ORATOR AND POET, ACTOR AND DRAMATIST. 229 



social products there went differentiation of the dramatist 

 and the actor from other persons and from one another, may 

 fairly be inferred however little able we may be to trace the 

 process. Already by the above extract from Grote we are 

 shoAvn that a leading actor gave oral directions to subordi 

 nate actors; and in doing this he assumed to some extent 

 the character of dramatist. Before the rise of a written 

 literature no greater distinction could be made; but after 

 written literature arose the dramatist proper became possi 

 ble. Still, it is to be observed that in the productions of the 

 great dramatic writers of Greece, the original relations con 

 tinued to be shown. As Moulton remarks : 



&quot;Tragedy never ceased to be a solemn religious and national festi 

 val, celebrated in a building which was regarded as the temple of 

 Dionysus, whose altar was the most prominent object in the orchestra.&quot; 

 And the subject-matter continued in late days as in early 

 days to be, in chief measure, the doings of the gods. An 

 illustration is furnished by Mahaffy, who says: 



u We hear in the days of the Ptolemies, about 250 B. c., of a regu 

 lar symphony performed at a Delphic feast, in which the contest of 

 Apollo and the Python was represented in five movements with the 

 aid of flutes (or rather clarinettes, avXoi), harps, and fifes, without 

 singing or libretto.&quot; 



Clearly this incident, while mainly showing the develop 

 ment of instrumental music, shows also the kind of theme 

 chosen. But when we come to the comedies of Aristophanes 

 we see a secularization much further advanced. 



Partly because, as pointed out above in following the 

 genesis of the poet, so much of Roman civilization was not 

 indigenous but foreign ; and partly because Roman life, en 

 tirely militant, led to a contempt for all non-militant occu 

 pations (as happens everywhere) ; the rise of the dramatist 

 in Rome was indefinite. Still we find indications akin to 

 the foregoing. Duruy, in agreement with Guhl and Koner, 

 writes that 



In 364 B.C., during a pestilence, the Romans applied to the Etruscans 

 who &quot;replied that the gods would be satisfied if they were honoured 



