerning the charact er of thej hree_dqors may
be gathered from the statements in Pollux and Vitruvius ^
^ See chap. iii. p. 150. ^ Vitruv. v. 6 ipsae autem scaenae
^ Poll. iv. 124, 126 J Vitruv. v. 6. suas habent rationes explicatas ita uti
IV.] THE ENTRANCES TO THE STAGE. 175
When the scene was a palace, the central door was decorated
with regal grandeur. The side-doors were supposed to lead to
the guest-chambers. Occasionally one of the side-doors led to
a guest-chamber, the other to a slaves' prison. In comedy
the character and arrangement of the doors would vary con-
siderably, according as the scene was laid in front of one,
or two, or three dwelling-houses. In the last case, of which an
example is supplied by the Acharnians, there would be one
door for each of the three houses. Sometimes one of the side-
doors represented the way into an outhouse, or workshop, or
stable. Sometimes it led into a temple, as in the Thesmo-
phoriazusae. In comedy, no doubt, there was much greater
diversity as to scenic details than in tragedy.
In addition to the entrances at the back of the stage, which
varied in number and character according to circumstances,
there were also, according to Pollux and Vitruvius, two side-
entrances on to the stage in every Greek play. There was one
entrance from each of the side- wings \ That this must have been
the case is proved by the evidence of the existing plays, apart
from the statements of ancient writers. For instance in the
Philoctetes it is obvious that Odysseus and Neoptolemus cannot
have entered from the back of the stage. The only opening here
was the cave of Philoctetes. Odysseus and his companion,
who are supposed to have just landed on the island, could not
have entered from any other direction but the side of the stage.
Similarly in the Cyclops, where the scene represents the cave
of Polyphemus, Odysseus and his mariners could only make
jnediae valvae ornatus habeant aulae ii\v araO/xos v-rro^vyicov . . . kv 5i 'Avti-
regiae, dextra ac sinistra hospitalia. (pavovs 'AKearpia Kal (pyaarrjpiov yeyo-
PoU. iv. 124, 125 TpiMv 8e Tuv KaraTi^v viv. Throughout this passage Pollux
UKr]vrjv Ovpojv fj fiiat] fiev PaaiXeiov fj is guilty of his usual fault of converting
CTT-qkaiov f] oiKos tvdo^os ^ ndv rod npooT- particular cases into general rules.
nycuviOTov tov Zpap-aTos, -q Se Ze^ia rov ^ Poll. iv. I26irap' (KdrepaSe twv hvo
SevTepaycoi'iarovvTos /carayajyiov 97 Se 6vpS)v tcDi/ inpl 7t)v fiearjv dkXai dvo (lev
dpiarepd to evrfKearaTov e'xei irpSacvirov dv, p.ia knarfpojOev, npos as at vfpiaKTot
ij Upov l^rjp-qpojpkvov, rj doiKos kariv kv cvpLTTiir-qyaaiv. Vitruv. v. 6 secundum
Se rpaycphiq. 77 p-lv Se^id 6vpa ^ivcjv ecTTiv, ea loca versurae sunt procurrentes, quae
eipKTT) Se 77 \aia. ro 5e KXiaiov kv efhciunt una a foro, altera a peregre,
fcojpwUa irapaKdrat irapd ttjv olKiav, aditus in scaenam. Phot. v. rrapaCKi^Pta'
vapaistTaa [lari SijKooiJiiVOV. Koi ian al daqSoi al eis ttjv (jKrjvrjVt
176 THE SCENERY, [Ch.
their entrance from the side. Then again there are such
scenes as that at the end of the Seven against Thebes, where
the corpses of the two brothers are borne away to burial, and
Antigone and Ismene follow slowly after. It is impossible to
suppose that the procession retired into the palace. It must
therefore have made its exit by a side-entrance.
The mode of using the different entrances was regulated by
certain conventional rules such as were common among the
Athenians. The openings at the back of the stage always led
out of some building, or tent, or cavern, or other dwelling-
place. They could only therefore be used by persons who
were supposed to be inside the dwelling-place. People coming
from the immediate neighbourhood, as well as people coming
from a distance, had to enter the stage by one of the side-
approaches. This arrangement was an obvious one, and could
hardly have been otherwise. But as regards the use of the
side-entrances the Athenians had a special regulation which
was due entirely to local causes. The theatre at Athens was
situated in such a position that the western side looked towards
the city and the harbour, the eastern side towards the open
country. In consequence of this fact the side-entrances upon
the Athenian stage came to acquire a peculiar significance. If
a man entered by the western side, it was understood that he
was coming from the city where the scene of the action was
laid, or from the immediate neighbourhood ; or else that he had
arrived from distant parts by sea, and was coming from the
harbour. The eastern entrance was reserved for people who
had journeyed from a distance by land. The same regulation
was applied to the entrances to the orchestra. If a chorus
came from the city, or the harbour, or the suburbs, it used the
western parodos ; if it came by land from a distance, it used
the eastern '. It is obvious that at Athens, where play-bills
^ Vitruv. V. 6 secundum ea loca ver- aito ttjs iroXeas rjpx^ro km to Oearpov,
surae sunt procurrentes, quae efficiunt hia rrjs apiarepcis diptdos uayfi, d be dis
una a foro, altera a peregre, aditus in and dypov, bid t^s bc^ids. Poll. iv. 126
scaenam. Vit. Aristoph. (Dindf. Pro- twv fiivroi irapodajv fj /xev de^id dypuOev
legom. de Com. p. 36) 6 /cajfiiKos x^pos ^ Ik \i/xivos tj €k iroXeoos dyer ol bk
avvicfTqKiv k^ dvbpwv k5'. kuI el filv us dWaxoOtv in^ol d<piKvovfxivoi Kara t^k
IV.] THE ENTRANCES TO THE STAGE. 177
were unknown, a conventional arrangement of this kind would
be of great assistance to the audience, and would enable them
to follow the action of the piece with greater ease and intelli-
gence than they could otherwise have done. The custom
originated in the topographical situation of the Athenian
theatre, but was afterwards adopted in all other Greek theatres,
and became a conventional rule of the Greek stage. The
entrances to the right of the audience were used by persons
from the neighbourhood ; the entrances to the left by persons
from a distance.
Another regulation concerning the entrances upon the stage
is mentioned by Pollux. It refers to the three doors at the
back of the stage. According to Pollux the central door was
reserved for the principal character, the door to the right
for the secondary characters, the door to the left for those of
least significance^. It is plain that this statement must be taken
with very considerable deductions. In the first place it only
applies to tragedy, and only to those plays in which the back-
ground represented a palace or similar building. Even then it
cannot have been by any means universal. Pollux has here
been following his favourite practice of making a general rule
out of an occasional occurrence. His statement in fact only
applies to dramas of the type of the Oedipus Tyrannus, in
which the principal character is at the same time a person of
the highest rank. In such cases it is very likely that his rule
about the doors was observed. It would be in harmony with
the statuesque and conventional character of Greek tragedy.
But there are many plays in which it would be absurd to
suppose that any such regulation was adopted. For in-
krkpav elaiaaiv. In the Life the words audience. Hence the eastern parodos"^
dirb dypov denote ' I'rom a distance.' might be called the right or the left
In Pollux dyp6d(v means ' from the parodos, according to the point of view
country in the suburbs.' As applied to from which it was regarded. This is
the s^age the words ' right ' and ' left ' the reason of the apparent discrepancy
were always used from the point of between the statements in the Life and
view of the actors : cp. the account of in Pollux. The author of the Life is
the periaktoi in Poll. iv. 126. But as looking at the orchestra from the point
applied to the orchestra they were some- of view of the actors, Pollux from the
times used from the point of view of point of view of the audience. ^
Jthe actors, sometimes from that of the ^ Poll. iv. 1 24.
N
178 THE SCENERY. [Ch.
stance, in the Antigone it can hardly be imagined that the
tyrant Creon entered only by a side-door, while the central
door, with its regal splendour, was reserved for the oppressed
heroine Antigone. Similarly in the Electra it is ridiculous to
suppose that Clytaemnestra entered from the inferior part of the
palace, Electra from the more magnificent. There can be no
doubt that Pollux, in his statement about the doors, has con-
verted a few special instances into a general law.
The entrances to the stage were of course intended for
the actors. They were also sometimes used by the chorus.
For instance in the Helena the chorus ascends the stage, and
disappears within the palace-doors. After a time it reappears
from the palace, and descends once more into the orchestra \
But such cases are of very rare occurrence. The question has
been raised whether in the same way the actors ever made
their exits and entrances by the passages into the orchestra.
The only example of an a ctor en tering by t he__orch,es_tra is in
the Plutus of Aristophanes. When Carion is sent to fetch the
chorus of farmers, the language of the play certainly seems to
imply that he returns into the orchestra at the head of them,
and afterwards ascends on to the staged But as this is the
only example of such a proceeding, the matter must be con-
sidered doubtful. On the other hand there is no doubt that
the actors occasionally made their exit by the orch estra. In
the Eumenides Athene and the Propompi descend into the
orchestra, and retire at the head of the procession. At the end
of the Wasps Philocleon comes down into the orchestra, and
dances off followed by the chorus ^ Such instances are however
only rarely to be met with.
§ 4. Changes of Scene.
A change of scene during the actual progress of a play was
a practice almost unknown upon the Greek stage during the
classical period. In the extant tragedies only t wo instances^
^ Eur. Hel. 327, 515. s Aesch. Eum. 1003 ff. ; Aristoph.
2 Aristoph. Plut. 223-318. Vesp. I5i4ff.
IV.] CHANGES OF SCENE, 1 79
are to be found, one in the Eumenides of Aeschylus, the other
in the Ajax of Sophocles. It does not appear that in either
case very much alteration in the scenery was required. In the
Eumenides the earlier part of the action takes place in front of
the temple of Apollo at Delphi, the latter part before the temple
of Athene at Athens. All that was here necessary was to
change the statue in front of the temple. The background
doubtless remained the same during both portions of the play.
There is not the least reason to suppose that any attempt was
made to depict the actual scenery of Delphi or of Athens.
Such a supposition would be inconsistent with the rude and
undeveloped state of scenic decoration during the Aeschylean
period, and moreover minute accuracy of that kind was utterly
foreign to the Athenian taste. The other example of a change
of scene is in the Ajax of Sophocles. The play begins in front
of the tent of Ajax, but ends in a solitary region by the sea-
shore. Here again a very slight alteration in the scenery
would have been sufficient. Probably the opening scene repre-
sented a coast view, with the tent of Ajax in the centre.
During the latter part of the play the tent was made to dis-
appear, and only the coast view was left behind. A change of
this kind could have been easily carried out, without much
mechanical elaboration. It is to be noticed that in each of
the above cases, while the scenery was being changed, both
orchestra and stage were deserted by the performers. In the
Eumenides it was not until Apollo had retired into the temple,
and the Erinyes had set out in pursuit oi Orestes, that the
change from Delphi to Athens took place. Similarly in the
Ajax both Tecmessa and the chorus had disappeared in search
of Ajax before the scene was transferred to the sea-shore. It
appears then that as far as tragedy is concerned changes of
scene were very rarely resorted to during the fifth century,
and even then were of the slightest possible description.
In comedy they were equally unusual. The Old Comedy
was a creation of the wildest fancy, utterly unfettered by
any limitations of fact or probability. In the plays of the
Old Comedy the scene of the action shifts about from one
N 2
l8o THE SCENERY, [Ch.
place to another in the most irregular fashion. All consider-
ations of time and space are disregarded. But it may be
taken for certain that on the actual stage no attempt was
made to represent these changes of scene in a realistic
manner. The scenery was no doubt of the simplest and most
unpretending character, corresponding to the economical
manner in which comedies were put upon the stage. In all
the extant plays of Aristophanes a single background would
have been sufficient. For instance in the Frogs the action
takes place partly before the house of Hercules, partly in
Hades before the house of Pluto. The background probably
represented the houses standing side by side, or a single house
may have done duty for that of Hercules and that of Pluto in
turn. The opening scene of the Acharnians takes place in the
Pnyx ; the rest of the play is carried on before the houses of
Dicaeopolis, Euripides, and Lamachus. Most likely the three
houses stood in a row, the Pnyx being sufficiently represented
by a few benches upon the stage. The fact that the house of
Dicaeopolis was supposed to be sometimes in the town, and
sometimes in the country, would be of very little moment in
a performance like the Old Comedy, where the realities of
existence were totally disregarded. In the Lysistrata the action
is rapidly transferred from the front of a house to the front
of the Acropolis. In the Thesmophoriazusae it takes place
partly before a house, partly before the temple of Demeter.
It is not necessary, in either of these plays, to suppose any
change in the scenery. The house and the Acropolis in the
one case, and the house and temple in the other, would be
depicted as standing side by side. In the Knights the back-
ground throughout the play consisted of the house of Demos ;
and the Pnyx, as in the Acharnians, was represented by
a few benches. As far then as the Old Comedy is con-^
cerned it is probable that changes of scenery in the course
of a play were seldom or never resorted to. In the New
Comedy, to judge from the adaptations of Plautus and
Terence, they appear to have been equally infrequent. On the
whole it may be said that elaborate changes of scene during
IV.] CHANGES OF SCENE. i8l
a play were practically unknown throughout the classical
period.
The only appliances for changing scenery that are mentioned
by the ancient Greek writers are the * periak toi \* These were
huge triangular prisms, revolving upon a socket at their base.
Each of the three sides of the prism consisted of a large flat
surface, shaped like an upright parallelogram. One of these
prisms was placed at each end of the stage, in such a manner as
to fit in exactly with the scene at the back, and continue it in
the direction of the side-wings. Each of the three sides was
painted to represent a different view, but care was taken that in
every case the painting coincided exactly with the painting in
the back-scene. As the periaktos or prism was turned round,
it presented a different surface to the spectators. Accordingly
it was possible, by revolving both the periaktoi, to make a
change in the character of the scenery at each end of the stage,
while the scene in the background remained the same as
before. The periaktos to the right of the audience depicted
views in the immediate neighbourhood of the city where the
action was taking place. The periaktos to the left represented
a more remote country. This fact corresponds exactly with the
regulation already referred to, that the entrances to the right of
the audience were reserved for people from the immediate
neighbourhood, while people from a distance came in by
the left.
^ Poll. iv. 126 trap' eKarepa 8e tcDj/ tionis, quae, cum aut fabularum muta-
Svo Ovpojv Tuiv irepl t^v fxiarjv dWai 5vo tiones sunt futurae, seu deorum adventus
eUv av, fi'ia eKaripojOev, vpos hs at cum tonitribus repentinis, versentur
iTfpiaKToi avfineirrjyaa-iv, rj fikv 5e£ta toL mutentque speciem ornationis in fronte,
€^<u TToAecws SrjKovffa, -q S' trtpa rd l/c &c. Serv. on Verg. Georg. iii. 24 scaena
TToXfoJs, fidXiora rd eK Xifxevos- nal 6(ov5 quae fiebat aut versilis erat aut ductilis
re OaXaTTiovs kndyei, Kal irdvd' oaa erat. Versilis turn erat cum subito tota
tiraxOiaTepa ovra rj firjxav^ (f>ep€iv machinis quibusdam convertebatur, et
ddwarer. el 5' kniffTpacpiifv at irepiaK- aliam picturae faciem ostendebat. How
roi, 17 de^id fxev dfieifici toitov (a. 1. t^ . the periaktoi introduced seagods, and
Trdv),dfi({>6T(pai 51 x^P°-^ viraXXdrTovaiv. other objects too heavy for the mechane,
Vitruv. V. 6 secundum autem spatia ad is as yet an unsolved problem. A
omatus comparata, quae loca Graeci change of tSitos means a change from
iTfpidKTovs dicunt, ab eo quod machinae one part of the same district to another :
sunt in his locis versatiles trigonoe a change of x^/^ means an entire change
habentes singulae tres species orna- of district.
l82 THE SCENERY. [Ch.
The principal use_of Jhe periaktoi must have been to produce
a change of scene in cases where the prominent feature of the
background remained the same. For instance, if the action had
been taking place in front of a temple or palace, and was to be
transferred to a temple or palace in a different country, the
requisite alteration might easily be carried out by means of the
periaktoi. The building in the background would remain the
same, but the scenery on each side would be altered. Occasions
for using the periaktoi might occur, either in the course of the
same play, or between different plays. Most Greek tragedies
and comedies took place before a temple, a palace, or a private
house. If therefore a series of plays was being exhibited, it
might be convenient to retain the same scene in the background,
and produce the necessary distinction between the different
plays by altering the scenery at each side. The usage of the
periaktoi was regulated by a curious conventional custom. If
only one periaktos was turned round, the alteration in the
scenery was of course confined to one end of the stage. This
was done when the change of scene was supposed to be a slight
one, and was merely from one part of the same district to
another. But when the action was transferred to an entirely
new district, then both the periaktoi were turned round, and
the scenery was changed at each end. Besides their use in
producing a change of scene, the periaktoi were also employed
to_ introduce gods upon tjie_stage in the midst of a thunder-
storm. It is not said how this was managed ; but the most
probable explanation seems to be that when the god appeared
at one end of the stage, the periaktos was turned round so
as to change the blue sky into a dark and gloomy atmosphere.
The sound of thunder would be imitated from within.
It is difficult to say when the periaktoi were first introduced.
or whether they were used at all during the classical period of
the Greek drama. They are mentioned by one grammarian
among a list of stage appliances which might be ascribed to
Aeschylus ^ But it is most unlikely that contrivances of
^ Cramer, Anecd. Par. i. 19 ei [ikv 6?) (Tkijv^v ivpquara irpocrvcfxeiv, cKKVKk-q-
■ndvTa Tis Aiax^^V ^ovAerai toL irepl ttjv /uiTa> koi irepiaKTOvs Kal nrjxo-vds . . .
IV.] STAGE PROPERTIES, 183
such complexity existed at that early period. It is true that
they might have been used in producing the change of scene
in the Eumenides from the temple at Delphi to the temple at
Athens. But they could have been perfectly v^ell dispensed
with. In fact, as far as the extant Greek dramas are concerned,
there are no occasions on which it is necessary to suppose that
they were used, and there are no passages in which they are
referred to. It may therefore reasonably be doubted whether
they existed at all during the great period of the Attic drama,
and whether their invention is not rather to be ascribed to
a much later period.
The periaktoi, as stated above, are the only appliances for
changing scenery that are mentioned in Greek writings. Servius
describes another ld nj_of.cQntriyance^ by means of which the
scene was parted asunder in the middle, and then drawn aside
in both directions, so as to disclose a new scene behind-.
But it is probable that this invention dated from comparatively
late times. There is nothing in the existing Greek dramas to
suggest that such a contrivance was in use during the classical
period.
§ 5. Stage Properties, etc.
In addition to the scenery in the background the stage was of
course decorated with such objects and properties as were
required by the particular play. Aeschylus is said to have been
the first to adorn the stage in this manner^. If the scene was a
palace or a temple, statues o f the gods were generally placed in
front of it, and are frequently referred to in the course of the
drama. For instance there was the statue of Athene in front of
her temple in the Eumenides, and the statues of the tutelary
deities before the palace of the Atreidae in the Electra of
^ Kcl :$o<poK\rjs tcTTiv d Tovrojv npoacfirj- latis hue atque illuc species picturae
XavrjffaTO Kot irpocre^evpev, eari tois nudabatur interior.
Pov\ofievoisvir€pTovTOJV epi^eiv Kai'iKKdV ^ Vit. Aesch. p. 6 Dindf. Kal t^i/
Itt' dfjL({)Oj T^v (prjfirjv tov \6yov. otpiv tcuv efcofxevajv KaTitrKrj^e t^ Xafi-
1 Serv. on Verg. Georg. iii. 24 scaena irpoTTjri, ypacpais koi fujxavais, fiaifiois re
quae fiebat aut versilis erat aut ductilis ml TCKpois, aaXmy^iv, ddwXois, 'Epivvci
erat . . . ductilis turn cum tractis tabu- k.t.X.
i84 THE SCENERY. [Ch.
Sophocles. In the Hippolytus there were two statues in front
of the palace of Theseus, one of Artemis the huntress, and the
other of Cypris the goddess of love. When Hippolytus returns
from the hunt, he offers a garland of flowers to the statue of
Artemis, but refuses to pay the slightest homage to the statue of
C3rpris, in spite of the remonstrances of his attendant. Again,
in the country region depicted in the Oedipus Coloneus the
statue of the hero Colonus stood in a conspicuous position \
Other examples of the practice of decorating the stage with
statues are frequently to be met with both in tragedy and in
comedy. Altars again were very common objects upon the
Greek stage. In the Supplices of Aeschylus the fugitive
maidens take refuge round an altar. The Oedipus Tyrannus
opens with the spectacle of a group of Thebans kneeling in
supplication before the altar of Apollo ^. Another very ordinary
feature in the stage-decoration was the stone obelisk in honour
of Apollo of the Highways. It was an ordinary practice among
the Greeks to place such obeHsks in front of their houses.
Their presence upon the stage is frequently referred to both in
tragedy and in comedy ^. Various other objects were occasion-
ally required by particular plays. There was the tomb of
Darius in front of the palace of Xerxes in the Persae, and the
tomb of Agamemnon in front of the palace of the Atreidae in
the Choephori. In the Oedipus Coloneus a rocky ledge was
required for Oedipus to rest himself upon. In the Acharnians
and the Knights a few benches must have been erected upon
the stage to serve as a rude imitation of the Pnyx. Walls,
watch-towers, and beacon-towers are mentioned by Pollux ; and
the presence of other similar decorations and erections can be
inferred from the extant tragedies and comedies *.
There was one piece of realism which the Greeks were not
averse to, and that was the presence ^ fjiprses and charigj^
upon the stage. There are many instances in tragedy of per-
^ Aesch. Eum. 242; Soph. Electr. ^ Poll. iv. 123; Aesch.Agam. 1080 fF.;
1373? O- C. 59 ; Eur. Hipp. 70-106. Schol. Eur. Phoen.631 ; Arist. Vesp.875.
^ Aesch. Suppl. 188-200; Soph. O. R. * Aesch. Pers. 684, Choeph. 4 ; Soph.
1-3, 142. O, C. 19; Poll. iv. 127.
IV.] THE EKKYKLtMA, 185
sons from a distance arriving in a chariot drawn by horses or
mules. The vast size of the Greek theatre, and the length
and narrowness of the stage, made it peculiarly suitable for
displays of this character. In the Agamemnon of Aeschylus
Agamemnon and Cassandra approach the palace in a chariot ;
Agamemnon remains seated there for a considerable time,
while he converses with Clytaemnestra ; he then dismounts
and enters the palace, leaving Cassandra still in the chariot.
In the Prometheus the chorus of the Oceanidae enter the
stage in a car. In the Electra of Euripides, when Clytaem-
nestra comes to visit her daughter at the country cottage, she
arrives in a chariot, accompanied by Trojan maidens, who assist
her to dismount. Several other instances might be mentioned.
Animals for riding were also introduced upon the stage. In
the Prometheus there is the winged steed upon which Pro-
metheus makes his entrance ; and finally in the Frogs of Aristo-
phanes Xanthias rides in upon a donkey ^
§ 6. The Ekkyklema.
Several mechanical contrivances are mentioned in connexion
with the Greek stage. The most peculiar of these, and the one
most alien to all our modern notions of stage illusion, was the
ekkyklema ^ It has already been pointed out that, owing to
^ Aesch. Agam. 782-1054, Prom. t/ctcvKXtjua SI keycrai fiTjxavrjua ^iXivov
I35> 279, 284; Eur. Electr. 998, 999; rpoxovs ix'^'"^ orrep vfpiffTpetpo/xfvov tcL
Arist. Ran. 27. doKovvra fvSnv uis iv oiKia irpdrTeoOai
^ The ekkyklema is described in the Kal tois €^<u kSdKvve, X67<« 8^ roTs
following passages: — Poll, i v. 128 koI OfaraTs. Eustath. II. 976.15 to eyicv-
To fx€v eKKVK\T)fia knl ^vKotv viprjXbv kXtj/jui, b Kal kyKvfcXrjOpov KiycTai, fXTj-
fiadpov, w iTTiKeiTai 6p6vos' SeiKwcri Se tcL x'^^Vf^^ ^^ vnorpoxov, v(p' ov kSeiKvvro
vnd ffKrjvriv (V rats oittiais dTToppijTavpax- ^d ev rrj OKivij fj aKijvfj. Schol. Aesch.
Ofvra. Kal rb pTJfM tov epyov KaKurai Choeph. 973 dvoiyerai -q oktjv^ Kal knl
iKKVK\(xv. k<p' ov de elady€Tai to (kkv- eKKVKK-QfiaTos opdrai rd aw/xara. Schol.
K\r]txa, (iffKVKXrjfxa ovond^erai, Kal XP^ Aesch. Eum. 64 Kal SevTepd Se yiyverai
rovTO vouiaOai KaO' kKaarrjv 6vpav,olovil (pavraaia' arpaKpivra yap fn]xo.vr)fxaTa
KaO' (KaaTTjv o'lKiav. (The Opovos men- ev5r)\a noiu rd Kard rb fiavreiov ws
tioned by Pollux must be derived from Ix^'- Schol. Soph. Aj. 346 kvravOa
some particular instance of the use of €KKVK\r]fid ri yivfrai, 'iva <pavf} €v /xiffois
the ekkyklema. The epithet vi//r)\6v 6 Aias iroifiviois. Schol. Aristoph. Nub.
may be corrupt : it is certainly not 184 dpa Se ws cpiKoaocpovs KOfiuvras,
correct.) Schol. Arist. Acham. 408 CTpa<pivros tov iyKVK\rj{xaTOs.
1 86 THE SCENERY, [Ch.
the arrangement of the auditorium, it was impossible upon the
Greek stage to represent the interior of a building. If the
back-scene had been drawn apart, and an attempt made to
exhibit the inside of a palace, the great majority of the spec-
tators would have been unable to see what was going on.
Under these circumstances, if a dramatist wished to bring
before the eyes of the audience a deed which had been per-
petrated inside a house or palace, he had recourse to the ekky-
klema. It was a small wooden platform, rolling upon wheels,
and was kept inside the stage-buildings. When it was required
to be used, one of the doors in the background was thrown
open, and it was rolled forward on to the stage. Upon it was
arranged a group of figures, representing in a sort of tableau
the deed or occurrence which had just taken place inside the
building. It was m ostly used Jn cas^s_jwiLere^ a murder had
been com mitted . The ekkyklema was rolled out upon the
stage, and on it were seen the corpses of the murdered persons,
with the murderers standing beside them with the bloody
weapons in their hands. It might be rolled through any of the
three doors at the back of the stage. The contrivance was of
course a purely conventional one, and had to be adopted owing
to the peculiar construction of the Greek theatre. All pretence
of realism and illusion was abandoned. But this was a point
upon which the Greeks did not lay very much stress. And
when they had once habituated themselves to the use of the
ekkyklema as a conventional contrivance for exhibiting in-
teriors, it is obvious that the scene must have been a very
impressive one. The sudden spectacle of the murderer stand-
ing beside his victim's body, with the instrument of death in his
hand, must have formed a most effective tableau.
In the extant Greek tragedies there are several instances of
the use of the ekkyklema. In the Hercules Furens the platform
is rolled out, and exhibits Hercules lying prostrate between the
bodies of his wife and children, with his limbs in chains, and his
face covered up. Amphitryon then comes out of the palace and
loosens his chains. Later on Theseus comes out and uncovers
his face, and helps him to rise. He then descends to the stage,
IV.] THE EKKYKL±MA. 187
and the ekkyklema is rolled back into the palace. In the Hip-
polytus, after the suicide of Phaedra, her dead body is displayed
upon the ekkyklema, and Theseus takes from it the letter in
which she makes her charge against Hippolytus. In the Aga-
memnon the platform rolls out and reveals the person of
Clytaemnestra standing beside the dead bodies of Agamemnon
and Cassandra. In a similar manner in the Choephori Orestes
is brought to view standing over the bodies of Aegisthus and
Clytaemnestra, and pointing to the net with which his father
had been murdered many years ago. After a time he is seized
with frenzy, and descends from the ekkyklema, and hastens
away to the temple of Apollo at Delphi. The platform is then
rolled back into the palace. In the Electra of Sophocles the
door is thrown open at the command of Aegisthus, and the
platform rolls out and exhibits Orestes and Pylades standing
beside the corpse of Clytaemnestra, which is covered with a
cloth. Aegisthus himself removes the cloth, and then Orestes
and Pylades descend to the stage, and the platform is drawn
back again. The same contrivance is used for exhibiting the
body of Eurydice at the end of the Antigone, and for revealing
the interior of the tent of Ajax in the play of the same name.
Finally in the Eumenides the interior of the Pythian temple is
displayed, with Orestes crouching beside the altar, and the
Erinyes asleep on seats round about him. Orestes, at the com-
mand of Apollo, leaves the platform, and starts on his way to
Athens. Soon afterwards the Erinyes are awakened by the
ghost of Clytaemnestra, and descend to the stage, and so into
the orchestra ^ Besides the above instances from tragedy the
ekkyklema is als o parodied on two occasions by Aristophanes.
In the Thes mophoriaz usae Euripides and Mnesilochus call at
the house of Agathon to borrow some female clothing. Agathon
is 'rolled out* on the ekkyklema, hands them some articles
which are brought to him from inside the house, and then, when
he is tired of their importunity, orders himself to be ' rolled in
again as fast as possible.' In the Acharnians Dicaeopolis goes
^ Eur. H. F. 1029-1402, Hipp. 806- Choeph. 973, 981, Eum. 64-180 ; Soph.
865 ; Aesch. Agam. 1379, 1404, 1440, El. 1458 ff., Ant, 1293, Ajax 346 fF.
1 88 THE SCENERY. [Ch.
to the house of Euripides to borrow a tragic dress. Euripides
is upstairs in his study writing tragedies, and cannot come down,
but allows himself to be 'rolled out,* and supplies the necessary
dresses \ The two passages in Aristophanes, where the
mechanism of the apparatus is carefully emphasised in order
to add to the ridicule, are very valuable as evidence. They
confirm the statements of the scholiasts, and prove that the
description of the ekkyklema previously given is a correct one.
From the examples of the use of the ekkyklema in tragedy
the following further particulars as to its character and con-
struction may be inferred. It appears that persons upon the
ekkyklema could easily descend to the stage, and persons on
the stage could easily touch those on the ekkyklema. It follows,
therefore, that the ekkyklema must have been a low platform,
not much above the level of the stage. In the Acharnians,
when Euripides is rolled out, he is represented as still sitting
in his room upstairs. Probably in this case a tall erection,
something like a pedestal, was employed, to produce a ludi-
crous effect. As to the dimensions of the ekkyklema, it is
plain that it must have been large enough to support several
persons. At the same time it cannot have been of any very
great size. Its width must have been less than the width of the
doors in the background, to permit of its being rolled through
them. Its depth cannot have been very great, because of the
narrowness of the Greek stage. Hence there is some difficulty
as to its use in the Eumenides. It is hard to see how it could
have been large enough to support the twelve or fifteen mem-
bers of the chorus of the Eumenides, together with Orestes in
the centre. There can scarcely be any doubt that the ekky-
klema was used on this occasion. The supposition that the
back-scene was rolled apart, and disclosed the interior of the
* Arist. Acharn. 408, 409 AI. dA\' rts IvZoQiv 5a8' ^ Xiyyov, 265 daca rts
€KKVK\rj0T}T\ ET. dW ddvvaToy. AI. ws raxLOTO, fi iiaKVKXrjadTu. The ekky-
aX\' ofuus. I ET. dA\' (KKVKXrjaofiar klema is also used in the Clouds (v.
Karafiaiviiv h' ov axoX-q. Id. Thesmoph. 185 if.) to show the interior of the
95, 96 ET. aiya. MN. ti S' tariv ; ET. phrontisterion, with the disciples of
a-^jdOctiv (^(px^rai. | MN. Koi iroios kariv; Socrates at work.
ET. ovTos ovKKvK\ovfJi.evoSf 238 heyKdraj
IV.] THE MECHANE, 1 89
temple, is inconsistent with the practice of the Greek stage, and
quite incompatible with the construction of the Greek theatre.
It is possible that only a few of the Eumenides were displayed
upon the ekkyklema, and that the rest of them came out of the
temple afterwards. But the question is one of some difficulty,
and has not yet been satisfactorily solved.
A contrivance called the exostra is occasionally referred to.
The name implies that it was something which was 'pushed
out' upon the stage. The metaphorical use of the word in
Polybius and Cicero proves it to have been a platform on which
objects were exhibited in a conspicuous manner. It is probable
therefore that the statement of the grammarians is correct,
and that the exostra was merely the ekkyklema under another
name^
§ 7. The Mechanic
Another appliance of even greater importance than the ekky-
klema, and one very frequently employed upon the Greek stage,
was the mechane or Machine \ It consisted of a sort of crane
with a pulley attached, by which weights could be raised or
lowered. It was placed in the left or western corner of the
stage, up at the very top of the back-wall. It was used in case
the characters in a play had to appear or disappear in a super-
natural manner. By its means a god or hero could be lowered
^ Poll. iv. 129 r^v h\ k^ojffTpav ravrbv irapevOv, ufftrep Kvmv (pipovras t5)V dfir)-
Ty eKKVKXrjfiari vofii^ovaiv. Hesych. v. X'^'-^^^ 'f°* tovtov irapaStjKov/Jievov, ws ov
i^warpa- knl tt^s (Tktjv^s to (KfcvKXrjfjia. XP^ dmareTv rois dpcofiivois, kirel Oeds
Polyb. xi. 6. 8 rfjs tvxtjs ojffirep lirtTT/Ses Trapfari rcf epyw. Aristoph. Daedal, fr.
6jrt T^v l^warpav dva^i^a^ovarjs t^v 9 (Meineke) 6 firjxO'VOTroios, dnure Pov\ci
vpiiTfpav dyvoiav. Cic. de Prov. Cons. t6v rpoxov \ kXdv dve/cds, \4y€, X'^^P^
§ 14 iam in exostra helluatur, antea post cpeyyos fjXiav. The n-qxcv-q was also
sipaiium solebat. called edupijfjia, Suidas s. v. The ropes
' Poll. iv. 128 ^ At'/X""^ ^^ Ofovs by which the actor was suspended were
SfiKVViTi KOI ijpojs Tovs €¥ depi, BcWfpo- called alaipai; Poll. iv. 131 alwpas S'
(povras fj Ilfpaeas, koi Keirai Kara r^v dv einois roiis KaXcos ot KarripTrjVTai f£
dpiarepdv vdpoSov, virep TrjV (TKT]vr)v to vipovs dvix^v tovs knl tov depos (pfpeaOai
vipos. Schol. Luc. Philops. vii. p. 357 SoKovvras ijpws fj Ocovs. The word dpi-
Lehmann avcuOev vncp rds ■nap' eKartpa anpa in Pollux and the Scholiast, being
T^5 fxearjs rov Oedrpov Ovpas {avTai Se applied to the stage, means the left from
irpbs r'i)v evOeiav rod Oedrpov irXivpav the point of view of the actors. In the
dvf(uy€aav, ov /cal tj (tktjv^ Kal to irpoaKi}- Athenian theatre this would be the
viov \ari) fiTixcvaiv 5vo fierecupi^ofiivajv 1) western side.
If dpiartpSw Qiovs koX rjpoxis kvecpdvi^e
IQO THE SCENERY, [Ch.
from heaven down to earth, or raised up from earth to heaven,
or exhibited motionless in mid-air. In most cases a car was
used for the purpose, and was attached to the pulley by a rope
or chain. In this car the god or hero took his stand. But any
other form of vehicle might be substituted for the car, according
to the requirements of the particular play. Euripides went so
far as to exhibit his hero Bellerophon ascending up to heaven
on the winged steed Pegasus. Trygaeus, in the Peace of
Aristophanes, was represented as riding through the air upon a
beetle. As to the strength of the mechane, it must at any rate
have been powerful enough to support two or three people at the
same time. Thus in the Helen of Euripides the twin Dioscuri
descend from heaven by this contrivance. Again, in the Medea
of Euripides both Medea and her slaughtered children are
borne through the air in a chariot. But the old notion that the
mechane was capable of lowering a whole tragic chorus of
twelve or fifteen members down from the sky is absurd on the
face of it. The notion was derived from the Prometheus of
Aeschylus. It was supposed that the winged car in which the
Oceanidae made their appearance was gently lowered through
the air, and suspended in front of Prometheus, while about a
hundred and fifty lines of the play were being spoken. But
the supposition is ridiculous and quite unnecessary. The car
of the Oceanidae was simply drawn on to the stage, and the
maidens sat there for "a time conversing with Prometheus, and
then dismounted from it and descended into the orchestra. As
to the way in which the mechane was worked, and the manner
in which the gods and heroes were made to disappear from
view at the top of the stage, there is no information. Un-
fortunately the construction of the upper part of the stage-
buildings is a subject about which we are entirely ignorant. It
is useless therefore to hazard conjectures concerning the exact
nature of the arrangements adopted.
The mechane was used under various circumstances ; but the
most ordinary occasion for its employment was to introduce
the *deus ex machina' at the end of a play, when affairs had
reached such a complicated condition that only divine inter-
IV.] THE MECHANA. 191
ference could put them right again. Under ordinary circum-
stances the gods and goddesses of the Greek stage walked
about like mortal beings \ But when they were introduced, in
the manner described, to untie the knots at the conclusion of a
play, the supernatural character of their intervention was em-
phasised by their appearance in the sky. The god so intro-
duced was called the 'deus ex machina,' or 'god from the
machine ' ; and the phrase became a proverbial one to denote
an unexpected benefactor '^ The 'deus ex machina* was a
f avourite device with Euripides . It is never used by Aeschyl us
in his extant tragedies, and only once by Sophocles^ at the end
of the Philoctetes. But Euripides has recourse to it on several
occasions. The Andromache, Orestes, Electra, Ion, Helena,
Supplices, and Iphigenia in Tauris are all brought to a con-
clusion by the appearance of a god from heaven. The practice
is strongly censured^ by Ari stotle , who points out that in a well-
constructed plot there should be no need of supernatural agen-
cies, and the conclusion should be the inevitable result of the
preceding incidents. He considers that the only proper
occasion for the employment of the * deus ex machina ' is when a
god is to be brought down from heaven to give information
about the past or future, which no mere human being could be
supposed to be acquainted with ^ It will be found that some of
the uses of the ' deus ex machina ' in Euripides answer to this
description of Aristotle, and would not incur his censure. In
several cases the god is introduced, not so much to set matters
right, as to inform the characters of the destiny which awaits
them in the future. In the Andromache, the Electra, and the
Supplices the plot has already been brought to a conclusion be-
fore the god appears. His function is confined to announcing
the future course of events. These therefore are what Aristotle
would call permissible uses of the * deus ex machina.*
The principal purpose then of the mechane was to bring
* Eur. Hipp. 53 €^Q} TwvSe firiaoixou ^ Suid. v. diro ;*j;XO''^^- Luc. Philops,
r6ir<av (of Aphrodite, who is speaking 29 Oiov and firjxo-vrjs. Plat. Cratyl. p.
the prologue). Cp. Aesch. Prom. 941- 425 D.
943. 2 Aristot. Poet. c. 15.
192 THE SCENERY. [Ch.
down a god from heaven at the conclusion of a play. But
it was also occasionally employed under various other circum-
stances, when a god or hero had to be lowered from heaven, or
lifted up from earth. For example Medea, in the play of
Euripides, escapes from Jason with her slaughtered children
upon an aerial car. In the Hercules Furens Iris and Lyssa
are sent down by Hera to drive Hercules to madness. They
appear for a time suspended in the air above the palace ; and
then Iris reascends to heaven, Lyssa goes down into the palace
to execute her purpose. Other instances are to be met with in
the lost plays of Euripides. Perseus was exhibited as gliding
down through the air in front of the cliff where Andromeda had
been chained. Bellerophon made his ascent to heaven on the
winged Pegasus\ The ascent of Trygaeus upon the beetle was
intended by Aristophanes as a parody on the Bellerophon of
Euripides. His speech in the course of his aerial journey con-
sists of a ludicrous mixture of phrases from the Bellerophon,
shouts to the beetle to keep his head straight, and terrified
appeals to the stage-manager to look after the security of the
pulley ^
§ 8. Other Mechanical Contrivances,
Two other contrivances for moving people through the air
are mentioned by the ancient writers ; but the information con-
cerning them is very defective. The Fig- Branch was a sort of
hook, from which the actors were suspended by means of ropes
and bands. The Crane was an instrument by which the bodies
of dead heroes were caught up and conveyed into the sky. It
was used by Aeschylus in the Psychostasia, when Dawn carried
away the body of her son Memnon. The notices about the
Crane and Fig-Branch are too brief and contradictory to enable
their exact character, and their relationship with the mechane,
^ Eur. Med. 131 7 ff., Here. Fur. 815 ipaXioov \ ZiaKivrjaas (paidpoTs tbaiv. \ ri
ff. ; Nauck, Trag. Grsec. Frag. pp. 316, Trotefs ; ti ■nouis', iroT TrapaK\iv€is \ tovs
358; Poll. iv. 128. pLVKTrjpas irpus ras \avpas; \ . . . Si fii]-'
^ Arist. Pax 154 ff. dW' dye, Uriyaae, ;)^aj'07rote, npoaexe tov vqvv m l/xe.
\oipii x^'/xw* I ^vaoxo-KiVOV irdrayov
IV.] OTHER MECHANICAL CONTRIVANCES. 193
to be defined with accuracy \ Another appliance for exhibit-
ing gods in a supernatural manner was the theo logeion . It was
a narrow platform high up at the back of the stage, upon which
the gods made their appearance when they were to be repre-
sented as actually in heaven. Probably it was similar in con-
struction to the ekkyklema, and was usually invisible, but was
pushed forward through an opening at the back when required.
The most celebrated instance of its employment was in the Psy-
chostasia of Aeschylus. Zeus was there represented as sitting
in heaven, holding scales in his hands, in which were placed the
destinies of Achilles and Memnon respectively. On each side
of him stood Thetis and Dawn, supplicating for the lives of
their sons. The scene was in imitation of that in the Iliad,
where Zeus weighs the fates of Achilles and Hector ^ It is
possible that the scene in the Peace between Hermes and Try-
gaeus took place upon the theologeion. Sometimes the con-
trivance was used in place of the ordinary mechane to introduce
the ' deus ex machina ' at the end of a play. The god, instead
of being lowered from heaven, was displayed suddenly upon
the platform high up in the background \
Several other devices in use upon the Attic stage are briefly
mentioned by Pollux, but his descriptions are so meagre and
obscure that little or nothing can be inferred as to their exact
character. Charon^s Steps was a contrivance for bringing
ghosts and spectres upon the stage, such as the ghost of Darius
in the Persae, and the ghost of Clytaemnestra in the Aga-
* Poll. iv. 130 ?7 Se yipavos fii]xo.VT]fjid rat Oeoi, ws 6 Ztus koI ol vepl avrbv kv
kariv kie fierewpov Karacpfpofjievov k(p' 'VvxoffTaaia. Plut. Aud. Poet. p. 17 A.
dpvayrj GwyuiTos, u KexpiJTai 'Hus dpird- ^ Luc. Philops. 29 Oedu drrd firjxavrjs
^ovffa rb ffufxa rb 'M.kp.vovos. Plut. Prov. kneiaKVKXijOijvai fioi. Bekker, Anecd.
116 (Paroemiogr. Getting, i. p. 338) p. 208. g dnb firjx^^vrjs' ixrjxo.v-q kormapd
Kpdbrjs payeioTjs' vvv ovx b avKivos K\d- roTs KtafxiKois kyKVKX-qpLarbs ri eidos dvb
tos, d\X' Tj dyKvpis, d({>' ^s ol viroKpiral ovvOrjKrjs -npbs o <peperai (o) €ts ttjv
kv rais rpayiKais aKrjvais k^apTwvrai CKrjvriv dei^eojs x^P"' ^^^'^ V dWov rivos
Oeov fiifi,ovfi€voi kmcpdviiav (ojarrjpai Kal rjpojos. Trygaeus probably mounted to
raiviais KaTfiXrjfifxivoi. So also Hesych. the theologeion. But Niejahr (Quaest.
\. fcpdSt]. Pollux (iv. 128) makes the Scaen. p. 20 ff.) suggests that he only
Kpddt] the comic counterpart of the rose a short distance upon the beetle,
firjxo.y'n ; but this is utterly improbable. then descended to earth again, and that
^ Poll. iv. 130 dnb be rod deokoyeiov his own house then did duty as the
ovTOs virep r^v aKtjv^v kv vi/zei kincpaivov- house of Zeus.
194 THE SCENERY. [Ch.
memnon. It can hardly have been anything else than a flight
of steps leading out upon the stage from underneath. The
'anapiesma* was used by river-gods, Furies, and other sub-
terranean beings for the purpose of appearing above ground.
The word 'anapiesma' seems to mean something which was
pushed back. It is probable therefore that the contrivance was
merely the ordinary trap-door of the modern theatre, through
which the spectral being was raised on to the staged The
'bronteion* was a device for imitating the noise of thunder
behind the scenes, and was of a very simple character. Pebbles
were poured out of a jar into a large brazen vessel, or else bags
were filled with stones and flung against a metal surface. The
' keraunoskopeion ' was obviously intended to imitate lightning,
but the description in Pollux is unintelligible. The 'stropheion'
was some sort of revolving machinery, by which heroes were
exhibited in heaven, or deaths at sea and in battle were repre-
sented. The ^hem ikyklion ' was semicircular in shape, and
gave a distant view of a city, or of a person swimming in the
sea. The 'hemistroghion' is merely mentioned byname, and
no description of it is appended ^
The question whether a drop-scene was used in the Athenian
theatre during the great period of the drama is one which has
not yet been satisfactorily settled. In Roman theatres a drop-
scene was invariably used between the different plays, the
mechanism being exactly the reverse of that employed in
modern times. When the play was going to begin, the curtain
was let down into a narrow crevice in the front of the stage,
and at the end of the performance was drawn up again ^
There can be no doubt that similar curtains were used in Greek
theatres at a later period; but the question is whether they
were used at Athens during the fifth and fourth centuries.
There are no references to anything of the kind in the extant
Greek dramas, and there are no passages in ancient writers
^ Poll, iv. 132 at Se xapwvioi KXi/iaKes, ri npoaojirov, rb Se vepl roiis dva^aOfiovs,
KOTci TOLS 6/c Tojv kZojKioJV KaOodovs Kfifie- acp' S/v dvePaivov 'Epivvfs.
vai, rd. iiZcoKa air' avrabv dvaTrifnrovcriv. ^ Poll. iv. 127-132 ; Suid. v. fipovrq.
rd h\ dvameffixara, to fxev (gtiv ev rrj ^ Ovid. Met. iii. m ; Her. Ep. ii. i.
fffcrjvy us rroTafiov dvcXOiiv ^ toiovtSv 189.
IV.] OTHER MECHANICAL CONTRIVANCES, 195
which can be held to prove the existence of a drop-scene in
the early Athenian theatre*. The question must therefore be
discussed on general grounds. To our modern notions a drop'
scene appears to be almost a necessity in the case of plays
which commence with the actors already in position upon
the stage. In the Greek drama such plays are not infrequent.
For instance, in the opening scene of the Oedipus Tyran-
nus the Thebans are discovered kneeling at the altar before the
palace of the king. In the Troades, when Poseidon comes for-
ward to speak the prologue, he sees Hecuba stretched upon the
ground in an attitude of despair. The Orestes of Euripides
opens with Orestes stretched upon a bed in front of the palace,
and his sister Electra watching beside him. Many other
examples might be cited of plays which begin with the actors
already in a fixed position. Unless therefore a drop-scene was
used between the plays, it would have to be supposed that the
actors came on the stage in full view of the people, took up the
required position, and then began the dialogue. There would
be a great sacrifice of illusion in such a mode of commencement.
Besides this the drop-scene would of course be the natural and
obvious mode of concealing the stage from view while the
scenery was being altered between the different plays. For
^ The following passages are cited in (speaking of the theatre) e^fan Se koI
proof of the existence of a drop-scene : to traparriraa fia avKaiav KaXeTv, 'Tirepei-
— (l) Athen. p. 536 A yevoixhcov Sc Sou elirovros kv rai Kara UarpoKXiovs- ot
rojv ATjp.riTpi.ojv 'Adrjvrjcnv eypd(j)€TO eiri Se kvv4a dpxovTes etffTiwpro kv rfj OToq,
Tov TrpoOK-qviov (o A-qpL-qrpios) kifl t^s ircpicppa^afxevoi Ti piepos avTTJs avKaia.
oiKovfievrjs oxovfifvos. Here irpoCKrjviov Suid. v. avXaia, and Bekk. Anecd. p. 463
more probably denotes the scene at the avkaia to Trjs (Tktjvtjs TrapankTafffia'
back of the stage. (2) Suid. v. irpo- «exp?7Tat Se avT^ "TvepeiSrjs ev tZ KaTOL
aK-qvioV TO Ttpb T^s a/ajvrjs trapairiTaafxa' TlaTpoKXeov:. Hesych. v. avKaia ... to
17 8^ TVXV irapeXfcofJiivr] t^v irpScpaaiv ttjs aKijvrjs irapa-rrkTaafxa. Et. Mag.
KnOdiTfp km TTpocTK'qviov rraptyv p-vojae rds p. 1 70 XeyovTai 5k aiXaiat Kal Tci trapa-
d\r]6eTs kmvoias. Suidas has here mis- ittTaapLaTa t^j CKrjvrjs, ws irapcL rZ Oco-
taken the meaning of the passage he \6y<f>. It is obvious that the gramma-
quotes, in which irpoaK-qviov = * the rians here cited were thinking of a drop-
stage.' (3) Synesius (flor. about 400 scene. But the passage they refer to in
A. D.), Aegypt. p. 128 C €1 Se tis . . . Hypereides has nothing to do with a
Kvvo<p6a\fJLi^oiTO did rod irpoaKrjviov. drop-scene. It is doubtful, therefore,
Even if irpooK-qviov means ' the drop- whether this testimony is of any value
scene ' in this passage, it would be no except for the practice of their own
proof of the existence of a drop-scene times. It can hardly be considered
in classical times. (4) Poll. iv. 122 decisive for the classical period.
O 2
196 THE SCENERY.
these reasons it has been inferred that the Athenians cannot
have done without one. But on the other hand it has already
been pointed out that it is a great mistake to apply our modern
notions of propriety to an ancient dramatic performance. The
Athenian drama was quite unlike any modern exhibition, and
one point of difference may have been the absence of the drop-
scene. On the Athenian stage, where the changes of scenery
required between the different plays were usually of the slightest
character, it was not nearly so necessary as in modern times.
Its chief advantage would have been in the case of plays which
open with the actors already arranged in a sort of tableau. To
judge by our modern ideas, the effect in such cases would have
been greatly heightened, and the illusion much more fully
carried out, by the use of a drop-scene. But the Greeks did
not lay very much stress upon realism and illusion in their
scenic arrangements. They were satisfied with simple and
conventional methods of representing events upon the stage.
Such devices as the ekkyklema and the periaktoi would never
have been tolerated, if the object had been to produce an
illusion by the accurate imitation of real objects. It is therefore
very likely that in the dramas just referred to the Athenians
were quite content for the actors to come forward and take up
their position in full view of the audience, before the play
actually commenced. Custom in such cases is everything.
What might appear ludicrous to a modern audience would pass
unnoticed to an audience that was used to it. An illustration of
this fact may be found in the early history of the English drama,
in which there was little or no attempt at scenery, and the illusion
was spoiled by the presence of spectators sitting upon the stage.
Yet the audience of those days was not dissatisfied. It is there-
fore easy to imagine that the Athenians did perfectly well without
a drop-scene. At the same time there is no evidence to prove
that such was the case. And the drop-scene is a very convenient
device, and one that would naturally suggest itself from the very
first. On the whole therefore it seems safest, until further
evidence is forthcoming, to regard the question as an open one.
CHAPTER V.
THE ACTORS.
§ I. Rise of the Actor's Profession,
Before proceeding to give an account of the actors in the
ancient Greek drama, there are one or two points which ought
to be made clear, in order to avoid possible misconceptions. In
the first place the actors and the chorus were entirely distinct
from one another. The chorus was chosen and paid by the
choregus, and performed in the orchestra. The actors were
hired by the state, and their proper place was upon the stage.
The "term 'hypokrites,' or 'actor,* was never applied to the
members of the chorus. It was not even applied to all the per-
formers upon the stage, but only to such of them as took a
prominent part in the dialogue. The various mute characters,
such as the soldiers and attendants, and also the subordinate
characters who had only a few words to say, were not dignified
with the title of 'actor.' In the second place it should be re-
membered that the Greek actors invariably wore masks, and
were consequently able to appear in several parts in the course
of the same performance. When, therefore, it is said that in
the early history of Greek tragedy only a single actor was
employed in each play, this does not imply that the number
of characters was limited to one. All it implies is that only one
character could appear at a time. The number of actors in
a Greek play never exceeded three, even in the latest period.
But the effect of this regulation upon the capacities of the Greek
drama was less cramping and restrictive than might have
been supposed. There was no limitation to the number
of mute and subordinate characters which might be introduced
198 THE ACTORS, ' [Ch.
at any time upon the stage. There was no restriction upon the
number of the more prominent characters, provided they were
not brought upon the stage simultaneously. The only limitation
was this — that not more than three of the more prominent
characters could take part in the dialogue in the course of the
same scene.
The principal function of the actors was to carry on the
dialogue and work out the action of the play. The principal
function of the chorus was to sing the odes which filled up the
pauses in the action. Of course very frequently the chorus took
part in the dialogue; but, speaking in general terms, the dia-
logue was the business of the actors. Such was the condition of
things during the best period of the Attic drama. But in former
times the case had been very different. At first the whole
performance was a choral one, and consisted simply of the
songs and hymns chanted at the festivals of Dionysus. There
were no actors and there was no dialogue. The history of the
early development of the drama is in other words the history of
the gradual introduction of actors and dialogue into a choral
entertainment, and the gradual increase in the importance of
the dialogue, until eventually it overshadowed the choral part
altogether. The first step in the process by which a lyrical
performance was converted into a dramatic one was as follows.
The custom arose of filling up the intervals between the different
portions of the choral songs with recitations by the leader of the
chorus, and dialogues between him and the other members.
For this purpose the leader of the chorus used to mount upon
a small table. The subject of the recitations and the dia-
logues would be the same as the subject of the ode, and
would in most cases refer to the adventures of the god Dionysus.
In these interludes by the leader of the chorus lay the germ
of the drama. The performance as a whole was still essen-
tially lyrical, but the practice of inserting dialogue had been
established \ In the case of tragedy the next step forward
^ Poll. iv. 123 kXibs 5' -^v Tpdire^a Poet. c. 4 fcal 77 /xev (rpayajdia eyiuero)
apxaia, e^' fjv vpb &(crmSos (h tis dva- and twv k^apxdvrojv rbv diOvpafi^ov, ff 5c
;3ds tqT$ xopivrais direKpivaTO. Arist. (^Kufi^bia) and rwv rd <paWif(d,
v.] RISE OF THE ACTOR'S PROFESSION. 199
was taken by Thespis. He introduced a single actor^ who took
the part which had previously been taken by the leader of the
chorus, and filled up the pauses in the choral odes either with
monologues or with dialogues between himself and the leader'.
Not much is known about the drama of Thespis except that it
was still essentially lyrical. But as he is said to have employed
masks, it is clear that the single actor might appear in different
characters in successive scenes, and in this way some approach
might be made to a dramatic representation of a story ^. The
decisive innovation was due to Aeschylus. He introduced a
second actor, and effected a total change in the character of
the performance. Henceforward the intervals between the
choral odes were filled with dialogues between the two actors
upon the stage, instead of dialogues between the single actor
and the leader of the chorus. At the same time Aeschylus cut
down the length of the choral odes, and made the dialogue the
essential and prominent feature of the performance ^ The re-^
suit was a radical change in the nature of tragedy : it became a
dramatic instead of a lyrical form of art. During the greater part
of his career Aeschylus was contented with two actors. Three
at least out of his seven extant plays are written for performance
by two actors only *. This limitation upon the number of the
performers necessitated great simplicity in the construction of
the play, since it was impossible for more than two per-^
sonages to take part in the dialogue at the same time. Hence
the earlier plays of Aeschylus, though essentially dramatic in
comparison with anything which preceded them, are simple in
plot and lyrical in tone when compared with the tragedies of his
^ Diog. Laert. iii. 56 ojairep Se to Seven against Thebes. In the conclud-
iraXaibv iv rfj rpaywdia vpoTepov fxlv ing scene of the Seven the part of
fxovos 6 x^P^^ 5i€dpafjt.aTi^€v , vcTTcpov 8e Ismene would not be taken by a regular
©eanis eva viro/cpiTTjv (^evpev vnkp tov actor. Apparently the opening scene
diavairaveaOai. tov x^pov. of the Prometheus requires three actors,
2 Suidas V. eeams. unless we are to adopt the very improb-
2 Aristot. Poet. c. 4 unl to t€ twi' able supposition that the person of
vTTOKpiTcjv nXijeos 1^ €vbs els dvo Trpwros Prometheus was represented by a
AicrxvXo? Tjya'ye, Kal to. tov x^pov rjkaT- wooden figure, which was nailed to the
Tojffe, Kot TOV koyov TrpcoTayoJviaTfjv rock, and from behind which the prot-
napeaKevaaev. agonist spoke the part.
* Viz. the Supplices, Persae, and
200 THE ACTORS. [Ch.
successors. The different scenes rather serve to unfold a series
of pictures than to develop a complicated plot. Descriptive
speeches take the place of animated dialogue. Sophocles
added greatly to the capacities of the drama by introducing
a third actor \ He was thus enabled to give much greater
variety and spirit to the dialogue. In his hands for the first
time tragedy became essentially dramatic, and the lyrical ele-
ment was thrust still further into the background. The innova-
tion of Sophocles was adopted by Aeschylus in his later years,
and the Orestean trilogy — the last and most elaborate of his
works — requires three actors. Under Sophocles tragedy re-
ceived its full development. The number of actors in tragedy
was henceforward limited to three.
The satyric drama was intimately connected with tragedy,
and the number of actors was apparently the same. Thus
the Cyclops of Euripides, the only extant satyric play, requires
three actors. In an ancient vase-painting, which represents the
performers in a satyric play, three actors are depicted^. It
is true that the Alcestis of Euripides, which was performed in
place of the usual satyric drama, only requires two actors.
But the number in this case was probably due to the choice
of the poet, and not to any official regulation. In regard to
comedy, very little is known as to the steps by which it was
developed. The source of comedy lay in the phallic songs per-
formed at the festivals of Dionysus. The dramatic element
originated in the interludes by the leader of the chorus. The
process of development must have been much the same as in
tragedy ; but the names of the persons who introduced actors
and dialogue into comedy were forgotten even in Aristotle's
^ Aristot. Poet. c. 4 ; Diog. Laert. Xos 5e rpirov viroKpir^v (a. 1. rpirov vvo-
iii. 56 ; vit. Soph. ; Suidas v. ^o<poKXrjs. Kpcras) is doubtful, and cannot weigh
The Life of Aeschylus assigns the intro- against Aristotle's definite statement in
duction of the third actor to Aeschylus, the Poetics. The balance of evidence
but adds that Dicaearchus ascribed it to is distinctly in favour of the conclusion
Sophocles. The passage in Themis- that the third actor was first introduced
tius (xxvi. p. 316 D Kal ov irpoaexo- by Sophocles.
fjLfv 'ApioTOTeKft oTi TO fi€v rrpwTov 6 ^ Wieseler, Denkmaler, vi. 2 ; Eur.
Xopos elaiwv ySev ds tovs 6eovs, Qeams Cyclops 1 97 foil.
5 6 Trp6\oy6v t€ Kal p^aiv (^evpty, Aiaxv-
v.] RISE OF THE ACTOR\S PROFESSION. 20T
time. The only piece of information upon the subject is to
the effect that Cratinus was the first to limit the number of
actors to three, and that before his time there was no regulation
as to the number of persons introduced upon the stage. After
the time of Cratinus there were no further innovations, and the
number of the actors in comedy was permanently fixed at
three \
This number was never exceeded either in comedy or in
tragedy. All the extant Greek plays could be performed by
three actors. It is sometimes said that the Oedipus Coloneus
of Sophocles requires four actors ; but this is not the case.
Although there are several occasions on which Ismene appears
upon the stage simultaneously with three other personages, still
on each of these occasions she does not say a word, but is
merely a mute figure. It is evident therefore that during this
portion of the play her part was taken by a 'super,' while at
the beginning and end of the play, where she had speeches to
make, the part was acted by the tritagonist^ It might at first
sight appear that the comedies of Aristophanes require more
than three actors; but investigations have shown that there is
not one of his plays which could not be performed by this
number, assisted by a supply of * supers ^*
The smallness in the number of the actors necessarily limited
the capacities of the Greek drama. It made it impossible for
life to be represented upon the stage with the realism of a
modern play. Mute personages — such as officers, soldiers, and
servants — might be introduced in any number; but the char-
acters taking part in the dialogue could never at any one time
exceed three. The realistic effect produced by a promiscuous
conversation between a large group of persons was impossible
upon the Greek stage. Sometimes a certain awkwardness was
caused by the limitation in the number of the performers. In
the extant Greek dramas occasions are not infrequent where
a fourth actor might have been a great advantage. For instance,
^ Arist. Poet. cc. 4, 5; Anon, de ^ gQpj^ q. C.iii7ff.,i249 ff.,i50off.
Comoed. (Dindf. Prolegom.de Comoed. ^ Cp. Beer, liber die Zahl der Schau-
p. 27) ; Diomedes, p. 490 K. spieler bei Aristophanes, Leipz. 1844.
202 . THE ACTORS, [Ch.
there is the exciting scene at the end of the Orestes of Euri-
pides. Orestes is seen upon the roof of the palace threatening
to kill Hermione, and Pylades is standing beside him. Mene-
laus from below makes a piteous appeal to Pylades, but Pylades
says not a single word in reply, but leaves Orestes to answer
for him. His silence is very unnatural, and is only to be ac-
counted for by the fact that there was no actor to spare, and
therefore the poet could not put any words in his mouth. Two
of the actors were already employed in playing the parts of
Orestes and Menelaus, and the third was required for Apollo,
who comes on the scene immediately afterwards. Consequently
the part of Pylades had to be taken by a mute personage. Then
again there is the scene at the end of the Electra of Euripides.
Orestes has heard his fate, and as he leaves the stage he bids
farewell to Pylades, and urges him to marry his sister Electra.
Pylades maintains a stolid silence, and the Dioscuri reply on his
behalf. Here again his silence is due to the necessities of the
case. The three actors with whom the poet was supplied were
all employed, and Pylades was merely a dumb figure. Similar
instances of awkward and almost ludicrous silence on the part of
certain characters will occur to all readers of the Greek drama.
But they are not so numerous as might have been expected, and
it is astonishing to find how successfully the Greek drama, keep-
ing within its own peculiar limits, was able to accomplish its ends
with three actors only.
There were several advantages in the smallness of the num-
ber. In the first place the dialogue gained in clearness and
simplicity, owing to the fewness of the persons taking part in
it. This simplicity was especially well suited to the severe
and statuesque character of Greek tragedy, in which the
rapid movement of a dialogue between a large number of per-
sons would have been altogether inappropriate. In the extant
Greek tragedies even the three actors permitted by custom are
used with considerable reserve. They are never allowed to join
promiscuously in the dialogue for any length of time. When-
ever three characters are upon the stage, it will be found
that in most cases one of them stands by in silence, while.
y.] RISE OF THE ACTOR'S PROFESSION. 203
the other two carry on the dialogue. The two change from time
to time, but it is only on rare occasions and for brief periods,
that all three converse promiscuously together. It appears,
therefore, that the Greek tragic writers, so far from feeling the
restriction upon the number of the actors as an impediment, did
not even employ the number allowed by custom with as much
freedom as they might have done. There was another obvious
advantage in the restriction. As only three actors were needed,
it was easy to ensure that they should all be performers of first-
rate excellence. In modern times the large number of actors
required constitutes a great difficulty. It is rare to see the
subordinate characters in a play of Shakespeare even tolerably
performed. The effect of the piece is spoiled by the feebleness
of the princes, dukes, lords, and ladies who crowd the stage.
In the Greek drama, owing to the limitation upon the number of
the performers, this difficulty was avoided, and a high standard
of excellence maintained throughout the play. It was all the
more necessary, among the Greeks, to take some precaution
of this kind, since the size of the theatre demanded unusual
powers in the actor. In a modern theatre an actor, however
poor, can at any rate usually be heard. But in the vast open-
air theatre at Athens it required a man with an exceptionally
clear and powerful voice to make himself audible to the vast
multitude of spectators. It cannot have been an easy task to
find actors who combined histrionic talent with voices of suffi-
cient power, and if a large number had been required, there
would have been great difficulty in meeting the demand. This
consideration doubtless helped to ensure the continued observ-
ance of the rule as to the number of the actors.
The original Greek word for an actor was ' hypokrites.* Ety*
mologically the word seems to have meant ' one who answers \'
According to the old grammarians the origin of the term was
due to the fact that in the early drama, when the chorus played
* Phot. V. vnofcpivecrOai' to dnoKpi- 123. Apollon. Lex. Horn. v. v-noKpi-
vcaOai 01 ira\aioi Kal 6 viroKpiTrjs evrev- vairo' TTpcoraycoviaTovvros y^p tov xo-
Oev, 6 diTOKpiv6fjL€vos to) X^PV' So also pod t6 -naKaibv ovroi cjcmep diroicpiTai
Hesych. v. v-noKpivono, and Poll. iv. ^aav, diroKpivofjievoi trpos t6v x^pov..
204 THE ACTORS. [Ch.
the principal part, the main function of the actor was to *■ reply
to the chorus.* This derivation of the word is very likely the
correct one. In the times before Aeschylus, when there was
only one actor, all the dialogue was necessarily carried on
between the actor and the chorus. It is therefore not im-
probable that the duty of replying to the questions and remarks
of the chorus may have been regarded as the salient feature in
the performance of the actor, and have given rise to his name.
In the course of the fourth century the old Attic word for an
actor went out of use, and a new one was substituted. Hence-
forward actors were generally called 'artists,* or * artists of
Dionysus \*
As far as tragedy is concerned the art of acting may be
said to have commenced in the time of Thespis. But actors
did not come into existence as a separate class until many
years afterwards. Before the period of Aeschylus, when
only a single actor was required, his part was taken by
the poet. It is expressly said that Thespis was 'himself
acting, according to ancient custom/ at that performance
which excited the disapproval of Solon ^. But when a second
actor was introduced by Aeschylus, then the actor's profession
became of necessity distinct from that of the poet. For some
time afterwards the poets continued to act occasionally in their
own tragedies, side by side with the professional actors. But
the practice went gradually out of fashion in the course of the
earlier part of the fifth century. Aeschylus appears, from the
statement in his Life, to have abandoned the stage even before
the introduction of a second actor ^ Sophocles was prevented
from appearing as an actor by the weakness of his voice. It is
true that he sometimes performed in public. In the Thamyris
* Demostli. Fals. Leg. § 192 Ttkvro.'i Kal rbv devrcpov avrZ irpoarjipe Mvvvi-
rovs TCx^'tTas avv-qyayev ; Aristot. Prob. ckov tov XakKcdca- rbv 5e rpirov vno-
XXX. 10 01 Trept TOV Aiovvaov nx^iTai ; KpiTrjv avros e^evpev, ws Se AiKaiapxos
Polyb. xvi. 21. d Mcacrrjvios, ^o(poK\rji. These words
^ Plut. Solon p. 95 C ; Aristot. Rhet. imply that he employed Mynniscus for
iii. I imcKpivovTo yap avTol ras Tpayadias the first time on the occasion of his
ol noirjToi TO irpufTov. introduction of a second actor ; and
3 The words in the Life are kxpr^oaro that previously to this innovation, when
8' viroKpir'g Ttp6}T<^ ^Iv K\€dv5p<^, cVeiTa only one actor was required, he had
v.]
RISE OF THE ACTOR'S PROFESSION.
205
he played the harp, and in the Nausicaa he dehghted the spec-
tators by his skill with the ball. But it is not likely that on
either of these occasions he took a regular actor's part. He
probably appeared upon the scene merely as a mute character,
in order to show his skill with the harp and the ball ^. After the
time of Sophocles there are no further instances of tragic poets
performing in their own plays ^. As to the early history of comic
acting very little is known. Cratinus is mentioned as one of the
old poets who were called 'dancers,' and it is therefore probable
that he acted in his own comedies ^ But after his time there is
no certain instance of a comic poet appearing upon the stage.
The professional actor was universally employed. The state-
ment that Aristophanes acted the part of Cleon in the Knights
is due to a misconception on the part of the scholiast *.
It appears then that it was in the beginning of the fifth century
that the profession of the actor came into existence as a distinct
occupation. It grew very rapidly in importance. At first the
been accustomed to employ Cleander,
instead of acting himself. He must,
therefore, have given up acting before
the production of the Supplices, and
considerably before the first appearance
of Sophocles. The statement that
Sophocles was the Jirst dramatic poet
to abandon acting in person can only be
true to the extent that he was the first
poet who never acted at all.
^ Vit. Soph. irpSiTov fikv KaraXvaas
T^v vrtSKpiaiv Tov ttoiijtov dia rrjv idiav
lxiKpo<po)VLav ; Athen. p. 20 F ; Eustath.
Od. p. 1533.
2 Miiller (die Griech. Biihnen. p. 184)
states, on the authority of Zenob. Prov.
v. 100, that Astydamas the Elder acted
in his own tragedy, the Parthenopaeus.
The words in Zenobius are fVTjfxeprjaas
iv ry vnoKpifffi UapOevoiraiov. But this
is merely a carelessness of expression,
on which no stress can be laid. In the
account given by Suidas (v. aavTrjv
kiraiveis) of the same occurrence the
expression is evrjfieprjaavTi knl TpayqiSias
diScujKaXia Uapdevoiraiov. The whole
story about Astydamas the Elder receiv-
ing a statue on account of the success of
his Parthenopaeus is rather dubious,
since the inscription in Corp. Inscr.
Att. ii. 973 shows that Astydamas the
Younger produced a Parthenopaeus in
340 B. c. It is possible that in the story
about the Parthenopaeus the elder and
the younger Astydamas have been con-
fused.
^ Athen. p. 22 A.
* The story about Aristophanes acting
the part of Cleon in the Knights was due
to a misunderstanding of the phrase
KadUvai TO Spdfia Si' eavrov. The Knights
was the first play Aristophanes produced
in his own name. See Meineke, Frag.
Com. Gr. ii. 928 ff. Antiphanes is said
(Miiller, Griech. Biihnen. p. 184) to
have acted one of his own comedies, the
evidence being the inscription in Corp.
Inscr. Att. ii. 972 [^AvTicpavrjIs it4p.{tttos)
'Ava(Ta)^o(fj.€Vois)' [yneKpiveTo 'Avrycpd-
vr]s. But it is by no means certain that
the name of the poet is rightly filled in
as Antiphanes. Even if it is, it does
not follow that the actor Antiphanes
was the same person.
2o6 THE ACTORS. [Cb.
actors were so little regarded that their names were not thought
worthy of a place in the notices of dramatic victories. But in
the records of the latter half of the century a change is observ-
able, and the names of the actors regularly appear side by side
with those of the poets and choregi. About the same time a
prize was instituted for the best actor at the different contests,
as well as for the best poet^. In the fourth century the actors
sprang into still greater prominence. The art of acting tended
to outshine the art of dramatic writing. An age of great actors
succeeded to an age of great poets. The same phenomenon
is not uncommon in the theatrical history of other nations. In
England, for instance, a period of dramatic productiveness was
followed by a period of sterility and insignificance, and from the
time of Garrick downwards the names of the great actors, who
have made themselves famous by interpreting the masterpieces of
Shakespeare, are more conspicuous than the names of dramatic
authors. In Athens the fourth century was the period when acting
was brought to the greatest perfection. To such an extent had the
importance of the actor's profession increased, that in Aristotle's
time a play depended more for its success upon the skill of the
actor than upon the genius of the poet. The effect upon dramatic
writing was most pernicious. The poets began to write their plays
with a view to exhibiting the capacities of the actors. Scenes
which had no connexion with the plot were introduced for the
sole purpose of enabling an actor to make a display of his talents I
Sophocles is said by one of the old grammarians to have been
guilty of the same sort of practice. But if there is any truth in
the statement, the evil effects are not very apparent in the extant
tragedies ^ The charge might be brought with more plausibility
against the monodies of Euripides, which are feeble from a
literary point of view, but would enable an actor with a fine
voice to make a great impression. However it was not until the
fourth century that the influence of the actors became so
^ See chap. i. p. 54, ttoitjtSjv Si' avrovs, vird Se ra>v dyaOwv Sict,
^ Aristot. Poet. c. 9 Xeyoj S* kireiffo- rovs viroKpiras : Rhet. iii. i fJ-fi^ov
SiujBt] fivOov kv (S TO, kireiffodia fifr' SvvavTai vvv t5)v irocrjToiv 01 viroKpirai,
dXXijXa out' e'lKos ovr dvay/cr] dvai. ^ Vit. Soph. p. 3 Dindf,
TOiavrai 5k iroiovvTai vno jxkv rwv (pavKojv
VJ RISE OF THE ACTOR'S PROFESSION, 207
universal as to inflict distinct injury upon the art of dramatic
writing.
The selection of the necessary number of actors for each
dramatic performance was, except in very early times, under-
taken by the state. The details in connexion with this arrange-
ment have already been discussed in a previous chapter \ The
main points may be recapitulated here. During the early part
of the fifth century the poets chose their own actors. Certain
poets and certain actors were permanently associated together.
But as the actors increased in importance, they were placed on
the same footing as the poets and choregi, and were appointed
by the state. They were then distributed among the poets by
lot. In the course of the fourth century the use of the lot was
discontinued in the case of tragedy, and a new arrangement was
adopted, which was rendered possible by the fact that each
tragic poet exhibited several tragedies at the same time. Under
the new system each tragedy was performed by a different actor,
and in this way all the competing poets enjoyed in turn the ser-
vices of all the actors. In comedy, as each poet exhibited only
a single play, the old system of distribution by lot was retained.
If an actor was engaged for one of the great Athenian festivals,
and failed to put in an appearance, he was fined by the state.
On one occasion Athenodorus, the great tragic actor, was hired
to perform at the City Dionysia. But he failed to keep his
.engagement, as he preferred to be present and perform at the
festivities held by Alexander the Great in Phoenicia, after his
return from Egypt. A heavy fine was inflicted upon him in
consequence, but the fine was paid by Alexander ^
§ 2. 77?^ distribution of the Parts among the Actors.
It has already been shown that the n umber of the actors in
a Greek play was limited to three. These three actors had
distinctive names, according to the prominence of the parts
which they took. The principal actor was called the protagonist;
next in importance came the deuteragonist ; the tritagonist
* See chap. ii. pp. 74-77. ^ Plut. Alex. p. 681 E.
2o8 THE ACTORS, [Cb.
played the inferior characters ^ The importance of the prot-
agonist on the Greek stage has been pointed out in previous
chapters ^. In the ordinary theatrical language of the time a play
was said to be ' acted by the protagonist/ as if the other actors
were of no account. The protagonist was publicly appointed by
the state, but was allowed to choose the second and third actor
at his own discretion. In the same way the prize for acting at
each festival was confined to the protagonists. The other per-
formers had nothing to do with it. In tragedy more especially
the protagonist was a person of the greatest importance ;
the deuteragonist and tritagonist were placed in a very subor-
dinate position. The whole structure of a Greek tragedy was
designed with the object of fixing the interest upon some
grand central figure. The significance of the other characters
consisted simply in their capacity to excite the passions and
draw forth the sentiments of the leading personage. This
being so, it was essential that the protagonist should concen-
trate the interest upon himself; otherwise the harmony and
balance of the play would have been destroyed. Hence the
subordinate actors were strictly forbidden to attempt to out-
shine the protagonist. They were called upon to exercise the
greatest self-denial. Even if they had finer voices than the
protagonist, they were made to moderate and restrain their
powers, so as to allow the protagonist to retain the superiority,
and rivet the attention of the spectators upon the central
figure ^ The jealousy of protagonists towards their fellow-
actors is well exemplified by the story about Theodorus, who
had a theory that the first speaker in a play always attracted
the sympathies of the audience, and therefore would never
allow any other actor, however inferior, to appear upon the
stage before himself \
^ Plut. Rep. Ger. 817 A ; Dem.Fals. summittere, ut ille princeps quara
\jt%. § lo ; Suidas v. ^ocpoKXrjs. maxime excellat, &c.
^ See chap. i. p. 55, ch. ii. p. 75. * Aristot. Pol. vii. 17. The story
^ Cic. Div. in Caecil. § 48 ut in about Theodorus has caused some diffi-
actoribus Graecis fieri videmus saepe culty. Does it mean that Theodorus,
ilium, qui est secundarum aut tertiarum besides taking the principal character,
partium, quum possit aliquanto clarius also played the part of the person who
dicere, quam ipse primarum, multum made the first speech in the tragedy ?
v.] DISTRIBUTION OF THE PARTS. 209
The distribution of the different parts among the actors was
undertaken by the poet if the play was a new one \ But if an
old play was being reproduced, the matter would be arranged
by the protagonist who had the management of the perform-
ance. The three actors between them filled all the parts in
a play, appearing in various characters successively. Such a
practice was rendered possible by the use of masks. An actor
had only to change his mask and his dress, and he could then
re-appear in a new character. Changes of this kind could be
effected in a very few moments, as is shown by the one or
two traditions on the subject which have been preserved by
the ancient scholiasts. For example, in the opening scene
of the Phoenissae Jocasta speaks the prologue, and then
leaves the stage. Thereupon Antigone and an old attendant
mount by a staircase on to the roof of the palace, in order to
view the Argive army encamped outside the walls. The scho-
liast tells us that the protagonist played the parts both of
Jocasta and of Antigone. It was necessary, therefore, after
Jocasta had left the stage, that there should be a slight interval
before Antigone appeared upon the palace roof, to give the
actor time to change his mask and dress. Euripides managed
this by making the attendant come out alone upon the roof at
first, and look about him to see that the coast is clear, while he
addresses a few words to Antigone, who is still inside the
If so, he would have been debarred Pseudolog. 19 ; Heliod. Aethiop. viii.
from acting some of the most popular 17; Synesius, Tre/jt irpoi/oias p. 128 D),
tragedies of the time. For instance, and may have been customary in Athens,
the actor who took the part of Electra or in other parts of Greece, in the time
in the play of Sophocles could not act of Theodoras. But it is extremely im-
the part of the paedagogus, since probable that the reference is to any
Electra comes on the stage as soon as such practice. The audience would
the paedagogus leaves it. There would hardly pay much attention to the voice
be the same difficulty about the Orestes, of the person who announced the name
the Medea, and many other plays. It of the coming play. The meaning is
has been suggested that the reference is probably that Theodoras used to take
to some preliminary announcement of the part of the character which spoke
the title of the play, which Theodorus first, whenever it was possible to do so.
preferred to make himself, instead of In such plays as the Electra it would be
leaving it to a subordinate. Such impossible,
announcements were made in Greek ^ Alciphron, Epist. iii. 71,
theatres in later times (cp. Lucian,
2IO THE ACTORS. [Ch.
palace. When he sees that all is safe, he calls on Antigone to
follow after him, and she thereupon mounts the staircase, and
appears to the spectators. The speech of the attendant, while
he is looking about upon the roof, consists of only fifteen iambic
lines. Thus the space of time required to speak fifteen lines
was enough to enable an actor to change from one character to
another \ There is a further instance which shows that even
less time was necessary. In the Choephori, when Aegisthus is
murdered, a servant rushes out upon the stage and calls to
Clytaemnestra. As Clytaemnestra comes out, he apparently
runs back into the palace. Clytaemnestra speaks five lines, and
then Orestes hastens out of the palace, followed by Pylades.
In the scene which ensues Pylades has three lines to
speak ; and the scholiast says that his part was taken by the
servant who had just left the stage, so as to avoid the necessity
of four actors. The servant must therefore have changed his
mask in a very few moments ^ As such rapid changes were
possible, a great variety of characters might be introduced in
the course of a play, in spite of the restriction that more than
three characters could not take part in the dialogue at the
same time.
In the distribution of parts the protagonist took the prin-
cipal character. The parts of Oedipus, Electra, and Antigone,
in the plays of the same name by Sophocles, are specially
mentioned as having been acted by celebrated protagonists.
Orestes in the play of Euripides is also described as the part of
the protagonist ^ Usually, as in the above instances, the prin-
cipal character gave the name to the piece. But this was not
always the case. In the Oenomaus of Sophocles the part of
Oenomaus was played by the tritagonist Aeschines. In the
Cresphontes of Euripides the principal character was Merope,
and was taken by Theodorus. The part of Cresphontes fell
to Aeschines as tritagonist^. It does not therefore follow that
the character which gave the name to a play was necessarily
^ Schol. Eur. Phoen. 93. Meineke, Frag. Com. Gr. ii. p. 763.
^ Schol. Aesch. Choeph. 906. * Hesych. v. dpovpaws Olv6[jLaos ;
^ Aul. Gel), vii. 5 ; Stob. Flor. 97, Dera.de Cor. § 180; Aelian, Var. Hist.
28 ; Dem. Fals. Leg. § 246 ; Strattis ap. xiv. 40.
v.] DISTRIBUTION OF THE PARTS. 21 1
the leading one. In the Agamemnon of Aeschylus most likely
the protagonist played the part of Clytaemnestra, as this is
certainly the most impressive character in the play, though not
the one with which the spectators are in sympathy. Besides
playing the leading part the protagonist had also to take his
share of the subordinate characters when he could be spared.
It has already been mentioned that in the Phoenissae of Euri-
pides the protagonist appeared in the part of Antigone, as well
as in that of Jocasta. At times he took even the smallest
characters if the necessities of the play demanded it. Plutarch
states that the protagonist, in the part of a messenger or
an attendant, often gained more applause than the actor who
bore the sceptre and the crown \ It was, in fact, the chief
advantage of the Greek system that even the subordinate cha-
racters were played with as much excellence as the more
important ones. The tritagonist took what in modern times
would be called the * heavy' parts. It was his special pri-
vilege, as Demosthenes remarks, to play the tyrant and the
sceptred monarch ^ Aeschines, in his career as tritagonist,
often had to act gloomy tyrants of this kind, such as Creon,
Cresphontes, and Oenomaus. Such characters did not require
great powers in the actor. There was no pathos to be excited,
no play of conflicting emotions to be exhibited. All that was
necessary was a powerful voice, and a capacity for declaiming
verses. Most likely for the same reason the tritagonist usually
spoke the prologues, which also did not require much more in
the actor than good powers of elocution. Thus the ghost of
Polydorus, which speaks the prologue in the Hecuba of Euri-
pides, was acted by Aeschines as tritagonist ^ The deuter-
agonist took the parts which, in point of interest, were inter-
mediate between the leading characters, and the heavy parts
which fell to the tritagonist. There are not, however, any tradi-
tions as to particular characters having been played by the
deuteragonist. Attempts have been made in modern times to
assign the characters in the extant Greek dramas to the prot-
^ Plut. Lysand. p. 446 D. ' Dem. 1. c, de Cor. §§ 180, 267.
^ Dem. Fals. Leg. § 247.
t P 2
212 THE ACTORS, [Ch.
agonist, deuteragonist, and tritagonist respectively. Such
speculations are interesting, in so far as they show that all
the existing plays could be perfectly well performed by three
actors. Otherwise they are not of very great value. There is
generally no difficulty in deciding which was the leading charac-
ter. But it is obvious that the subordinate parts might be
distributed in various ways ; and no doubt the arrangement
differed at different periods. There are no traditions on the
subject in addition to those already mentioned. Any attempt,
therefore, to reproduce the exact arrangement adopted at a
particular period must depend more or less upon conjecture.
§ 3. Extra Performers.
For every Greek play a chorus was provided by the choregus,
and three actors were supplied by the state. But in most plays
a certain number of additional performers were required.
The parts which these extra performers had to fill may
be divided, roughly speaking, into three classes. In the first
place there were the various mute personages, who simply
appeared upon the stage, and did nothing more. The second
class consisted of minor characters with only a few words to
say. In these cases extra performers were required, either
because the regular actors were already occupied, or because
the part was that of a boy or girl, which the regular actor would
be unable to take. Thirdly, in many cases a small subordinate
chorus was required, in addition to the ordinary one. The
general name for the persons who undertook these parts was
* parachoregemata ^' This word obviously means something
^ As there is some doubt about the dpSjvrai kv to) Oedrpq) ol pdrpaxoi, ouSe
meaning of the word vapaxoprjyijfia, it o x^pos, d\X' effooOev /xi/xovvrai rovs
will be well to quote the passages where ^arpdxovs ; 6 be dXrjOuj^ x^pos l« twv
it occurs. They are (i) Schol. Aesch. evffe^cbv vcKpwv avveffTrjKev. (4) Schol.
Prom. 12 kv vapaxoprjyfjixaTi aura) Aristoph. Pax 113 ra TOiavra irapaxo-
dSctiXoTroirjOeiffaBta. (2) Schol. Aesch. pTjyrjuara KaXovcriv, ola vvv rd naidia
Eum. 573 kv Trapaxoprjyq/xaTi auTo) daiv iroiu Kokovvra rbv irarkpa' etra vpos
ol ' ApeonayiTai fXTj^a/jLov SiaXeyojxevoi. ovSev en tovtois xPV^^''''^'- (5) Poll.
(3) Schol. Aristoph. Ran. 211 ravra iv. log ovore jx^v dvri nrdpTOv vvoKpi-
KaKurat irapaxopijyqfJLaTa, kireiS^ ovx tou Scot rivd tuv x^P^^t^^ direiv kv
v.] EXTRA PERFORMERS, 213
which is suppHed by the choregus in addition to his ordinary
expenditure. It follows therefore that the cost of the extra
performers was borne by the choregus. Properly he was only
responsible for the chorus ; but if additional men were required,
he had to supply them. This conclusion is confirmed by
Plutarch's story of a certain tragic actor who was going to
appear as a queen, but refused to proceed with the part, unless
the choregus provided him with a train of female attendants \
Extra performers were especially necessary in the Old Comedy,
in which a great number of characters appear upon the stage.
If songs had to be sung, or words spoken, behind the
scenes, by persons out of sight of the audience, these persons
were called 'paraskenia.' In many cases their part could be
taken by members of the chorus, and in this way no extra
expense would fall upon the choregus.
It remains to consider more in detail the three classes of ' para-
choregemata'. The mute personages appeared most frequently
in the shape of attendants, body-guards, crowds of people, and
so on. The Oedipus Rex opens with a number of suppliants
kneeling at the altar before the palace of the king. In the
Choephori Orestes and Pylades are accompanied by attendants.
The judgment scene in the Eumenides requires twelve per-
(^5?), irapaaKr]viov KaXeirai to irpdy/xa, els distinction is a foolish one, and was
ev 'Aya/xe/xvovi AtaxvAov et 5e Terapros probably due to Pollux's habit of
vTTOKpLTrjs Ti TTapacpOi'f^aiTo, tovto irapa- generalising from one particular in-
Xopi]yr]iJ.a ovofid^frai, nal TreirpdxOai stance. The word irapaaKrjviov, in its
(paaiv avTo ev M4fx,vovi Aiaxv^ov. The present sense, only occurs in the passage
first and second instances refer to mute of Pollux. To judge from the ety-
personages, the third instance refers to mology of the word, it most likely
an extra chorus, the fourth to extra denoted performers behind the scenes,
performers who say only a few words The words ku 'Ayafiifxvovi Aiax^^ov in
upon the stage. It is therefore quite the passage of Pollux are corrupt, the
clear that the word wapaxopriyrjfjia in- corruption arising from the words (v
eluded all classes of extra performers, Me/xvovi AiaxvXov which follow. There
as distinct from the actors and the is no napaaKrjviov in the Agamemnon,
chorus. There are no grounds for ex- The reference cannot be to the speech
eluding the mute personages from the of Pylades in the Choephori (vv. 900-
class of 7ra/)axop?;7-/7/xaTa, as Midler (die 902), because (i) the Choephori could
Griech. Biihnen. p. 179) and others not be called the Agamemnon, (2) the
have done. Pollux appears to make part of Pylades was taken by one of the
the distinction between -napaaK-qviov and regular actors, as the scholiast ad loc. in-
TrapaxoprjyijiJLa lie in the fact that the forms us.
former sang, the latter spoke. The ' Plut. Phocion p. 750 C.
214 THE ACTORS. [Ch.
formers to play the parts of the members of the Areopagus. In
the Agamemnon, when the king and Cassandra arrive in the
chariot, servants stand ready to spread carpets beneath their
feet \ Probably in many other instances great personages were
accompanied by attendants, although there is no special reference
to them in the play. Not unfrequently more prominent cha-
racters appeared upon the stage as mute figures. Pylades says
nothing throughout the Electra of Sophocles and the Electra
of Euripides. In the latter play one of the Dioscuri must also
have been a dumb figure, since two actors were already upon
the stage when the Dioscuri make their appearance. The per-
son of Force in the Promethus Vinctus is another example.
A very frequent ■ occasion for the employment of mute cha-
racters was in pathetic scenes between children and their
parents. The children appear as silent figures, but give oc-
casion for touching speeches by their parents. There is an
example in the Ajax of Sophocles, where Ajax addresses
his son Eurysaces. But the instances in Euripides are much
more frequent. There is the celebrated scene in the Medea,
where Medea half relents at the sight of her children. There
is the address of Megara to her children in the Hercules
Furens. Other examples are to be found in the introduction of
Manto, the daughter of Teiresias, in the Phoenissae, and of
Polymestor's children in the Hecuba". Mute figures were
also very useful in occasionally personating one of the regular
characters of the play, when the actor of the character was tem-
porarily required for another purpose. It has already been
pointed out that in the middle of the Oedipus Coloneus the part
of Ismene is played by a dumb personage, to enable the previous
actor of the part to appear in another character. One of the
best instances of this practice is in the final scene of the Orestes,
in which most of the prominent characters are brought upon the
stage together, after the fashion of a modern drama. But only
three of them can speak : Helen, Hermione, Electra, and Py-
' Aesch. Choepli. 713, Eum. 678 ff., Here. Fur. 454, Phoen. 834, Hecub.
Agam. 908. 97S.
^ fc'oph. Aj. 544; Eur. Med. 102 1,
v.] EXTRA PERFORMERS. 215
lades are all mute figures. The silence of Pylades is especially
unnatural. In cases of this kind an attempt is made to produce
effects which were hardly compatible with the limited resources
of Greek tragedy.
The second class of extra performers took all those minor
parts in which a certain amount of speaking or singing was
required^ but which it was impossible for the regular actors to
take. In tragedy they were generally required for the boys'
parts, which were unsuitable for grown up actors. Euripides
was especially fond of introducing boys upon the stage. In
the Alcestis Eumelus bewails his mother's death in a short
ode. Another example is the mournful dialogue between
Andromache and her little son Molossus\ In the Old Comed}^
these additional actors were frequently needed to perform small
parts at times when the three regular actors were already on
the stage. Examples are very numerous. There are the
daughters of Trygaeus in the Peace, and the daughters of the
Megarian in the Acharnians. The herald and Pseudartabas
are additional examples from the Acharnians I
In the third place an extra chorus was sometimes required.
The Propompi in the Eumenides, and the chorus of boys in the
Wasps, both appear side by side with the regular chorus, and
must therefore have been personated by extra performers.
An additional chorus, consisting of shepherds, was also re-
quired in the Alexander of Euripides ^ Sometimes the extra
chorus was not visible to the spectators, but sang behind the
scenes. In such cases the singing might be done by members
of the regular chorus, if they had not yet entered the orchestra.
Examples are to be found in the chorus of frogs in the Frogs
of Aristophanes, and Agathon's chorus in the Thesmophoria-
zusae\ Both these choruses were behind the scenes, and
would therefore come under the class called ' paraskenia.*
Their part would be taken by members of the regular chorus.
In the opening scene of the Hippolytus a band of huntsmen
^ Eur. Ale. 393, Androm. 504. ^ Aesch. Eum. 1032; Aristoph. Vesp.
^ Aristoph. Pax 11^, Acharn. 43, 248; Schol. Eur, Hipp. 58.
94, 729. * Aristoph. Ran. 209, Thesm. 104.
2i6 THE ACTORS. [Ch.
sing a short ode to Artemis upon the stage. Immediately after
their disappearance the regular chorus, consisting of women of
Troezen, enters the orchestra. In this case the huntsmen
cannot have been personated by members of the regular
chorus ; but it is possible that the singing was done by the
chorus behind the scenes, while the huntsmen were represented
by mute figures \
§ 4. Costume of the Tragic Actors.
To return to the subject of the actors. The next point to
be discussed is their costume, and general appearance upon
the stage. First, as. to the tragic actors. The practice of
the Greeks in regard to tragic costume was totally opposed
to all modern notions upon the subject. Historical accuracy
and archaeological minuteness in the mounting of a play
were matters of supreme indifference to the Greeks. Though
the scenes of most of their tragedies were laid in heroic
times, they never made the slightest attempt to reproduce
upon the stage an accurate representation of the costume
of the Homeric period. On the other hand they were not
content that the heroes and gods of their tragedy should
appear upon the scene in the costume of ordinary life, as was
formerly the case in our modern theatres. Greek tragedy was
essentially ideal : the existence it depicted was far above the
level of everyday life. Even when the subject of a tragedy was
taken from contemporary history, as in the case of the Persae
of Aeschylus, the treatment was ideal. In the Persae of
Aeschylus no Greek statesmen or generals are introduced upon
the stage, or even mentioned by name. The scene is laid far
away in Persia ; the characters are all Persian ; everything
common and familiar is banished out of sight. Such being the
tone of Greek tragedy, the costume of ordinary life would have
been out of keeping. A special dress was invented, similar to
that of common life, but more flowing and dignified. The
garments were dyed with every variety of brilliant colour. The
^ Eur. Hipp. 61.
V.l COSTUME OF THE TRAGIC ACTORS. 217
bulk of the actor was increased by padding his chest and limbs,
and placing huge wooden soles under his feet. Masks were
employed in which every feature was exaggerated, to give
superhuman dignity and terror to the expression. In this way
a conventional costume was elaborated, which continued for
centuries to be the regular dress of the tragic actors. All the
leading characters in a Greek tragedy were dressed in this
fashion, with only slight variations and additions, such as par-
ticular circumstances required. A fairly accurate conception of
the appearance presented by one of these tragic figures of the
Greek stage ma}^ still be obtained in modern times. Our know-
ledge on the subject is derived partly from the descriptions of
Pollux and others, partly from works of art. The works of art,
it is true, are in most cases Italian ; but Greek tragedies were
commonly performed in Italy even in imperial times, and
Roman tragedy was in all respects a mere reproduction of the
Greek. Hence works of art depicting tragic scenes and figures,
though Italian in origin, present the characteristics of the
Greek stage. It would be unsafe to depend upon them for
points of minute detail. But they correspond in the main with
the descriptions of Pollux, and it is possible to obtain from
them a fairly trustworthy picture of the general appearance of
the Greek actors. The accompanying representation of a tragic
actor is copied from an ivory statuette which was found in the
ruins of a villa near Rieti \
In no respect is the difference between the ancient and the
modern actor more conspicuous than in the use of masks. The
invention of the tragic mask was ascribed to Thespis. At the
commencement of his career as an actor Thespis is said to have
merely painted his face with white lead or purslane. Later on
he employed masks ; but these were of a very simple character,
consisting simply of linen, without paint or colouring. Choeri-
lus introduced certain improvements which are not specified.
Phrynichus set the example of using female masks ^. Aeschylus
was the first to employ painted masks, and to pourtray features
^ The illustration is taken from Monu- - Suidas vv. ©effn-ty, Xotpi\os, ^pvvi-
menti Inediti, xi. 13. X^s-
21«
THE ACTORS.
[Ch.
v.] COSTUME OF THE TRAGIC ACTORS. 219
of a dreadful and awe-inspiring character. By several writers
Aeschylus is regarded as the inventor of the tragic mask, and to
a certain extent this view is correct, since it was Aeschylus who
first gave the tragic mask that distinctive character, from which
in later times it never varied except in detaiP. After the time
of Aeschylus there is no further mention of any radical alter-
ations or improvements in the manufacture of masks.
The use of masks is indissolubly connected with the style
and character of Greek tragedy. Without masks it would have
been impossible for one actor to play several parts, or for men
to play the parts of women. Of course the Greek actor had no
opportunity of displaying those powers of facial expression
which are one of the chief excellencies in modern acting. It
was only by his gestures that he could emphasise the meaning
of what he had to say: his features remained immovable. But
niceties of facial expression would have been entirely lost in
the vast expanse of a Greek theatre. The tragic mask, on
which were depicted in bold and striking lines the main traits
in the character represented, was really much more effective,
and could be seen by the most distant spectator. Then again it
must have been difficult, if not impossible, for a Greek actor to
delineate finely drawn shades of individual character. The
masks necessarily ran in general types, such as that of the
brutal tyrant, the crafty statesman, the suffering maiden, and so
on. The acting would have to correspond. It would be diffi-
cult to imagine the part of Hamlet acted in a mask. But the
characters of Greek tragedy were mostly types rather than
individuals. The heroes and heroines were drawn in broad
general outlines, and there was little attempt at delicate strokes
of character-painting. The use of masks no doubt helped to
give this particular bent to Greek tragedy.
Masks were generally made of linen. Cork and wood were
occasionally used ^ The mask covered the whole of the head,
both in front and behind. The white of the eye was painted on
1 Suidasv. AjVxvAos; Hon A. P. 278; ^ Poll. x. 167 ; Isidor. Orig. x. 119 ;
Evanth. de trag. et com. (Gronov. The- Siiidas v. ®ka-ni^ ; Verg. Georg. ii. 387 ;
saur. viii. p. 1683). Prudent, c. Symmach. ii. 646,
220 THE ACTORS. [Ch.
the mask, but the place for the pupil was left hollow, to enable
the actor to see\ The expression of the tragic mask was
gloomy and often fierce ; the mouth was opened wide, to give a
clear outlet to the actor's voice. One of the most characteristic
features of the tragic mask was the onkos ^. This was a cone-
shaped prolongation of the upper part of the mask above the
forehead, intended to give size and impressiveness to the face.
The onkos was not used in every case, but only where dignity
was to be imparted. It varied in size according to the character
of the personage. The onkos of the tyrant was especially large ;
that of women was less than that of men. A character was not
necessarily represented by the same mask throughout the piece.
The effects of misfortune or of accident had often to be de-
picted by a fresh mask. For instance, in the Helen of Euripides
Helen returns upon the stage with her hair shorn off, and her
cheeks pale with weeping. Oedipus, at the end of the Oedipus
Tyrannus of Sophocles, is seen with blinded eyes and blood-
stained face. In such cases a change of mask must have been
necessary.
The number and variety of the masks used in tragedy
may be seen from the accounts in Pollux. For the ordinary
tragic personages there were regular masks of a stereo-
typed character. Pollux enumerates twenty-eight kinds l His
information was derived from Alexandrian sources, and his
list represents the number of masks which were employed on
the later Greek stage for the ordinary characters of tragedy.
It is not likely that in the time of Sophocles or Euripides the
use of masks was reduced so completely to a system as in the
later period ; but the descriptions in Pollux will give a fairly
accurate idea of the style of the masks used in earlier- times.
Of the twenty-eight masks described by Pollux six are for old
men, eight for young men, three for attendants, and eleven for
women. The principal features by which the different masks
are discriminated from one another are the style of the hair, the
colour of the complexion, the height of the onkos, and the
^ Aul, Gell. V. 7 ; Wieseler, Denk- ^ Poll. iv. 133-135, 139.
maler, p. 42. -'' Poll. iv. 133-141.
v.] COSTUME OF THE TRAGIC ACTORS. 221
expression of the eyes. To take a few examples. The strong
and powerful man, such as the tyrant, has thick black hair and
beard, a tall onkos, and a frown upon his brow. The man
wasted by disease has fair hair, a pale complexion, and a smaller
onkos. The handsome youth has fair ringlets, a light com-
plexion, and bright eyes. The lover is distinguished by black
hair and a pale complexion. The maiden in misfortune has her
hair cut short in token of sorrow. The aged lady has white
hair and a small onkos, and her complexion is rather pale.
Attendants and messengers are marked by special character-
istics. One of them wears a cap, another has a peaked beard,
a third has a snub nose and hair drawn back. One sees from
these examples how completely Greek tragedy was dominated
by conventional rules, in this as in all other respects. As soon
as a personage entered the stage, his mask alone was enough to
give the spectators a very fair conception of his character and
position.
The twenty-eight tragic masks enumerated by Pollux were
used for the ordinary characters of tragedy, and formed a
regular part of the stock of the Greek stage-manager. But
special masks were required when any unusual character was
introduced. Pollux gives a long list of such masks \ In the
first place there were numbers of mythological beings with
strange attributes. Actaeon had to be represented with horns,
Argo with a multitude of eyes. Evippe in the play of Euripides
had the head of a mare. A special mask of this kind must have
been required to depict lo with the ox-horns in the Prometheus
Vinctus of Aeschylus. A second class of special masks was
needed to represent allegorical figures such as Justice, Per-
suasion, Deceit, Jealousy. Of this kind are the figures of
Death in the Alcestis of Euripides, and Frenzy in the Hercules
Furens. Lastly there were personifications of cities, rivers,
and mountains. Five specimens of ancient tragic masks are
given on the next page. The first is the mask of a youth,
the fifth that of a man; the second and third are probably
masks of women. The fourth is an example of one of the
^ Poll. iv. 141, 142, Special masks were called e/ccr/feua irpoffojna.
222
THE ACTORS.
[Ch.
special masks, and depicts Perseus with the cap of darkness
upon his head \
We now come to the dress of the tragic actors. Nothing is
known as to the style of dress adopted by Thespis and his im-
mediate successors. The tragic costume which eventually pre-
^ Figs. 1-3 are copied from Wieseler,
Denkmaler, v. 20, 24, 26. The first is
a marble, the second and third are from
wall-paintings at Herculaneum. Figs.
4 and 5 are copied from the Archaeol.
Zeitung for 1878. They are from wall-
paintings at Pompeii.
V.l COSTUME OF THE TRAGIC ACTORS. 223
vailed upon the Greek stage dates from the time of Aeschylus.
His creative spirit revolutionised every department of Greek
tragedy. It was he who transformed it into an essentially dra-
matic species of art, and gave it the characteristics of grandeur
and terror. It was necessary to make a corresponding change
in the masks and dresses of the actors ; and this improvement
also was effected by Aeschylus. The invention of the Greek
tragic costume, both in its main features and in most of its sub-
ordinate details, is invariably ascribed to Aeschylus \ The
dress which he introduced was so well adapted to its purpose,
that it continued unchanged in its principal characteristics
throughout the remaining history of Greek tragedy. Subse-
quent generations, while making various small additions and
alterations, never altogether abandoned the original design. All
the later representations of tragic actors, whether found in
Etruscan mosaics, or wall-paintings of Gyrene and Pompeii, ob-
viously belong to one common type. In spite of considerable
differences in point of detail, they show a distinct general resem-
blance to one another I The tragic costume, as finally settled
by Aeschylus, was in many respects not unlike that worn by the
hierophants and torch-bearers who officiated at the Eleusinian
mysteries. According to one tradition the similarity was due to
the priests having copied the dress of the tragic actors in later
times. But it is much more probable that the very reverse was
the case, and that Aeschylus, in the course of his innovations,
borrowed some hints from the dress of the priests I
The object of Aeschylus was to devise a costume that
should be suitable to the heroes and gods and supernatural
beings with which his stage was peopled. It was necessary '
to invent something more splendid than the dress of ordinary
life. For this purpose he employed various devices. Among
' Athen. p. 21 E ; vit. Aesch.
Philostrat. vit. ApoU. vi. 11 (p. 220, ed
Kayser) ; Cramer, Anecd. Par. i. p. 19
2 Wieseler, Denkmakr vii., viii., ix
I, xiii. 2.
Kot SaSovxoi d/x(f>iivyvvTai. An emen-
dation, (rjKojaas rjv, has been proposed.
But probably the text is quite correct,
and the author of the statement was
mistaken in the inference which he drew
^ Athen. p. 21 E /cal Ato-xvA-os Se ov from the resemblance between the dress
/j-ovov e^(vp€ TrjVTTJs aToXijs evTrpeiTfiavKal of the tragic actors and that of the
cefjiVOT-qTa, ijv ^-qKuaavres oi IfpocpavTui Eleusinian priests.
224
THE ACTORS.
[Ch.
them was the cothurnus, or tragic boot, the aim of which
was to increase the stature of the actors, and to give them
an appearance of superhuman grandeur. It was a boot with
a wooden sole of enormous thickness attached to it. The
wooden sole was painted in various colours. According
to some accounts Aeschylus invented the boot altogether ;
according to other accounts his innovation consisted in giving
increased thickness to the sole, and so raising the height
of the actors. After his time it continued to be a regular
feature in tragic costume down to the latest period of Greek
and Roman tragedy \ The cothurnus varied in height accord-
ing to the dignity and position of the wearers, a king, for in-
stance, being provided with a larger cothurnus than a mere at
tendant. In this way the physical stature of the persons upon
the stage was made to correspond to their social position. In
the accompanying illustration, representing a tragic scene, the
^ The name for the tragic boot in regular name in Latin. Pollux (iv.
Greek was kfi^aTrjs (Suid. v. Ato-xy^os), 115) appears to be mistaken in calling
oKpi^as (Lucian, Nero c. 9), or KoOopvos kfxPdTijs the comic boot, in opposition
(vit. Aesch.). Cothurnus was the to the notices in other grammarians.
v.] COSTUME OF THE TRAGIC ACTORS. 225
difference between the cothurnus of the servant and that of the
hero is very conspicuous \ Whether the cothurnus was worn
by all the characters in a tragedy, or only by the more important
ones, is uncertain. There was another tragic boot called the
'krepis/ of a white colour, which was introduced by Sophocles,
and worn by the chorus as well as by the actors. Very possibly
this may have been a boot more like those of ordinar}'^ life than
the cothurnus, and may have been worn by the subordinate cha-
racters ^ The illustrations show that the cothurnus was rather
a clumsy contrivance, and that it must have been somewhat in-
convenient to walk with. The tragic actor had to be very
careful to avoid stumbling upon the stage. Lucian says that
accidents were not infrequent. Aeschines met with a misfor-
tune of this kind as he was acting the part of Oenomaus at
CoUytus. In the scene where Oenomaus pursues Pelops he
tripped up and fell, and had to be lifted up again by the chorus-
trainer Sannio ^ The use of the cothurnus, combined with the
onkos, or prolongation of the crown of the mask, added greatly
to the stature of the tragic actor. To prevent his seeming thin
in comparison with his height, it was found necessary to in-
crease his bulk by padding. His figure was thus made to ap-
pear of uniformly large proportions *.
The garments of the tragic actor were the same as the ordin-
ary Greek dress, but their style and colour were more magni-
ficent. They consisted of an under-garment or tunic, and an
over-garment or mantle. The tunic was brilliantly variegated
in colour. Sometimes it was adorned with stripes, at other
The sole of the cothurnus was of wood, Nero c. 9, Necyom. c. 16, lup. Trag. c.
as appears from Schol. Lucian, Epist. 41, de Salt. c. 27; Martial, viii, 3. 13,
Saturn. 19. Works of art show that &c., &c.
itwaspainted: seeWieseler.Denkmaler, ^ The illustration is from Wieseler,
vii., viii. ; and cp. Ovid. Am. ii. 18. 13 Denkmaler, ix. i. The original is a
risit Amor pallamque meam pictosque wall-painting from Pompeii or Hercu-
cothurnos. According to Suidas (v. laneum.
AtVxvAos), Aristot. (ap. Themist. or. "^ Vit. Soph. p. 2 Dindf.
xxvi. p. 316), Philostrat. (vit. ApoU. vi. ^ Lucian, Somnium vel Callus 26 ;
1 1, p. 220 Kayser) the cothurnus was in- vit. Aeschin.
vented by Aeschylus : the Life says that * Phot. v. awimna ; Lucian, de Salt.
it was only enlarged by him. For the use 27.
of the cothurnus in late times see Lucian,
226 THE ACTORS. [Ch.
times with the figures of animals and flowers, or similar orna-
mentation. A special tunic of purple was worn by queens.
The ordinary tragic tunic reached down to the feet, in accord-
ance with the old Athenian custom, the shorter tunic not
having been generally adopted at Athens until after the time
of Pericles. The tunics worn by females upon the stage were
sometimes longer than those worn by men, and trailed upon
the ground, as the name 'syrtos' implies. On the other hand,
it appears from various illustrations that shorter ones were
occasionally provided for attendants and other minor characters.
The tunic of the tragic actor was fastened with a broad girdle
high up under the breast, and flowed down in long and graceful
folds, giving an appearance of height and dignity. It was also
supplied with long sleeves reaching to the waist. In ordinary
life sleeves of this kind were considered effeminate by the
European Greeks, and were mostly confined to the Greeks of
Asia. The general character and appearance of the tragic tunic
is well exemplified in the illustrations already given \
The over-garments were the same in shape as those worn off the
stage, and consisted of two varieties. The 'himation' was a long
mantle passing round the right shoulder, and covering the greater
part of the body. The chlamys was a short cloak flung across
the left shoulder. As far as shape was concerned all the tragic
mantles belonged to one or the other of these two classes, but
they differed in colour and material. Pollux gives a list of
several of them, but does not append any description ^ The
mere names prove that they were very gorgeous in colour.
There were mantles of saffron, of frog-green, of gold, and of
purple. Queens wore a white mantle with purple borders.
These were the colours worn by tragic personages under or-
dinary circumstances. But if they were in misfortune or in exile,
^ For the general account of the &c. For the ornamentation see Wieseler,
XiTwi' or tunic see Pollux iv. 115-118. Denkmal. vi. 2, vii., viii. The girdle
The name ttoik'lXov shows that it was is clearly shown in many of the works
brilliantly coloured. As to the length of art. The sleeves were called xft/>'5es
of the tunic see Lucian, lup. Trag. c. (vit. Aesch. ; Lucian, lup. Trag. c. 41).
41, Eustath. II. p. 954. 47, and the ^ Poll. iv. 11 6-1 18.
illustrations in Wieseler's Denkmaler,
v.] COSTUME OF THE TRAGIC ACTORS. 227
the fact was signified to the spectators from the very first by
dressing them in the garb of mourning. In such cases the
colours used were black, dun, grey, yellow, or dirty white.
Coverings for the head were not usually worn by the Greeks
except when they were on a journey. The same practice was
observed upon the stage. Thus in the Oedipus Coloneus Ismene
arrives from Thebes wearing a 'Thessalian hat.' Ladies also
wore a mitra, or band for binding the hair. In the scene in the
Bacchae, where Pentheus is dressed up as a female, one of the
articles mentioned is the hair-band \
Such was the tragic costume invented by Aeschylus, and
universally adopted upon the Greek stage. No stress was laid
upon historical accuracy ; no attempt was made to discriminate
one rank from another by marked variety in the costume. The
same dress in its main features was worn by nearly all the
characters of a Greek tragedy. In some instances special cos-
tumes were invented for particular classes of men. Soothsayers
such as Teiresias always wore a woollen garment of network,
which covered the whole of the body. Shepherds were pro-
vided with a short leathern tunic. Occasionally also heroes
in great misfortune, such as Telephus and Philoctetes, were
dressed in rags^ But the majority of the characters wore
the regular tragic costume, with slight additions and varia-
tions ; and the onty means by which the spectators were
enabled to identify the well-known personages of mythology,
and to discriminate between the different ranks of the cha-
racters, was by the presence of small conventional emblems.
For instance, the gods and goddesses always appeared with
the particular weapon or article of dress with which their
names were associated. Apollo carried his bow, and Hermes
his magic wand. Athene wore the aegis ^ In the same way the
well-known heroes of antiquity had generally some speciality in
their costume which enabled the spectators to recognise them as
soon as they came upon the stage. Hercules was always con-
1 Poll. iv. 116; Soph. O. C. 314; ii. 11.
Eur. Bacch. 833. ^ Aesch. Eum. 181,404; Poll. iv. 117.
^ Poll. iv. 116, 117 ; Varro, Res Rust.
Q2
2 28 THE ACTORS, [Ch.
_spicuous by means of his club and Iion*s skin ; Perseus wore the
cap of darkness, as depicted in the illustration already given \
Kings in a similar manner were distinguished by the crown
upon their head, and the sceptre in their hand. They also
had a special article of dress, consisting of a short tunic with
a swelling bosom, worn over the ordinary tunic ^ Foreigners
were discriminated by some one particular attribute, rather than
by a complete variety in their costume. For example, Darius
wore the Persian turban ; otherwise he was probably dressed in
the ordinary tragic style ^ Warriors were equipped with com-
plete armour, and occasionally had a short cloak of scarlet or
purple wrapped round the hand and elbow for protection \
Old men usually carried a staff in their hands. The staff with a
curved handle, which occurs not infrequently in ancient works
of art, was said to be an invention of Sophocles '\ Crowns of
olive or laurel were worn by messengers who brought good
tidings ; crowns of myrtle were a sign of festivity ". The above
examples illustrate the mode in which the different characters
and classes were discriminated upon the Greek stage by small
varieties in their equipment. But in its main features the dress
of the majority of the characters was the same, and consisted
of the elaborate costume designed by Aeschylus.
Concerning the tragic costume as a whole a few observations
may be made. The devotion to conventional rules is as con-
spicuous here as in Greek art generally. Persons in misfortune
wear clothes of a particular colour. Soothsayers have garments
of network. Gods and heroes are denoted by special symbols.
The tragic dress, after having been once elaborated, is retained
for centuries without any important innovation. As to the
appearance which the tragic actor presented upon the stage, it
is obvious that he must have been an impressive, though rather
unnatural, figure. His large stature and bulky limbs, his harsh
^ Poll. iv. 117. See above, p. 222. called ((panrh.
^ Lucian, Somn. vel Gall. 26 ; Poll. ^ Eur. Ion 743 ; Vit. Soph. p. 2
iv. 116. The special tunic was called Dindf.
KokTrojfm. 6 Aesch. Agam. 493 ; Soph. O. R.
3 Aesch. Pers. 661. 83 ; Eur. Ale. 759.
* Poll. iv. 116, 117. The cloak was
v.] COSTUME OF THE TRAGIC ACTORS. 229
and strongly-marked features, his tunic with its long folds and
brilliantly variegated pattern, his mantle with its gorgeous
colours, must have combined to produce a spectacle of some
magnificence. In criticising his appearance we must always
remember that he was intended to be seen in theatres of vast
dimensions, in which even the front rows of spectators were
a considerable distance from the stage, while the more distant
part of the audience could only discern general effects. For
such theatres the tragic costume of the Greeks was admirably
adapted, however unwieldy and unnatural it may have appeared
on a closer inspection. Its magnificence and dignity were
especially appropriate to the ideal figures which move in the
dramas of Aeschylus and Sophocles. In the Frogs of Aristo-
phanes Aeschylus is humorously made to declare that it was
only right that the demigods of tragedy should wear finer clothes,
and use longer words, than ordinary mortals. The tragedy of
Euripides was altogether more human in tone, and a more
ordinary costume would have been better suited to it. But
the Greeks, with their strong feeling of conservatism in matters
of art, clung to the form of dress already established. The
result was not altogether satisfactory. The attempt to exhibit
human nature pure and simple upon the Greek stage was bound
to appear somewhat incongruous. It often happened that the
speeches and actions of the heroes in Euripides were highly
inconsistent with the superhuman grandeur of their personal
appearance. In any case the step from the sublime to the
ridiculous was a very short one in the case of the Greek
tragic actor. The play had to be elevated in tone, and the
performance of a high standard, to carry off the magnificence
of the actor's appearance. Otherwise his unwieldy bulk and
gloomy features excited laughter rather than tears. Lucian
is especially fond of ridiculing the tragic actors of the time. He
laughs at their 'chest-paddings and stomach-paddings,' 'their
cavernous mouths that look as if they were going to swallow up
the spectators,' and the 'huge boots on which they are mounted.'
He wonders how they can walk across the stage in safety \ In
^ Lucian, de Salt. 27, Anachar. 23.
230
THE ACTORS.
[Ch.
Philostratus there is an amusing story of the extraordinary
effect produced upon a country audience in Spain by the appear-
ance of a tragic actor before them for the 'first time. It is said that
as soon as he came upon the stage they began to be rather alarmed
at his wide mouth, his long strides, his huge figure, and his un-
v.] COSTUME OF SATYRIC ACTORS. 231
earthly dress. But when he lifted up his voice and commenced
his speech in the loud and sonorous clang of the tragic stage,
there was a general panic, and they all fled out of the theatre
as if he had been a demon \ Such stories and criticisms bring
clearly before us the unnatural character of the Greek tragic
costume. It was well suited to an ideal drama and a theatre of
enormous size. Under other conditions it was inevitable that it
should appear ridiculous. In order to give an idea of the style
and character of Greek tragic acting, two representations of
tragic scenes are inserted, the first of which obviously repre-
sents Medea hesitating about the murder of her children^.
§ 5. Costume of Satyr ic Actors.
The costume of the actors in the satyric drama naturally
comes next for consideration. Tragedy and the satyric drama
were sister forms of art, descended from the same originak
But while tragedy advanced in dignity and magnificence, the
satyric drama retained all the wild licence and merriment which
in early times had characterised the dithyrambic performances
in honour of Dionysus. Its chorus invariably consisted of
satyrs. As to the characters upon the stage, with which we are
at present concerned, one of them was always Silenus, the
drunken old follower of Dionysus ; the rest were mainly, heroes
out of mythology, or other legendary beings. Thus in the
Cyclops of Euripides, the only extant specimen of a satyric play,
the characters upon the stage consist of Silenus on the one hand,
and Odysseus and the Cyclops on the other. Concerning the
costume of the actors the notices of Pollux are exceedingly
brief. But it is possible to obtain fairly clear conceptions on
the subject from several works of art, and more especially from
the well-known vase-painting at Naples, which depicts all the
persons concerned in the production of a satyric play, from the
poet down to the flute-playerl From this painting we see
^ Philostrat. vit. ApoU. v. 9 (p. 171 Monumenti Inediti, xi. 31, 32. The
Kayser). originals are wall-paintings at Pompeii.
' 2 The illustrations are taken from ^ Wieseler, Denkmal. vi. i-io.
233
THE ACTORS.
[Ch.
that the characters in a satyric drama, with the exception of
Silenus, were dressed in much the same way as in tragedy.
Their masks exhibit the same features, and their garments are
of the same general description. The tunic appears to have
been rather shorter, to facilitate ease of movement, as the acting
in a satyric play was no doubt less dignified and statuesque
than in tragedy. For the same reason the tall cothurnus of
tragedy does not appear to have been worn. It is not depicted
in the works of art ; and although this fact in itself is perhaps
hardly decisive, since even in representations of tragic scenes
the cothurnus is occasionally left out, still on general grounds
it appears to be most improbable that the cothurnus should
have been worn in the satyric drama. But on the whole the heroic
characters in satyric plays were dressed in much the same
fashion as in tragedy. As to Silenus, his mask always repre-
sents a drunken old man, with a half-bestial expression. His
under-garments, as depicted in works of art, are of two kinds.
Sometimes he wears a tight-fitting dress, encasing the whole of
his body with the exception of his head, hands, and feet. At
oth-er times he wears close-fitting trousers, and a tunic reaching
to the knees. All these garments are made of shaggy materials.
v.] COSTUME OF COMIC ACTORS. 233
to resemble the hide of animals \ Certain over-garments are
also mentioned by Pollux as having been worn by Silenus, such
as fawn-skins, goat-skins, imitation panther-skins, mantles of
purple, and mantles inwoven with flowers or animals^. The
figures in the accompanying illustration, which is taken from the
vase-painting already referred to, represent the three actors in
a satyric drama. The first is playing the part of some unknown
hero of mythology. His tunic is rather short, and he has no
cothurnus ; otherwise he exhibits the usual features of the tragic
actor. The second figure represents Hercules. His tunic is
still shorter, and barely reaches to the knees. The third figure
is that of Silenus. His body is covered with a single close-fitting
garment, and he carries a panther-skin over his shoulders. All
these figures are holding their masks in their hands.
§ 6. Costume of Comic Actors.
The inquiry into the costume of the actors in Athenian
comedy falls into two divisions. There is the Old Comedy
and the New. The Middle Comedy was merely a state of
transition between the two, and presented no very distinctive
characteristics of its own. The Old Comedy was essentially
the product of a particular time and place. With its local
allusions and personal satire it was unsuited for reproduction
or imitation among later generations. Consequently very few
traditions were preserved concerning the style of the masks
and dresses used in it. The information on the subject to
be found among later writers is extremely scanty. Attempts
have been made to illustrate the costumes of the Old Attic
comedy by the light of certain vase-paintings from Magna
Graecia, which depict scenes out of the comedies of the Phly-
^ Specimens of the first kind of dress x^pTaros; Dion. Hal. A. R. vii. 72;
are to be found in Wieseler, Denkmal. Ael. Var, Hist. iii. 40.
vi. 2.6, 7, 10; specimens of the second - Poll. iv. 118. These articles are
kind in vi. 8, 9. The tunic was called part of the dress of Silenus. The other
Xi-Tuiv x^P'^^'^^^> fiaXXwros, dficpifxaXXos, actors were dressed quite differently,
and was apparently made of wool : cp. The dress of the chorus is described in
Poll. iv. 118; Hesych. and Suid. v. the next chapter.
234
THE ACTORS.
[Ch.
akes, and belong mostly to the third century b.c.^ The
Phlyakes were the comedians of the Italian Greeks, and
represented one branch of the old Doric comedy. This
comedy had much in common with the phallic exhibitions,
out of which Attic comedy was developed. It is probable
therefore that there was a considerable resemblance, as far as
the costume of the actors was concerned, between the per-
formances of the Phlyakes and the Old Comedy at Athens.
Hence the vase-paintings referred to, of which a specimen is
here inserted, may be of assistance in helping us to form some
AtfTEAt rrPAAOCO
OOOOOOOOOOOO OOO Q J O OGQ aOJJOO^QO QQ*
7 C
1 c
general picture of the external features of the Old Comedy.
But the connexion is too remote to lead to any very definite
conclusions. Our principal source of information as to the
costumes of the actors in the Old Comedy must be the extant
plays of Aristophanes, together with the few casual notices
of the Scholiasts upon the subject.
* See Heydemann's article, Die mens are given in Wieseler's Denkmal.
Phlyakendarstellungen auf bemalten iii. i8, ix. 7-15, A. 25, 26. The illus-
Vasen, in Jahrb. d. Kais. Deutsch. tration is taken from Wieseler, ix. 15.
Archaol, Inst. 1886, p. 260 foil. Sped-
v.] COSTUME OF COMIC ACTORS. 235
The Old Comedy was the direct descendant of the boisterous
phallic performances at the festivals of Dionysus. Coarseness
and indecency were an essential part of it. The actors therefore
regularly wore the phallus, as appears to have been also the case
among the Phlyakes. Aristophanes in the Clouds takes credit to
himself for having discarded this piece of indecency, and for
having introduced a more refined style of wit into his comedy.
But whatever his practice in the Clouds may have been, there
are numerous passages to show that he reverted to the old
custom in his later plays \ Possibly in addition to wearing the
phallus the actors were also stuffed and padded in the grotesque
fashion which is apparent in the representations of the Phlyakes.
Apart from these special features the dresses in the Old Comedy
resembled those of ordinary life, as may be shown from
numerous passages in Aristophanes. As far as the masks
were concerned, when particular individuals were introduced
upon the stage, such as Socrates or Euripides, the masks were
portraits or caricatures of the actual persons. Before a word
was spoken the character was recognised by the audience.
When Aristophanes brought out the Knights, the general terror
inspired by Cleon was so great that the mask-makers refused
to make a portrait-mask of him, and an ordinary mask had
to be worn. Socrates, during the performance of the Clouds,
is said to have stood up in his place in the theatre, to enable
the strangers present to identify him with the character upon
the staged As to the masks of the fictitious characters there
is no definite information ; but they were doubtless grotesque
and extravagant in type, like those worn by the chorus, and
those depicted in the vase-paintings from Magna Graecia.
Not unfrequently in the Old Comedy figures of a fanciful and
extravagant character were introduced upon the stage. Thus
Pseudartabas, the King's Eye, had a mask with one huge eye
in the centre of it. The trochilus in the Birds created laughter
^ Schol. Arist. Nub. 538 eio-j^eo-aj/ 7d/) su^h passages as Thesmoph. 62,643,
01 KQjfUKol Sie^coafiivoi Sfpfxanva aiboia Lysist. 985, 1073, 1085, &c.
yfXoiov x^pi'^- Arist. Nub. 537-539- ^ Poll. iv. 143; Platon.de Comoed.
That the phallus was worn in the later (Dindf. Proll. de Comoed. p. 21) ; Arist.
comedies of Aristophanes is proved by Equit. 230; Ael. Var. Hist. ii. 13.
236 THE ACTORS. [Ch.
by its immense beak. The epops was provided with a ridi-
culously large crest, but seems otherwise to have been dressed
like a human figure. Iris in the Birds came on the stage
with outspread wings, swelling tunic, and a head-covering of
enormous size, so as to cause Peisthetaerus to ask her whether
she was a ship or a hat. Prometheus with his umbrella,
and Lamachus with his nodding crests, are further examples
of grotesque costume \ It has already been shown that the
production of a comedy was a comparatively cheap affair, and
cost about the same as a chorus of boys. It is not therefore
probable that the costumes in the Old Comedy were very
expensive or elaborate.
The New Comedy was of much longer duration than the
Old Comedy, and was much more widely spread. It continued
to flourish at Athens itself as late as the second century, and
was transferred to Rome in the translations of Plautus and
Terence and the other comic writers. There is no lack of
information as to the costumes generally in use. ' In the first
place all the actors wore masks, just as in the other branches
of the Greek drama. As far as abstract fitness goes, the masks
might well have been dispensed with. As the New Comedy
was essentially a comedy of manners and every-day life, and
its chief excellence lay in the accurate delineation of ordinary
human character, it is probable that a style of representa-
tion after the fashion of the modern stage would have been
much more appropriate to it. In a theatre of moderate size,
with actors untrammelled by the use of masks, all the finer
shades in the character-painting might have been exhibited
clearly to the spectators. But in ancient times such a thing
was impossible. To the Greek mind the use of masks was
inseparably associated with the stage ; and the Greeks were
in such matters extremely tenacious of ancient custom. It is also
very questionable whether in their enormous theatres masks
could possibly have been dispensed with. At any rate they were
invariably retained in the New Comedy. But it is a strange
1 Schol. Aristoph. Acharn. 97 ; Aris- Schol. ad loc), 1508, Acharn. 575 ff.
toph. Av. 62, 94, 104, 1203 (with
v.] COSTUME OF COMIC ACTORS. 237
thing that, although in all other respects the New Comedy was
a faithful representation of ordinary life and manners, the masks
employed should have been of the most ludicrous and grotesque
character. The fact is expressly stated by Platonius, and is
borne out by the evidence of numerous works of art \ There
was a total disregard for realism and fidelity to nature. The
exaggerated eyebrows and distorted mouths gave an utterly un-
natural expression to the features. Such masks were perfectly
in keeping with the tone of the Old Comedy, in which parody and
caricature predominated. But it is strange that they should have
been adopted in the New Comedy, which otherwise was praised
for holding the mirror up to nature. The reason probably lay
in the size of the theatres. The excellence and humour of a
finely-drawn mask would have been lost upon an audience
seated at a great distance from the stage. Of course the
statement of Platonius has to be taken with some qualification.
The masks were not invariably distorted. Some of the young
men and women were depicted with handsome, though strongly-
marked, features, as in tragedy. But the comic characters
always wore masks of the grotesque kind just referred to.
Copies of four comic masks are given on the next page ^.
Pollux supplies a long list of the masks in ordinary use in the
New Comedy, with accurate descriptions of each of them ^ His
list comprises masks for nine old men, eleven young men, seven
slaves, three old women, and fourteen young women. In this
list are included all the stock characters of the New Comedy,
such as the harsh father, the benevolent old man, the prodigal
son, the rustic youth, the heiress, the bully, the pimp, the
procuress, and the courtesan. For all these characters there
^ Plat on. ap. Dindf. Proll. de Com. represents the masks of a girl and a
p. 21 \v St T^ A*e<T77 KOL vka /c£y/za;5ta slave. The original is a wall-painting
fmrrjdes ra Trpoaanreia irpbs to yeXowre- at Pompeii. The second illustration,
pov khrjfiiovpyqGav . . . opwfifv yovv ra which is taken from Monumenti Inediti,
irpoaojireTa rrjs MevavSpov Kojpwdias ras xi. 32, contains two copies of terra
6(ppvs oiroias exf*, Kai otto;? i^earpappe- cottas found at Pompeii. It will be
vov TO (TTopa KOI ovdk KaT avOpijjTTOJV seen that the mask of the girl is not
(pvaiv. See Wieseler, Denkmal. v. 27- unlike a tragic mask in general charac-
52. ter.
^ The first illustration is taken from ^ Poll. iv. 143-154. Cp. Quint.
Archaeol. Zeitung, 1S78, Taf. 4, and Inst. xi. 3. 74.
238
THE ACTORS.
[Ch.
v.] COSTUME OF COMIC ACTORS. 239
are regular masks with strongly characteristic features. In
the plays of the New Comedy, as each personage stepped upon
the stage, he must have been recognised at once b}^ the audience
as an old friend. Constant repetition must have rendered them
familiar with the typical features of each sort of character.
Certain kinds of complexion, and certain styles of hair and eye-
brow, were appropriated to particular classes. White or grey hair
was of course the regular sign of old age. Red hair was the
mark of a roguish slave. Thick curly hair denoted strength
and vigour. Miserly old men wore their hair close-cropped,
while soldiers were distinguished by great shaggy manes. The
hair of the courtesans was bound up with golden ornaments,
or brilliantly-coloured bands. Beards were distinctive of man-
hood or middle age, and were not used in the masks of youths
or old men. The complexion was always a prominent feature
in the mask. A dark sun-burnt complexion was the sign of
rude health, and was given to soldiers, country youths, or
young men who frequented the palaestra. A white complexion
denoted effeminacy ; pallor was the result of love or ill-health.
Red cheeks, as well as red hair, were given to rogues. The
eye-brows were strongly-marked and highly characteristic.
When drawn up they denoted pride or impudence, and were
used in the masks of young men and of parasites. The hot-
tempered old father, who alternated between fits of passion and
fits of affection, had one eye-brow drawn up and the other
in its natural position, and he used to turn that side of his
face to the audience which was best in keeping with his temper
at the moment. Noses were generally of the straight Greek
type ; but old men and parasites occasionally had hook noses,
and the country youth was provided with a snub nose. Some-
times the ears showed signs of bruises, to denote that the person
had frequented the boxing-school. The modern equivalent
would be a broken nose, but among Greek boxers the ear was
the part principally aimed at. The above abstract of thd
account in Pollux, together with the illustrations on the previous
page, will give some idea of the different styles of mask
employed in the later comedy. . >
240
THE ACTORS.
[Ch.
The costume of the actors in the New Comedy was the same
as that of ordinary hfe. The covering for the foot was a light
sort of shoe, which was merely drawn on, without being tied
in any way \ Pollux gives a short account of the dresses
used in the New Comedy, from which it appears that particular
colours were appropriated to particular classes-. White was
worn by old men and slaves, purple by young men, black or
grey by parasites. Pimps had a bright-coloured tunic, and a
variegated mantle. Old women were dressed in yellow or
light blue, young women and priestesses in white. Procuresses
wore a purple band round the head. The above statements
are to a certain extent corroborated by the testimony of the
works of art, but there are numerous exceptions. They cannot
therefore be regarded as an exhaustive account of the subject.
Other details of dress and costume are mentioned by Pollux.
Old men carried a staff with a bent handle. Rustics were
^ This shoe was called lyi^as in dedifif. vocab. p. 49; Aristoph. Nub. 85S,
Greek, and soccus in Latin : see Ammon. ^ Poll. iv. 119-120.
v.] SPEECH, SONG, AND RECITATIVE. 241
dressed in a leather tunic, and bore a wallet and staff, and
occasionally a hunting-net. Pimps had a straight staff, and
carried an oil flask and a flesh-scraper. Heiresses were dis-
tinguished by fringes to their dress. Considered as a whole
the costume of the New Comedy seems to have been even more
conventional than that of tragedy. The colour of a person's
dress, the features of his mask, and small details in his equip-
ment, would tell the spectators at once what sort of a character
he was intended to represent. A scene from a wall-painting
is here inserted, as a specimen of the style and outward
appearance of the New Comedy \
§ 7. Speech, Song, and Recitative.
The profession of acting in ancient times required a great
variety of accomplishments. The words of a play were partly
spoken and partly sung, and it was necessary that the actor
should have a knowledge of music, and a carefully cultivated
voice. He had to combine the qualities of a modern actor with
those of an operatic singer. In fact the Greek drama was not
' unlike a modern comic opera in this particular respect, that it
consisted of a mixture of speaking and of singing. The question
as to the mode in which the different portions of the dialogue
were delivered, and the proportion which speech bore to song
in the parts of the actors, is a matter of very great interest. In
the first place there can be little doubt that, with few exceptions,
all that portion of the dialogue which was written in the ordin-
ary iambic trimeter was merely spoken or declaimed, with no
musical accompaniment whatsoever. This of course constituted
by far the larger part of the dialogue. Some remarks of
Aristotle in the Poetics may be cited in proof of the above state-
ment. Aristotle expressly says that in certain portions of the
drama there was no music at all. In another place he remarks
that when dialogue was introduced into tragedy, the iambic
trimeter was naturally adopted as the most suitable metre, since
^ The illustration is from Monumenti Inediti, xi. 32.
R
243 THE ACTORS, [Ch.
it is 'better adapted for being spoken' than any other ^ A
second argument is to be found in the practice of the Roman
stage. In two of the manuscripts of Plautus there are marks in
the margin to discriminate between the portions of the play
which were spoken, and the portions which were sung. The
result is to show that, while the rest of the play was sung, the
iambic trimeters were always spoken ^. As Roman comedy
was a close and faithful imitation of the Greek, it follows almost
as a matter of certainty that the iambic trimeters were spoken
in the Greek drama also. It is true that in one place Lucian
contemptuously remarks about the tragic actor, that he 'occa-
sionally even sings the iambic lines ^' But this statement,
at the very most, cannot be held to prove more than that in
Lucian's time iambic passages were sometimes sung or chanted.
It is no proof that such a practice ever existed in the classical
period. It is quite possible that in the second century a.d.,
when the chorus had either disappeared from tragedy, or been
very much curtailed, some of the more emotional portions of
the iambic dialogue may have been sung or chanted as a sort
of equivalent. But Lucian himself speaks of the practice with
disapproval, as a sign of bad taste and degeneracy. There can
be little doubt that in the classical period the ordinary iambic
dialogue was spoken. The only exception was in cases where
iambic lines occurred in close connexion with lyrical metres.
For instance, iambics are sometimes inserted in the midst of a
lyrical passage. At other times speeches in iambics alternate
with speeches in a lyrical metre, and the pairs of speeches are
^ Aristot. Poet. c. 6 to Se \(uph roh koX eKSaivovres rrjs KeKTiKrjs apfiovlas.
eiSeai to 5ia jxirpajv evia fiovov irepaive- ^ The mark C (canticum) denotes the
adai Koi ttclKiv erepa Sia fiiXovs, c. 4 to part which was sung, DV (diverbium)
re pLerpov Ik T€Tpapi€Tpov iapifiiTov eye- the part which was spoken. These
vero- TO pev yap irpojTov r(Tpap.€Tpa) marks are found in cod. vetus (B), and
kxpSjvTo dta TO oaTvpiKTjv koi opxTjOTKoj- cod. decurtatus (C), and the plays in
repav c7vai t^i/ TToirjaiv, Xe^cojs de yevo- which they occur are the Trinummus,
/x€vr]s avT^ 17 (pvffis to oucfiov p.€Tpov Paenolus, Pseudolus, Truculentus, and
eSpf, pdXiara yap Xcktikov twv piirpajv parts of others. See Christ, Metrik p.
TO iap.^Huv hariv aripiuov he tovtov, 677 ff.
irXeiara yap lap^eia \eyopi,ev ev ttj dia\eK- ^ Lucian, de Salt. 27 eviore koi nepia-
TO) Ty TTpbs dWrjKovs, e^afxerpa be dXiyd/cis Suv to, iajxPeia.
v.] SPEECH, SONG, AND RECITATIVE, 243
bound up into one metrical system \ In such cases no doubt the
iambics were sung, or given in recitative. But the ordinary
iambic dialogue, and in consequence the greater part of the
play, was spoken without musical accompaniment.
The only portions of a play which the actors had to sing
were the lyrical passages. In an actor's part the lyrical passages
consisted, in most cases, either of solos, or of joint performances
in which actors and chorus took part alternately. These solos
and musical duets were in tragedy confined mainly to lamenta-
tions and outbursts of griefs. In general it may be said that,
both in tragedy and comedy, song was substituted for speech
in those scenes where the emotions were deeply roused, and
found their fittest expression in music.
In addition to the declamation of the ordinary dialogue, and
the singing of the lyrical passages, there was also a third mode
of enunciation in use upon the Greek stage. It was called
' parakataloge,* and came half-way between speech on the one
hand, and song on the other. Its name was due to the fact that
it was allied in character to 'kataloge,' or ordinary declamation.
It corresponded closely to what is called recitative in modern
music, and consisted in delivering the words in a sort of chant,
to the accompaniment of a musical instrument. On account of
its intermediate character it was sometimes called ' speech,* and
sometimes ' song.* It was first invented by Archilochus, and
employed by him in the delivery of his iambics, which were
partly sung, and partly given in recitative. A special kind of
harp, called the klepsiambos, was originally employed for the
purpose of the accompaniment. Recitative was subsequently
introduced into the drama, as Plutarch expressly states^ It
^ Instances of iambics in the midst of yw.iiovw^iiv,ixova)Ua\ Aristot.Poet.c. 12.
lyrical passages are to be found in Aesch. ^ Plut. Mus. p. 1140P' aWa fXTjv kcu
Agam. 1160, 1 171, Aristoph. Acharn. 'Apxi^oxosTr]VTwvTpifj.(Tpo:vpv9fj.oirouav
492. Iambic passages in strophic ar- irpoae^evpc . . . Koi Tr]v irapaKaTaXoyrjv,
rangement with lyrics appear in Aesch, kuI rrjv irepl ravra Kpovaiv . . . eVt hi
Theb. 203-244, Soph. O. C. 1448-1 504. ruv la/xPdcuv to ra fxev \ey(a6ai -napa
^ Songs by the actors were called rd rr^v Kpovaiv, ra S' qSeaOai, 'Apxi-^oxov
anbrrj^ OK-qviis, ox {mtx2igG.dy) [xovcvhiai. (paai Kaiadei^ai, elO' ovtoj xpl^^^^^*-
Musical duets between actors and chorus tovs rpayiKovs TToirjrds. Athen. p.
were in tragedy called KopLfioi. Suidas 636 B kv oh yap (cpTjal) tovs Idfifiovs
R 2
244 THE ACTORS. [Ch.
is not easy to determine, by means of the slight and hazy
notices upon the subject, what were the particular portions
of a play in which recitative was employed. But there are
certain indications which seem to show that it was used in
the delivery of iambic, trochaic, and anapaestic tetrameters,
and of regular anapaestic dimeters. Thus it is distinctly
recorded of the actor Nicostratus that he gave trochaic tetra-
meters in recitative to the accompaniment of the flute \ Then
again, the two sets of trochaic tetrameters, which came at the
end of the parabasis, cannot have been sung, as their very
name implies. The probability therefore is that they were given
in recitative^. Thirdly, there is a passage in the Peace where
the metre changes abruptly from lyrics to trochaic tetrameters
without any break in the sentence ^. It is difficult to suppose
that in such a case a transition was made suddenly from song
to mere speech. But the transition from song to recitative
would have been quite feasible. Fourthly, it is asserted that
on those occasions when the speech of an actor was accompanied
by dancing on the part of the chorus, the metres employed
were mostly iambic and anapaestic tetrameters ^ But as it is
impossible, in the case of Greek performers, to imagine dancing
without a musical accompaniment, the verses must have been
given in recitative. Fifthly, in the parabasis to the Birds the
nightingale is asked to lead off the anapaests with the flute ;
and the scholiast remarks that ' the parabasis was often spoken
to the accompaniment of the flute ^' This statement means
that the anapaestic tetrameters, which constitute the parabasis
proper, were given in recitative. Lastly, there is the fact that
^^ov, la/jLPijKas (fcdkovv ev oh Se irape- * Schol. Arist. Nub. 1355 ovTa;s€\e7oi/
Koyi^ovTO TO. ev rois jXiTpois, KXeipidfi- irpbs x^P^'^ Xeyeiv, ore tov viroKpiTov
fiovs. Hesych. v. KaraXoyrj' to tcL SiariOe/xevov ttjv pTJaiv, 6 xopos ojpx^iTO.
^fffxara fii) urro fieKei Xeyeiv. Sib koi (KXeyovrai ws kiriTonXfiaTov kv
^ Xen. Symp. vi. 6 cuawep l^iKoarpaTos rois toiovtois rd Terpd/j-eTpa, ^ rd dva-
6 VTTOKpiT^i T€Tpd}i€Tpa Tipos TOV avXbv TraiGTiKa, -q Td lafil3iKd, bid to paSicos
KaTikfyev. k^nr'nTTUv kv tovtois tov toiovtov pvdfxov.
^ The two groups of trochaic tetra- ^ Aristoph. Av. 682-684 dXX', & KaX-
meters in the parabasis were called Xifioav KpeKova' \ avXbv (pOeyfxamv ■qpi-
kirlpprjfia and dvTi-nipprjpa. See Platon. vols, \ dpxov tcDj/ dvairaiaTOJV, and
in Dindf. Prolegom. de Comoed. p. 21. Schol. ad loc. voXXaKis npbs avXbv
5 Arist. Pax 1 171, 11 72. Xkyovai rds irapapdaeis.
v.] IMPORTANCE OF THE VOICE, 245
the terms ' speech ' and ' song ' are both used of anapaests, im-
plying that they occupied an intermediate position ^ For these
and other similar reasons it appears probable that recitative was
employed in passages written in the metres already specified,
that is to say, in iambic, trochaic, and anapaestic tetrameters,
and in regular anapaestic dimeters. It seems too that on
certain rare occasions it was used in lyrical passages ^ The
instrument employed, in dramatic performances, for the accom-
paniment of the recitative, as well as for the accompaniment of
the singing generally, was the flute ^ The l>arp had formerly
been used very frequently*. But it was found that the flute,
being a wind-instrument, harmonised better with the human
voiced However, the harp was occasionally introduced. In
the Frogs Aeschylus calls for the harp, when he is going to
give a specimen of the lyrics of Euripides. Similarly, in the
parody of the choruses of Aeschylus, the recurrence of the
refrain ' phlattothrat * points to an accompaniment on the harp^
§ 8. Importance of the Voice in Greek Acting.
In ancient acting the possession of a fine musical voipe was
a matter of absolute necessity. Several considerations will
make it evident that the voice of the actor, upon the Greek
stage, must have been far more important than it is at present.
In the first place a considerable portion of the words in every
Greek play were either sung, or delivered in recitative. In the
second place each actor had to play several parts in succession,
and to appear sometimes as a man, and sometimes as a woman.
It would be essential, therefore, to mark the difference between
^ The exodos, mostly consisting of show that they were not merely spoken ;
anapaests, is described as wmp kirl t^ the expression Xe^ovras eirt] in Aristoph.
k^oSqi Tov dpcLfiaTos aSerai in Schol. Arist. Equit. 508 proves that they were not
Vesp. 270, and as o e^iovres i^Sov in Poll. sung. See Christ, Metrik p. 680 if.
iv. 108. But in Dindf. Proll. de Com. ^ Aristot. Probl. xix. 6 did ri ij irapa-
p. 37 it is called to Itti reXci kfjofxevoy KaraXoyfj kv rais wSaTs rpayiKov ;
Tov xo/Joi!. As far as the anapaestic ^ Schol. Arist. Nub. 312, Vesp. 580;
tetrameters are concerned, the word Arist. Eccles. 890-892.
aSovras in Aristoph. Plut. 1209, and * Sext. Empir. p. 751, 21.
Hesych.'s definition of dvaTraiara as tcL ° Aristot. Probl. xix. 43.
kv Tais irapa^daeai rSiv x^P^^ ^ap-ara, ^ Aristoph. Ran. 1304, 1286.
246 THE ACTORS. [Ch.
the various personages by a corresponding variety in the tone
of voice employed ; and for this purpose an organ of great
flexibility and compass must have been required. In the third
place the whole character of Greek acting was largely modified
by the costume of the performers. A modern actor adds force
and emphasis to his speeches by means of the variety of his
facial expression. A single glance, a slight movement of the
features, is often enough to produce a very great effect. But
to the Greek actor this mode of impressing the spectators was
denied, owing to the use of masks. His features bore the same
settled expression throughout the play. Even his gestures, in
the case of tragedy, must have been very much restricted, owing
to the cumbersome dress which he had to wear. On account
of these limitations he was compelled to rely mainly upon his
voice for the purpose of expressing all the fleeting emotions of
the character he represented. Great skill and variety in the
modulation of his tones were needed to counterbalance the
absence of facial movement. Lastly, the Greek actor required
a voice of enormous power, in order to make himself heard.
When it is remembered that the theatre of Dionysus was in
the open air, and was capable of holding from twenty to
thirty thousand spectators, it will easily be seen that, in spite
of the excellence of the acoustic arrangements, the demands
upon the actor's voice must have been excessively great. For
these various reasons the first and most essential requisite in a
Greek actor was a powerful and expressive voice.
As a matter of fact, whenever an actor is mentioned by an
ancient author, he is referred to in language which at the
present day would seem much more appropriate to a notice of
an operatic singer. It is always the excellence of the voice
which is emphasised, little regard being paid to other accom-
plishments. And it is not so much the quality as the strength
of the voice which is commended. The highest merit, on the
Greek stage, was to have a voice that could fill the whole
theatre. Numberless passages from ancient authors might be
quoted in proof of this assertion, but a few specimens will
suffice. Of Neoptolemus, the great tragic actor, it is said that
v.] IMPORTANCE OF THE VOICE. 247
'his powerful voice' had raised him to the head of his pro-
fession ^. Licymnius, the actor mentioned in one of the letters
of Alciphron, won the prize for acting at a tragic contest on
account of 'his clear and resonant utterance^.' Dionysius, the
tyrant of Syracuse, on a certain occasion, being covetous of
distinction as a dramatic writer, despatched a company of
actors to the Olympic festival, to give a performance of
one of his tragedies. As he wished to ensure that the ex-
hibition should be of the highest excellence, he was careful to
choose 'actors with the best voices ^' In a similar manner the
emperor Nero prided himself on his talents as an actor. He
instituted a tragic contest at the Isthmian festival, in order to
display his powers. At this contest the actor Epeirotes 'was
in splendid voice, and as his tones were more magnificent than
ever, he won the greatest applause *.' The above passages are
in reference to particular actors. Remarks about acting in
general are of the same type. Demosthenes is reported to
have said that 'actors should be judged by their voices, poli-
ticians by their wisdom.' According to Zeno an actor was
bound to have ' a powerful voice and great strength.' Aristotle
defines the science of acting as being 'concerned with the
voice, and the mode of adapting it to the expression of the
different passions.' Lucian remarks that the actor is 're-
sponsible for his voice only.' Plato would expel 'the actors
with their beautiful voices' from his ideal stated Finally
there is the curious fact recorded by Cicero, that in the per-
formance of a Greek play, when the actors of the second and
third parts ' had louder voices ' than the protagonist, they used
to moderate and restrain their tones, in order to leave him the
' Diod. Sic. xvi. 92 NeoTrroXf/ios o (p(iivri% iywv , ^vhoKiyiwv V i-n avrr^ koX Qax-
TpayqjSos, irpomvctiv rrj fifyaXocpcuvia (xa^6fj.evos Xaf/.-npoTepa rod cIojOotos.
Koi T77 So^rj. * Plut. X orat. p. 848 B tovs viroKpi-
^ Alciph. iii. 48 ropoj rivi koi 7670;- rets ecpt] SeTv Kpiveiv Ik ttjs (pojvfjs. Diog.
voT(p<v ^cvvrjfJLaTi XPV^^H'^^^^' Laert. vii. 20 rijv jxkv <pojvTjv koi r^v
^ Diod. Sic. XV. 7 e^aireareiXe roiis ei- 8vvapi.iv pKydXrjv ex^"'. Aristot. Rhet,
{pcuvoTaTovsrajv vTTOKpiTav . . . ovToi 8€ TO iii. I. Lucian, de Salt. 27 fiovrjs rrfs
fi€V rrpcoTov Sia t-^v (vcpojviau k^iirXrjTTOV cpcuvijs lirevOvvov ■napex'^^ kavTov. Plat.
TOVS aKovovTas. Legg. 817 C KaXXi<p(tivoi vTTOKpnai.
* Lucian, Nero 90S' 'HTretpwTJ^s apiOTa
248 THE ACTORS, [Ch.
pre-eminence \ These passages, and others of the same kind
which might be quoted, read like notices about operatic singers
and musical performances, and prove conclusively the supreme
importance of the voice among the ancient Greek actors. The
principal reason was the immense size of the theatres, which
could only be filled by voices of great power. Hence in critical
notices of actors the strength of the voice is more regarded
than its quality.
Such being the requirements of the Greek stage, it was
necessary that the actors should receive a musical education as
elaborate as that of a professional singer in modern times.
Cicero . informs us that the Greek tragic actors spent many
years in the training of their voices, and used to test them,
before each performance, by running over all their notes from
the highest to the lowest "^ They had to be careful and ab-
stemious in their diet, as excess in eating and drinking was
found to be inconsistent with the possession of a good voice ^
The importance attached to this particular quality in the actor's
art was not always beneficial in its results. Actors were some-
times inclined to violate good taste by intruding into their
performances mere exhibitions of skill in the manipulation of
the voice. They were ready to catch the applause of the popu-
lace by startling effects, such as imitations of the rushing of
streams, the roaring of seas, and the cries of animals \ More-
over, it v/as a common fault among the ancient actors that, as
a result of excessive training, their voices sounded artificial
and unnatural. There was a special term to denote the forced
tpne of voice which was caused by too much exercise. Aristotle
remarks that one of the principal excellencies of the tragic actor
Theodorus was the thoroughly natural character of his delivery.
Unlike other actors he seemed to speak with his own voice ^
^ Cic. div. in Caecil. § 48 quum possit * Plut. Aud. Poet. 18 B.
aliquanto clarius dicere . . . multum sum- ^ Aristot. Rhet. iii. 2 bib 5h \av9d-
mittere, ut ille princeps quam maxime veiv iroiovuTas, koi fxr) SokcTv \eyav
excellat. TreTrXao'/ieVcyy dX\d irecpvKoTOJS . . . otov
^ Cic. de Orat. i. § 251. ^ (deodwpov (po:vT) iriTTovOe irpos rr)v tSjv
^ Aristot. Probl. xi. 22; Athen. p. dWoJv vnoKpiTcuv ^ fiev yap tov Keyov-
343 E. ros ioiKfv fJvai, at S' dXKorpiai.
v.] STYLE OF GREEK ACTING, 249
§ 9. Style of Greek Acting,
Both in tragic and comic acting a loud and exceedingly
distinct utterance must have been a matter of necessity. But in
comedy the tone of voice adopted appears, as was only natural,
to have been much less sonorous than that of the tragic actors,
and to have approached much more closely to the style of
ordinary conversation ^. In tragedy on the other hand it was
the conventional practice to declaim the verses with a loud and
ringing intonation, and to fill the theatre with a deep volume of
sound. Ancient authors often refer to the sonorous utterances
of the tragic stage ^ With bad actors the practice would easily
degenerate into mere bombast. Pollux mentions a series of
epithets such as 'booming' and 'bellowing,' which were applied
to actors guilty of such exaggeration. Socrates and Simylus,
the tragic actors with whom Aeschines went on tour in the
country districts of Attica, derived their nickname of 'the
Ranters ' from a fault of this kind ^
Another point which was required from ancient actors was
great distinctness in the articulation of the separate words, and
a careful observance of the rhythm and metre of the verses.
In this respect the Athenians were a most exacting audience.
Cicero speaks of their 'refined and scrupulous ear,' their
' sound and uncorrupted taste \' Ancient audiences in general
had a much keener ear for the melody of verse than is to
be found in a modern theatre. A slovenly recitation of
poetry, and a failure to emphasise the metre, would not have
been tolerated by them. Cicero remarks on the fact that,
though the mass of the people knew nothing about the
* Lucian, Anachar. c. 23 avroX h\ {ol rivi nal yeycovoTepcjj (pcuvrj/MTi XPV^^-
TpaywSol) jjieydXa t€ kneKpayfaav Kal /xevos : Lucian, 1. c. See also the pas-
SiePaivou ovk old' oircos aa^akSjs kv toTs sages quoted on p, 247.
vnoSrjixaai . . . ol be KcofxcvSoi fipaxvTepoi ^ Pollux (iv. 1 1 4), speaking of tragic
IX6V iKiivojv Kal iK^ol Kal dvOpojmvwTfpot acting, says eiirois 5' dv ^apvarovos vtto-
Kol ?iTrov ffioouv. KpiT7]s, ^ofiPSiv, irepifiofx^uiv, XrjKvdi^av,
^ Philostrat. vit. Apoll. v. 8 (p. 171 Xapvyyi^cov, (papvyyi^cov. Dem. de Cor.
Kayser) eTrei Se i^dpas r^v <pojvr]v yeyoj- § 262.
vby hcpOky^aro : Alciphron, iii. 48 rop^ * Cic. Orat. §§25, 27.
250 THE ACTORS. [Ch;
theory of versification, their instinctive feeling for rhythmical
utterance was wonderfully keen. He says that if an actor
should spoil the metre in the slightest degree, by making a
mistake about a quantity, or by dropping or inserting a syllable,
there would be a storm of disapproval from the audience ^. No
such sensitiveness is to be found in modern theatres. It is
common enough at the present day to hear blank verse de-^
claimed as if it were prose. But among the ancient Greeks
the feeling for correctness of rhythm in poetical recitations
was just as instinctive as is the feeling for correctness of tune
among ordinary musical audiences at the present time. If an
actor in a Greek theatre made a slip in the metre of his
verses, it was regarded in much the same way as a note out
of tune would be regarded in a modern concert-room. As a
consequence the mode of declamation practised on the ancient
stage must have been much more rhythmical than anything we
are now accustomed to, and the pauses and movements of the
metre must have been much more clearly emphasised.
The use of appropriate gesture, in the case of Greek acting,
was especially important, since facial expression was prevented
by the mask, and the actor had to depend solely on the tones of
his voice, and the effectiveness of his movements. In comedy,
as might be expected, the gesticulation was of a free and un-
constrained character, and is exemplified in numerous works
of art. In tragedy, on the other hand, the nature of the
actor's dress made rapid and violent movements impossible.
Even if they had been possible, they would have been incon-
sistent with the tone of the tragic stage. The world of Greek
tragedy was an ideal world of heroes and demigods, whose
nature was grander and nobler than that of human beings.
The realistic portrayal of ordinary human passions was foreign
to the purpose of Greek tragedy. Scenes of physical violence,
such as the forcible seizure of Antigone by Creon, were of
rare occurrence. To be in harmony with this elevation of
tone it was necessary that the acting should be dignified and
^ Cic. de Orat. iii. §§ 195, 196, Parad. § 26.
v.] THE ACTORS' GUILD. 251
self-restrained. Violent movements were avoided. A certain
statuesque simplicity and gracefulness of pose accompanied
all the gestures of the tragic actor. On the long and
narrow stage the figures were arranged in picturesque and
striking groups, and the successive scenes in the play presented
to the eye of the spectator a series of artistic tableaux. The
representations of tragic scenes and personages in ancient works
of art are characterised by a certain dignity and repose which
call to mind the creations of the sculptor. This sober and re-
strained style of acting was developed under the influence of
Aeschylus and Sophocles during the great period of Attic tragedy.
In later times a certain tendency to realism and exaggeration in
the gestures and the movements began to show itself The actors
of the fourth century were censured by many critics for having
degraded the art of acting from its former high level, and for
having introduced a style which was unworthy of the dignity of
the tragic stage. Callippides was called an ape by the old actor
Mynniscus because of the exaggerated vehemence of his
manner*. But as the tragic costume, with its unwieldy accom-
paniments, was retained with little alteration, it must have
prevented any great advance in the direction of realism and
freedom of movement. The statuesque style of acting continued
on the whole to be characteristic of the tragic stage, and was
indeed the only proper style for Greek tragedy.
§ 10. The Actors' Guild.
In the course of the fourth century the members of the
theatrical profession at Athens formed themselves into a guild,
for the purpose of protecting their interests and increasing their
importance. The members of the guild were called The Artists
of Dionysus. Poets, actors, and chorus-singers, trainers, and
musicians all belonged to the guild. When it first came into
^ Aristot. Poet. c. 26 17 fiiv ovv rpa- 86^a Kal rr(pl TlivSapov ^v . . . (ira ovde
ycuSia roiavr-q kariv, clj Koi ol irpuTepov Kivrjais diraca diroSoKi/xacrTea, direp firjd'
roi/s varipovs avrujv wovto viroKpiras , W9 opxrjais, dAA.' ^ (pavXoJV, ovep Kal KaWnr-
Xiav yap virfpfidWovra mO-qKov 6 Mvv- niSri kirerifidTo Kal vvv dXKois ws ovk
vicKos Tov KaWnrniSrjv kKaKu, TOiavTt] di kXfvdepas yvvaiKas /iifiov/xevwy.
25a THE ACTORS, [Ch.
existence is not known for certain. Sophocles is said to have
formed a sort of literary club, which may have been the proto-
type of the guild ; but it is possible that there was no connexion
between the two. At any rate it was fully established in the
time of Aristotle, by whom it is mentioned ^
The guild was of great value in maintaining and enforcing the
various privileges of the members of the theatrical profession.
These were of two kinds. In the first place actors were permitted
to travel through foreign and hostile states for the purpose of
giving dramatic performances. Even in time of war their persons
and property were ensured from violation. Owing to this custom
the actors Aristodemus and Neoptolemus were able to travel
frequently to and fro between Athens and Macedonia during
the height of the war, and to assist materially in the negotiation
of the peace ^ In the second place actors claimed to be
exempt from naval and military service, in order to pursue
their professional avocations in Athens and elsewhere. In the
time of Demosthenes this immunity from service was occa-
sionally granted, but had not yet hardened into an invariable
custom. Demosthenes mentions the cases of two members of
the theatrical profession who were severely punished for
avoiding military service. One of them was Sannio the chorus-
trainer, and the other was Aristides the chorus-singer. Meidias
also is said to have used the most strenuous exertions to pre-
vent the chorus of Demosthenes from being exempted from
service ^. At this time therefore it seems that such immunity was
sometimes granted and sometimes not. Later on the Guild of
Artists of Dionysus succeeded in getting the Amphictyonic
Council to pass a decree, by which the Athenians were bound
as a religious obligation to grant exemption from military service
to all members of the theatrical profession. In the same decree
the duty of allowing them a safe passage through their territories
was enforced upon the Greek nation generally. This decree
was renewed towards the beginning of the third century at the
* Vit. Soph, rais 5^ Mouaats diaaov nxv^T^i'
tK tSjv irfiraidfvixivMJ/ avvayaytiv. ^ Dem. Fals. Leg. § 3I5«
Aristot. Probl. xxx. lo oi AiovvaiaKot '^ Dem. Meid. §§ 15, 58-60.
v.] THE ACTORS' GUILD. 253
request of the Guild. A copy of the decree was engraved on
stone and erected in the theatre at Athens, and has fortunately
been preserved \ A translation of the more important passages
will be of interest, as throwing light upon the position of the
theatrical profession at Athens. It ran as follows : ' It was
resolved by the Amphictyonic Council that security of person
and property, and exemption from arrest during peace and war,
be ensured to the artists of Dionysus at Athens ; . . . . that
they enjoy that exemption from military service and that personal
security which has previously been granted to them by the
whole Greek nation; that the artists of Dionysus be exempt
from naval and military service, in order that they may hold the
appointed celebrations in honour of the gods at the proper
seasons, and be released from other business, and consecrated
to the service of the gods ; that it be unlawful to arrest or seize
an artist of Dionysus in time of war or peace, unless for debt
due to a city or a private person ; that if an artist be arrested in
violation of these conditions, the person who arrests him, and
the city in which the violation of the law occurs, be brought to
account before the Amphictyonic Council ; that the immunity
from service and personal security which is granted by the
Amphictyonic Council to the artists of Dionysus at Athens be
perpetual ; that the secretaries cause a copy of this decree to be
engraved on a stone pillar and erected in the temple, and
another sealed copy of the same to be sent to Athens, in order
to show the Athenians that the Amphictyonic Council are deeply
concerned in the observance of religious duties at Athens, and
are ready to accede to the requests of the artists of Dionysus,
and to ratify their present privileges, and confer such other
benefits upon them as may be possible.' In this decree it is
very noticeable that dramatic performances are treated through-
out as religious observances in honour of the gods, and the
members of the theatrical profession are regarded as ministers
consecrated to the service of the gods. The maintenance of
their privileges is therefore a religious obligation in which the
Amphictyonic Council is deeply interested. The religious
^ Corp. Inscr. Att. ii. 551.
ii54 I^HE ACTORS. [Ch.
character of the old Greek drama has already been pointed
out at the commencement of the first chapter.
Another inscription has been preserved referring to the
Athenian Guild of Artists of Dionysus\ It appears that the
Guild had a sacred enclosure and altar at Eleusis, where they
were accustomed to offer libations to Demeter and Kore at the ^
time of the Eleusinian mysteries. During the disturbances of
the Sullan campaigns the altar was dismantled, and the yearly
celebrations discontinued. The inscription is a decree of the
Guild thanking a certain Philemon for his exertions in restoring
the altar and renewing the annual ceremonies.
From the time of the fourth century onwards guilds of actors
similar to that at Athens were rapidly formed in various places
throughout the Greek-speaking world. In this way the master-
pieces of Greek tragedy were made familiar to the most remote
districts to which Greek civilisation had penetrated. But it is
beyond the scope of the present work to trace the progress of
the Greek drama outside the limits of Athens and Attica.
§ II. Social position of Actors,
In Greece the profession of the actor was an honourable one,
and there was no suspicion of degradation about it, as there
was in Rome^. Actors and other dramatic performers were
regarded as ministers of religion. In the dramatic exhibitions
at Athens the actors were placed on the same level as the
poets and choregi. Their names were recorded in the public
archives, and in commemorative tablets; and competitions in
acting were established side by side with the competitions
between the poets. It is true that Aeschines is very frequently
taunted by Demosthenes with his theatrical career, but the
taunts are due to the fact, not that he was an actor, but that
he was an unsuccessful one. Actors at the head of their pro-
^ Corp. Inscr. Att. ii. 552. tragic actor) huic genus et fortuna ho-
^ Corn. Nep. praef. 5 in scaenam nesta erant ; nee ars, quia nihil tale
vero prodire et populo esse spectaculo apud Graecos pudori est, ea deforma.-
nemini in iisdem gentibus fuit turpidu- bat.
dini. Livy xxiv. 24 (of Ariston the
v.] SOCIAL POSITION OF ACTORS. 2^^
fession occupied a very distinguished position. Aristodemus,
the tragic actor, was on two occasions sent as ambassador to
Macedon by the Athenians, and was largely instrumental in
negotiating the peace \ The great Athenian actors were much
sought after by the monarchs of the time. Aristodemus and
Neoptolemus were frequently at the court of Philip, and
Thessalus and Athenodorus at the court of Alexander^.
Thessalus was a great favourite with Alexander, and was
employed by him on delicate missions I The leading actors
seem to have made large incomes. For instance, Polus told
Demosthenes that he was paid a talent for acting during two
days only'*. It is not stated whether the performance to which
he refers took place at Athens, or elsewhere; but in all
probability it was in some foreign state. There is no evidence
to show what salaries were paid to the actors at the great
Athenian festivals.
As for the lower ranks of the profession, the tritagonists,
chorus-singers, musicians, and so on, though there was nothing
dishonourable about their calling, their reputation does not
seem to have been very high. Their strolling and uncertain
manner of life seems to have had a bad effect upon their
character. Aristotle, in his Problems, asks the question why
it is that the artists of Dionysus are generally men of bad
character? He thinks the reason is partly due to the vicis-
situdes in their fortunes, and the rapid alternations between
luxury and poverty, partly to the fact that their professional
duties left them no time for general culture^. His remarks of
course apply mainly to the lower grades of the profession.
§ 12. Celebrated Athenian Actors.
Before concluding this account of Greek acting some notice of
the principal Greek actors may not be out of place. Unfortu-
^ Aesch. Fals. Leg. §§ 15-19 ; Dem. ^ Plut. Alex. 669 D.
de Cor. § 21. * Plut. X orat. p. 848 B. Gellius,
2 Dem. Fals. Leg. § 315, de Pace N. A. xi, 9, gives the same story about
§ 6 ; Diod. Sic. xvi. 92 ; Plut. Alex. Aristodemus.
681 D. ^ Aristot. Probl. xxx. 10.
2^6 THE ACTORS. [Ch.
nately in most cases little more is known about them than their
names. Several tragic actors of the fifth century are referred to
by ancient writers, such as Cleander and Mynniscus, the actors
of Aeschylus, and Cleidemides and Tlepolemus, the actors of
Sophocles \ But no details are recorded as to their individual
characteristics and different styles. One interesting fact is
known about Mynniscus, to the effect that he considered the
acting of his successors as deficient in dignity and over- realistic.
He was especially severe upon Callippides, the representative
of the younger generation of actors ^ This Callippides was
notorious for his conceit. On one occasion, when he was giving
himself airs in the presence of Agesilaus the Spartan, he was
considerably disconcerted by being asked by the latter whether
he was * Callippides the pantaloon ^' Another tragic actor of
the same period was Nicostratus, who was especially excellent
in his delivery of the long narrative speeches of the messengers.
His style was so perfect that to 'do a thing like Nicostratus'
came to be a proverbial expression for doing it rightly "*.
But it was in the age of Demosthenes that the most cele-
brated group of tragic actors flourished. Among them was
Polus of Aegina, who was considered to be the greatest actor of
his time, and whose name is very frequently referred to by
later writers. He was one of the actors who had the credit of
having taught elocution to Demosthenes ^ At the age of
sevent}', and shortly before his death, he performed the feat
of acting eight tragedies in four days^ A well-known story
is told about him to the following effect. Soon after the
death of a favourite son, he happened to be acting the part of
Electra in the play of Sophocles. In the scene in which
Electra takes in her hands the urn supposed to contain
the ashes of Orestes, and pours forth a lamentation over his
death, Polus came upon the stage with the urn containing the
ashes of his own son, and holding it in his hands proceeded to
^ Vit. Aesch. ; Schol. Aristoph. Ran. deiKijXifcras ;
803, Nub. 1267. * Macar. Cent. iii. 46; Prov. Coisl.
^ Aristot. Poet. c. 26. 124.
^ Xen. Symp. iii. 11 ; Pint. Ages. p. « Rhet. Graec. vi. p. 35 (Walz).
607 D dWd oil avye kaal KaWiinridas 6 ^ Plut. an sen. 785 C.
v.] CELEBRATED ATHENIAN ACTORS. 257
act the scene with such profound depth of feeling as to produce
the greatest impression upon the audience. As Gellius remarks,
the acting in this case was no fiction, but a reality \ Another of
the great actors of this time was Theodorus, about whom a few
facts are recorded. The exceedingly natural tone of his de-
livery, and his habit of never permitting any of the subordinate
actors to appear upon the stage before himself, have already
been referred to. He considered that tragedy was much more
difficult to act in than comedy, and once told the comic actor
Satyrus that it was easy enough to make an audience laugh, but
to make them weep was the difficulty^. His own powers in this
respect were very great. Once when acting in Thessaly he
produced such an effect upon the brutal tyrant Alexander of
Pherae, that Alexander was compelled to leave the theatre,
because, as he afterwards told Theodorus, he was ashamed to
be seen weeping over the sufferings of an actor, while he was
perfectly callous about those of his countrymen ^. The tomb of
Theodorus, close to the banks of the Cephisus, was still to be
seen in the time of Pausanias ^.
The other leading tragic actors of this period were Aristo-
demus, Neoptolemus, Thessalus, and Athenodorus. The two
former were frequently at the court of Philip, and took a
large part in bringing about the peace of Philocrates. They
are therefore denounced by Demosthenes as traitors to their
country, and advocates of Philip's interests^. Neoptolemus
was the actor who, at the banquet held in Philip's palace on
the day before his assassination, recited a passage out of a
tragedy bearing upon the uncertainty of human fortune, and
the inexorable power of death. The fact was afterwards re-
membered as an ominous coincidence ^ Thessalus and Athen-
odorus were often rivals. At T^re, after the return of
Alexander from Egypt, they were the principal competitors in
the great tragic contest, in which the kings of Cyprus were the
choregi, and the chief generals of the army acted as judges.
* Gell. N. A. vii. 5. * Pausan. i. 37. 3.
^ Plut. de se laud. 545 F. ' See above, p. 255.
^ Ael. Var. Hist. xiv. 40. * Diod. Sic. xvi. 92.
258 THE ACTORS.
On this occasion Athenodorus won, to the great grief of Alex-
ander, who said he would have given a part of his kingdom
to have ensured the victory of Thessalus \ The same two actors
were also competitors at the City Dionysia in the year 341, but
both of them were then beaten by Neoptolemus ^
Among the Greeks the distinction between the tragic and the
comic actors was as complete as that between the tragic and
comic poets ^, There are no instances during the classical
period of an actor attempting both branches of the profession.
Still less is recorded about the great comic actors than about
the actors of tragedy. A few names are mentioned, but there
is almost a total absence of details concerning their style and
mannerisms. We are told that one of Hermon's jests was to
knock the heads of his fellow-actors with a stick, and that
Parmenon was celebrated for his skill in imitating the grunting
of a hog^ Interesting criticisms on the acting and the actors
in comedy are unfortunately nowhere to be found.
^ Plut. Alex. 681 D. KpiToi KO)fi(vdois TCKal rpayajSots otavroi.
^ Corp. Inscr. Att. ii. 973. * Schol. Aristoph. Nub. 542 ; Plut.
3 Plat. Rep. 395 B dW ov8i toi vrro- Aud. Poet. 18 B.
CHAPTER VL
THE CHORUS.
§ I. History of the Chorus.
The history of the chorus in the Greek drama is a history of
gradual decay. In the earliest period, when both tragedy and
comedy were mainly lyrical, the members of the chorus were the
sole performers. After the introduction of actors and dialogue
the chorus still continued for a time to play the leading part.
But from the beginning of the fifth century it began slowly to
dwindle in importance, until at length it disappeared almost
entirely from comedy, and sank even in tragedy to the position
of the band in a modern theatre. As far as tragedy is con-
cerned the process of decline can be traced with clearness in
the existing dramas. It takes two distinct forms. In the first
place there is a gradual diminution in the length of the part
assigned to the chorus ; in the second place there is a tendency
to withdraw the chorus from all active participation in the plot.
First, as to the length of the choral part. In the Supplices, the
oldest of existing Greek tragedies, the part of the chorus forms
no less than three-fifths of the whole composition. In the other
plays of Aeschylus, with the exception of the Prometheus, the
average length of the choral part is nearly a half. In the
tragedies of Sophocles the size is very much reduced. The
choral part in Sophocles varies from about a quarter of the
whole in the Ajax and the Antigone to about a seventh in the
S 2
26o THE CHORUS, [Ch.
Electra and Philoctetes. In Euripides it varies from about
a quarter in such plays as the Bacchae and Alcestis to about a
ninth in the Orestes. It appears therefore that in the course of
the fifth century the part of the chorus was gradually but con-
tinuously reduced in size. In the second place, side by side
with the diminution in bulk, there was a constant tendency to
diminish the importance of the chorus by severing its con-
nexion with the plot. In the lyrical tragedies of the earliest
period the chorus was no doubt on most occasions the principal
object of interest, and took the leading part in the conduct of
the piece. This is still the case in some of the extant tragedies
of Aeschylus. In the Supplices, for instance, the whole subject
of the plot is the destiny of the fugitive maidens who form the
chorus. It is their adventures which excite the sympathy of
the audience ; the other characters are of very little signifi-
cance. Again in the Eumenides the interest centres chiefly
round the conduct and feelings of the chorus of Erinyes. But
in the other plays of Aeschylus the chorus begins to take very
much the same position as it occupies in the plays of vSophocles,
and the earlier plays of Euripides. It was at this period that
Attic tragedy was brought to its highest perfection, and the
question as to the proper place of the chorus in the plot was
solved in the manner most consistent with the genius of the
Greek drama. In Sophocles, in most of the later plays of
Aeschylus, and the earlier plays of Euripides, the chorus per-
forms two distinct functions. During the progress of the
dialogue it plays the part of a sympathetic witness, following
the course of the action with the keenest interest, but seldom
actively interfering. Its general character is that of the better
class of ordinary citizens. But during the choral odes which
fill up the pauses in the action it takes an altogether higher
tone. It then becomes the mouthpiece of the poet, uttering in
sublime language reflexions upon the events which have just
taken place, and expounding the hidden purposes of the gods.
Such is the position of the chorus in the best period of Greek
tragedy. It is altogether subordinated to the actors, and
seldom takes a prominent part in the incidents of the play.
VI.] HISTORY OF THE CHORUS, 261
But at the same time, whether it is acting the part of a sym-
pathetic spectator, or serving merely as the mouthpiece of the
poet, all its utterances have a distinct reference to the plot
which is being worked out upon the stage. Nothing irrelevant
is introduced. The dialogue and the choral element are skil-
fully interwoven into one harmonious whole. But in the later
tragedies of Euripides the position of the chorus is altered very
much for the worse. A tendency is observable to sever all
connexion between the chorus and the action of the play.
Choral odes are introduced, which have no particular reference
to the individual tragedy, but consist merely of picturesque
descriptions of scenes from the ancient mythology. This
tendency was carried still further by Agathon, whose choral
odes were professedly mere interludes, and might be trans-
ferred from one play to another. His example was followed by
the later tragic poets, so that in the course of the fourth century
the tragic chorus came to occupy the position of the band in
modern times \ Its functions were limited to the duty of
providing music and singing between the several acts of a
tragedy. The history of the comic chorus was very similar;
but the steps of the process cannot be traced in detail, since the
works of only one comic poet have been preserved. In the
Plutus, the last of the extant comedies of Aristophanes, the
chorus is already reduced to the very slightest proportions.
Soon afterwards it practically disappeared. In the New
Comedy, which was essentially a comedy of every-day life, a
chorus would have been altogether out of place ^
* Aristot. Poet. c. 18. KcunaSias. Apparently, however, some
* Platonius ap. Dindf. Prolegom. de sort of a chorus was occasionally intro-
Comoed. p. 20 tu/v yap x^PVy^^ f^V duced in the New Comedy, but its
X'^ipoTovoviiivojv Kal twu xopfV7"a)i' ovK position was altogether subordinate and
ixovrcuj/ ras Tpo(pas vn€^r)p46Tj rijs Kcopcv- insignificant. See vit. Aristoph. (Dindf.
bias TO, xopiKo. p-iKr}, Kal tmv viroOeacoov ProU. de Com. p. 36) irdKiv 5e (k\€\oi-
6 TpoTTOS p.€T€Pkr)6r], -p. 21 Kol ras irapa- ttotos Kal tov x^PVY^^^ '''^^ n\ovTov
/Sacrets iraprjTriaavTO, 5ia to tovs x^Rovs ypaxpas (h to diavairavcaOai rci (TKrjviKa
(mXfiifai, xoprjytoy ovk ovtojv. Anon, de irpoacuira Kal peT((TK€va(x9ai, eiriypdcpfi
Comoed. ap. Dindf. I.e. p. 27 7171' re X^P^^> (pOiyyofxevos kv iKtivois a Kal
yap vnoOeaiv ovk dX-qOi} ex^h ''^ot x^P^^ opwpev tovs veovs ovtok (inypd(povTas
earepTjTai, oirtp TrJ9 vecoripas virrjpx^ Cv^V ' ApicrTocpdvovs.
262 THE CHORUS, [Cfi.
§ 2. Size of the Chorus,
The tragic chorus, being a direct descendant of the old dithy-
rambic choruses, originally consisted of fifty members \ After
all connexion between tragedy and the dithyramb had been
severed, the number of the choreutae in a tragic chorus was
reduced to twelve. It has been suggested that this number was
due to the practice of each poet exhibiting four tragedies at a
time. It is supposed that the original chorus of fifty was divided
as equally as possible among the four tragedies, so that each
chorus came to consist of twelve members. The conjecture is
a plausible one, but cannot be regarded as certain, owing to the
scantiness of our information concerning the early history of
tragedy. The size of the tragic chorus remained unaltered
until the time of Sophocles, and in all the earlier plays of
Aeschylus twelve choreutae are employed. Sophocles raised
the number from twelve to fifteen ", After his time there was
no further change, and during the remaining period of the Attic
drama the tragic chorus was always composed of fifteen per-
sons. The various technical terms which refer to the arrange-
ment of the tragic chorus are all based on the supposition
that it is a chorus of fifteen. It is not quite certain whether
the innovation of Sophocles was adopted by Aeschylus in his
later plays. The Oresteia of Aeschylus was brought out
ten years after the first appearance of Sophocles ; and it has
been contended that the chorus in this trilogy contained fifteen
members. But there is hardly sufficient evidence to deter-
mine the matter with any certainty ^ However on general
^ Poll. iv. no. Pollux further states with his Eumenides.
that the number continued to be fifty ^ Suid. v. ^o(pofcXT}s ; Vit. Soph. p. 2
until the Eumenides of Aeschylus was Dindf.
produced; and that the people were ^ The decision ofthe question depends
so alarmed at the sight of the fifty on the passage in the Agamemnon, vv.
Erinyes that they passed a law reduc- 1344-1371. There is no doubt that the
ing the number ofthe tragic chorus. twelve iambic couplets, 1348-1371, were
The story is of course a fiction, on a delivered by twelve choreutae. The
par with the statement in the Life, that difficulty is to decide whether the three
Aeschylus was banished to Sicily as a trochaic tetrameters, 1344, 1346, and
punishment for terrifying the people 1347, were delivered by three additional
VI.] SIZE OF THE CHORUS. 263
grounds it seems probable that Aeschylus should have followed
the example of Sophocles. At any rate there is no doubt
that after the middle of the fifth century the number of the
choreutae was fixed at fifteen ^. The satyric chorus was of the
same size as the tragic— a natural result of the intimate con-
nexion between tragedy and the satyric drama ^ The comic
chorus, throughout all the period with which we are acquainted,
invariably consisted of twenty-four members. All the authorities
are unanimous on the subject \
The size of the chorus in the Greek drama was regulated by
invariable custom, and no alteration was ever made to suit the
requirements of a particular play. For instance, in the Sup-
plices of Aeschylus the number of the Danaides was fifty, but
the chorus consisted of only twelve maidens, who did duty for
the fifty. Again, in the Eumenides the proper number of the
chorus should have been three, if the legend had been accurately
adhered to. But the number of Erinyes was raised from three
to twelve or fifteen in order to keep up the ordinary size of the
chorus. In this respect, as usual, the Greeks were careless
about minute accuracy.
§ 3. Costume of the Chorus.
The costume of the chorus is a subject in regard to which the
information is not very copious. Masks were universally worn by
choreutae, or by the coryphaeus. Either 585. The number is given as fourteen
view is plausible, and it seems impos- in Vit. Aesch.; Bekk. Anecd. p. 746;
sible to determine the matter without Tzetzes, Prolegom. ad Lycophron, p.
further evidence. The statement of 254 M. The explanation of the dis-
Schol. Arist. Equit, 586, that the crepancy lies in the fact that when the
chorus in the Agamemnon was fifteen chorus is said to consist of fourteen
in number, is merely an inference from members the coryphaeus is not included,
the passage just referred to. The state- ^ Xzetzes 1. c. r^v l\ rpaya^Siav koI
ment of Schol. Aesch. Eum. 585, that rovs aarvpovs eiricrrjs fxev ex^iv x^P^VTas
the chorus in the Eumenides consisted la' (? 18'). Id. apud Dubner, Prolegom.
of fifteen persons, is simply grounded on de Com. p. xxiv. eKKaiSeKa 5e aaTvpcuv,
the assumption that the number was TpayofSias. Though the numbers are
the same as in later times. In neither wrong in both passages, it is plain that
case is the evidence of any independent the tragic and satyric choruses were of
value. the same size.
1 Fifteen is the number given in Poll. ^ Poll. iv. 109 ; Schol. Arist. A v.
iv. 109; Suid. v. xopos; Schol. Arist. Av. 298, Acham. 210; Bekk. Anecd. p.
298, P:quit. 586 ; Schol. Aesch. Eum. 746, &c., &c.
264 THE CHORUS, [Ch.
the chorus, as well as by the actors upon the stage ^ The tragic
chorus was usually composed of old men, or women, or maidens.
In such cases they wore the ordinary Greek dress, consisting of
a tunic and a mantle. No attempt was made to give them an
impressive appearance by the use of strange and magnificent
costumes, similar to those worn by the actors. Such costumes
were perfectly appropriate to the heroes and gods upon the
stage, but would have been out of place in the chorus, which
was generally supposed to represent the ordinary public. The
masks of the tragic chorus would of course be suitable to the
age and sex of the persons represented. A special kind of
white shoe, said to be the invention of Sophocles, was worn by
the tragic chorus ^. Old men usually carried a staffs. Various
little details in dress and equipment would be added according
to circumstances. Thus the chorus of bereaved matrons in
the Supplices of Euripides were dressed in black garments,
and had their hair cut short, as a sign of mourning, and car-
ried branches twined with wool, the symbol of supplication,
in their hands. The chorus of maidens in the Choephori,
who had come to offer libations at the tomb of Agamem-
non, were also dressed in black*. In some cases the tragic
chorus was altogether of an exceptional character, and required
a special costume. In the Supplices of Aeschylus the daugh-
ters of the Aegyptian Danaus appear to have been dressed as
foreigners. Probably the same was the case with the Persian
Elders in the Persae. The Bacchantes in the play of Euripides
carried tambourines in their hands, and were doubtless also
provided with fawn-skins and wands of ivy^ But no tragic
chorus ever caused a greater sensation than the chorus of
Erinyes in the Eumenides of Aeschylus. Their costume was
designed by Aeschylus himself, and the snakes in the hair,
which afterwards became one of their regular attributes, were
specially invented for the occasion. As they rushed into the
^ Pausan. i. 28. 6; Schol. Arist. * Eur. Suppl. 10, 97; Aesch. Choeph.
Clouds 343 ; Wieseler, Denkmal. vi. 2. 10, 11.
^ Vit, Soph. 5 Aesch. Suppl. 234-236 dveWrjva
^ Aesch. Agam. 75 ; Eur. Here. Fur. aroXov \ ireirXoiai fiapfidpoiai Kal nvKvu-
108. fjuxoi I x^'o^'To ; Eur. Bacch. 58.
VI.]
COSTUME OF THE CHORUS.
265
orchestra, their black dresses, distorted features, and snaky
locks, are said to have inspired the spectators with terror ^
But this chorus was of a very exceptional kind. In most cases
the tragic chorus was composed of ordinary men and women,
and their dress was that of every-day life.
The dress of the satyrs in the chorus of the satyric drama
was of a very simple character. It is depicted in several works
of art, and the accuracy of the delineation is confirmed by the
descriptions in ancient writers. The present illustration repre-
sents three members of a satyric chorus, and is taken from the
vase-painting referred to in previous chapters ^. The only dress
of the satyrs was a rough goat-skin round the loins, with a tail
hanging down behind. The phallus was invariably worn. The
mask was provided with a shock of bushy hair, and exhibited
coarse and lascivious features ^ Apart from the goat-skin the
satyrs are represented as perfectly naked*. It has been sug-
^ Aesch. Eum. 52 ; vit. Aesch. p. 4
Dindf. ; Poll. iv. no; Pausan. i. 28. 6.
^ The illustration is from Wieseler,
Denk. vi. 2. The original is a Greek
vase-painting, with the names of the
actors appended in many cases. See
chap. V. p. 231.
^ Cp. Dion. Hal. A. R. vii. 72 roTs
5^ 6ts ^arvpovs ((iKaadiiai) Trfpi^w/j.ara
KOI dopal rpdyajv Kal opOorpix^s kvl
rais Kf<pa\ais (j>6fiai Kal 6aa tovtois
0/jt.oia : Eur. Cycl. 439.
* Cp. Hor. A. P. 221 mox etiam
agrestes Satyros midavit.
266 THE CHORUS. [CH.
gested that in the theatre they wore sHppers and some sort of
flesh-coloured tights. But it is not necessary to suppose that
this was the case. In the illustration one of the choreutae is
wearing his mask upon his head, and is fully attired as a satyr ;
the others are carrying their masks in their hands.
The chorus of the Old Comedy, when it consisted of men and
women, was dressed in the tunic and mantle of ordinary life.
The mantle was laid aside for the purpose of dancing, as the
dances of the Old Comedy were of a wild and energetic cha-
racter, and required freedom of action \ The masks were of a
ludicrous type, with the features distorted ^. In addition to the
ordinary choruses of men and women a great many of the
choruses of the Old Comedy consisted of fanciful personifi-
cations of various kinds. Such, for example, was the chorus of
Clouds in Aristophanes, the chorus of Seasons in Cratinus, the
chorus of Trifles in Pherecrates, and the chorus of Towns and
of Cities in Eupolis \ In all these cases the dress and general
make-up appear to have been of a grotesque character, and only
in a remote degree emblematic of the ideas and objects per-
sonified. For instance, the Clouds of Aristophanes appeared as
women dressed in gaily-coloured garments, and wore masks
of a ridiculous type, with long noses and other exaggerations.
The only resemblance to clouds was in the colours of the
dresses ^ Probably in other similar cases the personification
was carried out in the same rough and ready manner. Another
large class of choruses was composed of various kinds of
animals. Aristophanes had a chorus of Birds and of Wasps.
Magnes, a comic poet belonging to the earlier part of the fifth
century, introduced choruses of Birds, of Insects, and of Frogs.
Eupolis had a chorus of Goats, and Archippus a chorus of
Fishes ^ It would be highly interesting to know how the cos-
^ Arist. Achar. 627 dW' dTroSwres €<j$tjti ttoikiXt) ;(^pa>/x€i/a9, iva ra rwv
rois ova-naiaTois knicufKv : Thesm. 656 ovpavicav cl>v\dTTOjai axyjH-o-Ta : id. 343
rwv 6 Ifiariojv a-wobvaas. elcreXrjXvOacn yap 01 tov X''^P^^ irpoaooireia
'^ Schol. Arist. Nub. 343. irepiKcijxevoi pieydKas exovra pTvas Kcd
^ Meineke, Frag. Com. Gr. ii. pp. dWws yeXoTa nal daxvp^ova.
162, 296, 455, 507. ^ Aristoph. Equit. 522, 523; Meineke,
* Schol, Arist. Nub. 289 /xeAAct 5c F. C. G. ii. pp. 426, 718.
Tas HeipiXas yvvaiKopi.6p(ppvs dadyeiv,
VI.]
COSTUME OF THE CHORUS.
267
tume of the chorus was managed in such cases. Fortunately
a contemporary vase-painting has been discovered which throws
great Hght upon the subject. A copy of the painting is here
inserted ^ The vase is of Athenian workmanship, and belongs
to the first half of the fifth century. The scene represents a
chorus of men dressed as birds, dancing to the accompaniment
of the flute. The bodies of the choreutae are covered with a
close-fitting dress, made in rough imitation of feathers. Two
long ends hang down from each side of the waist, and a bunch
of feathers is affixed to each knee. The arms are provided with
wings. A row of upright feathers is attached to the crown of
the head, and the mask is made with a long and pointed nose,
suggestive of the beak of a bird. This painting has the unique
advantage of being a piece of contemporary workmanship.
Whether it is intended to represent one of the old comic
choruses, or merely some mimetic dance unconnected with the
drama, there can be no doubt that it affords a very clear in-
dication of the manner in which animals were imitated in the
choruses of the Old Comedy. There appears to have been
^ The illustration is taken, by per-
mission of the Council of the Hellenic
Society, from the Journal of Hellenic
Studies, vol. ii. no. 2, plate xiv. B. See
Mr. Cecil Smith's interesting article on
the subject*
268 THE CHORUS, [Oh.
none of the realism one meets with in a modern pantomime.
The imitation was only carried so far as to be generally sug-
gestive of the animal intended. The body and legs were left
unfettered, to allow of free movement in the dance. At the
same time, to judge from the specimen before us, the costumes
seem to have been designed with a great deal of spirit and
humour, and to have been extremely well adapted to the pur-
pose for which they were intended.
§ 4. Arrangement of the Chorus.
Except on rare occasions the dramatic choruses were drawn
up in formations of military regularity, both on their first
entrance, and during the progress of the play. They presented
a perfectly symmetrical appearance in the orchestra. In this
respect they oifer a contrast to the choruses in a modern opera,
and to the crowds which are introduced upon the modern stage.
As a rule no attempt was made to imitate the fluctuating move-
ments and haphazard grouping of an ordinary crowd. The
chorus marched into the orchestra, and took up its position
before the stage, with the regularity and precision of a body of
soldiers. In all dramatic choruses — tragic, comic, and satyric^
the rectangular formation was invariably adopted, as opposed
to the circular arrangement of the dithyrambic choruses \
Every dramatic chorus, when drawn up in this way, consisted of
a certain number of 'ranks,' and a certain number of 'files.'
For instance, the tragic chorus, with its fifteen members, con-
tained five ranks of three men each, and three files of five men
each. Similarly the comic chorus, which was composed of
twenty-four persons, contained six ranks of four men each, and
four files of six men each. According to the Attic phraseology
a chorus was said to be drawn up 'by ranks,' when the different
members of the same rank stood one behind the other. It was
said to be drawn up ' by files ' when the members of the same
^ Tzetzes, Prolegom. ad Lycophron, Bekk. Anecd. p. 746 ; Et. Mag. v. rpa-
p. 254 M, rpa')iiKwv bi Koi aarvpiKo/v ycfiSia ; vit. Aristoph. (Dindf. Prolegom.
Kal KcxjjxiKoJv TtoirjTaiv Koivbv /xkv to t€t- de Com. p. 36).
pa'ifwvws «x**'' laTafxevov rbv xopov :
VI.] ARRANGEMENT OF THE CHORUS. 269
file were one behind the other. Accordingly, when a tragic
chorus was drawn up 'by ranks/ the men stood five abreast
and three deep. When it was drawn up 'by files/ they stood
three abreast and five deep. The same regulations applied to
the comic chorus. It might be arranged 'by ranks/ with the
men six abreast and four deep ; or ' by files/ with the men four
abreast and six deep \ The arrangements throughout were of
this military character. In fact the training of a choreutes was
considered by many of the ancient writers to be an excellent pre-
paration for warlike service ^
In the great majority of cases the chorus was supposed to
consist of persons from the neighbourhood, and therefore
entered the orchestra by the western passage. Their right
side was towards the stage, and their left side towards the
spectators. As a consequence, the left side of the chorus was
much the most conspicuous and important, and the best-trained
choreutae were placed there ^ The tragic chorus might enter
five abreast and three deep, or three abreast and five deep,
according as the formation was by ranks or by files. As a matter
of fact the arrangement by files was the one almost invariably
adopted. There are several technical terms in connexion with
the tragic chorus, and they all refer to a chorus which is sup-
posed to be entering from the western side, and to be drawn up
three abreast and five deep. An oblong formation of this kind
would evidently be more convenient in the narrow side-entrances,
and would present a broader surface to the spectators and to the
stage. A diagram is here inserted, representing a tragic chorus
entering three abreast from the western parodos. It will enable
the reader to follow the various technical phrases with less
^ Poll. iv. 108, 109 K(u TpayiKov n\v "^ Athen. p. 628 F.
Xopov ^vya TrivTf eK rpiojv Kal aroixoi ^ Schol. Aristid. iii. p. 535 Dindf.
rpeis Ik Ttevre' irevTeKaibcKa yap r,aav oTd d(Tr,€crav ol X^pot Trkayioos liadi^ovres
6 xopos. Kal Kara rpeis fiev dcrijeaav, knoiovvTO rovs VfjLvovs fcal uxov rovs
€1 Kara ^vya y'lvoiTO fj irapohos- ei Se Oeards kv apiarfpa avruv Kal ol trpwroi
Kard. cTToixovs, dva irevre elarjeaav . . . tov x^P°^ dpicrrepov otoixov, p. 5^6
o Se KcofxiKos xopo? reTrapes Kol e'lKocriv Tom ovv KaXovs rojv x^^P^^t^^ erarrov
rjaav ol x'^P^^'^^h C^l^ ^'£> eKoarov 8e daiovres Iv rots twv kavTwv dpianpoh,
Quybv (K TCTTapoov, aroTxoi Se Terrapes, 'iva (vpeOu/crt irpbs tov drjfxov opwvTes.
l£ dvdpas ex^v iKaaros aroixos.
270 THE CHORUS, ^ [Ch.
difficulty. When drawn up in this way the tragic chorus con-
sisted of three files parallel to one another. As already stated,
the first file was the most important, because it was nearest
to the spectators. The members of this file were called * ariste-
rostatae,' or 'men on the left,' and consisted of the handsomest
and most skilful of the choreutae. The middle file was the
least important of the three, as it was most out of sight of the
spectators. The worst choreutae were placed in this file, and
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were called 'laurostatae,' or 'men in the passage.' The third
file was the one nearest to the stage. Occasionally, if the
chorus wheeled completely round, it came in full view of the
spectators. It was therefore of more importance than the
middle file, and a better class of choreutae were placed in it.
They were called the 'dexiostatae,' or ' men on the right \' In
addition to ^the above technical terms there were also special
names for the six men who composed the front and hindmost
^ Poll. ii. l6l Taxa Z\ Koi 6 dpifftepo- XavpoaraTai' jxiaov rod X'^pov' olovei
aTOLTTjs iv X'^PV '"'pocrrjfcoi av rrj dpiaTepa, yap kv arevcunw elffiV cpavKoTfpoi be
OJS 6 df^ioffTaTTjs T^ Se^ia. Phot. v. ovtoi.
VI.] ARRANGEMENT OF THE CHORUS. 271
ranks — nos. i, 6, 11, 5, 10, and 15 in the diagram. They were
styled ' kraspeditae/ or 'fringe- men \' Finally, the three files
had different names, according to their relative proximity to the
spectators. The members of the left file were called * front-line
men * ; the members of the middle and right-hand files were
called 'second-line men' and 'third-line men' respectively^.
The first or left file, as already pointed out, was much the
most important, because the members of it were in full view of
the audience. The central position, no. 3 in the diagram, was
occupied by the coryphaeus, or leader of the chorus ^ The post
of the leader was an extremely arduous one. While the
dialogue was in progress, he had to carry on conversations with
the actors upon the stage. During the choral odes he had
to give the note to the choreutae, and superintend the dances
and manoeuvres. At the same time his own dancing and
mimetic gestures were supposed to be a conspicuous feature
in the performance. It is plain, therefore, that his position must
have been a difficult one to fill. Demosthenes, speaking of
dithyrambic choruses, says that the loss of the coryphaeus means
the ruin of the chorus ; and this must have been still more the
case in a dramatic performance ^. On the other hand the pos-
session of a skilful leader would contribute very largely to the
success of the chorus and of the drama. The choreutae on each
side of the leader, nos. 2 and 4 in the diagram, were called
his 'parastatae,' or 'assistants,' and were next in importance to
the leader himself. The two choreutae on the outside, nos. i and
5 in the diagram, were called the 'third men^' As already
^ Plut. Conv. p. 678 D watrtp xopov, ovvepaiviv ovv tov fiecrov rod dpiffrepov
Tov av/jnroaiov rbv KpaaireSiTT]!/ to; Kopv- aroixov rrjv hvriixoTarr}v kol t'^v olov
(paicp awrjKoov exovros. The Kpacrne- rov irpcoToaraTov x^P^^ eirex^i^ koX
Strai were also called rpiXtis ; cp. Suid. araaiv. The coryphaeus was also called
V. if/i\(vs' Itt' oLKpov xo/501) laraiKvos : x^PW^^ Athen. p. 633 A, x^po-yos Plut.
Hesych. V. ^iA-ffs* ol vcrraTOL xopevovrfs. Apophth. Lac. p. 219 E, ■^y^ixouv and
^ Hesych. v. apiaTepooraTrjr 6 irpoj- ^yepLOJv KopvcpaTos Dem. Meid. § 60.
ToaTaTrjs rov x^P^^- Poll. iv. 106 * Dem. Meid. § 60.
Sc^ioffTCLTrjs, dpiaTcpoaTaTTjs, SevTcpo- ^ Aristot. Met. iv. 1 1 ravra S* effrlv
arar-qs, TpiTocrTaTrjs. 6<Ta rrpos ri ev upiffpivov SiiffrrjKe Kara
^ Phot. V. rpiros dpiffrepov' kv roTs rbv \6yov, olov irapaffTarrjs rpiroffrdrov
rpayiKois x^pots rpiuv ovtcov oroixo^v irponpov, Kal irapav-qri] vrjrrjs' tvOa pXv
Hal vfvre ^vyaiv, 6 pXv dpiffrepbs irpbs Tip yap Kopv(paios, tvQa 5e fj fxiffr] dpx'Q-
Oearpo) ^v, 6 dk Se^ibs trpbs rw npoaK7]vi<f.
272 THE CHORUS. [Ch.
remarked, the coryphaeus, together with the other four mem-
bers of the left file, constituted the pick of the whole chorus.
Concerning the formation in which the comic chorus entered
the orchestra there is not much information. Like the tragic
chorus, it might enter either by ranks or by files ; that is to say,
it might come in six abreast and four deep, or four abreast and
six deep. There can be no doubt that the oblong formation of
four abreast and six deep was the one usually adopted. It
would be more suitable from every point of view. Both the tragic
and the comic choruses were probably preceded into the orchestra
by the flute-player ^ On certain rare occasions the formal
entrance in a rectangular body was dispensed with, and an
irregular mode of entrance was adopted, in order to produce
a dramatic effect. The best example is in the Eumenides of
Aeschylus. When the Erinyes made their second appearance,
they came rushing into the orchestra one by one, in hot pursuit
of Orestes, and created a profound sensation by their movements
and appearance I There is another instance in the Birds of
Aristophanes. The chorus of Birds begins by entering one
by one. The flamingo comes first, and its appearance is criti-
cised by the actors upon the stage. The cock follows, and is
similarly criticised. Then comes the hoopoe, and after it the
glutton-bird. Finally the whole chorus of birds comes flutter-
ing in together, so as to block up the side-entrances ^ In the
Lysistrata the chorus is divided into two halves, one consist-
ing of men, the other of women. The chorus of men enters
first ; the chorus of women follows after an interval. The
chorus in the Ecclesiazusae is composed of women who have
been invited to a political gathering by Praxagora. They
enter by twos and threes, in a perfectly irregular fashion,
so as to imitate a real assemblage*. But instances of this
kind were very rare and exceptional. Usually the chorus
* Schul. Arist. Vesp. 580 iOos Se ^1/ its entrance.
(V rats k^oSois Twv TTJs Tpaywbias xopi-fcouv 2 PoU. iy. 109; Vit. Aescli. p. 4
Ttpoawnwv TrporiyeiaOai avXrjTrjv, cuare Dindf.
avXovvra vpovifiireLV. As the flute- ^ Arist. Av. 268-296.
player preceded the chorus on its exit, * Arist. Lysist. 254, 319, Eccles.
it is most likely that he did the same at 41-60.
VI.] ARRANGEMENT OF THE CHORUS. • 273
entered in a rectangular body, with the precision of a troop
of soldiers.
In most cases the entrance of the chorus took place at the
conclusion of the 'prologue/ or introductory scene upon the
stage ; and the march in was accompanied by a chant, which was
called the 'parodos/ or entrance song^ However, in a con-
siderable number of plays there was no parodos at all, but the
chorus entered the orchestra in silence, while the first act of the
drama was in progress, and then commenced a musical dialogue
with the actors upon the stage. Instances of this mode of
entrance are to be found in such tragedies as the Electra of
Sophocles and the Orestes of Euripides ^ In the vast majority
of Greek plays the entrance of the chorus is managed in one or
other of the two ways just specified. Either the chorus comes
in at the termination of the prologue, chanting the parados ; or
else the parados is omitted, and the chorus enters in silence,
and then proceeds to sing a musical duet with the actors. A
few plays are exceptional, and do not conform to either of
these two conventional types. Occasionally, for instance,
there is no prologue, and the play commences with the paro-
dos, as in the Supplices and Persae of Aeschylus. Then again,
in the Eumenides the parodos is sung on the second entrance
of the Erinyes, after their arrival at Athens. In the Supplices
of Euripides the chorus are seen kneeling upon the stage
in supplication when the play commences. There they re-
mained in silence during the performance of the prologue, and
then proceeded to sing an ode, in place of the usual parodos,
from their position on the stage. In the Clouds it appears that
the chorus chant the first two odes behind the scenes, and then
^ Arg. Aesch. Pers. ru>v 5e xopct'J' ra \€^is oX-q tov xopou, in order to make
fikv lari irapoSiKo,, us ore \4yei Si' ^i' the word oKos bear the same meaning
alriav irdpeaTiv, us t^ " Tvpiov otbiia throughout the chapter. Whichever
XiTTovaa." Schol. Eur. Phoen. irdpodos reading is adopted, the definition seems
8( loTiv oJS^ xo/JOv ^ahi^ovTos aSofxevr] too wide.
afjLaTTJ elaoSu, us TO "'Siya (Tiya XetTTov ^ Other examples are the Prom.
ixvos dpfivXrjs TiOeTe." In Aristot. Poet. Vinct. of Aeschylus ; the Philoctetes of
c. 1 2 the TTcipoSos is described as 17 -npuTrj Sophocles ; the Medea, Heracleidae,
Xe'^is oKov xopov, which Westphal (Pro- Troades, and Electra of Euripides.
legom. ad Aesch. p. 57) alters to ^ npuTrj
274 • THE CHORUS. [Ch.
enter the orchestra silently. The Rhesus commences with a
dialogue in anapaests between Hector and the chorus. Lastly,
in the Ecclesiazusae there is no song of any kind. The women
of the chorus drop in by twos and threes, and proceed at once
to take part in an ordinary dialogue with the actors on the stage.
The next point to be considered is the position taken up
by the chorus after entering the orchestra. On most occasions,
as already stated, the chorus came in by the western side,
drawn up in rectangular formation, with the stage on its right
hand and the spectators on its left. It advanced halfway into
the orchestra, then came to a halt, and each member of the
chorus turned round to the right, so as to face the stage. By
this manoeuvre the whole chorus was made to look towards
the stage, and the arrangement by files was converted into one
by ranks. For instance, the tragic chorus, which had entered
three abreast and five deep, now stood before the stage five
abreast and three deep. The coryphaeus and principal
choreutae stood in the back line, and retained their position
nearest to the spectators, and furthest away from the stage.
This position they kept throughout the performance \ In a
similar manner the comic chorus, after entering the orchestra
four abreast and six deep, would halt in front of the stage,
go through the manoeuvre just described, and convert itself
into a body standing six abreast and four deep. There is no
information as to the position of the coryphaeus in the comic
chorus. But there can be no doubt that, like the tragic
coryphaeus, he stood in the back row, as near as possible to
the spectators.
While the actors were upon the stage, and the dialogue was in
^ Miiller (die Griech. Buhnen.p. 214), seems most improbable that care should
following Hermann (Opusc. vi. 2, p. have been taken, during the entrance
144), supposes the whole chorus to have into the orchestra, to place the cory-
wheeled completely round, so that the phaeus and best choreutae in the line
left file came to be nearest to the stage. most conspicuous to the spectators, but
He thinks it more natural for the cory- that throughout the rest of the perform-
phaeus to have been immediately in ance they should have been stationed in
front of the stage, where he would be a position where the majority of the
in a position to converse with the actors. spectators would hardly have been able
But he could do so equally well from to see them,
the centre of the back row. And it
VI.] ARRANGEMENT OF THE CHORUS, 275
progress, the chorus continued to stand with their backs towards
the spectators, and their faces towards the stage, so as to fol-
low the course of the action \ 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 circum-
stances 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 in-
formation as to the position and movements of the chorus during
the performance of the stasima. As the singing was accom-
panied 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 con-
sisted 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 divi-
sions, which stood facing one another. The different portions
of the parabasis were then given by each division in turn ^
^ Anon.de Com. (Dindf. Prolegom. p. i8off. That the half-choruses stood
de Com. p. 29) ; Vit. Aristoph. (ibid. p. facing one another seems to be indicated
36) ; Schol. Arist. Equit. 505. by Hephaest. 14, p. 131 'iari Si tis kv
^ Schol. Arist. Equit. 505, Pax 733. rah KaiixctiUais koI 1) Ka\ov[ihr) TrapdPa-
As to the formation during the latter cts, knaSav eiacXOovTes els to Oearpov
part of the parabasis, it is almost cer- kol avrnTpSffooirov d\Xri\ois aravTcs ol
tain that the chorus was then divided x^P^^^"-^ irapc^aivov : Anon, de Comoed,
into -qixixopia. Two MSS. assign the (Diibner, Prolegom. de. Com. p. xx)
strophe and antistrophe to -^/xixopia in dTreXOovrojv Se tSjv viroKpiTojv wpbs dpLcpo-
Nubes 563, 595, Vespae 1060, 1091, rfpa rd /xepij rod d-qpiov bpwv €K Tfrpa-
Aves 737, 769, and the epirrhema and fJierpov Se/cal^ arixovs dvaTraiffrovs kfOiy-
antepirrhema in Ranae 686, 717. See yero, Kal tovto t/eaXeiTO crrpocpT}.
Arnoldt, die Chorpartieen bei Aristoph.
T 2
276 THE CHORUS, [Ch.
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\ The instances of the practice
which occur in the Eumenides and the Ajax were necessitated
by the change of scene in those plays ^. There is another
example in the Helena of Euripides. Helen and the chorus
retire into the palace, to enquire 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 ^ 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*. At the end of the
play the chorus retired by the passage from which it had
entered, and was preceded by the flute-player ^ 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 out in the same rect-
angular formation in which they had entered. The position
of the flute-player during the performance is unknown.
§ 5. The Delivery of the choral part.
As regards the delivery of the words, the chorus, like the
actors, was not confined to one manner only, but used song,
speech, and recitative by turns, according to the varying
character of the metre. The lyrical portions of the drama
were almost invariably sung. The ordinary iambic trimeters
were spoken. The systems of anapaestic dimeters, and the
iambic, trochaic, and anapaestic tetrameters were delivered in
recitative to the accompaniment of the flute ^ A question now
arises, which is of great interest and importance in connexion
with the choral part of the performance. It is obvious to any
reader of a Greek play that many of the speeches and songs
^ Poll. iv. 108. The temporary depar- ^ Eur. Hel. 327 foil,
ture was called /xcTdorao-t?, the return * Eur. Ale. 746 ; Arist. Eccles. 310.
\-ni-napolos. s Schol. Arist. Vesp. 580.
2 Aesch. Eum. 235 ; Soph. Ajax 815. ^ See chap. v. p. 241 foil.
VI.] DELIVERY OF THE CHORAL PART. 277
assigned to the chorus were not intended to be delivered by
the whole of the chorus, but by individual members. This
fact is patent to every one. But when any attempt is made to i
settle the exact character of the distribution, the greatest di-
versity of opinion prevails. The question as to the parts which
were delivered by the whole chorus, and the parts which were i
delivered by sections or individuals, is one of the most intricate /
which the Greek drama presents. Unfortunately the ancient 1
writers supply hardly any information upon the subject. The
whole matter has been discussed and investigated in recent
years with the greatest diligence, and attempts have been made
to portion out the choral odes between different members and ,
sections of the chorus on the strength of indications supplied \
by the metre, or by the sense of the words ^ But it is plain /
that inferences based on evidence of this kind must be very
uncertain in character. As a matter of fact different investi- \
gators have arrived at the most contradictory conclusions. It '
is impossible therefore to regard their suggestions otherwise
than in the light of interesting conjectures. They have no
claim to absolute acceptance. Hence in the present state of
our knowledge any detailed account of the matter is out of the
question. It will be necessary to be content with certain
general conclusions, which are based on actual evidence, or are
so plausible in themselves as to be very widely accepted.
First then as to the part taken by the chorus as a whole. In
ordinary circumstances the parodos and the stasima appear to
have been sung by the whole chorus together. The parodos, as
already explained, was the song of the chorus on its first
entrance. The stasima were the long and important odes in-
serted between the successive divisions of the play, in order to
fill up the pauses in the action. It is natural in itself to suppose
^ See especially Amoldt, Die Chor- 1877), De choro Persarum (Halle
partieen bei Aristophanes (Leipzig 1878), Der Chor in den Sieben des
1873), Die chorische Technik des Euri- Aeschylos (Halle 1882); Hense, Der
pides (Halle 1878), Der Chor im Aga- Chor des Sophokles (Berlin 1877),
memnon des Aeschylos (Halle 1881); Ueber die Vortragsweise Soph. Stasima
Christ, Theilung des Chors im attischen (Rhein. Museum, xxxii) ; Zielinski, Die
Drama (Miinchen 1877) ; Muff, Die Gliederung der altattischen Komodie
chorische Technik des Sophokles (Halle (Leipzig 1885).
278 THE CHORUS. [Ch.
that these portions should have been sung by the whole chorus,
and the supposition is borne out by the statements of Aristotle ^
Sometimes there were exceptions. For example, the chorus in
the Alcestis, on its first entrance, is divided into two half-
choruses, which sing successive passages of the parodos alter-
nately. In the Ion the parodos is obviously sung by sub-
divisions or by individuals, and not by the whole chorus. In
the Frogs a long speech by the coryphaeus is inserted in the
middle of the parodos. In the Lysistrata the chorus is divided
throughout the play into two half-choruses, one of men, the
other of women ^. But in the majority of cases the parodos and
the stasima were given by the whole body of the chorus. Not
unfrequently, in the middle of the dialogue, small odes were
inserted which resembled stasima in their general character, but
differed from them in point of brevity, and from the fact that
they came in the course of the dialogue, and not during a pause
in the action. They were often songs of triumph or exultation,
occasioned by sudden developments in the plot ; in which case
they appear to have been called ^hyporchemata,' and were
accompanied by a lively danced These short odes were no
doubt sung by the whole chorus, in the same manner as the
stasima. It has been suggested that the strophes and anti-
strophes in the stasima were delivered by half-choruses in
succession, and that the epode was given by the whole chorus.
But there is no real evidence in support of this hypothesis, and
epodes are only rarely to be met with in dramatic choruses.
^ Aristot. Poet. c. 12 xo/"«o''» ««* ^ Schol. Eur. Ale. 79 l/c '^epovruv
TovTOv TO fxiv TTcipoSos rb St aTCLcrifjLOv, ^epalojv 6 x^pos, SiaipHrai 8e ds Suo
KOivcL ixev dnavTcuv ravra, iSia Se ra aTru fjpuxopia. That the anapaests in Ranae
T^s fffcrjvrjs Kal Kofxfioi . . . xopinov Se 354-371, which come in the middle of
irapoSos fxkv 17 -npuTi) Xe^is oXov xopov the parodos, were spoken by the cory-
(Westphal, o\rj tov x^^P^v^- It is prob- phaeus is proved by the concluding
able, as Bergk (Griech. Literat. iii. p. lines {vfitTs 5' dveyeipete p,o\tit)v k.t.K.),
131) points out, that Koivd piev dnavrouv ■ in which the rest of the chorus is com-
{XopevTuii/) = sung by the whole chorus ; manded to begin.
cp. the expression Oprjvos Koivhs x^pov ^ Cramer, Anecd. Paris, i. p. 19 t^s
Kal dnb aKTjvrjs, which occurs a little rpayiK^s iroirjGtoJS e'iSt] dal 5eKa, vpS-
later in the same chapter. "1810 = sung A070S . . . viropxrjfiaTiKos. Athen. p.
byindividuals or sections ;cp. ?Staa(r/*aTa 631 C ^ vTropxr]p.aTiK^ opxrjais eariv, kv
in the vit. Soph. (p. 8 Dindf.). y (fSojv 6 xopbs ppx^trai. Examples are
VI.] DELIVERY OF THE CHORAL PART, 279
In the second place some of the words assigned to the
chorus were actually delivered by the coryphaeus. There is
no direct testimony to this effect, but the matter hardly admits
of doubt. On a great many occasions the chorus drops the
tone of lyrical exaltation, and converses with the persons on
the stage in an easy and familiar manner. It plays the part
of an ordinary actor. In all such cases it is evident that the
chorus must have been represented by the coryphaeus alone.
The dialogues between the actors and the coryphaeus were a
peculiar and distinctive feature of the old Greek drama. They
were, in fact, a direct survival from the early period, when
there was only a single actor upon the stage, and when the
dramatic element in a play was necessarily confined to conver-
sations between the actor and the chorus. In addition to the
dialogues just mentioned, there are several other portions of
the chorus which may be assigned to the coryphaeus with a
fair amount of certainty. Such are -the anapaests with which
the approach of a new personage is announced at the end of
a choral ode in tragedy. These anapaests, being delivered in
recitative, would make a gentle transition from the song of the
chorus to the speech of the actors. Then again, it is probable
that in comedy all the anapaestic tetrameters were spoken by
the coryphaeus, including the speech to the people at the com-
mencement of the parabasis, and speeches such as that which
is inserted in the parodos of the Frogs \ In comedy also the
coryphaeus had frequently to address words of exhortation
and remonstrance to the rest of the chorus ^ Finally, the ana-
paests with which most Greek plays conclude were in all like-
lihood spoken by the coryphaeus as the chorus marched out of
the orchestra. It was the old fashion in tragedy for the entrance
song of the chorus to commence with a series of anapaests. The
custom is retained in the Persae, Supplices, and Agamemnon of
Aeschylus, and the Ajax of Sophocles. It has been suggested
to be found in Aesch. Suppl. 418-437, t^s ^Soi/^s dpxovvTat.
Soph. Trach. 205-225, Ajax 693-717. ^ See above, p. 278.
Cp. Schol. Soph. Trach. 216 rd yap 2 g^, Arist. Ran. 382, Vesp. 1516,
(jLiKibapiov ovK kffTi araainov, dW' inro Thesmoph. 655, &c.
28o THE CHORUS. [Ch.
that these introductory anapaests were also delivered by the
coryphaeus ; but the suggestion is hardly a plausible one. If
chanted in combination by the whole body of the chorus they
would make the first entrance of the chorus infinitely more im-
pressive. It need hardly be remarked that when the chorus
was divided into half-choruses, the part generally taken by the
coryphaeus was in this case taken by the leaders of the two
halves. For example^ throughout the Lysistrata the chorus of
men and the chorus of women were represented in the dialogue
by their respective leaders. In the Seven against Thebes
the concluding anapaests would be spoken by the leaders of the
hemichoria. It is also highly probable that the two sets of
trochaic tetrameters, which come at the end of the parabasis,
were recited, not by the half-choruses, but by their leaders.
Thirdly, certain portions of the chorus were occasionally
spoken or sung by individual choreutae. The best known
example is in the Agamemnon, during the murder of the king,
when the chorus stands outside the palace, debating helplessly
as to what it ought to do, and each of the old men pronounces
his opinion in turn. There is another instance in the lyrical ode
at the commencement of the Eumenides. The Erinyes wake
up, find that Orestes is gone, and reproach Apollo in a series of
brief, detached sentences, each being sung by one member of the
chorus \ The above examples admit of no doubt. Whether the
practice was a common one, and whether the choral parts were
frequently distributed among individual choreutae, is a matter of
great uncertainty. It is manifestly unsafe to infer that it was
done in all cases where the choral passage is full of mutual ex-
hortations and addresses, and the language is broken up into
disconnected sentences. For example, in the parodoi in Aristo-
phanes the members of the chorus often address one another by
name, and exhort one another to greater activity. But it does
^ Aesch. Agam. 1 344 ff., Eum. in citing the passage in the Lysistrata,
i4off., Schol. ad loc. avaaTi]Oii avras 727-780, as an example of the delivery
ovK ddpoojs, fxifxaifxcvoi efjLcpariKus tt)v of words by individual choreutae. The
dKr]9€iav, dW' kydpeToi ris irpuTrj, Sjare three women who take part in the
firi depoojs Tov xopbv (peiy^aaOai. Miiller dialogue are not members of the chorus,
(Griech. Biihnenalt. p. 218) is mistaken but performers upon the stage.
VI.] DELIVERY OF THE CHORAL PART, 281
not therefore follow, as has been suggested, that these passages
were delivered in portions by individuals. A chorus might be
perfectly well chanted by the whole body, though written in
vivid and dramatic style ^ It is hardly safe therefore to distribute
choral passages among individual choreutae except on very
strong evidence. The extent to which the practice prevailed in
the ancient drama must be regarded as an open question.
Fourthly, the division into half-choruses was not infrequent '^,
It might be done in two ways. In the first place the chorus
throughout the whole play might be composed of two separate
divisions, differing from one another in point of age, sex, or
position. The chorus in the Lysistrata, consisting of one body
of men, and one body of women, is an example. In the second
place the chorus might be divided temporarily into half-
choruses, either because of the special requirements of the
play, or merely for purposes of singing and recitation. There
are several certain examples in tragedy. In the Ajax of So-
phocles the sailors hasten off, some to the east and some to the
west, in search of Ajax. They return after a time from opposite
sides of the orchestra, bringing word that they have not found
him. In the Orestes, while Helen is being attacked within the
palace, Electra keeps watch outside, and posts the chorus in two
divisions at each end of the orchestra, to guard against sur-
prise ^ The examples in the Alcestis and the Seven against
Thebes have already been referred to. In comedy the practice
was not at all uncommon, if the testimony of certain manuscripts
is to be accepted. Various choral passages in the comedies of
Aristophanes are distributed between half-choruses, including
^ Cp. the sensible remarks of the \ioipa ■q/xixSpiov, a S" dvrqSovffiv, avrixo-
Schol. on Arist. Ran. 375 evrevOfv 'Apt- pia. The Schol. on Arist. Equit. 589 has
arapxos vnevorjae fifj oKov rod xopoG a curious note to the effect that when the
dvai TO. irpwra' tovto 8( ovk d^iowiffTov. chorus was divided into two halves of
TToAAd/fts yap dXXrjXois ovtoj irapaKcXfv- different sex or age, the older or stronger
ovToi 01 nepi rov x^pov. half was always slightly more numerous.
^ Poll, iv, 107 Kal ■^fi.ixopiov Se nal In a comic chorus there would be 13
Sixopia Kal dvrixopia. €0iKe 8e ravrbv men to II women, 13 women to II
eTvai TavTi rd rpia 6v6p.aTa' oiroTav yap boys, and so on.
6 xopoy els 8vo fitpij tutjO^, to fiev ^ Soph. Ajax 866 ff. ; Eur. Orest.
Trpdyfjia KaXeirai dixopia, kKarepa S^ rj 1 258 if.
28^ THE CHORUS. [Ch.
the two odes at the end of the parabasis, and other lyrical pieces
of an antistrophic character \
The general result then is as follows. The words assigned
to the chorus were delivered, sometimes by the whole chorus,
sometimes by half choruses, sometimes by the coryphaeus, and
sometimes by individual choreutae. Whether there were any
further subdivisions is uncertain. It has been suggested that
the divisions into ranks and files were utilised for musical pur-
poses ; that in tragedy, for instance, successive passages were
delivered in turns by ranks of three men, or files of five men ;
and that the ranks and files of the comic chorus were used in
the same manner. All this is pure conjecture. It may or may
not have been the case ; but there is no evidence one way or
the other. The portions of the choral part which were gener-
ally given by the whole chorus were the parodoi, or entrance-
songs, and the stasima, or odes during the pauses in the
dialogue. The portions assigned to the coryphaeus were
principally those in which the chorus abandoned its lyrical
elevation of tone, and spoke like one of the actors upon
the stage. The various lyrical passages which occur in the
course of the actual dialogue have still to be accounted for.
These consist chiefly of short odes not unlike stasima, or of
musical duets between the actors and the chorus. The odes
were probably sung by the whole chorus. As to the musical
duets it is impossible to speak with certainty. All that is
known in regard to them is the fact that they were not sung by
the whole chorus ". Whether they were mostly given by half-
choruses, or smaller subdivisions, or by individual choreutae, or
by the coryphaeus, is a matter concerning which there is no
trustworthy information. Such indications as are supplied by
varieties in metre, grammar, or subject, are too vague and
uncertain to lead to any definite conclusion. Unless, therefore,
further evidence of a distinct character is discovered, this par-
^ See Arnoldt, Die Chorpartieen bei Vesp. 1060, 1091, Av. 737, 769, 1058,
Aristophanes, p. 180 ff., where a list is 1088, Eccles. 290, 301, Thesmoph. 659,
given of the passages which are assigned Lysist. 321.
to half-choruses by Rav. and Ven., e. g. ^ See above, p. 278, note i.
, Acharn. 1150, 1162, Nub. 563, 595,
VI.] THE DANCING. 283
ticular question will have to be regarded as an unsettled
problem.
§ 6. The Dancing,
In the ancient Greek drama, as in modern opera, the three
sister arts of Music, Poetry, and Dancing, were all brought into
requisition. But there was this difference — in the Greek drama
the poetry was the principal feature of the performance; the
music and the dancing were subordinate. Moreover dancing
was seldom introduced by itself as a mere spectacle ; it was
mainly used in combination with singing, to interpret and add
vividness to the words of the song. The music, the poetry,
and the dancing were blended together into one harmonious
whole, each part gaining an advantage by its combination with
the other two. The dancing of the chorus is the subject which
we have now to consider. It was an element of great import-
ance in the old Greek drama. Most, if not all, of the choral
songs were accompanied by dances of one sort or another. To
the Greek mind there was an inseparable connexion between
song and dance, and the notion of choral singing unaccompanied
by dancing would have appeared strange and unusual. The
two arts had grown and developed simultaneously, as appears
from the fact that many of the technical terms in metrical
phraseology referred originally to the movements of the dance.
For instance, the smallest division of a verse was called a
'foot.' A verse of two feet was styled a 'basis,* or 'stepping.'
The words arsis and thesis, which denoted the varying stress
of the voice in singing, originally referred to the raising up
and placing down of the foot in marching and dancing. These
terms show how closely the two arts of dancing and sing-
ing were associated together in ancient Greece. A choreutes
who was unable to accompany a song with expressive dance-
movements, was looked down upon as an inferior performer \
Dancing therefore, as might have been expected, played a
^ Athen. p. 628 E ei Zk rts . . . toX^ f^haxs kmrvyxo-vctiv fxrjZlv \eyoi Karat, r^v
opx^OiV) ovTos 5' riv ddoKifios.
284 THE CHORUS, [Ch.
most important part in tragedy, comedy, and the satyric drama.
It was held among the Greeks in the greatest estimation, and
there was none of that feeling of degradation about it which was
common among the Romans. A man might dance in public
without any loss of dignity, provided the dance was of a graceful
and becoming character. Sophocles himself, the great tragic
poet and fellow general of Pericles, was not ashamed to appear
in a dance in one of his own tragedies \
At the same time it should be remembered that dancing in
ancient Greece was a very different thing from dancing in
modern times. It included a great deal more. The word
Mancing' in English necessarily implies movement with the
feet. It would be impossible in English to say that a man was
dancing, if he continued to stand in the same position. But in
Greek dancing this was not necessarily the case. The word
^orchesis ,^ which we translate as 'dancing,' had in reality a
much wider meaning. Greek dancing originated, according to
Plato, in the instinctive tendency of mankind to accompany
speech and song with explanatory movements of the body^
It was essentially a mimetic performance. It included, not
only all such motions as are denoted by dancing in the
modern sense of the word, but also every kind of gesture and
posture by which various objects and events can be repre-
sented in dumb show. Its principal function was to interpret
and illustrate the words of poetry. For this purpose nothing
could be more important than appropriate gesticulation.
Hence in Greek dancing the movements of the hands and
arms played a larger part than the movements of the feet.
The same was the case in Roman dancing also. A few
quotations will illustrate this fact. Telestes, the celebrated
dancer employed by Aeschylus, was said to be able to ' depict
events with his hands in the most skilful manner^' Ovid, in his
Art of Love, when advising a lover to show off his best qualities
before his mistress, tells him to sing if he has a good voice, to
^ Athen. p. 20 F. TcXiar-qs, 6 opxrjffToSiddcr/caXos, noXXd
^ Plat. Seqq. 816 A. e^ivprj/ce axiP-o-fo-, o-Kpoj? rais X^P^*- '''^
^ Athen. p. 21 P^ koX TeXeais 51 ^ Xeyoficva dtiKvvovaais,
VI.] THE DANCING. 285
dance ^ if his arms are flexible ^' The flourishes and gesticu-
lations with which a professional carver cut up a hare were
called ' dancing ' by the ancients ^ Quintilian, speaking of the
gestures used in oratory, gravely says that there ought to be
a considerable difference between the orator and the dancer;
that the gestures of the orator should represent the general
sense of the words, rather than the particular objects men-
tioned'. The bare fact of his comparing an orator with a
dancer is a proof of the vital difference between ancient and
modern dancing, and the importance of mere gesticulation in
the former.
The purpose, then, of ancient dancing was to represent
various objects and events by means of gestures, postures,
and attitudes. In this kind of mimicry the nations of southern
Europe are particularly skilful, as may be seen at the present
day. The art was carried by the Greeks to the highest per-
fection, and a good dancer was able to accompany a song with
such expressive pantomime as to create a visible picture of the
things described. Aristotle defines dancing as an imitation of
'actions, characters, and passions by means of postures and
rhythmical movements*/ His language indicates very clearly
the unlimited capabilities of Greek dancing. Its general
character will be well exemplified by the following account from
Plutarch's Symposiaca. Dancing, it is there stated, might be
divided into Motions, ^ostures^ and Indications. Motions
were of the greatest use in depicting actions and passions.
Postures were the attitudes in which each motion terminated.
For example, a dancer might halt in such a posture as to
suggest Apollo, or Pan, or a Bacchante. Indications__were
not mi metic at all, but consisted in merely pointing out certain
objects, such as the heaven, the earth, the bystanders.
^ Ovid, Ars Am. i. 595 si vox est, sit gestus ad sensum magis quam ad
canta ; si mollia brachia, salta. verba accommodatus, &c.
2 Juv. V. 120 structorem interea, ne * Arist. Poet. c. i uai -yap ovtoi (ol
qua indignatio desit, | saltan tem spectes dpxrjcXTai) dia tuiv axqi^Ti^o^ivojv pv9-
et chironomunta volanti | cultello, fjujjv fiifiovvTai koi tjOtj Kal itclOt] Kal
^ Quint. Inst. xi. 3. 89 abesse enim Trpd^ns.
plurimum a saltatore debet orator, ut
2S6 THE CHORUS. [Ch.
Dancing might be defined as poetry without words. The
combination of poetry and dancing, of words and gestures,
produced a perfect imitation \ In the above account from
Plutarch we have a clear exposition of the Greek conception
of dancing as the handmaid of poetry. Its function was to
delineate and to emphasise the creations of the poet. This
was the part which it played in the Greek drama. It is most
important therefore, when speaking of dancing in connexion
with the old dramatic performances, to remember the vital
difference between the ancient and modern meaning of the
words.
Some few facts have been recorded concerning the history of
t^ dancing in connexion with the drama. In the earliest times i t
consisted main ly of movements with the feet. The use of the
hands and arms in dancing, and the introduction of elaborate
gesticulation, was a development due to a later period ^ In the
old-fashioned dramas of Thespis and his immediate successors
dancing necessarily played a very important part. Both tragedy
and comedy were at that time mainly lyrical, and the long
choral odes were accompanied throughout by dances. The
early dramatists, such as Thespis, Phrynichus, Pratinas, and
Cratinus, were called ' dancers ' as well as poets, because one of
their principal duties consisted in training their choruses in the
art of dancing ^. Phrynichus, in an epigram of which two verses
are still preserved, boasts of having discovered more figures
in dancing than there are waves in a stormy sea ^, The tragic
dance of the sixth century, to judge from the specimens given
by Philocleon at the end of the Wasps, was of a wild and lively
character^. The tone of solemnity, by which it was afterwards
distinguished, was due to the innovations of Aeschylus. It was
probably in the time of Aeschylus that dancing in tragedy
1 Plut. Symp. 747 B fol. The three ^ Athen. p. 22 A.
divisions of dancing are ^opai, o'xi7;*aTa, •* Plut. Symp. 732 F Ka'iroi naX^pv-
Setfet?. vixos, b tcDv Tpayq^Siaiv ttoiijt'^s, irepl
^ Athen. p. 630 B rtpwrrj Se evprjTai avrov (prjaiv on 'Sx^f^ara 5' opxqois roaa
77 Trepi rovs iro£as Kivrjais t^s Sia rwv fxoi vopev, oaff' kvl irovTO) \ KVfxara
X^ip^v. ol yap TTaXaiol Tovs TTodas fidWov irouiTai x^'-t^^'^'- ''^^^ ^^^"h-
kyvjxva^ovTo ev tois dySjcri. ^ Arist. Vesp. 1 474 ff-
VI.] THE DANCING. zHy
reached its highest pitch of excellence. His long choruses
gave ample opportunities for the display of the dancer's skill.
Moreover, the training of the chorus was personally super-
intended by Aeschylus, and he is said to have himself in-
vented a great number of postures and attitudes to be used
in dancing ^ To ward s the end of the fifth century the art
appears to have^declinelTin significance, along with the general
decrease in the importance oT~llYe~chDrus. It began to lose
something of Its mimeHc~~chafacter. Plato, the comic poet,
who flourished at the end of the fifth century, contrasts the
mediocrity of the choral dancing in his day with the excellence
of that of a former period. In old times, he says, a good
dancer was a sight worth seeing; but the choreutae of the
present day stand in a row, like so many cripples, and bawl out
their songs, without any attempt at appropriate motions and
gestures ^. This deterioration was a necessary consequence of
the tendency to thrust the chorus more and more into the
background.
The general character of the dancing in the Greek drama has
already been described. As far _as deta i ls are concerned ou r
information is very defective^ and only slight indications are
to be obtained from the existing plays. It is probable that
when the parodoi commenced with a series of anapaests, the
chorus only marched in, without dancing. But all parodoi
written in lyrical metres were undoubtedly accompanied with
a dance. The iambic and trochaic tetrameters, in which many
of the parodoi in Aristophanes are written, seem to have been
generally intended for choruses which entered running)- and
with an appearance of great haste ^. The stasima, or long
choral odes between the acts, are said by many of the scholiasts
to have been unaccompanied by dancing, and to have been de-
^ Athen. p. 21 E. Schol. ad loc. yiypa-rrTaL Se t^ fxerpov
^ Athen. p. 628 E wcrr* et tis opxoTr' rpoxaiKov, npocrcpopov rfj twv diojKovTwv
ev, Oeajx ^v vvv 8e Spuxxiv ovhkv, | dA.A' yepovrcuv anovSfj. ravra 5e ttohiv elojOa-
(ixrirep dLvSnXrjfCTOi (TTadrjv kcTTwres wpvov- oiv ol ruv dpafxarccv iroirjTai KajfiiKot Kal
rax. rpayiKoi, (TrdSdv dpofmiojs (ladycum tovs
^ Aristoph. Acharn. 204 rfySe irds €1tov, xopovs, 'iva 6 \6yos avvrpixV "^V 5/)a;taTt.
StWc, KoX Tov avhpa irvvOdvov k.t.X., Cp. Pax 301, 325, Plutus 257.
288 THE CHORUS. [Ch.
livered by the chorus standing perfectly still \ The statement is
no doubt an error, due to false etymology. The stasima, or
* stationary songs/ was so called, not because the chorus stood
still during their delivery, but because it remained all the time
in the orchestra. They were therefore opposed to the parodoi,
which were delivered while the chorus was coming in, and to
the exodoi, which were delivered while it was going out. That
the stasima were accompanied by dancing is proved by several
references to dancing which they contain, and also by Aristotle's
definition of them, in which nothing is said as to the absence
of dancing ^. Only one piece of information has been preserved
concerning the manoeuvres of the chorus during the stasima.
It is said that while singing the strophe they moved to the right,
and while singing the antistrophe they moved back again to the
left ; and that during the epode they remained standing in the
same position as at first ^ Sometimes, as was previously
pointed out, lively odes called hyporchemata were inserted in
the middle of the dialogue to mark the joy of the chorus at
an unexpected turn of fortune. The dances by which they
were accompanied were extremely brisk and energetic, in
tragedy as well as in comedy^. The exodoi, or concluding
utterances of the chorus, were not usually attended with
dancing, but were delivered in recitative as the chorus marched
out. There is an exception in the Wasps and the Ecclesia-
zusae, which are terminated by the chorus dancing out of the
orchestra. But Aristophanes himself remarks that this was an
innovation ^. There is no reason to suppose that in tragedy the
kommoi, or musical dialogues between actors and chorus, were
^ Schol. Eur. Phoen. 202 ; Suidas v. such expressions as the following : Eur.
araaifiov, &c. Troad. 325 iraWi ttoS' aiOipiov, Electra
^ Aristot. Poet. c. 12 araffifiov 5e 859 6es ks x^P^v, Sj <pi\a,'ix^^^ '• Soph.
fxiXos xo/>o5 t6 dvev dvairaiaTov Kal Ajax 693 ((Ppif epwTi, tiepiyjxpri^ S* avi-
rpoxaiov. Aesch. Eum. 307 ayi Si) vrofiav.
Xopov aipcufiev. Arist, Thesmoph. 953 ' Arist. Vesp. 1536 tovto yap ovdels
opfxa, x^P^'- I fiovcpa Tioaiv, ay Is kvkXov, it<u irapos beSpaKev, \ opxovfxevov octis
I x^^P^ avvairre x^tpa. Other passages dTrrjWa^cv x'^P^^ rpvycvbwv, Schol. ad
of the same kind are not infrequent. loc. ei<T€px(Tai yap 6 xopos dpxovfievos,
^ Schol. Eur. Hec. 647. ovda^ws bk e^epx^rai: Eccles. 1179
* The liveliness of the hyporchematic aipeaO' dv<u, iai, eucu.
dances, even in tragedy, is proved by
VI.] THE DANCING, 289
unaccompanied with dancing. But naturally, if this was the
case, the dance would be of a quiet and sober kind, consisting
more of appropriate gestures and motions, than of dancing in the
modern sense of the word.
During a large part of every Greek play the chorus had
nothing to say or sing, but merely stood watching the actors,
and listening to the dialogue. It would be absurd to imagine
that they remained stolid and indifferent during all this period.
Chorus and actors were supposed to form oae harmonious
group, and no doubt the chorus followed the events upon the
stage with a keen appearance of interest, and expressed their
sympathy with the different characters by every kind of gesture
and by-play. Occasionally the long descriptive speeches deli-
vered from the stage were accompanied with a mimetic dance on
the part of the chorus \ The events described by the actor
were represented in dumb show by the choreutae. In comedy
it was a regular practice to introduce descriptive speeches of
this sort, the metres used being iambic or anapaestic tetrameters,
which were especially suitable for dancing to. There is an
example in the Clouds, where Strepsiades describes his quarrel
with Pheidippides. The various phases of the quarrel were
represented in dumb show by the chorus, keeping time with the
recitative of the actor ^ Again, we are told that Telestes, the
dancer employed by Aeschylus, 'danced the Seven against
Thebes' so successfully as to bring the various events before
the very eyes of the spectators. The statement no doubt refers
to the dumb show with which he accompanied the long de-
scriptive speeches that abound in that play^
Each of the three different species of the drama had its own
special kind of dance. The tragic dance was called the ' emme-
leia.' It was grave and majestic in its motions, and was one
of the two dances approved of by Plato, and admitted into his
^ Schol. Arist. Ran. 924 57 Tfpos rbs ^ Athen. p. 22 A 'ApicTTOKXrjs yovv
prjaeis viropxrjois. (f)T](riv on TeXiarTjs, 6 Alffx^Xov bp-
^ Schol. Arist. Nub, 1355 ovtojs x'7^^'?^» ovtojs ^v Ttxv'nrjs, ware kv to)
IA.670J/ TTpo^ x'^P^^ \eyeiv, ore rod vno- opx^TffOai Toiii 'EirTcL eirt Qrjfias (pavtpcL
KpiTov SiariOefievov ttjv prjaiv, 6 xo/>o5 iroifjaai ra irpayfiaTa 5i' opxrjcfojs.
wpx^iTO.
290 THE CHORUS, [Ch.
ideal republic '. Some of the postures' or figures in the
tragic dance are mentioned by the ancient writers. One of
them represented a man in the act of thrusting with the sword ;
another depicted a man in an attitude of menace, with clenched
fist. The rest are a mere list of names, of which the meaning is
uncertain. But it is plain from the existence of such lists that
the art of tragic dancing was reduced to a regular system, and
that the various attitudes and postures were taught in a methodi-
cal manner I We can hardly be mistaken in assuming that as
a rule the movements of the tragic dance were slow and deli-
berate, and more like walking than dancing in the modern sense.
The hyporchematic style, with its wild and lively motions, was
only adopted in tragedy on special occasions^ to show the exces-
sive joy of the choreutae. The kommos at the conclusion of
the Persae gives us a vivid picture of the general style of a
tragic dance. The Persian Elders follow Xerxes into the
palace, bewailing the ruin of the empire in mournful strains.
At each fresh exclamation of grief they fall into some new
posture, first beating their breasts, then plucking their beards,
then rending their garments, then tearing their hair ; and in this
manner they move slowly on through the palace doors ^.
The comic dance was called the kordax. Its movements
were coarse and lascivious, and its general style was suggestive
of the phallic songs out of which comedy had been developed. It
was a dance for drunken people, and no one but a man without
any sense of shame would dance it when he was sober. It was
considered vulgar and disgraceful by Plato, and excluded from
his commonwealth*. Aristophanes, in the Clouds, takes credit
to himself for having abandoned it in that play; but, as the
scholiast remarks, he frequently introduces it elsewhere ^ In
the comic dances the wildest movements were admissible. The
1 Plat. Legg. 8i6 A. ^ Aesch. Pers. 1038 foil.
^ Suid. V. ii(\>ian6s ; Hesych. v, ^i<pi- * Schol. Arist. Nub. 542 Kop^ koj-
C^tv; Poll. iv. 105 Koi fji^v rpayiKrjs dp- fitter], ^Tis alcrxP^^ kivci t^v d<T(pvv.
Xricreojs crx'fjiJ.aTa aiyLi) x^'P> KaXaOioKos, Hesych. v. KopSa^ ; Plat. Legg. p.
X^tp KaTanprjvfjs, ^vXov TrapaKrj^pis, dtirX^, 816 A ; Theoph. Char. 6.
Oepfiavarpis, Kv^iGrrjOis, Trapafirjvai rer- ^ Arist. Nub. 540 oiiSe Kophax ciA-
Tapa. Kvaev,
VI.l THE MUSIC. 291
chorus, at the end of the Wasps, when encouraging the sons of
Carcinus to fresh exertions, bid them ^ whirl round like tops,
and fling their legs up into the sky/ Occasionally the circular
dance of the dithyrambic chorus was adopted in comedy \
The dance used in the satyric drama was called the ' sikinnis.*
It was mainly a parody and caricature of noble and graceful
dances, and was very violent and rapid in its movements. One
of the postures used in the satyric dance was called the owl,
and is variously explained by the old grammarians as having
consisted in shading the eyes with the hands, or in turning
the head to and fro like an owl ^
§ 7. The Music.
The music of a Greek play was simple in its character, and
altogether subordinate to the poetry. As Plutarch remarks, it
was a sort of seasoning or relish, the words being the main
attraction ^ Any comparison therefore between a Greek play
and a modern opera, as far as the music is concerned, must be
entirely illusive. In the first place all Greek choral singing
was in unison. The use of harmony in musical compositions
was unknown to the Greeks. Even in modern times Greek
Church Music has retained the practice of chanting in unison.
Consequently the general style of the music in a Greek drama
must have been exceedingly simple and severe compared with
the intricate combinations of modern music. In the second
place, the music was fitted to the words, instead of the words
being subordinated to the music. Each note of the music
corresponded to a separate syllable of the verse, and the time
of the music was determined entirely by the metre of the verse.
The ode was chanted in unison, syllable after syllable, by the
whole body of the choreutae. The modern practice of adapting
^ Arist. Vesp. 1529 aTp60€i,rrapaPaiv€ 630 A ; Dion. Hal. A. R. vii. 72 ; Phot.
kvkXcv KOI ycKXTpiffov (XeavTov, \ pinre v. aKwirevfia.
aK€\os ovpaviov /3e/i)3t«fs lyyeveffOcuv, ^ Plut. Symp. 71 3 C rb Se fiekos Kal
Thesm. 953 oppta, x^P^'- 1 >^ov(pa irocriv, rbv pvdfibv uffircp 6\pov km tS> \6ya}, koI
ay' €S kvkKov, \ x^'/^t ovvanre x^^P°-' M 'f**^' o-^to. TtpoacpipiaOai.
2 Poll. iv. 99, 103 ; Athen. p. 629F-
U 2
29 a THE CHORUS, [Ch.
the words to the exigencies of the music, and making different
parts of the chorus sing different words at the same time, was
altogether unknown. Hence it is probable that the words of a
Greek chorus were heard with considerable distinctness by the
whole audience. When all the singing was in unison, and the
notes of the music corresponded to the syllables of the verse,
there was no reason why this should not be the case. In
modern choral singing the poetry is so far sacrificed to the
music, that even the general drift of the words cannot usually
be distinguished with much clearness. But this could never
have been the case in the ancient drama, where the lyrical
portions of the play often contained the finest poetry and the
profoundest thoughts of the whole composition. The choreutae
were doubtless made to sing with great precision and distinct-
ness of utterance ; and this training, combined with the simple
character of the music, would make it possible for the words
of an ancient chorus to be heard without difficulty. In the
third place, the instrumental accompaniment was limited in
amount, and was never allowed to predominate. The flute
or harp simply gave the note, but otherwise was kept quite
in the background. In lyrical, as opposed to dramatic, poetry
there was a tendency for the flute to overpower the voices.
Pratinas, in a lyrical fragment still preserved, complains of this
practice, saying that 'the Muse has made Poetry the mistress :
let the flute play the second part ; it is but the servant of Poetry ^ ! *
These words, which only refer to a tendency in the lyrical poets
of the time, are significant as showing the Greek conception
of the relative position of instrument and voice in choral singing.
In the Greek drama, as already remarked, the instrumental
portion of the music was altogether subordinate ; and the
music as a whole was made subservient to the words and
the poetry.
The scales in which Greek music was written were called
Modes or Harmonies, and differed from one another, not only
according to the intervals between the notes, but also in respect
^ Pratinas apud Athen. p. 617 B rav avXus \ varepov xo/)CV€tcu- kox yap kad'
doi5av KaTiffracre Tliepls fiaaiKtiav 6 S' virrjptTas.
VI.] THE MUSIC. 293
of the particular style of music with which they were respectively
associated. This was a peculiar feature of the Greek musical
system. Every Mode had a special kind of metre and of melody
appropriated to itself, and a composition in a given Mode was
necessarily of a certain well-defined character. . The difference
between the several Modes was very much the same as that
between various kinds of national music in modern times. For
example, an air in the Phrygian Mode bore the same sort of
relation to one in the Lydian as a lively Swiss song bears to
a plaintive Irish melody. Of the various Modes used in Greek
music the tragic poets selected those which were most suited
to their purpose. The Dorian and the Mixolydian Modes
were the two most commonly employed in tragedy. The Do-
rian was majestic and dignified in style ; the Mixolydian was
pathetic. The one was used in the solemn and profound
choral odes, the other in cases where deep emotion had to be
expressed \ Besides these two principal Modes, certain others
were occasionally employed. The old Ionic Mode was severe
and sober, before the degeneracy of the Ionic nation had
altered its character. It was therefore well adapted to tra-
gedy, and was used by Aeschylus ^ The music of the
Phrygian Mode was passionate and enthusiastic, and was
first introduced into tragedy by Sophocles '. The Hypodorian
and the Hypophrygian Modes were only employed in the
songs of the actors upon the stage, and not in choral odes.
The reason was that the style of their music was better
suited to realistic acting, than to choral singing \ Sometimes
a few notes of instrumental music were inserted by them-
selves, at intervals in the choral songs, as a sort of refrain. The
'phlattothrat,' which recurs in the parody of Aeschylus* lyrics
in the Frogs, is an instance of such a refrain, the instrument
used being the harp. The flute was also employed in the same
way. Such refrains were called ' diaulia ' ^
1 Plut. Mus. 1 1 36 D-F. 5 Arist. Ran. 1286 ff.; Hesych. v.
^ Heracleid. ap. Athen, p. 625 B ; Siavkiov o-norav kv toTs ficKeffi fiera^v
Aesch. Suppl. 69 'laovioiai vo/xoioi. Trapa^aXXri fxeXos tl 6 iroirjTTjs napacioj-
^ Vit. Soph. p. 8 Dindf. rr-qaavros tov x^f ov.
* Aristot. Prob. xix. 30. 48.
294 THE CHORUS.
During the latter part of the fifth century the character of
Greek music underwent a considerable change. The severity and
simplicity of the music of the Aeschylean period was succeeded
by a style in which softness, variety, and flexibility were the
prominent features. The author of the movement was the
celebrated musician Timotheus\ His innovations were re-
garded by the philosophers and old-fashioned critics as so
many corruptions of the art of music, and as a proof of the
growing effeminacy of the age^ In one of the comedies of
Pherecrates the person of Music is made to complain of the
treatment she has received at the hands of various composers,
and ends her complaint by charging Timotheus with having
outraged and insulted her more than any one else had done,
and compares his florid melodies to the ^ intricate movements of
ants in a nest \' The new kind of music was very generally
adopted by the later tragic poets, such as Euripides and Aga-
thon, and is frequently ridiculed by Aristophanes \ Euripides
appears to have foreseen from the first that the new style would
soon become popular. On a certain occasion, when a novel
composition by Timotheus was loudly hissed in the theatre, he
told him not to be discouraged by his temporary want of
success, as in a few years he would be sure to have every
audience at his feet^ The prediction was verified by the
result.
^ Suid.v.Ti/i(5eeos. Plut. Mus. 1135D. * Arist. Ran. 1301 foil., Thesm. 100
"^ Suid. 1. c. T^v dpxaiay liovaiK^v lirl fJLvpixrjKos arpa-novs, rj ri dianivvpirai ;
TO ixaKaKWTfpov fxeTrjyayiv. Schol. ad loc. w? AcTrra Kal dynvKa dva-
3 Pherecrat. Cheiron. frag. I (Mei- Kpovofievov fiikr] tov 'Aydeojuos' Toiavrai
neke, F. C. G. ii. p. 326) aSoJv iKxpa- yap at twv pivppLrjKOJV 6801.
CHAPTER VII.
THE AUDIENCE.
§ I. Composition of the Audience.
The theatre of Dionysus at Athens, during the period of
the Lenaea and the City Dionysia, presented a spectacle
which for interest and significance has few parallels in the
ancient or the modern world. On these occasions the city
kept universal holiday. Business and politics were forgotten ;
the law-courts were closed ; even prisoners were released from
gaol, to enable them to partake in the general rejoicings. The
deity in honour of whom the festivals had beeji established was
Dionysus, the god of wine, and the type of the productive power
of nature. The various proceedings were in reality so many
religious celebrations. But there was nothing of an austere
character about the worship of Dionysus. To give freedom
from care was his special attribute, and the sincerest mode of
paying homage to his power was by a genial enjoyment of the
various pleasures of life. At this time of universal merriment
the dramatic performances formed the principal attraction.
Each day soon after sunrise the great majority of the citizens
made their way to the southern slopes of the Acropolis, where
the theatre of Dionysus was situated. The tiers of seats rising
up the side of the hill were speedily filled with a crowd of nearly
thirty thousand persons. The sight of such a vast multitude
of people, gathered together at daybreak in the huge open
amphitheatre, and dressed for the most part in white, or in red,
brown, yellow, and other rich colours, must have been exceed-
296 THE AUDIENCE, [Ch.
ingly striking and picturesque. The performances which
brought them together were not unworthy of the occasion.
The plays exhibited at the festivals of Dionysus rank among
the very noblest achievements of Greek genius. For beauty of
form, depth of meaning, and poetical inspiration they have
never been surpassed. The point of unique interest about the
Greek drama is the superlative excellence of its productions,
combined with the fact that it was essentially a national amuse-
ment, designed for the entertainment of the great mass of the
citizens. It would be difficult to point to any similar example
of the whole population of a city meeting together each year to
enjoy works of the highest artistic beauty. It is seldom that
art and poetry have penetrated so deeply into the life of the
ordinary citizens. Our curiosity is naturally excited in regard
to the tone and composition of the audiences before which a
drama of such an exceptional character was exhibited. The
object of the following chapter will be to bring together and
present in one view all the available information upon this
subject.
At the Lenaea, which was held in the winter, when travelling
was difficult, the audience consisted almost exclusively of natives
of Athens. The City Dionysia came about two months later, at
the commencement of the spring, and attracted great crowds of
strangers from various parts of Greece. Representatives from
the allied states came to pay the annual tribute at this season of
the year. It was also a favourite time for the arrival of am-
bassadors from foreign cities; and it was considered a mere
matter of politeness to provide them with front seats in the
theatre, if they happened to be in Athens during the celebration
of the City Dionysia \ In addition to these visitors of a repre-
sentative character, there were also great numbers of private
individuals, attracted to Athens from all parts of Greece by the
magnificence of the festival, and the fame of the dramatic exhibi-
tions. Altogether the visitors formed a considerable portion of
the audience at the City Dionysia. One of the great aggrava-
tions of the offence of Meidias was that his assault upon
1 Dem. de Cor. § 28.
VIT.I COMPOSITION OF THE AUDIENCE, 297
Defnosthenes was committed in the presence of 'large multi-
tudes of strangers \' Apparently the natives of foreign states
were not allowed to purchase tickets for the theatre in their
own name, but had to get them through an Athenian citizen ^
The composition of the purely Athenian part of the audience
is a subject upon which a great deal has been written, the prin-
cipal difficulty being the question as to the admittance of boys
and women to the dramatic performances. In the treatment of
this matter scholars appear to have been unduly biassed by
a preconceived opinion as to what was right and proper. Un-
doubtedly Athenian women were kept in a state of almost
Oriental seclusion. And the old Attic comedy was pervaded by
a coarseness which seems to make it utterly unfit for boys and
women. For these reasons some writers have gone so far as
to assert that they were never present at any dramatic perform-
ances whatsoever ^ Others, while not excluding them from
tragedy, have declared that it was an impossibility that they
should have been present at the performances of comedy'*.
But the attempt to draw a distinction between tragedy and
comedy, in regard to the admission of boys and women to the
theatre, will not bear examination. If they were present at
one, they must have been present at both. The tragic and the
comic competitions frequently took place upon the same days,
and succeeded one another without any interval ; and it is diffi-
cult to suppose that, after the tragedies were over, a large part
of the audience had to be turned out before the comedies could
begin. Moreover, if women and boys had been present at the
tragedies, they would of necessity have been spectators of the
satyric dramas, which were nearly as coarse as the comedies.
It is useless therefore to endeavour to separate tragedy from
comedy in the consideration of this question.
As a matter of fact the evidence upon the subject, if con-
^ Dem. Meid. § 74. thumskunde ii. p. 391 ; Bergk, Griech.
"^ Theophrast. Char. 9 koI ^kvois Se Literatur. iii. p. 49.
avTov Oeav dyopdaas firj bovs rb {iipos * E. g. Bernhardy, Griech. Litterat.
Btojpuv. ii. 2. p. 132 ; Bockh, Trag. Princip. p.
^ E. g. Bottiger, Kleine Schriften i. 37 ; Meineke, Menand. et Philem. Reliq.
p. 295 ff. ; Wachsmuth, Hellen. Alter- p. 345.
298 THE AUDIENCE. [Ch.
sidered without prejudice, makes it practically certain that th^re
were no restrictions of the kind suggested. The audience at
the dramatic performances, whether tragic or comic, was drawn
from every class of the population. Men, women, boys, and
slaves were all allowed to be present. The evidence from
ancient authors is too copious to be accounted for on any other
supposition. There are three passages in Plato which in them-
selves are almost enough to decide the question. In one place,
speaking of poetry in general, and more especially of tragedy,
Plato says it is a kind of rhetoric addressed to ' boys, women,
and men, slaves, and free citizens without distinction.' In
another place, where he is treating of the management of his
ideal republic, he says there will be no great readiness
to allow the tragic poets to 'erect their stages in the market-
place, and perform before women and children, and the general
public' A passage of this kind would have very little point,
unless it was intended as a condemnation of the prevailing prac-
tice. In a third place he declares that if there was a general
exhibition of all kinds of public amusements, and the audience
were called upon to state what they were most pleased with, the
little children would vote for the conjuror, the boys for the comic
poet, the young men and the more refined sort of women for the
tragic poet \ These three passages of Plato are hardly con-
sistent with the supposition that the drama was a spectacle
which boys and women were never allowed to witness.
In addition to the above evidence there are also several
places in Aristophanes where boys and women are referred
to as forming part of the audience. They must therefore
have been present at the performances of the Old Comedy.
For instance, in the Clouds Aristophanes prides himself on
having refrained from introducing the phallus ' to make the boys
laugh.' In the Peace he says that 'both the boys and the men '
ought to wish for his victory in the contest, because of his bold-
ness in attacking Cleon. In another part of the Peace, when
some barley is thrown among the male part of the spectators,
1 Plat. Gorg. 502 B-E, Legg. 817 A-C, 658 A-D.
VII.] COMPOSITION OF THE AUDIENCE, 299
Trygaeus remarks that the women have not got any'. Other
passages of the same kind might be quoted. That women were
present at the New Comedy is proved conclusively by a letter of
Alciphron, in which Menander is supposed to be writing to his
mistress Glycera. In this letter he says that nothing is dearer
to him than to be crowned with the ivy of Dionysus, as victor in
the comic contest, 'while Glycera is sitting in the theatre and
looking on^' Other pieces of evidence are as follows. In
Lucian's dialogue Solon tells Anacharsis that the Athenians
educate their sons by taking them to tragedies and comedies,
and showing them examples of virtue and vice, so as to teach
them what to imitate and what to avoid ^. In the Frogs there is
the well-known passage in which Aeschylus taunts Euripides
with the immorality of his plays, which have caused women of
refinement to commit suicide from very shame. If women were
never present at the performance of the tragedies of Euripides,
there would be very little meaning in the reproach *. Then again
we are told that when Alcibiades was choregus, and ' entered the
theatre ' dressed in a splendid purple robe, he was admired ' not
only by the men, but also by the women ^.* The shameless
person in Theophrastus smuggles his sons into the theatre
with a ticket which belongs to some one else. The miser never
takes his sons to the theatre except when the entrance is free ^
The regulation of Sphyromachus, providing that men, women,
and courtesans should sit apart from one another, can hardly
have referred to any place but the theatre"^. The cumulative
effect of all these passages is difficult to resist. It is impossible
to explain them all away by far-fetched interpretations. Even
the story of the effect produced by the Eumenides of Aeschylus
upon the audience— of the boys dying of fright and the women
having miscarriages — such a story, though in itself a foolish
^ Aristoph. Nub. 537-539, Pax 76=, ifvxP'^v. •^^Xwaiv, ws bpas, rd -naihia.
766, 962-967. Cp. also Arist. Pax 50 ^ Alciphron, Epist. ii. 3.
€70; Se rbv Xo-^ov 76 rolai iraidiois ... ^ Lucian, Anachar. 22.
(ppdaoj; Eupolis, UpoairaKrioi, fr. 2 * Aristoph. Ran. 1050, 1051.
(Meineke, Frag. Com. Gr. ii. p. 521) ^ Athen. p. 534 C.
'Hpa/fAfts, TovT eari aoi \ to oKWfifi ^ Theophrast. Char. 9 and 13.
doiX-^h Kal m.eyapiKdv ml a<p65pa j '' Schol. Aristoph. Eccles. 22.
300 THE AUDIENCE. [Ch.
invention, could hardly have originated unless women and boys
had been regularly present at the theatre \ That they were
admitted at a later period is proved by the direct evidence of
inscriptions in the theatre of Dionysus, which show that in
Hadrian's time seats were specially reserved for priestesses and
other women ^. This fact would not of course be conclusive
evidence as to the custom which prevailed in the classical period
of Athenian history. But as far as it goes, it tends to confirm
the conclusions based upon the evidence of ancient authors.
No doubt at first sight it appears a very startling fact that
women and boys should have been spectators of the Old
Comedy. But it should always be remembered that the come-
dies performed at the festivals of Dionysus were a portion of
a religious celebration, which it was a pious duty to take part
in. Ribaldry and coarseness were a traditional element in the
worship of Dionysus, handed down from rude and primitive
times, and were not lightly to be dispensed with. The Greeks
in such matters were thoroughly conservative.. It was a feeling
of this kind which caused the satyric drama to be developed
side by side with tragedy, in order that the old licentious merri-
ment of the satyrs might not be utterly forgotten. The coarse-
ness of the Old Comedy, being a regular part of the celebrations
in honour of Dionysus, might be witnessed by boys and women
without degradation, though their presence at similar scenes in
real life would have been regarded in a very different manner.
Where the worship of the gods was concerned, the practice of
keeping women in strict seclusion was allowed to drop into
abeyance. Women and even girls were present at the phallic
processions in honour of Dionysus ^ Their appearance on such
occasions we^^regarded as a mere matter of course. It need
not therefore surprise us that women and boys should have been
present in the theatre at the performances of the Old Comedy.
Whether they were ever present in large numbers is a further
question. Even those writers who admit that their presence
^ Vit. Aeschyli, p. 4 Dindf. ^ Aristoph. Achar. 241-246; Menand.
2 Corp. Inscr. Att. iii. 282,313, 315, Frag. Incert 32 (Meineke, P'rag. Com.
.316, 321, 322, 324, 325, 333, 342, 343, Gr. iv. p. 243).
345, 350. 351, 354, 361, &c.
VII.] COMPOSITION OF THE AUDIENCE. 301
was not prohibited by law, generally add that the more respect-
able women would in all probability keep away \ But the only
authority for such a notion is to be found in a couple of
passages in Aristophanes, which represent the husband as
present in the theatre, while the wife was at home ^ There is
nothing so unusual in an occurrence of this kind as to warrant
any sweeping conclusions. Some people must necessarily have
remained at home, from the mere fact that the theatre would not
have been large enough to contain the whole population of
Athens, if men, women, and children had all been present. But
it is hardly probable, for the reasons already stated, that there was
anything disreputable in a woman visiting the theatre. Re-
formers like Aristotle were in advance of ordinary public opinion
in their feelings about such matters. There is a passage in
Aristotle's Politics which is of great interest as showing the
general sentiment on the subject '^. Aristotle expresses a strong
opinion that boys should be prevented from seeing or hearing
any piece of coarseness or indecency. Even if such ribaldry is
an essential feature in the worship of any particular deity, he
says that only men should be allowed to be present. The men
should pay the proper homage to gods of this character on behalf
of themselves, their wives, and their children ; but boys should
not be permitted to be witnesses of comedies and similar spec-
tacles. This passage, in which Aristotle is combating the prevail-
"ing practice of the times, is an additional proof that boys were
present at the performance of comedies, and shows clearly that
when the worship of the gods was concerned ordinary public
opinion did not consider such spectacles improper.
^ E.g. Miiller, die Griech. Biilmen- ^ Aristot. Pol. vii. 17 ljri;ufA.€S ;tei/ oSi/
alterthiimer p. 291. carco rols dpxovai fxrjOkv fxrjre dyaXfjia
^ Aristoph. Av. 793~79^ ^' "^^ )"^'" A"?'"* ypa(prjv elvai toiovtoov vpd^ccuv
Xctojv Tis vfiMV hariv oaris TV7xai/€i, | /iiixijaiv^el fir) irapciTKn OeoTs toiovtois oh
KaO' opa rbv dvbpa t^s yvvaiKOS (V KalrovTOoOaapLovavoUdojaLV ovopLOS' irpos
PovXevTiKw, I ovTOS av irdXiv Trap' vpLWV Se tovtois d(pir](Tiv 6 vopios roiis exovras
rrTepvyicras dviinaTO, \ dra Pivrjaas Ikh- -qXiKiav irXiov vpoarjKovaav koi virep
6eu avdis av KaOe^ero. Thesm. 395- avrcoy nal refivctiv KalyvvaiKwv TifxaXcpetv
397 wct' ev6vs (iai6vT€s diro tcuv 'iKpiajv | roiis $eovs. roiis 8e veajrepovs ovt' id/X'
VTTofiXiiTova Tjixds, aKOTTovvTai r (vOecos \ Pcou ovt€ KO}pL<^hia% O^ards vopioOeTrjTioy.
Hr) /xoixos evSov ■§ ris dnoKtKpv/xfiivos.
^oa THE AUDIENCE, [Ch.
Besides women and children it appears that slaves were oc-
casionally present at the theatre. Plato in the Gorgias mentions
slaves as one of the classes before which the tragic poets will not
be allowed to perform in his ideal commonwealth \ The shameless
man described by Theophrastus takes the ' paedagogus ' to the
theatre, along with his sons, and crowds them all into seats which
did not really belong to him^ It is not however probable that
the number of slaves among the audience was ever very great.
Their presence would depend upon the kindness of their masters.
But the two passages just quoted prove that there was no law
to prevent their attendance.
§ 2. Price of Admission,
The dramatic entertainments at Athens were provided by the
state for the benefit of the whole people. The entrance was
originally free, and every man was allowed to get the best seat
he could. But as the drama was extremely popular from the
very first, the struggle for seats caused great disturbances.
People used to come and secure places the night before the per-
formance began ; citizens complained that they were crowded
out of the theatre by foreigners ; blows and fights were of fre-
quent occurrence. It was therefore decided to charge a small
entrance fee, and to sell all the seats in advance. In this way
the crush of people was avoided, and as each man's seat was
secured for him, he was able to go to the theatre at a more
reasonable hour^ The price of a seat for one day's perform-
ance was two obols. The same price appears to have been
charged for all the different parts of the theatre, with the excep-
tion of the reserved seats for priests, officials, and other dis-
tinguished persons *. ■ A gradation of prices, according to the
goodness and badness of the seat, would probably not have been
^ Plat. Gorg. 502 D. between the reserved seats for distin-
2 Theophrast. Char. 9. guished persons, and the ordinary two-
^ Schol. Lucian. Tim, 49 ; Suidas v. obol seats. The passage in Plat. Apol.
OeoupiKov. 26 D, which has often been quoted to
* Dem. de Cor. § 28 dW' ev toTv prove that some seats cost a drachma,
^voTv d^oXoTv kOfwpovv dv. This pas- has probably no reference to the theatre.
sage shows that there was no alternative See above, chap. iii. p. 106.
VII.] PRICE OF ADMISSION, 303
tolerated by the democracy, as giving the rich too great an
advantage over the poor.
Until the time of Pericles every man had to pay for his place,
although the charge was a very small one. But the poorer
classes began to complain that the expense was too great for
them, and that the rich citizens bought up all the seats.
Pericles therefore, in order to gratify the democracy, passed
a measure directing that every citizen should have the price
of the entrance to the dramatic performances paid to him by the
state. The sum given in this way was called ' theoric ' money.
The law is described as if it was of universal application, but it
is probable that in Pericles' time, and for many years afterwards,
only the needy citizens applied for the theoric grants The
amount given to each man is sometimes said to have been
a drachma, sometimes two obols. There is no doubt that the
entrance fee for one day's performance was two obols. If
therefore a drachma was given, it must have been for a festival
at which the performances in the theatre lasted three days.
The amount of the theoric grant would of course vary according
to the length of the festival ^. It is well known that in later
times this system of theoric donations developed into the most
scandalous abuse. Grants of money were given to the citizens,
not merely at the Dionysia, but at all the other Athenian festivals,
to provide them with banquets and means of enjoyment. The
rich claimed the grant with quite as much eagerness as the poor.
The military revenues were impoverished in order to supply the
theoric fund ^ At first, however, the donations were limited to
the dramatic performances at the Dionysia.
^ Ulpian. ad Dem. Olynth. i. p. 13 ; hvoTv dPoXotv (Oewpovv dv. Ulpian , on
Plut. Pericles p. 157 A. Dem. Olynth. i. p. 13, is mistaken in
^ The amount of the grant is given as asserting that of the two obols one was
two obols by Suidas, Photius, and Etym. for admission to the theatre, the other
Mag. V. OeojpiKov ; by Libanius, Hypoth. for refreshments. The Schol. on Dem.
ad Dem. Olynth. i. p. 8 ; and by Schol. de Cor. § 28 also erroneously states
Aristoph, Vesp. 1118. It is given as a that the price of admission was one
drachma by Schol. Lucian. Tim. 49; obol.
and by Photius, Suidas, and Harpocrat. ^ Liban. Hypoth. ad Dem. Olynth.
s.v. OeojpiKCL. That the amount was two i. p. 8 ; Ammonius, de diff. vocab. v.
obols for a single day is proved by the dfojpSs; Dem. de Cor. § 118, Philipp.
passage in Dem. de Cor. § 28 Ij/ toiv iv, § 38,
304 THE AUDIENCE. [Ch.
The receipts from the sale of places in the theatre v/ent to the
lessee. The arrangement in this matter was a peculiar one.
The lessee was a person who entered into a contract with the
state, by which he undertook to keep the fabric of the theatre in
good repair, and in return was allowed to take all the entrance
money. If he failed to keep the theatre in good condition, the
state did the necessary repairs itself, and made him pay the
expenses. He had to provide reserved seats in the front rows
for distinguished persons, and it is uncertain whether the state
paid him for these seats or not. For all the other portions of
the theatre he was allowed to charge two obols and no more \
§ 3. The Distribution of the Seats.
When the theatre was full the audience numbered close on
thirty thousand persons ^. As to the arrangement of this
enormous mass of people some few facts are known, and some
inferences may be made ; but the information is not very com-
plete. The great distinction was between the dignitaries who
had reserved seats in the front, and the occupants of the ordinary
two-obol seats at the back. A gradation of seats with descending
prices was, as previously stated, unknown to the ancient Athe-
nians. The privilege of having a reserved seat in the theatre
was called 'proedria,' and was conferred by the state ^ From
the large number of persons who enjoyed the distinction it is
clear that several of the front rows must have been reserved ;
and this conclusion is confirmed by the inscriptions in the
theatre, which show that seats were assigned to particular in-
^ The lessee was generally called at the Peiraeeus engage to keep the
apxtT€KTa}v (Dem. de Cor. § 28), be- fabric in good repair ; (2) Dem. de
cause part of his contract was to look Cor. ^ 28 rj diav fj.T) Karavuiiai rov
after the buildings of the theatre. He apxireKTOva avroTs KcXevaai ; (3) Ulpian.
was also called OearpoirwX'qs (Poll. vii. ad Dem. Olynth. i. p. 13 wcrre Xa/xPdveiv
199), from the fact of his selling seats ; ... 5vo dPoXovs, ha . . . tov S' aWov -nap-
and OeaTpojvTjs (Theophrast. Char, 11), excti' excuat to) dpxt''"«''f'''0''' '''oy ^edrpou.
from the fact of his having taken the ^ See above, chap. iii. p. 122.
theatre on lease. The nature of the ^ Schol. Aristoph. Equit. 572. Pol-
arrangement with the lessee may be lux, iv. 121, states rather doubtfully that
gathered from (1) Corp. Inscr. Att. ii. the Tr/ooeSpm in the theatre might also be
573, in which the lessees of the theatre called irpurov ^vXov.
VII.] THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE SEATS, 305
dividuals as far back as the twenty-fourth tier from the fronts
The recipients of the honour, or at any rate the more prominent
of them, were conducted in a solemn procession to the theatre
each morning by one of the state officials ^.
Foremost among the persons who had seats in the front rows
were the priests and religious officers connected with the dif-
ferent divinities. That they should be distinguished in this
manner was only in keeping with the essentially religious
character of the ancient Greek drama. An inscription referring
to the theatre at the Peiraeeus, and belonging to the third or fourth
century b.c, mentions the priests specially by name as the most
conspicuous members of the class who had the ' proedria ' ^
The inscriptions upon the seats in the theatre at Athens, which
represent for the most part the arrangement that existed during
the reign of Hadrian, place the matter in a very clear light.
They enable us to determine the occupants of fifty-four out of
sixty-seven seats in the front row; and it is found that of
these fifty-four persons no less than forty-five were priests, or
ministers connected with religion. Similarly, in the rows imme-
diately behind the front row, a large number of places were set
apart for the different priests and priestesses ''. Such was the
arrangement in the time of Hadrian, and there can be little
doubt that it was much the same in its general character during
the period of the Athenian democracy.
Among state officials the nine archons and the ten generals
had distinguished places in the theatre. In Hadrian's time the
archons occupied seats in the front row, and it is probable that
this position was assigned to them from the earliest period.
The generals were in some prominent part of the theatre, but the
^ Corp. Inscr. Att. iii. 303-384. Hesych. v. I'c/xijo'eis Qkav 'AOtjvcuoi tcLs
^ Corp. Inscr. Att. ii. 589 shows that ev to) Oiarpw KaOeSpas, xf^rjipiafxaTi veve-
in the Peiraeeus the demarch used to fjnj/jievas irpoibpias iepevaiv.
conduct the persons honoured with * Corp. Inscr. Att. iii. 240-298.
proedria to the theatre. A similar prac- Fifty- two thrones in the front row have
tice was no doubt observed at Athens. been preserved, with the inscriptions
^ Corp. Inscr. Att. ii. 589 koI elffa- upon them ; and it is quite clear that
76x0; avTov 6 Srifiapxos eh to Otarpov two other thrones must have been re-
tcaOattep hpeis Kal tovs aWovs oh dedorai served for the two remaining Thesmo-
57 irpoedpia trapd TldpaUuv. Cp. also thetae.
306 THE AUDIENCE. [ch.
exact place is not known. The snob in Theophrastus was always
anxious to sit as near to them as possible \ Ambassadors from
foreign states, as was previously pointed out, were generally
provided with front seats, on the motion of some member of the
Council. Demosthenes is taunted by Aeschines for the exces-
sive politeness which he showed to Philip's ambassadors on
an occasion of this kind. The lessee of the theatre at the
Peiraeeus, as appears from an inscription still extant, was
ordered to provide the ambassadors from Colophon with re-
served places at the Dionysia. The Spartan ambassadors
were sitting in ^ a most distinguished part of the theatre ' when
they considerately gave up a place to an old man for whom
no one else would make room^ The judges of the various
contests sat together in a body, and would naturally be pro-
vided with one of the best places in the theatre ^ The orphan
sons of men who had fallen in battle received from the state,
in addition to other honours, the distinction of ' proedria.' The
same privilege was frequently conferred by decree upon great
public benefactors, and was generally made hereditary in the
family, descending by succession to the eldest male representative.
An honour of this kind was bestowed upon Demosthenes \
With the exception of the reserved places in the front rows,
the rest of the auditorium consisted of the ordinary two-obol
seats. Concerning the arrangements adopted in this part of the
theatre a few details have been recorded. It appears that spe-
cial portions of the auditorium were set apart for the different
classes of the community. There was a particular place for the
members of the Council of Five Hundred, and another place for
the Ephebi, or youths between the age of eighteen and twenty ^.
The women were separated from the men, and the courtesans
sat apart from the other women ^. It is probable that all the
^ Corp. Inscr. Att. iii. 254-260; ^ See chap. i. p. 46.
Aristoph. Equit. 573-576 ; Theophrast. * Aeschin. Ctesiph. § 154; Plut. X
Char. 5. Orat., prephisms I and II, p. 851 A-F.
^ Aeschin. Fals. Leg. § tii, Ctesiph. ^ Schol. Aristoph. Av. 795 ; Poll. iv.
§ 76; Dem. de Cor. § 28; Corp. Inscr. 122 fiov\(VTi/cdv fiSpos rod Bedrpov ml
Att. ii. 164 ; Cic. de Senect. § 63 ; Val. hcprjfiiKov.
Max. iii. 5. e Schol. Aristoph. Eccles. 22.
VII.] THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE SEATS. 307
women sat at the back of the theatre, at a long distance from the
stage. Foreigners also seem usually to have been confined to the
back seats \ The amphitheatre of seats was divided into thirteen
blocks by the passages which ran upwards from the orchestra.
It is a very plausible conjecture that in the arrangement of
the audience each tribe had a special block assigned to it. Not
that there was any correspondence between the number of the
blocks and the number of the tribes. The blocks of seats were
thirteen from the first : the tribes were originally ten, and were
only raised in later times to twelve and thirteen. If therefore
particular blocks were really appropriated to particular tribes,
there must have been from one to three blocks unappropriated
during a considerable period of Athenian history. But the
recent excavations in the theatre afford grounds for inferring
that there was a connexion between certain blocks and certain
tribes, and the thing is not improbable in itself^ The tribal
divisions played a large part in the various details of Attic ad-
ministration, and an arrangement by tribes would have greatly
facilitated the process of distributing the enormous mass of
spectators among their proper seats.
Before leaving this part of the subject it may be useful to
give a complete list of the priests and officials for whom the
front row was reserved in later times. It is still possible, as
* Aristoph. Pax 962-966 koI toTs tribe Erectheis, is in the first block from
OearaTs pinre tuiv KpiOwv. OI. ihov. \ the eastern end ; the second, erected by
TP. Uo)Kas tjSt} ; OI. vi) rbv 'Epixrjv, the tribe Acamanthis, is in the sixth
ware ye \ ... ovk (Otiv ovdels oaris ov block from the eastern end ; the third,
Kpid7]v ex^'- I "I^* ''^X o* fwaiKes 7' erected by the tribe Oeneis, is in the
iKafiov. Alexis, TwaiKOKparia, fr. I sixth block from the western end (C.I. A.
(Meineke, Fiag. Com. Gr. iii. p. 402) iii. 466-468). Thus the place of each
kvTavOa irepl ttjv effxaTrjv Set /cepKida | statue in the series of blocks corre-
vftas KaOi^ovffas Oecvpeiv ws £eVas. sponded exactly with the place of the
2 In the central block, on the third tribe in the official list of tribes. It is
step, was a statue of Hadrian, of which therefore a highly plausible conjecture
the basis is still preserved, erected in that, in addition to the statue of Hadrian
112 A. D. hy the Areopagus, the Council in the central block, there were twelve
of Six Hundred, and the people of other statues erected by the twelve tribes
Athens (C. I. A. ii. 464). Besides this, in the remaining blocks ; and that each
the bases of three other statues of tribe had a special block appropriated
Hadrian, erected by different tribes, are to itself. See Benndorf, Beitrage zur
still in existence. They are all on the Kentniss des att. Theaters p. 4 ff.
second step. The first, erected by the
X 2
3o8
THE AUDIENCE.
[Ch.
already stated, to determine the occupants of fifty-four out of
the sixty-seven seats ; and the arrangement, with a few excep-
tions, is that of Hadrian's time\ The list of names is not
^.
^f ■^v'^^.at^^s^,
without interest, as it enables us, better than any description,
to form a general conception of the sort of arrangement which
^ Corp. Inscr. Alt. iii. •240-298. Papers of the American School of
There is a very full account of the Classical Studies at Athens vol. i. p.
inscriptions on the thrones in Wheeler's 152 ff.
article on the Theatre of Dionysus, in
VlL] THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE SEATS. 309
was probably adopted at an earlier period. It also affords a
curious glimpse into the religious side of the old Athenian life,
and helps us to realise the variety and multiplicity of priests,
deities, and ceremonials. In the very centre of the front row,
in the best place in the whole theatre, sat the priest of Dionysus
Eleuthereus, on a throne of elaborate workmanship. A repre-
sentation of the throne is here inserted \ As the theatre was
regarded as a temple of Dionysus, and the drama was a cele-
bration in his honour, it was only fitting that his priest should
occupy the most conspicuous and distinguished position. There
is a reference to the arrangement in the Frogs of Aristophanes,
in the scene where Dionysus is terrified by the goblins in Hades,
and desperately appeals to his own priest for protection ^. Of
the thirty-three seats to the left of the priest of Dionysus the
occupants of twenty are still known, and were as follows : —
Priest of Zeus the Protector of the City.
The Sacrificer.
The Hieromnemon^
Priest and Chief Priest of Augustus Caesar.
Priest of Hadrian Eleuthereus.
Chief Archon.
King Archon.
Polemarch.
The Six Thesmothetae.
The lacchus-carrier*.
The Sacred Herald.
Priest of Asclepius the Healer.
Fire-bringer from the Acropolis^.
Priest of the People, the Graces, and Rome.
Holy Herald and Priest.
^ The illustration is taken from chap. iii. p. 162). The significance of
Zeitschrift fiir bildende Kunst vol. xiii. the Oriental figures has not yet been
p. 196. On the back, of the chair are explained,
depicted two Satyrs, holding a bunch of ^ Aristoph. Ran. 297.
grapes. In the front, underneath the ^ I. e. the representative of Athens at
seat, are two Oriental figures, engaged the Amphictyonic Council,
in a fight with winged lions. On the * I. e. the priest who carried the
arms of the throne are figures of Cupids, lacchus, or sacred statue of Dionysus,
setting cocks to fight. The appropriate- at the Eleusinian procession,
ness of the Satyrs, as a decoration in the ^ I. e. the priest who looked after the
theatre of Dionysus, is obvious. The sacrificial fire in the temple of Athene
cocks, no doubt, refer to the annual on the Acropolis,
cock-fight held in the theatre (see above,
310 THE AUDIENCE, [Ch.
All the thrones to the right hand of the priest of Dionysus
have been preserved, and were occupied by the following per-
sons : —
Interpreter appointed by the Pythian Oracle K
Priest of Olympian Zeus.
Hierophant.
Priest of Delian Apollo.
Priest of Poseidon the Nourisher.
Fire-bringer of the Graces, and of Artemis of the Tower.
Interpreter chosen from the Eupatridae by the people for life.
. Priest of Poseidon the Earth-holder and Poseidon Erectheus.
Priest of Artemis Colaenis.
Priest of Dionysus the Singer, chosen from the Euneidae.
Bullock-keeper of Palladian Zeus.
Priest of Zeus of the Council and Athene of the Council 2.
Priest of Zeus the Deliverer and Athene the Deliverer.
Priest of Antinous the Dancer, chosen from the Company of Actors^.
Priest of Apollo Patrons.
Priest of Dionysus the Singer, chosen from the Company of Actors.
Priest of Glory and Order.
Priest of Asclepius,
Priest of the Muses.
Priest of Zeus the god of Friendship.
Priest of the Twelve Gods.
Statue-cleanser of Zeus at Pisa.
Priest of the Lycean Apollo.
Statue-cleanser of Olympian Zeus in the City.
Priest of the Dioscuri and the Hero Epite^ius*.
Priest of Heavenly Nemesis.
Priest of Hephaestus.
Priest of Apollo the Laurel- wearer.
Priest of Dionysus of Aulon.
The Stone-carrier ■"'.
Priest of Theseus.
Bullock-keeper of Zeus the Accomplisher.
Priest of Demeter and Persephone.
The priests enumerated here were the principal dignitaries
in the Athenian hierarchy. Behind them sat a large gathering
^ He was one of the three Exegetae, PovXevTrjpiov.
or Interpreters of sacred law, and was ^ This Antinous was a favourite of
appointed by the Pythian oracle. A Hadrian's, and was drowned in the
second was chosen by the people from Nile, and afterwards deified,
the Eupatridae, and also had a seat in ^ Unknown,
the front row. ^ probably an official who carried a
"^ They were the guardians of the sacred stone in some procession ; but
fiovKij, and their altars were in the nothing is known about him.
VII.] VARIOUS ARRANGEMENTS. 311
of inferior priests and priestesses. Their presence in such num-
bers at performances Hke the Old and Middle Comedy affords
a curious illustration of the religious sentiment of the Athenians,
and indicates clearly that the coarseness of the early comedy,
and its burlesque representations of the gods and their adven-
tures, did not constitute any offence against religion, but formed
an appropriate element in the worship of Dionysus.
§ 4. Various arrangements in connexion with the Audience.
The performance of plays began soon after sunrise, and
continued all day long without intermission. There was no
such thing as an interval for refreshments ; one play followed
another in rapid succession \ Apart from direct evidence upon
the subject, it is manifest that, considering the large number of
plays which had to be gone through in the time, any delay would
have been out of the question. Consequently the spectators
were careful to have a good meal before starting for the theatre ^
There was also a plentiful consumption of wine and various light
refreshments in the course of the actual performances. The
time for such an indulgence was during the tedious portions of
a play, but when one of the great actors came upon the stage,
the provisions were laid aside, and the audience became all
attention ^
The theatre must have presented a bright and festive appear-
ance. Crowns were worn in honour of Dionysus by the express
command of the oracle \ The gaily-coloured dresses of the
spectators would add greatly to the brilliancy of the scene. At
the same time the comfort of the audience was not very much
* Aeschin. Ctesipb. § 76 aiia t^ '7A*«/'? irpwrov ■^pio'TijKOTes Kal vencoKores kPd-
■^yeiTO Tois rrpiafi^aiv els to Oearpov. bi^ov km rT)v diav.
Dem, Meid. § 74 hyw 5' vn kx&pov ^ Philochor. ap. Athen. \.c. irapa hi
vijcpovTOS) 'icvOfv, k.t.X. Aristoph. Av. tuv dyuiua iravTa olvos aiiTois djvoxoeiro
786-789 avTix vfiwv Tuiv OeaTUJV ei tis koI rpayfifiara irapfcpipeTO. Aristot.
^u viroTTTepos, | efra ireivaiv tois x^po^^'' ^th. Nic. x. 5 Kal kv tois OeaTpois ol
Twv Tpaywhwv TjxOeTO, \ kKTrrofxevos av TpayrjfxaTi^ovTfs, orav (pav\oi 01 dyouvi-
ovTOS ripioTTjaev k\6ajv oiKaSe, | Kdr av (ojjievoi wai, Tore frnXiar avTo Spa/ffiv.
f liirXrjfrOets k<p' fj^ids avOis av KaTkiTTaTO. * Philochor. ap. Athen. 1. c. kox
2 Philochorus ap. Athen. p. 464 E kcTicpavojuivoi kOewpovv. Dem. Meid.
'AOrjvaioi tois ^lowaiaKOis dyojoi Td {xlv § 52.
312 THE AUDIENCE. [Ch.
consulted. The seats were of stone, and without backs ; and the
people had to sit there all day long, packed together as closely
as was possible. Rich men brought cushions and carpets with
them. Aeschines draws a contemptuous picture of Demosthenes
escorting Philip's ambassadors to the theatre in person, and
arranging their cushions and spreading their carpets with his
own hands. The toady in Theophrastus, when he accompanies
a wealthy man to the theatre, is careful to take the cushion out
of the slave's hands, and to insist upon placing it ready for his
patron \ But luxuries of this kind were confined to the richer
classes, and the common people were probably contented with
the stone seats.
There was no shelter from the sun. The theatre faced to-
wards the south, and was entirely uncovered. But as the
dramatic performances took place at the end of the winter, or
early in the spring, the heat would not usually be excessive.
Probably the sun was in most cases very welcome. If however
any shelter was required, hats appear to have been worn, though
the Athenians generally went bare-headed except upon a jour-
ney ^ It has been suggested that small awnings were sometimes
erected upon rods by individual spectators for their own con-
venience, and that the ' purple cloths ' which Demosthenes
spread out for Philip's ambassadors were awnings of this de-
scription ^ But it is most improbable that anything of the kind
was permitted, at any rate during the period of the democracy.
Such awnings would have seriously interfered with the view of
the persons immediately behind.
To keep order among a gathering of about thirty thousand
persons, crowded together in a comparatively small space, must
have been a matter of some difficulty. Certain officers called
^ Aeschin. Ctesiph. § 76, Fals. Leg. cut in the stone for the reception of
§111; Theophrast. Char. 2. rods, to support small awnings; but
"^ Suidas V. ApaKOJV virb rwv Alyivrj- they date from Roman times, and their
TcDi/ €v TO) Ofdrpof, knippixpavTojv avrai purpose is not quite certain. The
cTTi 7^v K€<paX-qv TTtraaovs v\(iovas Koi ^oiviKidts mentioned by Aeschines
XiToivas Kal Ifxaria, direirviyr}. (Ctesiph. § 76) were probably coverlets
^ In one or two places in the theatre or carpets.
of Dionysus holes appear to have been
VII.] CHARACTER OF ATTIC AUDIENCES. 313
' staff-bearers ' were stationed in the theatre for the purpose \
Disturbances were not infrequent, and arose from various causes.
Sometimes the rivalry between two choregi resulted in actual
violence. For example, on one occasion, when Taureas and
Alcibiades were competitors in a dithyrambic contest, a fight
broke out between them, in the course of which Alcibiades,
being the stronger man of the two, drove Taureas out of the
orchestral That the feeling between the choregi often ran
very high has already been pointed out in a previous chapter.
Disputes about seats were another fertile source of disturbance.
With the exception of the front row, the individual places were
not separated from one another, but the people sat together on
the long stone benches. Such an arrangement was very likely
to cause confusion. Demosthenes mentions the case of a highly
distinguished citizen, who ran great risk of being put to death,
owing to his having forcibly ejected a man from his seat. Per-
sonal violence in the theatre was regarded as a crime against
religion, and was strictly prohibited. If any dispute arose, the
proper course was to appeal to the officers ; and the man who
took the law into his own hands was guilty of a capital offence ^.
§ 5. Character of Attic Audiences.
The Athenians were a lively audience, and gave expression to
their feelings in the most unmistakable manner. The noise and
uproar produced by an excited crowd of thirty thousand persons
must have been of a deafening character, and is described in the
most uncomplimentary language by Plato *. It was exceedingly
difficult for the judges to resist such demonstrations, and to vote
in accordance with their own private judgment. The ordinary
modes of signifying pleasure or disgust were much the same in
ancient as in modern times, and consisted of hisses and groans
on the one hand, and shouts and clapping of hands on the other \
The Athenians had also a peculiar way of marking their dis-
^ Called pa$So(f>6poi (Schol. Aristoph. * Plat. Legg. 700 C.
Pax 734), and pal3dovxoi (Pax 734). ^ Dem. Meid. §§ 14, 226; Alciphron,
^ Andocid. Alcibiad. § 20. Epist. iii. 71.
^ Dem. Meid. §§ 178, 179.
314 THE AUDIENCE. [Ch.
approval of a performance by kicking with the heels of their
sandals against the front of the stone benches on which they
were sitting'. Stones were occasionally thrown by an irate
audience. Aeschines was hissed off the stage, and ^almost stoned
to death/ in the course of his theatrical career. There is an
allusion to the practice in the story of the second-rate musician,
who borrowed a supply of stone from a friend in order to build
a house, and promised to repay him with the stones he collected
from his next performance in public ^. Country audiences in the
Attic demes used figs and olives, and similar missiles, for pelt-
ing unpopular actors ^ On the other hand, encores were not
unknown, if particular passages took the fancy of the audience.
Socrates is said to have encored the first three lines of the
Orestes of Euripides^.
If the Athenians were dissatisfied with an actor or a play,
they had no hesitation about revealing the fact, but promptly
put a stop to the performance by means of hisses and groans and
stamping with the heels. They were able to do so with greater
readiness, as several plays were always performed in succession,
and they could call for the next play, without bringing the enter-
tainment to a close. In this way they sometimes got through
the programme very rapidly. There is an instance of such an
occurrence in the story of the comic actor Hermon, whose play
should naturally have come on late in the day ; but as all the
previous performers were promptly hissed off the stage one after
another, he was called upon much sooner than he expected, and
in consequence was not ready to appear ^ If the tale about the
comic poet Diphilus is true, it would seem that even the authors
of very unsuccessful plays were sometimes forcibly ejected from
the theatre ^
A few scattered notices and descriptions, referring to the
' Poll. iv. 122 TO iikvroi TO. \lw\ia have been the word used; cp. Xen.
rah ■mkpvais Karafcpovdv impvoKOfTiiv Symp. ix. 4 ct'yua St kPowv av6is.
eXfyov kiroiovv Se rovTo onoTf Tiva ^ Poll. iv. 88. he word for hissing
(K0dKoi(v. an actor off the stage was eftPdWciv ;
^ Dem. Fals. Leg. § 337 ; Athen. p. to be hissed off was kKvivTuv. See
245 E. Dem. de Cor. § 265, Poll. iv. 122.
' Dem. de Cor. § 262. « Athen. p. 585 F.
* Cic. Tusc. iv. § 63. M6i$ seems to
VII.] CHARACTER OF ATTIC AUDIENCES. 315
spectators in the Athenian theatre, show that human nature
was very much the same in ancient times as at the present
day. Certain types of character, which were generally to be
met with among an Attic audience, will easily be recognised
as familiar figures. There was the man of taste, who prided
himself upon his superior discernment, and used to hiss when
everyone else was applauding, and clap when every one else was
silent \ There was the person who made himself objectionable
to his neighbours by whistling an accompaniment to tunes
which happened to please him^ There were the 'young men
of the town,' who took a malign pleasure in hissing a play off
the stage ^. There were the people who brought out their
provisions during the less exciting parts of the entertainment \
There was the somnolent individual who slept peacefully through
tragedies and comedies, and was not even waked up by the noise
of the audience going away ^ Certain indications show that the
employment of the claque was not unknown to Greek actors and
poets. The parasite Philaporus, who had recently taken up the
profession of an actor, and was anxious about the result of his
first public appearance, writes to a friend to ask him to come
with a large body of supporters, and drown with their applause
the hisses of the critical part of the audience. Philemon, in
spite of his inferior talents as a comic writer, is said to have
frequently won victories from Menander by practices of this
kind ".
The character of the Athenian audience as a whole is well
exemplified by the stories of their treatment of individual poets.
Although they were willing to tolerate the utmost ribaldry upon
the stage, and to allow the gods and sacred legends to be bur-
lesqued in the most ridiculous fashion, they were at the same
time extremely orthodox in regard to the national religion. Any
atheistical sentiments, and any violations of their religious law,
were liable to provoke an outburst of the greatest violence.
i Theophrast. Char. 11. * Aristot. Eth. Nic. x. 5.
2 Theophrast. Char. I.e. *' Theophrast. Char. 14.
^ Alciphron, Epist. iii. 71 iVa, kov ti * Alciphron, Epist. iii. 71 ; Aul. Gell.
\dOQ}fi€v arroacpaXivm, fxrj Xdfiri xwpav N. A. xvii. 4.
rd daTiKOi fiapdKia kXw((iv ^ avpimiv.
3J6 the audience, [Ch.
Aeschylus on one occasion was nearly killed in the theatre
itself, because he was supposed to have revealed part of the
mysteries in the course of a tragedy. He was only saved by
flying for refuge to the altar of Dionysus in the orchestral
Euripides also caused a great uproar by beginning his Mela-
nippe with the line, 'Zeus, whoever Zeus be, for I know not
save by report,' &c. In a subsequent production of a revised
version of the play he altered the line to ' Zeus, as is reported
by truth,^ ' &c. In the same way sentiments which violated the
moral feeling of the audience were received with intense in-
dignation, and sometimes resulted in the stoppage of the play.
The Danae of Euripides is said to have been nearly hissed off
the stage because of a passage in praise of money ^ On the
other hand, wise and noble sentiments excited great enthusiasm.
Aristophanes was rewarded with a chaplet from the sacred olive
because of the splendid passage in which he counsels mercy to
the disfranchised citizens. Sophocles is said to have been
appointed one of the generals in the Samian expedition on ac-
count of the excellent political wisdom shown in certain passages
of the Antigone ^. The partiality of the Athenians for idealism
in art is shown by the reception which they gave to Phrynichus*
tragedy of the Capture of Miletus, an historical drama in which
the misfortunes of the lonians were forcibly portrayed. So far
from admiring the skill of the poet, they fined him a thousand
drachmas for reminding them of the miseries of their kinsfolk,
and passed a law forbidding the reproduction of this particular
play'.
The enthusiasm of the Athenians for the drama was un-
bounded. Nowhere was the theatre more crowded. In the
words of one of the old historians they 'spent the public
revenues on their festivals, w^ere more familiar with the stage
than with the camp, and paid more regard to verse-makers than
^ Aristot Eth. Nic. iii. 2, and Eu- Gr. Frag. p. 363.
stath. ad loc. * Vit. Aristoph. (Dindf. Prolegom.
2 Plut. Amator. 756 C; Nauck, Trag. de Com. p. 12) ; Arg. to Soph. Antig.
Gi. Frag. p. 405. 5 Herod, vi. 21.
Senec. Epist. 115; Nauck, Trag.
VIT.] CHARACTER OF ATTIC AUDIENCES. 317
to generals \* The speeches of Demosthenes are full of com-
plaints in the same strain. The eagerness with which dramatic
victories were coveted, and the elaborate monuments erected to
commemorate them, have already been referred to in a previous
chapter. It was not however till the middle of the fourth cen-
tury that the devotion to this and similar amusements grew to
such a height as to become a positive vice, and to sap the
military energies of the people. The Athenians of the fifth
century showed that enthusiasm for art and music and the
drama was not inconsistent with energy of character. As a
matter of fact the very greatest period of the Attic drama is also
the period of the political supremacy of Athens.
As far as intelligence and discrimination are concerned, the
Athenian audiences were probably superior to any audience of
the same size which has ever been brought together. Their
keen and rapid intellect was a subject of frequent praise among
the ancients, and was ascribed to the exhilarating influence of the
Attic climate ^. They were especially distinguished for the re-
finement of their taste in matters of art and literature, and for the
soberness of judgment with which they rejected any sort of florid
exuberance. That they were keenly alive to the attractions of
beauty of form and chastened simplicity of style is proved by the
fact that Sophocles was by far the most successful of their tragic
poets. Though Euripides became more popular among the
later Greeks, Sophocles in his own lifetime obtained far more
victories than any other tragic writer ^ At the same time it is
easy to form an exaggerated idea of the refinement of an Attic
audience. They were drawn from all classes of the people, and
a large proportion were ignorant and uncultured. Plato speaks
in the most disparaging terms of them, and charges them with
having corrupted the dramatic poets, and brought them down to
1 Justin. 17. 9. The passage was rum semper fuit prudens sincerumque
very likely from Theopompus. iudicium, nihil ut possent nisi incor-
2 Dem. Olynth. iii. § 15 kox ^vuvai ruptum audire et elegans ; § 27 ad
iravTOJV vp.iTs b^vraroi to. ^rjOevra. Cic. Atticorum igitur aures teretes et religio-
de Fato § 7 Athenis tenue caelum, ex sas qui se accommodant, ii sunt existi-
quo acutiores etiam putantur Attici. mandi Attice dicere.
^ Cic. Orat. § 25 (Athenienses) quo-
3i8 THE AUDIENCE.
their own leveP. His evidence is perhaps rather prejudiced.
But Aristotle, who had much greater faith in popular judgment,
is not very complimentary. He divides the theatrical audience
into two classes, the refined and cultured class on the one hand,
and the mass of rough and ignorant artisans on the other. One
of his objections to the profession of an actor or musician is that
he must accommodate himself to the level of the ignorant part of
his audience^. He mentions examples in the Poetics of the low
level of popular taste, from which it appears that the average
spectator in ancient times was, like his modern counterpart,
fond of 'happy terminations.' He cared little for the artistic
requirements of the composition ; his desire was to see virtue
rewarded, and vice punished, at the end of a play. Then
again, a large part of the audience, Aristotle remarks, were so
ignorant as to be unacquainted with the ordinary facts of my-
thology, which formed the basis of most tragedies. In judging
a play, they paid more regard to the actor's voice than to the
poet's genius ^. At the same time, in spite of depreciatory cri-
ticisms, it must be remembered that the true criterion of a
people's taste is to be found in the character of the popular
favourites. The victorious career of Sophocles, lasting over
more than fifty years, is a convincing proof of the fact that, at
any rate during the fifth century, the dramatic taste of the
Athenians was altogether higher than that of an ordinary
populai audience.
^ Plat. Legg. 659 B, C. ^ StTrX^j/ re t-^v avaraaw txovoa KaSdncp
^ Aristot. Pol. viii. 7 end 8' Oearfis 1) 'OSvaafia Kal TeKcvruiaa l£ kvavTias
SiTTos, b fxev kkcvOepos Kal Treiraidevf^efos, roTs peXTioai Kal xf'Voo'tv. SoK(r be
o 8e (popTiKoi Itf ^avavcrwv Kal OrjTwi' Kal eivai irpwrr] dia t^v tu)v Oedrpctiv doOe-
aWojv Toiovrojv avyKeifj,(Vcs, ibid. 6 6 veiav, aKoXovOovai yap ot iroirjTal Kar'
yap Ocarrjs (popriKos $jv fierafidWeiv ivx^v iroiovvrfs tois OcaraTs. Ibid. c. 9
ciu9e rrjv /xovffiK-fjv, ware koI tovs t^x^l- (of the old legends) Ittci Kal rd yvwpipa
Tos rovsTTpbs avTov fieKeruiVTas avrovs t€ oXiyois yvuipifjcd kariv, dXX' ofxcos evcppat-
iroiovs Tivas ttoki. vei irdvTas. Id. Rhet. iii. I eKii p-eT^ov
^ Aristot. Poet. c. 13 5(VTepa 8' ■q dvvavrai vvv tmv iroirjTdiv 01 vnoKpirai.
trpwrr] Keyopiivr] virb Tivuv kari avaraffis
APPENDIX A.
The information concerning the dates at which the plays of the
great Attic dramatists were produced, and the success which they
met with in the competitions, is derived from various brief notices,
which occur mostly in the Arguments prefixed to the different plays,
and which were ultimately derived from Aristotle's Didascaliae, or
from other collections of the same kind (see chap. i. p. 6;^). A
complete list of these notices is here appended : —
472 B.C.
Arg. Aesch. Persae : *En\ Mevcovos rpayabcov AlaxiiXos ivUa $ti/et,
Uepaats, FXavKto, IIpoiir]d€7.
467 B.C.
Arg. Aesch. Septem : *Edi8dxdr) em eeayevidov oXvuniddi orf . ivUa
Aaio), OldiTTobi, 'Ettto, eVt Qrj^as, 2(j)i,yyl o-aTvpiKrj. devrepos ^Apiarias Ucpa-e'i,
TavToXa, UaKaia-Tois (TaTvpiKois rots nparivov Trarpos, rpiros TloXvcppadpcov
AvKovpyeia TCTpakoyiq.
458 B.C.
Arg. Aesch. Agamemnon : 'EdiddxOrj t6 dpafxa eVt apxovros ^CKoKkiovs,
oXvpniddi oydoTjKoar^ erei 8evTep(p. TrpcoTOs AI(t\vXos 'Aya/xe/ij/ovi, Xorjcfiopoii,
Evp.€vl(n, UpcoTcl auTvpiKa. ixoprjyei SevoicXris *A(j)idv€vy.
455 B.C.
Vit. Eurip. p. 4 Dindf. : "Up^aro di dibdaKdv (6 EvpiTTiBrjs) eVt KaXXiov
apxovTos KUT oXvpmdda rra erei a, TTpSnTOV b' edida^e rds IleXiddas, ore koi
rpiros iyivero.
438 B.C.
Arg. Eur. Alcestis : ^EbihdxOr} inX VXavKivov apxovros oXvfimdbi TTf'.
TTparos rjv 2o(fiOKXi'is, devrepos Evpnridrjs Kprjaaais, *AXKpaia>vi ra dia "^axjndos,
TrjXecfico, ' AXKrjcrridi.
431 B.C.
Arg. Eur. Medea : ^Ediddx^r) eVl Uvdobiiipov apxovros Kara rr]V oyborj-
KOcrrt]V ijSdofiTjv 6Xvp.Trid8a. Trpcoros Ev^opioiVy devrepos 2o(f)OKXrjs, rpiros
Evpmibijs MT)8eia, ^iXoKrrjrTjf AiKrv'i, Qepiara^s o-arvpois, ov crci^erac.
430 B.C. (?)
Aristid. vol. ii. p. 334 Dindf. : 2o(f)OKXr]s ^iXoKXeovs fjrraro €U ' AOrjvaiois
TOP OldinovVf S) Zcv Ka\ deoi.
3^0 APPENDIX A,
428 B.C.
Arg. Eur. HippolytUS : 'EStSa^^'J.cVi 'Afieivovos apxovros oXvixmddi oyBoT)-
KocrTji i^dofiT], e ret TerapTW. Trpcoros ^vpinidr]<:, bevTcpos lo(fiS)v, rpiros "lav.
425 B.C.
Arg. Arist. Acharnenses : 'ESiSdx^/? in\ ElBvvov apxovros iv Arjvaiois bia
KaWio-rpdrov' Ka\ Trpatros rjv. devrepos Kparivos Xet/ia^o/xci/ois* ov (r<i)^ovTai.
rpiros EviroXts l>iovp,r}viais.
424 B.C.
Arg. Arist. Equites : *EdiBdxdr] r6 dpap.a eVl ^rparoKkeovs apxovros
brjfioo-ia fls Arjvaia, bi avrov rov ^Apiarotpdvovs. 7rpa>ros iviKa' devrepos
Kparivos 2arvpois' rpiros * Api(Trop,evr]s 'YXo:/)opois.
423 B.C.
Arg. Arist. Nubes : Al 7rp5>rai Ne^eXat iv aa-rei idibaxBrja-av em apxovros
*ladpxov, ore Kparivos fxlv iv'iKa Uvrivrj, ^Afxeiyj^las 8e Kovva.
422 B.C.
Arg. Arist. Nubes : Ai Se devrepai Ne^eXat cVi ^Apeiviov apxovros. Arg.
Arist. Vespae : 'Ediddxdrj eVi apxovros *Ap.€iviov dia ^iXcovtbov els Arjvaia'
Ka\ evUa nparos. devrepos rjv ^iKcovidrjs Upodycovij AevKcov Tlpeo-^ea-t rpiros.
421 B.C. .
Arg. Arist. Pax : ^EvUrjo-e be ra bpdpan 6 TTOirjrrjs erri apxovros 'AXKatov,
ev acrrei. rrpMros EvnoXis KoXa^i, bevrepos 'Apicrrocfidvrjs Elprjvij^ rpiros AevKcov
^pdropcri.
415 B.C.
Ael. Var. Hist. ii. 8 : Kara rrjv rrptarrjv Ka\ evevrjKoa-rrjv oXvinridba ....
avrriyoivia-avro dXXrfXois ISevoKXrjs kol Evpnribrjs' Ka\ Trpcoros ye rjv SevoKX.^s,
oaris Tvore ovros ecrriv, Olbinobi Ka\ AvKdovi Ka\ Baif;^at9 Ka\ ^Addfiavn aarvpiKM.
rovrov bevrepos Evpinibris rjv ^AXe^dvbpco Kal UaXafirjbei Ka\ Tpmaai Ka\ Stcrv^o)
aarvpiKw.
414 B.C.
Arg. Arist. Aves : 'Ebibdxdrj enl Xa^piov bia KaXXiO-rpdrov ev aarei, os rjv
bevrepos rols "Opvia-i, irpoaros ^AfieiyJAias Koifiaa-rals, rpiros ^pvvixos MovorpoTTO).
412 B.C.
Schol. Arist. Ran. 53 : 'H be *Avbpopeba oyboa erei npoeia-riXdev.
Schol. Arist. Thesm. 1012 : awbebiboKrai yap rfi 'EXevrj.
411 B.C. (?)
Arg. Eur. Phoenissae : ^EbtbdxOrj enl TSlavaiKpdrovs apxovros oXvfimdb
nparos bevrepos Evpmibrjs, rpiros 6 Olvo/iaos
Ka\ XpuaiTTTTOs Kal ^oivKraai Kal . . . aarvp ov aa^erai.
APPENDIX B, 321
409 B.C.
Arg. Soph. Philoctetes : *E8i8ax^»; tVi TXavKi-mTOV, rrparos Tfv 2o(f)OKKTis.
408 B. C.
Schol. Eur. Orest. 371 : np6 yap AioKXtovSy e</)' ov top 'Opearrjv eStda^e.
405 B.C.
Arg. Arist. Ranae : 'EdiddxOr] inl KaXXiov rov ixera 'AvTiyePTj dia ^iKcopidov
els Ar)paia. 7rpa>T05 rjV ^pvpixos bevrepos Movaais' UXdrcop rpiros KXeo^wi/rt.
— B.C.
Schol. Arist. Ran. 67 : Ovto) yap Ka\ al AiSao-KaX/at (f)€pov(Ti, reXevrr)-
aaPTos 'EvpiTTibov top vIop airrov bedidax^PCH' 6fia>pvfxop ip aaTCL *l(ptyeP€iap
TTjP ip AvXcdiy *AXff/xai''ora, BaKxa^.
401 B.C.
Arg. Soph. O. C. : Top iirl KoXcopa Oldinoda ini TercXfVTijKOTL rw irdmra
So^okX^s 6 vibovs ediba^ep, vlos coi' ^AplcrTcopos, iiri ap^opTos MiKoypos.
388 B.C.
Arg. Arist. PlutUS : *Ediddx6T) eVi apxopros *ApTnrdTpoVj dpTaya>Pi^ofi€Pov
avTa NiKoxdpovs p-ep AdK(oatp,*ApiaTOfxepovs de'Adp.rjTtOjT^iKocjicbPTOsde'Adoi-
pidi, AXkuiov 6e IlacrKpdTj.
APPENDIX B.
Our knowledge of the Athenian drama has been very much
increased in recent years by the discovery at Athens of a large
number of inscriptions relating to dramatic contests. A complete
collection of all the inscriptions which bear upon this subject will be
found, admirably edited by Kohler, in the Corpus Inscriptionum
Atticarum, vol. ii. pt. 2. p. 394 foil. A selection of the most import-
ant of them is here appended. They are all copied from Kohler's
collection, with the exception of the second on the list, which was
only discovered in 1886, and is published in the *E(f)rjp.ep\s *ApxaioXo-
yiKT] for that year (p. 269 foil.).
I. List of victors in the four contests at the City Dionysia.
I.
[Se]i/oKXei8i/s ixoprjyei, Before
[Mjdyi/T/s ibidaoTKfP. 45^ ^* ^•
'rpay(o8a>Pf
322
APPENDIX B,
nepiK^s Xo\ap{yev5) (X^prjiyfi),
Aio-xvXos £[8]i8a(rKe[i/].
2.
['EttI $iXo]fcXeovff, 458 B. C.
fOtj/Jjjts naidoyv,
ArjfxodoKOS exoprjyci.
'iTnrodcovTis dvdpSiv^
EvKTrjfxau 'EXev((nVto?) fX°Pv{y^^)-
Ka>iJ.(ob5>Vj
BvpvicKeibrjs ixopriyei,
Ev(l)p6vios ibiba(rK€.
TpaycobayVj
SfVOKkrjs *A<l)ibva(los) ^X^pviy^')}
Alaxv^os cbidaa-Kev.
'EttI "A^pavos, -^57 B. C.
^Ep€xBrj\s TraidaVj
Xapias ^AypvXrjidev) €xopr]{yei),
AecdVTis dv8pci)Vj
AeivoarpaTOS €xoprj{y€i).
K(op(o8S)V,
[f>]p'7r["]»
3-
Ilaia.[yi€vs e'xopjjyei],
OS e6[iSa(rKej/].
[TpayQ)]tSc5i/,
r (ojv naiavi€[ys ix^prjyei],
[Me^veKpcLTrjs idi^daa-Kevjf
[vTT^OKpLTrjs Mvvv[iaK05],
l^EyV A\Kalov, 421 B.C.
'IttttoOcovtIs TTaidcOVj
'Apiarapxos AcKefXeevs) cxop^{yet).
AlavTLS dvbpcov,
Ar}p,oa6€VT]s ixoprjyei.
[ ^xop]v[y^''l
M€Vavbpo[s ] ^X^prjyfi,
APPENDIX B.
3^3
VTTo[KpiTJr)\yj KXeavdpo^s].
'Etti QeodoTov, 386 B. C.
'AvTio)(ls Tra/Scoi',
Evriy€TT]s HaXk^rfjvevs [ixoprjyei],
Alyrjts dv8pS>p,
Idaav KoXXvrevs e^^op^ytt.
5-
Middle of
Aio<pav 1^. . . . €)(oprjyfi\.
fourth cen-
KeKpcms [avdpcovj,
tury B. c.
OpTjrap [MeXiTei/s e;^opi5y6iJ.
KQ)/xa)8[a)i'],
Ai07rei[dr]s exoprjyei],
UpoK\€[idr]s €dldaaK€u\.
Tpay(od[S>p'],
6.
['eJttI ' ApL(rT[o](f)dpovs,
330 B. c.
Olp[r)ts] naibco^pj,
Tos [•Axa]pi/[€Uff exop.7(y€i)].
['l7r]7ro^a)j/Tt? ai/[5]p[a>i/].
. ... OS [rieip'^aie^vs e;(o/)^(yei)].
II. Record of tragic contests at the City Dionysia.
[TraXataJ* Nf[o7rToXf/ios]
['l^iyeji/eia Ei'[pi7ri]8o[i;J*
[7roj7(rai)]* ' Aa-rvM/ias
['A;(t]\Xer, VTre^KpipcTo) QeTTaXos'
*A6dp.aPTij vne{KpipfTo) Neo7rrdX[e^os]*
^Ap~\Tiy6pr], V7re(Kpip€To) ' A6qp68(o[pos]'
\_Ev]dp€TOS [fiev(repoff)] TevKpa,
[vTrjei^KplpeTo) * A6r)p68copos'
['Axi]X[X]6t, [v7re(KpiVeTo)] QeTToKos'
[ et], v^ne^KpipeTo) NeJon-ro'Xe/ioy
[ t]pl{tos) [njeXidaiPf
[yTr((KpLpeTo) NeoirrjoXefios'
'OpeoTTj^i, VTrei^KplvcToj * A6i]jv^6d(oposy
Av[yj7], vTrfi^KpiPiTo) 0€TT[aXd]ff*
xmo{KpiTTis) f^eoTTToXefjios ipiK^aj.
Y 2
3^4
APPENDIX B,
'ETTt 'NiKOfxdxoV a-aTvpi(Ka>)' 34° ^' ^^
TijxoKKrjs AvKOVpyco'
irdKaia' Neo7rTdXe/x[_osJ
'OpecTTT? EvpiTTidov'
[7r]o);(ra/)* 'Ao-rvSa/xas
IlapdevoTraito, vire^Kpivero) 9eT[raXos]'
rAuKaJoi/t, virei^Kpivero) Neo7rroXe[/iosJ*
okX^s 8ei;(rfpos) ^pi^cp^
^vTrei^KpiveTo)^ GerraXds*
[Oi5i]7ro8i, VTTe{Kpiv€To) Neo7rrdX[e/Lto9]"
[Evapjeros Tpliros)
r'AXK/A]e[oi/Jt, virei^KpiviTo) Qerrc^osY
?;, vne{KpiveTo) Neo7rrd[Xe/A0sJ*
rv7ro(KpiTjJs) GeJrraXos eVixa.
['EttI GeoJ^paoTOu* (raru[pi(K«)]* 339 ^- C-
$opKia-[t]*
[TraXaia . . . d]oTp[aro?]
[ Et']pt7ri[Soi']'
III. Record of tragic contests at the Lenaea.
[n]etp[i^do), ],
VTrei^Kpivero) *
v7ro(^KpLTr)s) [ eviKoj.
'Em ['Ao-TV<^tXov ] 419 B, c.
"Aya[pefxvoui, , ],
w[e(Kpii'eTo) ]•
'iipa[K ],
Qr)(T€7, ,
v7r\j(^Kpip€To) ]'
VTToi^KpiTTjs) [ eVlKOJ.
'Ett* 'Apx[lov ] 418 B. C.
Tvpoi, T , ,
vne(^KpiV€To) AvcriKpaT^rjsJ'
KaWiorpaTos ,
*Afi(j)iK6xco, *I|to[i/i],
vTre(KpLV€To) Ka\Xnr7rl[pr}sj'
[y7rjo(KpLTr]s^ KaWnnrl^drjs ivUaj.
['Ett' *a]vt[l]4)[S)]vto5 2 417 B.C.
APPENDIX B,
IV. Records of Comic Contests.
I.
[ ri^ra^Tos) . . . aJori'St,
['Ai/ri^ai/jyjff TrefiljrTos) *Ai/ao-G>^o(/Liei'ots),
[y7ro(KpiTfj5) .... JcDj/UjUOff ivLKa.
['Errt At] ori/xon* 2t/uv\off
a-iq, v7re(^KpLveToj * Apiarofiaxos'
Aiodapos dcvijepos) NcKpoi,
virei^KplveTo) * ApicrTopaxos'
Aiodoopos rpiiros) Maivo/iei/a)[t],
v7re(Kpiv€To) Kr}(f)L(nos'
[^oi]i/ifc[tS]»;9 r6(Taproy) HorjTe't,
^vneljcplvero^ ]»;s*
2.
[Tifi]o(r[Tparos Aur[povfievQ)],
vTT€{Kpiv(To\ AioyeiTtov'
vno^KpiTr]^) Kpdrr)s iviKa.
'EttI 2vfip.dxOV OVK €y[€V€ToJ.
'EttI Qeo^evov ovk [eyeVfro].
'ETTt Zanvpov [TraXatSj*
*EpaTa)i/ Me '
TTOTy^rai)* Aati*
3-
['Etti TraXatfi]'
M •
[7rojj(Tai)]' KpiTcdv *E(J)c(Tlois,
[ujTre (KpiVero) Sox^tXos'
Hapdfjiovos Nat'ayw,
V7Ti{Kplv€T0) *OVT](riflOS'
Tipoa-Tparos ^iXoiKeiG),
vve(^<piv€To) KaWia-Tparos'
^(oyevrji ^iXoSeo-TTOTO),
vire{Kpiv€To) 'EKaralos'
^i\r)p,ciiv vea^repos) MiXtjalq,
vn€(Kpiv€To) Kpdrrjs'
VTToijcpiTris) *Oi'rj(Tip.os iviK^aj.
3»5
353 B.C.
About
190 B. C.
About
180 B.C.
326 APPENDIX B.
Ettj 'Epfioyevov ovk [eye'^vero.
'EttI Tifxr](Tidv\aKTOs' TrjaXaia'
^ikoa-rparo^s 'ATTOfcXeJto/icVet no(r€t[5i7r7rov]'
Trorjiraiy i^^VP^)
xmeijcpivcTo^
4.
[napajfxovos XopijyovvTi, About
[t»7r€(Kpii'€ro)] Movifxos' 1 7° ^- ^•
[vTrJo^KpiT)^?) KpiToBrjfios iviKa.
['EJttI EvvIkov ovk eyeve^Toj.
'Etti SevoKKiovs' 7raXat[a]'
Moi/t/xoff ^ao-jMart Mei/[di'Spoi;]'
Trorjfjaij' Hapdpovos TeOvrjKas is,
VTT({KpiviTo) Aa/iCOJ/'
KplTCOV AiTcoXw,
V7re(Kpiv€To) Movifxos'
BioTTOs UorjTei,
VTr€(jcpiP€To) Adpav'
Aa/xTTVToy ,
VTTc^Kpivero) Ka
^ETriK^^paTTjs ],
vne^jcpivfTo) ].
5-
['Etti] Ev€p[y OVK eyevero]. About
['eJtti 'EpaaTo[y ovk eyeWro]. 165 B, C.
'EttI no(rei[Sa>i/iou ovk eyeverol.
'Em *Apia^To\a' TraXata]*
'HpoK
6. .
[xm€{KpiveTo) Ka^d]pixos' About
['E7r]iye[i/]?7ff Avrpou/McVo), 160 B.C.
V7r€(^Kpip€To) Ka^eipcxos'
VTru(^<piTf]s) NiKoXao? ej/i/ca.
Etti AvBearrjpiov ovk €yevf\Tol.
Etti KoXXto-rpaTov ou/c eycVerroJ.
*E7rt MvqaiOiov' TraXata*
APPENDIX B. 3^7
Aa/xcoi/ ^CKaQrjvalco ^6Xi7r7r[i5oi;j'
Tro^rjrai'y ^tXoAcX^s: Tpavfiariay
v7rf(Kpii/fTo) KaWiKpdrrjs'
Xaiplcov AvTOv KaTa\//"€u8o/z e[i/G)],
VTre (^KplvcTo^ Adpcav'
TlfXO^CVOS 2vPKpvnTov^TLJ,
VTr(( KpiueTci) KoXXtKpdrj/s*
' AyadoKXrjs '0/xoi'oia[t],
[i;7r€(KpiWro) Nt/coXjaoy'
V. Lists of tragic and comic poets, and tragic and comic actors,
with the number of their victories at the Lenaea and the City
Dionysia.
1. Tragic poets, with their victories at the City Dionysia.
I.
[Ai](rxv[Xos . . . .]
[. . .]eTr]s I
[noX]v0pa(r/i[a)i' . . .]
[. . . .JlTTTTO? I
[2o<^o]kx^s Arm
TOS I . .
['Api(rTi]as ...
2.
[Kap/ci vos A I
"A(rr]v8dp.a5 r[ll]l
[GeoJSeKras TM
['A^ajpeus 1 1
[ (ov]\
2. Comic poets, with their victories at the City Dionysia.
I.
[Sf]l/o'<^lXo5 I
[Tj^yXexXeiS?;? f
*ApCOTOIl€Vl]S I I
Kparivos III
^epeKpdrqs 1 1
"EpfiiTTiros 11 II
<^pvvixos 1 1
3J»8 APPENDIX B,
MvpriKos I
[E{f\noXis 1 1 1
2.
JJpoKKeLSrjs I
M[6V]ai'Spoff I . . .
<E»[lX]l5/M0)I/ 1 1 1
['A7r]oXXdSa)po[s . . .]
Ai<jii\os 1 1 1
^LXmnidrjs II...
NiKoarparos . . .
KaWiddrjs I
'A/>i«j/[ia]ff I
3. Tragic actors, with victories at the Lenaea.
Qeobcopos 1 1 1 1
"limapxps n
['AJ/ueiJ/ias I
Y kv\bpo(T64vr]s I
[Neo]7rroXe/xo5 I
[GeTTajXos 1 1
4. Comic actors.
['Ap/o-rjo)!/ 1 1 1 1
'n.a\p\piva>v I
AvKcov 1 1
.,^ N[a]vo-tK[par)7S . . .]
['Afi](Ptx[dpr)s . . .].
GREEK INDEX.
dyopd, 1 06, 126.
dywvfs XvTpivoif 43.
aOXov, 86.
alyeipov 6ia, 106.
aloopai, 189.
dvaPaOfxoi, 194,
dva^aiveiv, 103, 144.
dvaSiSdffKdv, 92.
avdnaiffTa, 245.
dvdiraiaroi, 266.
dvameapLa, 194.
dvSpStv xo^os, 14, 18.
dvreiTippijfiay 244.
di/Ttxo/«a, 281.
dirayyiWfLv, 88.
ttTr' alyeipov Oea, 106.
ttTTo ftrjxavrjs, 191, 193.
diTO/tpiveaOai, 203.
dTToA.axfrJ', 45, 47.
dpi(TTepo(TTdTT]s, 270, 271.
dpXlTiKTOW, 304.
dpxo^v, 86.
aS^ts, 314.
auAata, 195.
avXrjTal dvSpes, 1 4.
auAT^Tijs, 272.
avXos, 244, 292.
«^ts. 1 35 J 176.
B.
fidepov, 108.
Papvarovos, 249.
/3^/ia, 132, 141.
pofiPuv, 249.
fiovXevTiKov, 301, 306.
PpovreTov, 194.
^a)/xos, 132, 133, 154, 183.
yepavos, 193.
ypafinai, 135.
ypafifxareiov, 45, 47.
ypafifjLaT€vs, 97.
ypacpai, 170, 183.
A.
5eiK7]\iKTas, 256.
56t£€ts, 286.
Se^ioardTrjs, 270, 271.
SfVTepaywvio'T'^s, 77.
SfVTepocrTdrrjs, 271.
Srjfmpxos, 305.
Sia^wfxara, 120.
SiacK€vr], 93.
SmvAtoj/, 293.
StSao'/faAfroj/, 79.
SiSaCKaXia, 21, 80, 205.
8iSacrKa\ia dffTiKrj, 10, 21.
SiSaffKaXla Arfvcu/crj, 2 1 , 36.
SidaaKaXia rpayiKr}, 21, 80.
Ai8a<TKa\iai, 26, 63, 75.
SiSacTKoXiav KuBuvai, 45.
dildcKaXos, 74, 75, 80, 81.
StSdcr/fctr TpaywUav, 39, 80.
diOvpapL^os, 14, 198.
Atovvo-ta rd dariKd, 10.
Aioj'utrta rd Iv darei, 10, 30.
AjovvcTja rd Itti Arjvaio),
Aiovvcria tcL nar' dypovs, 43.
Aiovvaia rd jxeydKa, 10, 30.
SjttA^, 290.
Siareyia, 170.
Sixopia, 281.
kyicuK\r)6poVf 185.
33^
GREEK INDEX,
l^^KXrina, 185, 193.
its darv Kadiivai, 10.
els d(TTV KaraXfyeaOai, 43.
elcTKVKXeiv, 188,
€l(TKVK\r]fia, 185.
eiaodos, 135.
kK^aWuv, 314.
eKK\r]cria kv Aiovvcrov, il.
kKKVKXuv, 185, 188.
eKKVfcXrjfjut, 182, 185.
fKirinTUV, 314.
fKffKeva TTpoaoina, 221.
IX€os, 103, 145, 198.
eixfids, 240.
Cfi^drrjs, 224.
61' acTTei StSdo-zcetJ/, 10.
|j/ Tori/ Svoo/ o^SoA-ou', 302.
«fo8o?, 245, 272.
i^uarpa, 189.
iTTt Aijvaiq} dyuv, 10, 36, 105.
kirnrdpoSos, 276.
kvippTjfia, 244.
fvrjfiepfiv, 50, 59, 205.
€v(pojvia, 247.
kcpanris, 228.
kip-q^iKov, 306.
kdjpTjim, 189.
Cy7<5r, 269.
^cDi'ai, 120.
H.
^yefidjv, 271.
■^fjLiKvKXiov, 126, 194.
■^ pilar p6^iov, 194.
iimX^piov, 275, 281.
e.
0€a, 297.
06a Tra/j' alydpqt, 106.
eidodai, 88.
Oearris, 126.
eiarpov, 109, 113, 318.
OearpoiTuXrjs, 304.
OeaTpwvijs, 304.
0eoA.O7eroy, 193.
0€os djTo prjxavfjs, 191, 193.
deppavarpls, 290.
OecvptKSv, 303.
0t;/x€'Av, 133, I4i» I54> 155-
J.
lafxPciov, 242.
'laoi'tot vofjioi, 292.
i'Sm qcrixara, 278.
r/f/)ta, 104, 105, 107, 124, 301.
IpxiriopiaOai, 83.
lfjiaTiop.io9coTai, 83.
ipdriov, 266.
KaOdpaiov, 89.
Ka6e(ea6ai, 45.
fcadl^eiv, 45.
tfati/oi Tpaywdoi, 30, 40.
Kaivos dyoov, 30.
KaXaOioKos, 290.
Karafiaiveiv, 144.
Kara fiXrj para, 170.
KaraXiyeiv, 244.
KaraXoyq, 244.
Kararopi], 1 1 4.
Kfpapos, 172.
KcpavvoffKOTTeiov, 194.
/C€/3/ftS, 120, 305.
KivTjcns, 251.
KX&piapL^os, 244.
KXipaKes, 147, 194.
KXipaKTTJpes, 147.
KoOopvos, 224.
KOpCpOS, 243, 278.
Koviarpa, 126, 154.
Kopda^, 290.
Kopv(paios, 271.
/fpd577, 193.
fcpao-nediTTjs, 271.
/f/)tT77S, 44, 45, 46.
Kpovais, 243,
KvPhrijais, 290.
kvkXios x^pos, 14.
KobpLOS, 14.
Kupxphoi, 14, 18, 37, 42, 43, 133, 249.
Xapvyyi^ojv, 249.
XavpoaTaTrjs, 270.
XrjKvOi^ojv, 249.
A.-yi/ata, 9, 52.
Arjvaiov, 105.
\o7€roj/, 133, 141, 146.
GREEK INDEX.
331
M.
fxeya\o(pojvia, 247.
fjiiXos, 242.
fieTCLffTacis, 276.
fiirpov, 242.
fiTjxavrj, 181, 182, 183, 189.
fiTjxavoTTOios, 189, 192.
fxTfioi, 132, 154, 155.
Aita^os, 53.
fiovq)5ia, 243.
fiovcriK'fi, 294.
fivpfXTjKia, 294.
Ixvpf^TjKos OLTpaitoSf 294.
N.
vefi-qaeis Okas, 6, 305.
ve/irjcreis vrroKpiTwv, 77, 83.
yt/far, 55, 66.
i/t/fay CTfi Ajjvalqf, 36.
i/j^t; dariKr], lO.
i/t/f?; ArjvaiK-fi, 36.
feros, 297.
^KpiC^iv, 290.
^Kpia/xos, 290.
£vAou rrap&K-qxpis, 2 90.
O.
o/epiPas, 88, 141, 224.
opxnois, 251, 284.
bpxnar-qs, 285.
dpxrjffroSiSdcrKaXos, 284.
opxnffTpa, 106, 126, 132, 133, 135, 141,
147, 151, 154, 155.
n.
Tra/)' aiydpov Oca, 104, 1 06.
irapafiaiveiv, 126, 275.
irapAPacis, 92, 244, 261, 275.
irapa^rjvai rerrapa, 290.
■napaftaraXoyq, 243, 245.
irapaitiracixa, 139, 170, 175, 195.
Trapaaicfivia, 132, 149, 154, 175.
TtapaaKTjviov, 213.
Ttapaardrrjs, 271.
vapaxoprjyrjfia, 212.
irdpoSos, 135, 176, 189, 273, 278.
TTCTrAao'/iej'ow, 248.
irepiaKTOi, 1 70, 175, 181, 182.
irepi^Ofxfiaiv, 249.
Trepi^oj/xa, 265.
'tW, 53. 64, 170.
■noiKiKov, 226.
7ro/x7ri7, 14, 37, 42.
7rpod7cu»', 88.
wpoeSpia, 304, 305.
TTpoXoyos, 200.
Trpos x°P^^ \ey(iv, 244, 289.
trpoaicqviov, 14I, I47, 170, 195, 271.
■trpooojitiiov, 237, 266.
npvTCLveis, 45.
TTpoiraywviarris, 170, 175.
irpwTov (v\ov, 107, 304.
irpcoTOcrTaTTjs, 271.
iTTCpvoKOTreiv, 314.
irvppiXKTToi, 15.
P.
pa^Sovxoi, 313.
^a^Zo<p6poi, 313.
^^(Tts, 200, 244, 289.
ffarvpiKov, 20.
acLTvpoi, 265.
ffiyfia, 114, 126.
<^'A*^ X«t>» 29.
(T/fjyi/l^, 139, 147, 151, 154, 170, 189,
195.
ffierjvoypofpia, 170.
ffKOJirevpLa, 29I.
ardo't^ioi', 278, 279, 288.
GTi(pavovv, 52.
(XToixos, 126, 141, 269.
arpotpiiov, 194.
ffxrjf^CLTay 284, 286, 290.
T.
rd aTTo T^s aKTjvrjs, 243, 278.
TO, l/f Twi' afia^uv CKdifipuiTa, 9.
Tcuvta, 53.
Ta/ims, 45.
rd(poi, 183.
rerpaXoyia, 20, 21, 26.
TerpdfJteTpov, 242, 244.
T^xviTT^s, 204, 252, 289.
TpaycpSoi, 14, 18, 30, 37, 42, 133, 249.
rpaywhSiv x^poi, 35-
T/)d7r€Ca, 103, 133-
rpiXoyia, 26.
33^
GREEK INDEX.
rpiirovs, 14, 15, 1 14.
rpiTOS dpiffTepov, 2 7 1.
TpiTOffTaTTjs, 271.
rpvyqidoi, 288.
T.
vSpia, 45.
VTToSiSaffKaXos, 81.
viTOKpiveo9ai, 203.
VTToKpicris, 205.
viroKpiTqs, 77, 139,
206.
vtropxT^ftaTi/fo?, 278.
vvopxrjcns, 289.
vrrocTK'fjviov, 146.
iKpdafxaTa, 170.
^aWiKa, 198.
(papvyyi^ctiv, 249.
^apvyyivSrjv, 80.
(poiviKides, 313.
<})Opai, 286.
Xap^jvioi KXipLaKcs, 194.
XCtp KaTatrp-qvrjS, 240.
X^ipiSes, 226.
51, 170, 199, 203,
XITOUV, 226.
XtTWj/ dpL<pi[ji.aK\os, 233.
XiTcbv /xaXAcuTos, 233.
XiTWi' xo/JTaroj, 233.
Xoes, 9.
Xopayds, 271.
XopevTTjS, 80, 103, 269.
XopTl-i^iv, 82, ^
XoprjyeTv avSpdcri, 14, 1 1 5.
Xoprjyeiv Ko^pwdois, 53.
Xopijyuv iraiai, 1 1 4.
Xoprjyeiv rrj (pvXfj, 15.
Xoprjyeiv Tpaywhois, 15.
Xoprjyiiov, 79.
Xoprjyia, 50.
Xo/)777^s, 45; 75, 82, 86, 261, 271.
XOpo\iKTT]9, 79.
Xopbv alreiv, 70.
Xopbv SiSovai, 66.
xopbv elcrdyeiv, go.
Xopov rvyxdviiv, 66.
Xvrpoi, 43.
>F.
j/zaX/s, 135.
lf/l\€VS, 271.
n.
ySefoj/, 87, 88, 109.
GENERAL INDEX.
A.
Acoustics, attention paid to, 159.
Acrae, theatre at, 117.
Acting, importance of voice in, 245.
Musical training necessary for, 248.
Mode of enunciation used in, 249.
Gestures used in, 250.
Actors, contests between, 55, 57. Im-
portance of protagonist, 56. Repro-
duction of old plays by, 58. Ori-
ginally chosen by the poets, afterwards
by the state, 76. Paid by the state,
83. Tamper with the text of old
plays, 97. Meaning of the term
* actor,' 197. Gradual introduction
of, 198 ff. Number of actors in tra-
gedy, comedy, and satyric drama,
200. Effect of small number of, 201.
Rise of the actor's profession, 204.
Increase in importance of, 205.
Distribution of parts among, 207.
Changes of costume by, 209. Cos-
tume of tragic actors, 216 fif.; of
comic actors, 235 ff. ; of satyric ac-
tors, 231 ff. Importance of the voice
in, 245. Musical training of, 248,
Style of Greek acting, 249. The
Actors' Guild, 251. Privileges of,
252. Social position of, 254. Gene-
ral character of, 255. Celebrated
actors, 255 ff.
Aegis, worn by Athene, 227.
Aeschines, called the * rustic Oenomaus,'
42. Hired by Socrates and Simylus,
43. As tritagonist, 210. His acci-
dent at Collytus, 255. Taunted by
Demosthenes, 254.
Aeschylus, his first appearance as a
dramatist, 16, 107, 123. His Oedi-
podeia, 16, 24. His Oresteia, 17.
His Lycurgeia, and Promethean tri-
logy, 17, 24. Trilogies and tetra-
logies of, 22 ff. Number of his vic-
tories, 47. Records concerning his
Oresteia, 60, 64. Exhibits at an
early age, 67. Actors of, 76. Trains
his choruses, 81. Reproduction of
his plays, 94. Text of his plays, 95,
97. Not popular in later times, 98.
His statue in the theatre, 160. Scenery
in his plays, 166. Invents scene-paint-
ing, 170. Invents stage decorations,
183. Introduces the second actor,
199. Ceases to act in person, 204.
His Persae, 216. Invents the tragic
mask and costume, 219, 223. Intro-
duces the cothurnus, 224. His cho-
ruses, 259, 262. Designs the dress
for the Erinyes, 264. Improves the
tragic dance, 286. His Eumenides,
299. Nearly killed for impiety, 316.
Agathon, his first victory, 91. At the
Proagon, 145. His choruses, 261.
Adopts the new style of music, 294.
Agyrrhius, commissioner of the treasury,
54-
Aixone, comedies at, 42.
Alcibiades, corrupts the judges, 49.
Assaults Taureas, 86, 313. Admired
for his beauty, 13, 299.
Alexander, the Great, wishes to build a
stage of bronze, 1 59.
Alexandria, literary supremacy of, 29.
Altar, in the orchestra, 132. On the
stage, 184.
Ambassadors, provided with front seats,
296, 306.
Anapaests, given in recitative, 244. Of-
ten delivered by the coryphaeus, 279.
Anapiesma, the, 194.
Anaxandrides, never revises his come-
dies, 93.
Andronicus, victorious in the Epigoni,
58.
Anthesteria, the, 42.
334
GENERAL INDEX,
Antichoregi, 86.
Antisthenes, his success as choregus,
50, 82.
Aphareus, engages in eight contests, 29.
Exhibits at the Lenaea, 39. A rhe-
torician as well as poet, 81.
Apollonius, disregards tetralogies, 27.
Applause, mode of expressing, 313.
Araros, son of Aristophanes, 69.
Archilochus, invents recitative, 243.
Archinus, commissioner of the treasury,
54-
Archons, the, granted the proedria, 305.
The archon basileus, 65. The archon
eponymus, 65.
Aristarchus, disregards tetralogies, 27.
Aristerostatae, the, 270, 271.
Aristias, competes with Aeschylus, 16,
25.
Aristodemus, the actor, 252, 255, 257.
Aristophanes (the grammarian), 26. His
Arguments, 64.
Aristophanes (the poet), competes at
the City Dionysia, 30 ; and at the
Lenaea, 36, 40. Story about his
Clouds, 51. Third in a certain con-
test, 54. Exhibits at an early age,
67. Entrusts his plays to others, 68.
His Ecclesiazusae, 90. Proud of his
originality, 92. His Frogs much ad-
mired, 92. Scenery in his plays, 169.
Discards the phallus, 235 ; and the
kordax, 290. Honoured with a chap-
let from the sacred olive, 316.
Aristotle, makes no mention of tetralo-
gies, 26. His Didascaliae, 63. Cen-
sures extravagance in choregi, 83.
His opinion concerning the deus ex
machina, 191. His definition of act-
ing, 247, His opinion about actors,
255. His definition of dancing, 285.
His remarks about the admission of
boys to comedies, 301. His descrip-
tion of Attic audiences, 318.
Arsis, 283.
Artists of Dionysus, 204.
Aspendos, theatre at, 150.
Assembly, in the theatre, 91 ff., 162,
163.
Astydamas, his conceit, 161.
Athenodorus, the actor, 207, 255, 257.
Audience, the, representative character
of, 3. Enthusiasm for the drama, 3,
316. Overrules the judges, 51. At
the Lenaea, 296. At the City Diony-
sia, 296. Includes women, boys, and
slaves, 297 ff. Distribution of seats
among, 304 ff. Price of admission,
302. The proedria, 304. Occupants
of the front row, 307. Comfort of,
311. Regulations for keeping order
among, 313. Their mode of express-
ing pleasure and disapproval, 314.
Characteristics of, 315. Their ortho-
doxy, 316. Their intelligence and
taste, 317.
Auditorium, shape of, 113. Interior
of, 117. Passages in, 119. Size of,
122. In the theatre at Athens, 1 1 3 ff.
Awnings, not used in early Greek
theatres, 160, 312.
B.
Back- wall, the, 149.
Basis (metrical term), 283.
Birds, chorus of, 267. Their mode of
entrance, 271.
Boys, admitted to the theatre, 297 ff.
Bronteion, the, 194.
C.
Callimachus, the grammarian, 64.
Callippides, the actor, 251. Stories about
him, 256.
Callistratus, exhibits plays of Aristo-
phanes, 69. Not an actor, 78.
Carpets, in the theatre, 312.
Changes, of scenery, 178 ff. Of costume,
209 ff.
Chariots, on the stage, 184.
Charon's Steps, 193.
Chionides, 8.
Chlamys, the, 226.
Choerilus, 7. Number of his plays, 8.
Competes with Aeschylus, 16, 107,
123. His improvements in masks,
217.
Choregi, how appointed, 71. Their
age, 72. Scarcity of, 73. Assigna-
tion of poets to, 73. Duties of, 79.
Rivalry between, 86.
Choregia, abolished, 73. Expenses of,
82 ff.
GENERAL INDEX,
Z?,^
Choreutae, their appetite, 80. Delivery
of words by single choreutae, 280.
Decline in the excellence of, 287.
Chorus, granted by the arch on, 66.
Training of, 79. Paid by the cho-
regus, 82. Its dresses supplied by
the choregus, 83. Cost of different
kinds of choruses, 84. Appearance
on the stage, 152. Supposed plat-
form for, I54ff. Gradual decline of,
259. Its size in tragedy, comedy,
and the satyric drama, 262, Its cos-
tume in tragedy, 264; in the Old
Comedy, 266. Rectangular arrange-
ment of, 268. Its mode of entrance,
269. Irregular entrances of, 272.
The parodos, 273. Its formation when
in the orchestra, 274. Manoeuvres of,
275. Delivery of words by the whole
chorus, 277 ; by the coryphaeus, 279 ;
by single choreutae, 280; by half-
choruses, 281. Decline of choral
dancing, 286. Accompanies actors'
speeches with mimetic dances, 289.
Sings in unison, 292.
Chorus trainer, paid by the choregus,
82.
Chytri, the, 43.
City Dionysia, meaning of the name,
10. Date of, II. Character of the
proceedings at, 11. The procession
at, 13. Contests at, 14. Tragedy at,
16 flf. Comedy at, 30 ff. Order of
contests at, 33 ff. Compared with
the Lenaea, 41. Proclamation of
crowns at, 89. Tribute displayed at,
89. Orphans paraded at, 89.
Claque, the, 315.
Oleander, actor of Aeschylus, 76.
CI eon, terror inspired by, 235.
Cock-fight, in the theatre, 162, 309.
Collytus, dramatic performances at, 42.
Comedy, first institution of contests in,
8, 30. At the City Dionysia, 30 ff.
Number of poets and plays in the
comic contests, 31. At the Lenaea,
40. Actors in, 200. Costume of
actors in, 235 ff. Size of chorus in,
263. Costume of chorus in, 266.
Dances used in, 290. Its connexion
with religion, 300.
Conjurors, in the theatre, 163.
Contests, the dramatic, confined to the
Dionysia, i, 9. Managed by the
state, 2. Universal prevalence of, 4.
First institution of, 6 ff. Tragic con-
tests at the City Dionysia, 15 ff.
Comic contests at the City Dionysia,
30 ff. Tragic contests at the Lenaea,
37 ff. Comic contests at the Lenaea,
40. The judges in, 44 ff. Prizes for,
52 ff. Contests between actors, 55 ff.
Records of, 59. Commence at day-
break, 89, 311. Preceded by a sacri-
fice, 89. Order determined by lot,
89. Announced by a trumpet, 90.
Coryphaeus, the, 271.
Costume, of the actors, 216 ff. Of the
chorus, 263 flf. Tragic masks, 217 ff.
Tragic dress invented by Aeschylus,
223. The cothurnus, 224. The tra-
gic tunic, 225. The tragic mantle,
226. Head-coverings, 227. Special
costumes in tragedy, 227. General
character of the tragic costume, 228 flf.
Costume of satyric actors, 231. Cos-
tume of actors in the Old Comedy, 235.
Costume of actors in the New Comedy,
236 ff. Costume of the tragic chorus,
263 ; of the satyric chorus, 265 ; of
the comic chorus, 266.
Cothurnus, the, 224. Not worn in sa-
tyric dramas, 232.
Council, special seats for the, 306.
Courtesans, special seats for, 306.
Crane, the, 192.
Crates, actor to Cratinus, 78.
Cratinus, number of his victories, 62.
Refused a chorus by the archon, 67.
Employs Crates as his actor, 78.
Called a 'dancer,' 80, 205, 286.
Crowns, proclaimed at the City Diony-
sia, 89, 162. Bestowed on victors at
the contests, 90. Worn by kings,
228; by messengers, 228; at ban-
quets, 311. Worn by the spectators,
311.
Cushions, in the theatre, 312.
D.
Dancing, importance of in the Greek
drama, 283. Its mimetic character,
284. History of, 286. How far em-
ployed in the drama, 287. Used as
an accompaniment to speeches from
33^
GENERAL INDEX.
the stage, 289. The tragic dance,
289. The comic dance, 290. The
satyric dance, 291.
Delivery, different modes of, 241 ff.
Louder in tragedy than in comedy,
249. More rhythmical than in modern
times, 249. Delivery of the choral
part, 2 76ff.
Demosthenes, his dream, 50. Supplies
his chorus with golden crowns, 83.
Complains of the amount spent on
choruses, 85. His remark about
actors, 247. Assaulted by Meidias,
6, 297.
Deus ex machina, 190,
Deuteragonist, 207, 208, 211.
Deuterostatae, 271.
Dexiostatae, 270.
Diaulia, 293.
Dicaeogenes, his meanness, 50.
Didascalia, meaning of the word, 63.
The comic didascaliae, 37.
Didaskalos, 80.
Diodorus, exhibits two comedies at one
contest, 32.
Dionysius, exhibits at the Lenaea, 39.
Dionysus, his statue in the theatre, 87.
His temples, no, 160. His priest,
309.
Diphilus, ejected from the theatre, 312.
Distegia, the, 172.
Distribution, of the parts among the
actors, 210 ff.
Dithyrambic contests, 14, 37 note.
Doors, leading to the stage, 173 ff. ; to
the orcnestra, 140, 146.
Dorian Mode, the, 293.
Drop-scene, the, I94ff.
Eisodoi, the, 135.
Ekkyklema, the, 185 ff.
Eleusis, dramatic performances at, 42.
Emmeleia, the, 289.
Encores, 314.
Entrances, to the orchestra, 135. To
the stage, 173 ff. Regulations con-
cerning the entrances, 176.
Ephebi, place the statue of Dionysus in
the theatre, 87. Their seats, 306.
Receive their shields and spears in
the theatre, 163.
Epidaurus, the theatre at, 102. Shape
of the auditorium in, 115, 116, 117,
121. Size of, 122. Date of, 124,
141. Seats at, 125, The stage in,
127, 141, 142. Plan of, 130. The
orchestra in, 140. View of the pro-
scenium in, 147.
Erinyes, the chorus of, 264, 272.
Eubulus, entrusts his plays to Philip,
70.
Eumenes, Portico of, 160.
Euphorion, produces plays of Aeschy-
lus, 96.
Eupolis, exhibits at an early age, 68.
Entrusts one of his plays to Demos-
tratus, 70.
Euripides, his Alcestis, 17, 20. His
Medea, 17. His Hippolytus, 18.
Defeated by Xenocles, 18 ; by Nico-
machus, 48. His Iphigeneia in Aulis
and Bacchae, 18, 21, 96. Reproduc-
tion of his tragedies in later times,
28, 99. His first play, 39. Exhibits
a new tragedy at the Peiraeeus, 42.
Number of his victories, 48. Exhi-
bits at an early age, 67. His actor
Cephisophon, 76. Trains his own
choruses, 81. Text of his plays, 95,
97. His popularity, 99. His statue
in the theatre, 160. Scenery in his
plays, 168. His use of the deus ex ma-
china, 191. Often introduces children
on the stage, 214. Character of his
tragedies, 229. His choruses, 260.
Adopts the new style of music, 294.
Predicts the speedy popularity of
Timotheus, 294. Charged with writ-
ing immoral plays, 299. His Mela-
nippe, 316. His Danae, 316.
Exodoi, not usually accompanied by
dancing, 288.
Exostra, the, 189.
Extra performers, 212 ff.
Fig-Branch, the, 192.
Files, in choruses, 268.
Flute, the, regularly used in the drama,
245-
Flute-players, how assigned in the
dithyrambic contests, 74. Paid by
the choregus, 83.
GENERAL INDEX.
?>Z1
Foreigners, confined to the back seats,
307-
G.
Gates, leading to the orchestra, 134.
Generals, the ten, their seats in the
theatre, 305.
Gestures, most important in the Greek
drama, 250. Restrained in character,
251.
Gladiatorial combats, in the theatre,
163.
Guild, the Actors', 251 ff.
H.
Hadrian, his statues in the theatre, 161.
Harmonies, the, 292.
Harp, the, occasionally employed in the
drama, 245.
Hats, worn by the spectators, 312.
Head-coverings, for the actors, 227.
Hemichoria, 280.
Hemikyklion, 194.
Hemistrophion, 194.
Hermon, the actor, 258, 314.
Himation, the, 226.
Horses, on the stage, 184.
Hypodidaskalos, 81.
Hypokrites, use of the word, 196. Its
derivation, 203.
Hypophrygian Mode, the, 293.
Hyporchemata, 278, 288, 290.
Hyposkenion, the, 146.
I.
Iambic tetrameters, given in recitative,
244.
Iambic trimeters, spoken without musi-
cal accompaniment, 241 .
Ikria, the, 104, 107.
Ion, of Chios, his remark about virtue,
20. His present to the Athenians,
91.
Ionic Mode, the, 293.
lophon, exhibits plays of his father
Sophocles, 69.
Judges, in the dramatic contests, their
number, 44. Mode of selection, 45.
The process of voting, 47. Value of
their verdicts, 48 ff. Sometimes cor-
rupted and intimidated, 48. Afraid
of the audience, 51. Their seats,
306.
K.
Kataloge, 245.
Katatome, the, 114.
Keraunoskopeion, the, 194.
Kerkides, the, 120. Assigned to par-
ticular tribes, 307.
Klepsiambos, the, 245.
Kolpoma, the, 228.
Kommos, the, 243. Accompanied by
dancing, 288. The kommos in the
Persae, 290.
Konistra, the, 126.
Kordax, the, 290.
Kraspeditae, 271.
Krepis, the, 225.
Laurostatae, 270.
Lenaea, the, meaning of the name, 10,
36. General character of, 36. Tragic
contests at, 37. Comic contests at,
40. Less important than the City
Dionysia, 41.
Lenaeum, the, performance of dramas
at, 105. Chosen as the site for the
theatre, no.
Lessee, the, 304.
Leucon, 32.
Licymnius, victorious in the Propompi,
58,_ 247.
Logeion, the, 141.
Lucian, ridicules the tragic actors, 229,
247-
Lycurgus, the orator, his law concerning
the Anthesteria, 43. Institutes dithy-
rambic contests at the Peiraeeus, 54.
His law for preserving the text of
the great tragic poets, 97. Completes
the theatre, 108, 125, 137.
M.
Magnes, 8.
Mantineia, the theatre at, 115.
Market-place, dramatic performances in
the, 104.
Masks, invention of, 217. Results of
33^
GENERAL INDEX.
the use of, 217. The tragic mask,
219. Different kinds of tragic masks,
220 ff. The mask of Silenus, 232.
The masks in the Old Comedy, 235.
The masks in the New Comedy, 237 ff.
Worn by the choruses, 264.
Mechane, the, 189 ff.
Megalopolis, the theatre at, 115. Its
size, 122.
Meidias, corrupts the judges, 49. His
assault on Demosthenes, 86, 297.
Interferes with Demosthenes' chorus,
252.
Meletus, his Oedipodeia, 26.
Menander, reproduction of comedies of,
33. Defeated by Philemon, 49, 315.
His statue in the theatre, 161. His
desire for distinction as a dramatist,
299.
Miitiades, his statue in the theatre, 161.
Mitra, the, 227.
Mixolydian Mode, the, 293.
Modes, the, 292.
Monodies, 243.
Mummius, 159.
Music, in the Greek drama, 291 ff.
Simple in character, 291. Subordi-
nated to the poetry, 292. The Modes,
or Harmonies, 293. Deterioration in
Greek Music during the fifth century,
294.
Mute characters, 83, 213, 214.
Mynniscus, actor to Aeschylus, 76.
Calls Callipides an ape, 251.
N.
Neoptolemus, the actor, 247, 252, 255,
257.
Nero, competes in tragic contests, 247.
Nicias, as choregus, 50, 86.
Nicostratus, the actor, 244.
O.
Obelisks, on the stage, 184.
Odeum, the, used for the Proagon, 87.
Formerly used for performances by
rhapsodists and harp-players, 162.
The Odeum of Pericles, 160.
Okribas, 141.
Orange, the theatre at, 140, 150.
Orchesis, 284.
Orchestra, the, importance of in Greek
theatres, 104, 151. The orchestra in
the market-place, 106. Its name,
125. Comparative size in Greek and
Roman theatres, 126. The orchestra
in the theatre of Dionysus, 128 ff.;
in the theatre at Epidaurus, 180 ff.
Character of in early times, 131.
Pavement of, 132. Position of altar
in, 132. The gutter, 135. Marked
with lines, 135. Strewed with chaff,
135. Hermann's view concerning,
154-
Orphans, paraded in the theatre, 89,
162. Have the proedria, 306.
Ovid, his advice to lovers, 285.
P.
Parabasis, delivered partly in recitative,
244. Position of chorus during, 275.
Parachoregemata, 2 1 2 ff.
Parakataloge, 243.
Paraskenia, 149, 213.
Parastatae, 271.
Parmenon, the actor, 258.
Parodoi, or entrances to orchestra and
stage, 135.
Parodos, or entrance song, 273. Given
by the whole chorus, 277. Generally
accompanied with dancing, 287.
Passages, in the auditorium, 1 19 ff. Into
the orchestra, T33ff.
Peiraeeus, the, dramatic performances
at, 42. Theatre at, 115, 117. Date
of theatre at, 124. Stage in theatre
at, 127, 142. Orchestra in theatre at,
132.
Periaktoi, 181 ff.
Phaedrus, stage of, 109, 128, 13S.
Phallus, worn by comic actors, 235 ; by
satyrs, 265.
Pherecrates, censures the music of Ti-
motheus, 294.
Philemon, reproduction of his plays, 33.
Defeats Menander, 49, 315.
Philip, son of Aristophanes, 70.
Philippides, reproduction of his plays,
33.
Philocles, writes a Pandionis, 25.
Philonides, exhibits various plays of
Aristophanes, 31, 69. Not an actor,
78.
GENERAL INDEX.
339
Phlya, dramatic performances at, 42.
Phlyakes, Comedy of the, 234.
Phrygian Mode, the, 293.
Phrynichus, his first victory, 7. Called
a ' dancer,' 80, 286. His capture of
Miletus, 93, 316. Introduces female
masks, 217. Skilful in inventing new
dances, 286.
Plato (the philosopher), writes a te-
tralogy, 26, His opinion of Attic
audiences, 52, 313, 317. Excludes
tragic poets from his republic, 105 ;
also actors, 247. Praises the tragic
dance, 289. Disapproves of the kor-
dax, 290. His remarks about the
drama in connexion with boys and
women, 298,
Plato (the poet), sells his comedies, 69.
His remarks on the decline of choral
dancing, 287.
Plutarch, his description of Greek
dancing, 285. His remark about
music, 291.
nyx, the, stone seats at, 1 07. Disused
as a meeting- place for popular as-
semblies, 162, 163.
Poets, number of at the different dramatic
contests, 19, 28, 30, 31, 38,40. Age
of, 67. Produce plays in other
persons' names, 6 8 if. Originally also
stage-managers, 69, 80. Assigned to
the choregi, 73 ff. Act in their own
plays, 204.
Polus, his salary, 255. Stories con-
cerning, 256.
Polycleitus, architect of the theatre at
Epidaurus, 116.
Polyphradmon, his Lycurgean tetralogy,
16.
Portico, m the auditorium, 121. Of
PZumenes, 160.
Posidippus, reproduction of his plays, 33.
Praecinctiones, 121.
Pratinas, number of his plays, 8. Com-
petes with Aeschylus, 16, 107, 123.
Called a ' dancer,' 80, 286. Com-
plains of the flute-players, 292.
Price, of admission, two obols, 302.
Granted by the state to needy citizens,
303-
Priestesses, their seats, 305, 311.
Priests, their seats, 305, 309 ff.
Privileges, enjoyed by actors, 252.
Prizes, for choregi, 53, 90. For poets,
54, 90. For actors, 55.
Proagon, the, 87.
Pro bole, the, 91.
Production, of a play, 66 ff. Conceal-
ment of the poet's name, 68 ff.
F'ormerly managed by the poet him-
self, 69 ff. Posthumous production of
plays, 96.
Proedria, the, 304. Conferred on
priests, 305 ; on archons and generals,
305 ; on various other persons, 306.
Prologue, the, 273.
Proskenion, the, 141, 170.
Protagonist, his importance, 56, 208.
Parts taken by him, 210, 211.
Ptolemy, the Third, a collector of
manuscripts, 97.
Puppet-shows, in the theatre, 163.
Pythian games, dramatic performances
introduced into the, 9,
Q-
Quintilian, his statement about Aeschy-
lus, 95. His comparison of the orator
and the dancer, 285,
R.
Ranks, in choruses, 268.
Recitative, how far employed in the
Greek drama, 243 ff., 276.
Records, of dramatic contests, 59 ff.
Erected in or near to the theatre, 161,
Refrains, 293.
Refreshments, in the theatre, 311,
Religion, its connexion with the drama,
5 ft-, 300-
Reproduction of old tragedies, 28, 96;
of old comedies, 32, 98 ; of plays of
Aeschylus, 94. By the actors, 58,
92 ff. Almost unknown during the
fifth century, 92. Favourite tragedies
in later times, 98 ff.
Revision of plays, 93,
Rural Dionysia, the, 42.
Salamis, dramatic performances at, 42.
Salaries, of the actors, 255.
Sannio, the chorus-trainer, 81, 252,
Satyric drama, at the City Dionysia, 19.
Z 2
340
GENERAL INDEX,
Its relation to tragedy, 24. Decline
in the importance of, 28. Number
of actors in, 201. Size of chorus in,
263. Costume of satyric actors, 231 ff. ;
of satyric choruses, 265. The satyric
dance, 291.
Satyrs, costume of, 265.
Satyrus, the actor, 99.
Scene-painting, 170.
Scenery, occasionally supplied by the
choregus, 84. Simple in character,
164. Gradual introduction of, 165 ff.
Number of scenes not large, 168 ff.
Scene-painting, 1 70. Mechanical
arrangements for scenery, 171 ff.
Entrances to the stage, 174. Regu-
lations concerning the entrances, 176.
Changes of scene, i78ff. The peri-
aktoi, 181 ff. Stage-properties, 183.
The ekkyklema, i85ff. The exostra,
189. The mechane, 189 ff. Various
contrivances, 192 ff.
Seats, originally of wood, 104. In the
theatre of Dionysus, 1 1 7 ff. Price of
feats, 302.
Shepherds, on the stage, their costume,
227.
Side-wings, 148. Called paraskenia, 149.
Sigma, a name for the orchestra, 125.
Sikinnis, the, 291.
Simylus, the actor, 43, 249.
Skene, origin of the terra, 104. Various
meanings of, 139, 170.
Slaves, admitted to the theatre, 297 ff.,
302.
Soccus, the, 240.
Socrates (the actor), 43, 249.
Socrates (the philosopher), an admirer of
Euripides, 42. His behaviour during
the performance of the Clouds, 235.
Solon, witnesses a performance by
Thespis, 7.
Solos, by actors, 243.
Song, used in lyrical passages, 243, 276.
Soothsayers, their costume on the stage,
227.
Sophocles, competes with Euripides, 17.
Number of his victories, 20, 47, 62,
Abandons the practice of writing
tetralogies, 25. Defeated by Philo-
cles, 48. Never third in a contest,
54. Refused a chorus by the archon,
67. Exhibits at an early age, 67.
Entrusts plays to his son lophon, 69.
His actor Tlepolemus, 76. Writes
for the actors, 76, 207. Appears
occasionally on the stage, 81, 205.
His conduct after the death of Eu-
ripides, 87, The text of his plays,
95, 97. Popular tragedies of his,
99. His statue in the theatre, 160.
Scenery in his plays, 168. Said to
have invented scene-painting, 170.
Introduces a third actor, 200. Pre-
vented from acting by the weakness
of his voice, 204. Invents the krepis,
225 ; and the curved staff, 228. In-
creases the size of the chorus, 262.
Appointed general, 316. His popu-
larity, 317, 318.
Sparta, the theatre at, 122.
Speech, used in the delivery of iambic
trimeters, 241, 276.
Sphyromachus, his regulation about the
seats, 299.
Staff- bearers, 313.
Stage, height of, 141, I54ff. Com-
parative size in Greek and Roman
theatres, 142. Dorpfeld's theory con-
cerning, 142 ff. Steps leading up to,
147. Supported by the hyposkenion,
146. The back-wall, 149. Intended
for the actors, 150. Used occasionally
by the chorus, 152. Its height during
the fifth century, 158.
Stage-buildings, in the theatre of Dio-
nysus, 136 ff. Long and narrow in
shape, 139. The fa9ade, 140. The
side-wings, 148.
Stage-properties, 183 ff.
Stasima, movements of chorus during,
275. Delivered by the whole chorus,
277. Accompanied with dances, 287.
Statues, in the theatre, 160, 161. On
the stage, 183.
Steps, between orchestra and stage, 147.
Stropheion, the, 194.
Sword-swallowers, in the theatre, 163.
Syrtos, the, 226.
T.
Taureas, assaulted by Alcibiades, 86,
313-
Tauromenion, the theatre at, 149.
Telestes, dancer employed by Aeschylus,
GENERAL INDEX.
341
284. Dances the Seven against
Thebes, 289.
Temples, of Dionysus, no, 160.
Termessus, the theatre at, 1 1 7.
Tetralogies, 2 iff. Invention of, 21.
Character of, 23. Disuse of, 25.
Meaning of the term, 26.
Text, of old plays, officially preserved, 97.
Theatre, the Greek, general character
of, I02. Originally of wood, 103.
Site of the old wooden theatres at
Athens, 104. Shape of the audi-
torium, 115 ff. Passages in the audi-
torium, 121. Size of different Greek
theatres, 122. The orchestra, 125,
135. The eisodoi, 133. The stage-
buildings, 139 ff. The stage, 141.
The hyposkenion, 146. Steps to
stage, 147. Side- wings, 148. Back-
wall, 1 49. Acoustic properties of, 1 59.
Theatre, of Dionysus at Athens, history
of the, 107 ff. Its site, no. Plan
. of, 112. The auditorium, 113 ff.
Date of the auditorium, I23ff. The
orchestra, 1 28 ff. The stage-buildings,
I36fr. The stage, 146, 158. Statues
and monuments in, 160 ff. Buildings
near, 160, Its various uses, 162 ff.
Themistocles, victorious in a dramatic
contest, 53, 60. His statue in the
theatre, 161.
Theodectes, engages in thirteen contests,
28. Victorious at the Lenaea, 39.
A rhetorician as well as poet, 81.
Theodorus, excellence of his voice, 248.
Stories about him, 257.
Theognis, the tragic poet, 95.
Theologeion, the, 193.
Theoric money, the, 303.
Thesis (metrical term), 283.
Thespis, the inventor of tragedy, 7.
Called a ' dancer,' 80, 286. Acted
his own plays, 204. Said to have
used masks, 217.
Thessalus, the actor, 255, 257.
Thoricus, the theatre at, 42.
Thrasyllus, his dream, 58.
Thrones, in the theatre of Dionysus,
date of, 125. Throne of the priest of
Dionysus, 308.
Thymele, name for the altar in the
orchestra, 132 ; for the orchestra
itself, 133; for the stage, 155. Wie-
seler's view concerning it, 155.
Timotheus, the author of the new style
of music, 294.
Tombs, on the stage, 184.
Tragedy, date of first institution of
contests in, 6. At the City Dionysia,
16 ff., 27 ff. At the Lenaea, 37.
Number of actors in, 200. Costume
of actors in, 216 ff. Size of chorus in,
262. Costume of chorus in, 262.
The tragic dance, 289.
Training, of the chorus, 80 ff.
Tribes, the Attic, dithyrambic contests
between, 14, 15. Have no connexion
with the dramatic contests, 1 4. Certain
blocks in the theatre appropriated to
them, 307.
Tribute, displayed at the City Dionysia,
89, 162.
Trilogies, 21 ff.
Tripods, the prizes in the dithyrambic
contests, 53.
Tritagonist, the, 207, 208, 211.
Tritostatae, the, 271.
Trochaic tetrameters, given in recitative,
244.
Tunic, of tragic actors, 225. Of satyric
actors, 232.
Turban, worn by Darius, 228.
V.
Voice, importance of in the Greek
drama, 245. Its strength more re-
garded than its quality, 246. Train-
ing of the voice, 248.
W.
Windows, in the back-scene, i73«
Women, admitted to the theatre, 227 ff.
Their seats, 307.
Xenocles, defeats Euripides, 18.
Z.
Zeno, his remark about actors, 247.
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