DICKEY. — ON DELAYS BEFORE RECOGNITIONS. 469 



the ' secondary ' delay begios at 220, with the meeting of Orestes and 

 Electra, but I am convinced that this whole scene between them, and 

 even up to the arrival of the old man (487), is a part of the ' primary ' 

 delay. I think the mention of the old man in the prologue is signifi- 

 cant to the audience : that is, he is to play an important part in the 

 drama, perhaps in the recognition scene ; and this belief of mine is 

 strengthened by the statement of Electra (285) that only one of her 

 friends (the TraiSuywyo?) would know Orestes — and, finally, the old 

 man is to appear ostensibly for another purpose, but in reality to effect 

 the recognition for which the parties concerned (Orestes and Electra) 

 are present and ready when he arrives at 487 and inquires for Electra. 

 I assume, therefore, that the eagerly awaited arrival of the old man is 

 a signal, so to speak, to the audience that the recognition is about to 

 be effected. Hence the 'secondary' delay begins at 487, and the 

 recognition is actually completed in 577-578, when Electra says, 



(TVfJL/36\oicn yap I tois 0-019 iriirucrixai 6v[xov. It is not my purpose to 



discuss the disputed passage at length from an artistic point of view 

 in order to combat the view of Mau, whom Mr. Tucker 37 follows ; 

 but I wish to call special attention to the fact that, even counting the 

 disputed passage, the ' secondary ' delay before the recognition is only 90 

 verses in length (from 487 to 577) — and even this can reasonably be 

 shortened if we eliminate the introductory remarks of the old man 

 about his provisions, etc., and make the weeping of the old man 



(501—502, eyw Sk rpu^et Tipd' ip.wv iriTrXwv Kopas | SaKpvotcrL rey^as i^opiop- 



$aaOai dekw) the real signal for the beginning of the recognition scene, 

 thus making the ' secondary ' delay before the recognition 76 verses in 

 length. In the first event we find a ' secondary ' delay (i. e., from the 

 time that the signal appears to be given to the audience that the recog- 

 nition is about to take place until it is actually effected) of 90 verses ; 

 in the second event, a delay of 76 verses. By eliminating 518-544, 

 the interpolated passage, according to Mau, my figures for the delay 

 would become 63 and 49 respectively. Let us see how these figures 

 compare with those given for ' secondary ' delays found in other trage- 

 dies, especially those of Euripides. 



' Secondary ' delays before recognitions : 

 Aeschylus — Choephori : 235-165 = 70 



Sophocles — Electra : 1221-1098 = 123 



Oedipus Tyrannus : 1182-1 117 = 65 



37 The Choephori of Aeschylus, Introd. p. lxxi ff. 



