But in

covers at the revelations of the herdsman. the vast theatre of Bacchus, the same general expression of gloom and grief would doubtless suffice throughout. All that exquisite acting which we can imagine in Garrick, Kemble, or Siddons, as confidence gradually gave way to doubt, doubt to certainty, and certainty to despair, was of course wholly lost to an Athenian audience. It should be added, that their idea of the tragic drama did not extend to the representation of these emotions; and when they punished Phrynichus for his Capture of Miletus, as we have already remarked, they very plainly declared that tragedy must not seek for its materials in the ordinary world around us. They witnessed the plays of Sophocles and Eschylus with much the same feelings as we peruse "Paradise Lost," which, if dramatised, would certainly depend very little on the finer accomplishments of the histrionic art. There were, of course, certain cases in which a change of masks between the acts was absolutely necessary, as in the mutilation of Edipus in the play aforesaid; but this, as will be readily seen, scarcely forms an exception to the custom which we have described.

The pay of an actor at Athens was often very high indeed, and was generally defrayed by the state. Thus, for example, Polus, who acted the characters of Sophocles, sometimes earned a talent, (or nearly 5007.) in two days. When this was the case, as we may suppose, the profession was held in

as wrote, was a man of rank, and was entrusted with the command of a military expedition; and Aristodemus, another performer, was sent on a public embassy.

IV. Our remarks on the character of Athenian acting, lead us by a natural transition to the subject of the chorus. The chorus, as its position might perhaps indicate, was the interpreter between the actors and the audience. In their countenance would doubtless be manifested the livelier expressions of fear, hope, and indignation - they would in fact, supply the more purely human element. Perhaps, for the sake of an illustration, it would not be going too far to consider the play itself as partaking somewhat of a panoramic character, and the chorus in the light of the lecturer. If this comparison be thought undignified, we can only reply that, if it aids the reader to form a true conception of the subject, the good names of Sophocles and Eschylus will not suffer any injury. But however this may be, if we consider the question from this point of view, we gain, it is probable, a clearer insight into the real necessity of the chorus, than by regarding more exclusively its religious and traditional features. The truth, as it seems to us, is that an Athenian tragedy would have been unsupportable without the addition of the choral element.

The origin of the chorus, as mentioned in an earlier chapter, was partly military, and is to be sought in the old Doric military discipline, of which a kind of stately war dance "to the sound of flutes

and soft recorders," was an important element. This will explain the manner of its entrance on the stage, and the nature of the first choral song. In the military marches of the Greeks, the anapæstic metre was generally used; and the parodos, or first song sung by the chorus as it marched in at the side entrance, from which its name was derived, was generally if not always written in anapæstics. The subsequent clustering of the chorus round the thymele, and the introduction of the lyric element, denotes the other source from which the chorus derived its existence i. e. religion, or the Bacchic worship; while the songs which they uttered from this position, called stasima, bore a nearer resemblance to the poetry of Stesichorus, Pindar, and Simonides. All that part of the play which preceded the parodos was called the prologue; all between the parodos and the last stasimon, episodia; all after the last stasimon, the exodus. The parodos and the stasima were confined to the full chorus; but there was also a kind of choral lyric song common both to the chorus and the actors; this was known by the name of кoμμós (planctus), and was always devoted to lamentation. In the Persæ and the Choephora, the 'commos' occupies a large portion of the entire tragedy.

V. A very few words on the subject of the audience must close the present chapter. Originally there was no charge for admission, but subsequently two obols were fixed upon as the price. To such an extent, however, did the Athenians carry the worship of art, that they very soon adopted the practice of paying

for the admission of the poorer citizens out of a public fund. It is probable, though not certain, that women were admitted to witness theatrical representations.*

VI. The expense of theatrical representations was defrayed by the state. The xopnyia was one of the regular liturgies which devolved upon each tribe in turn. This was the Athenian method of levying rates and taxes; and this xopnyía corresponded in principle with what a theatre rate would be among

us.

The tribe chose one of themselves to be its Xopnyós, and on him devolved the selection of its chorus and the superintendence of their instruction in their songs and dances. When however the yopnyós was once named, he was left, within certain limits, to his own discretion as to the style in which his play was to be brought out. A citizen who gave great satisfaction to the people was frequently rewarded with a tripod; and the office of choragus became in time a very common opportunity of courting the popular favour. The course pursued in order to exhibit a play, was as follows:-The poet who had a play ready for representation applied to one of the archons. If it was at the Lenæa, to the archon Baσλɛús, if at the Dionysia, to the chief archon; and

* Compare Plato, Gorg. p. 502., where he describes a tragedy as ῥητορικήν τινα πρὸς δῆμοντοιοῦτον οἷον παίδων τε ὁμοῦ καὶ γυναικῶν καὶ ἀνδρῶν καὶ δούλων καὶ ἐλευθέρων

†This expense eventually became so heavy, that Athens is said to have spent more money on scenic representations than on all her

wars.

if his play was approved a chorus was assigned to him. This was called xopòv Sidóvaι, and the phrase ultimately became a general term for the approval or acceptance of a play. The poet was said χορὸν αἰτεῖν. He also had assigned to him three actors, whom he taught himself. Hence the exhibitor of a play was said Sidάoke, literally, to teach *; and a play was said to be taught, διδάσκεσθαι.

* Thus Horace, Ars Poet. 1. 288.:

"Vel qui prætextas, vel qui docuêre togatas."