DRAMA; DRAMATIC LITERATfRE. 



DRAMA; DRAMATIC I.I '1 Id: ATTRE. 



metre. In word, the dialogue wa* meant to be recited ; the chorus 

 was intended to be lung. It U obviou. that these two rl.-mrnt* mutt 

 hare bed different origin* The one WM an oflshoot of the lyric 

 poctrr liu-h uniting up mnnj the Dorian*, the uther is to be referred 

 to the rhapsodical recitations which were peculiar to the Ionian 

 branch of the Greek nation ; and a* the Athenian* stood in the middle 

 between the Ionian* aixf the Dorian*, *o the Attic drama may be con- 

 sidered M the point of intersection of the Ionian and Dorian literature*. 

 That choral and oon*equentlj lyrical poetry should spring up among 

 the Dorian* wai a natural remit of the peculiar orguiimtioii ,,f .1 

 Doric state : and the Epo* a* naturally araae among the Ionian*, the 

 \-miMi .if Hoinrr. (' Hint, of the Literature of Greece,' by Muller, 

 continued by P. Donaldson.) [IIoHi'R, in Hioii. Div.l The Ionian 

 epic poetry, which waa written in dactylic hexameter*, was recited by 

 act of men called rAapKxfoft [Kn.vrsouv]; and the gnomic and 

 didactic poetry of Heaiod wa* recited in the same way. But the 

 dactylic hexameter wa* not found suitable for gnomic poetry, and a 

 modification -isting also of six feet, but each foot shorter by 



a half-time thin the dactyl, wg substituted for it. This met: 

 Iambic), or a lengthened form of it (the trochaic), wa* used by Archi- 

 lochuj, Simonidis of Amorgus.and Solon, whose verse* were recited by 

 themselves or by rhapsodists in the same way at the epic poetry 

 which preceded them. 



The lyric poetry of the Dorians was originally appropriated to the 

 worship of Apollo, but the particular odes and choruses used in 

 this worship were in process of time transferred to Dionysus 

 [Dioxvsrs] ; and ties: odes and choral dances had, all of them, their 

 representatives in the dramatic poetry of a later age. (Athenscus, 

 p. 6SO. D.) But the Dithyrambus was the earliest species of choral 

 poetry connected with the worship of Dionysus, and it appears from 

 many allusions, and indeed from Dithyrambic fragments, that while 

 the body of the song was composed in irregular metres, the poet him- 

 self, or some rhapsodist, acting as exarchus, or leader, in his place, 

 recited trochaic* a* an introduction. Here then was a mixture of 

 recitation and choru* perfectly analogous to the tragedy of later time, 

 which was probably suggested by it ; and it U in this sense, we doubt 

 not, that Aristotle attributes to the leaden of the Dithyrambus the 

 origin of tragedy. 



We read of a lyrical tragedy long before Thcapis, and this appears 

 to hare been a modification of the Dithyrambus with a lyrical accom- 

 paniment instead of the flute-music to which it waa originally danced, 

 and with a substitution of men dressed as satyrs for the usual chorus, 

 which alteration is attributed to Arion. The union of this lyrical tragedy 

 with the recitations of rhapsodista is said to have been brought about by 

 Theepis, a contemporary of Pisistratua and Solon, and may have been 

 suggested as well by the recitations of the leaders of the Dithyrambus 

 as by the union of rhapsodical recitations with the Dionysian rites. 

 ThespU introduced one actor, an exarchus, or rhapsodist, who, standing 

 on an elevated place, while the dithyrambic chorus were grouped 

 around the altar of Dionysus, carried on a dialogue with them, or 

 narrated some mythical story in character. The comedy of ancient 

 Oreece originated in the featival of the vintage, when the country 

 people went from one village to another, in carts or on foot, and 

 indulging in rude jecta and coarse invective*. From these effusions 

 comedy wa* developed either in Uegaris or in Sicily. It , first approach 

 to perfection was owing to the genius of Epiuhannus, who is said by 

 Plato (' Theaetet' p. 152, E) to have borne the same relation to comedy 

 that Homer did to tragedy. A similar comic drama sprung up about 

 the tame time at Athens, and was carried to a wonderful degree of 

 strength and beauty. 



The drama* of ancient Greece were always performed at and as a 

 part of the festival of Dionysus [DIONYSU]. The plays for exhibition 

 had previously been submitted by their authors to a board of judges, 

 and approved by them. 



JSscliylurf, the true father of the Attic drama (so far at least as we 

 are acquainted with it), wa* born in Attica about the year n.c 525, and 

 died probably about B.C. 456, having survived the splendid victories of 

 Balami*. Platoea, and Mycale. Thus he may be said to have flourished 

 during the vigorous youth of Athenian liberty and glory. 



are three grand characteristics of tragedy as conceived by 

 ^*chylus, that distinguish it widely from the serious drama of 

 modern time*. These are, 1. The religious tone which pervades it 

 throughout ; 2. The ideal nature of the whole representation ; 3. The 

 large part in the composition still assigned to the lyric muse. These 

 three matter* we shall endeavour to place in a clear light before the 

 reader, a* upon a knowledge of them mainly depends the capability to 

 form something like an accurate notion of the distinctive character of 

 GrecUn tragedy. 



First, a* regard* the religious complexion of the Athenian drama. 

 Modern readers, familiarised from their infancy with the names, 

 attribute*, and image* of the ancient deities, merely as present ing an 

 inexhaustible storehouse of graceful poetic ornament, almost inevitably 

 forget, in turning to peruse any original work of the ancient*, that, 

 how much soever their philosophers, their poets, or their priests, might 

 regard their principal divinities in a purely symbolical view, yet that 

 to the mind* of the people at large they were real and awful existence*, 

 having will, passions, and various kind* and degree* of dominion 

 over the fortune* and the happinea* of man. This important fact 



ha* no* been lufficiently taken notice of in modern accounts of the 

 ancient drama. All the deities, male or female, celestial or infernal, 

 were object* of fear and propitiation : only the inexorable Fate* were 

 unappeasable by god or man. Fate, indeed, was the only omnipotence 

 recognised in the mythological system of the O reeks ; for Jupiter 

 himself, the ruler of the celestial deitieo, the sovereign of Olympus, 

 wa* regarded neither u eternal nor as infinite in power. Nowhere have 

 poetry and her sinter art* been more thoroughly devoted to the service of 

 religion than they were in ancient Oreece. Thus we find the drama itself 

 lying in embryo in the worship of Dionysus ; and when in it* maturity 

 it lost the direct character of a religious rite, we shall find the sacred 

 character impressed on tragedy even more solemnly than upon any 

 of the other productions of Athenian genius not primarily devoted to 

 religious objects. 



The ideality of the scenic representation, as arranged by ^Eschylu -, 

 necessarily resulted from the adoption, in the composition of the 

 drama, of ideal and of nearly ideal characters. " The use of masks," 

 observes Schlegel, "which appears astonishing to us, was not only 

 justifiable on this principle, but absolutely essential ; and far from 

 considering tin in in the light of a last resource, the Greeks would 

 justly have considered as a last resource the being obliged to allow a 

 player with vulgar, ignoble, or strongly-marked individual features, to 

 represent an Apollo or a Hercules. To them this would have appeared 



downright profanation As the features of the player acquired 



a more decided expression from the mask, as his voice was strengthened 

 by a contrivance for that purpose, so also the cutfiuraut, which con- 

 sisted of several considerable additions to his soles, as we may see in 

 the ancient statues of Melpomene, raised his figure considerably above 

 the middle standard. The female parts, too, were played by men, as 

 the voice and other qualities of women would have conveyed ail 

 inadequate idea of the energy of tragic heroines. The forms of the 



Greek Theatrical MaL. 



masks and the whole appearance of the tragic figures, we may easily 

 suppose, were sufficiently beautiful and dignified. We should do well 

 to have the ancient sculpture always present to our minds ; and the 

 most accurate conception, perhaps, that we can possibly hav. 

 imagine them so many statues in the grand style, endowed with life 

 and motion. But as in sculpture they were fond of dispensing as 

 much as possible with dress, for the sake of exhibiting the more 

 essential beauty of the figure ; on the stage they would endeavour, 

 from an opposite principle, to clothe as much as they could well do, 

 both from a regard to decency, and because the actual forms of the 

 body would not correspond sufficiently with the beauty of the counte- 

 nance. They would also exhibit their divinities, which in sculpture 

 we always observe either entirely naked or only half covered, in a com- 

 plete dress. [We would remark, however, that the early Greek statues 

 of divinities were always clothed. It was only when sculptors, thinking 

 to philosophise their art, ventured to treat their deities as means for 

 exhibiting ideal beauty of form, that the figures became nude.] They 

 hod recourse to a number of means for giving a suitable strength 

 to the forms of the limbs, and thus restoring proportion to the 

 increased height of the player. 



'' The great breadth of the theatre, in proportion to its depth, must 

 have given to the grouping of the figures the simple aud distinct order 

 of the bas-relief. .... The gestures accompanied the rhytbmus of 

 the declamation, and were intended to display the utmost beauty aud 

 harmony." 



In the syllabic composition, which then at least prevailed in the 

 Grecian music, the solemn choral song had no other instrumental 

 accompaniment than a single flute, which could not impair the dis- 

 tinctness of the words. The choruses and lyrical song* in general form 

 the portion most difficult to understand of the ancient tragedy, and 

 must also have been the most difficult to contemporary auditors. 

 They abound with the most involved w> 'he most unusual 



expressions, and the boldest images and allusion*. Such labour aud 



ild hardly have been lavished upon tlit-m l.y the poets i 

 to be lost in the delivery. Such a display of ornament without aim is 

 very unlike the mode of thinking of the Greeks. In the syll:il<ii' 

 measure of their tragedy there generally prevails a highly In 

 regularity, which, however, by no means appears a stiff symmetrical 

 uniformity. Besides the infinite variety of the lyrical strophes, they 

 have also a measure to denote the mental transition from the dialogue 

 to the lyric, the anapaest ; and two for the dialogue itself, of which the 





