OF LITERATURE. 



xiu 



complete harmony with the oligarchical const! - 

 tution of the Dorian states. To the same cause, 

 heightened by the political position of the The- 

 bans throughout the struggle between Greece 

 and her Persian invaders, must be imputed the 

 coldness of his homage to liberty, the lack of 

 frequency and fervour in his allusions to the 

 efforts of contemporary patriotism. And hence 

 it is, that, though the date of Pindar corresponds 

 with that of the Persian war, we must look to 

 other writers for proofs of the animating influ- 

 ence which that event exerted upon the feelings, 

 the intellects, and the literature of the Greeks. 



-&SCHYLUS,* born seven years earlier than Pin- 

 dar, appears, by a strange coincidence, to have 

 made his first public exhibition a few months 

 before the Theban lyrist produced the first of 

 his extant odes, of which the date can be ascer. 

 tained. The name of this great poet marks an 

 era of twofold interest and importance ; the rise 

 of the Athenian dialect and literature, and the 

 commencement of the regular drama. A ten- 

 dency towards this most prominent and palpable 

 species of imitative composition is so strikingly 

 displayed in every development of Grecian 

 intellect, that we are not surprised to find Aris- 

 totle identifying imitation with the very essence 

 of poetry. Nowhere is it shown more evidently 

 than in the most ancient works. Plato does not 

 hesitate to call Homer, in express terms, the 

 father of Tragedy. But, however strongly the 

 imitative principle might manifest itself in heroic 

 song, or in other kinds of composition, it was 

 hardly possible, in rude and boisterous times, for 

 the stately fabric of the theatre to arise. Pro- 

 gressive approximations to this conclusion were 

 made, however, in various parts of Greece, as 

 the habitations of men became more settled, and 

 greater attention was bestowed upon the culture 

 of peaceful arts and enjoyments. Mimetic per- 

 formances were gradually blended with Baccha- 

 nalian hymns and other rites of a serious or 

 mirthful character. On the soil of Attica the 

 first decided step to dramatic exhibitions was 

 taken by Thespis;f many improvements were 

 made by his successor and scholar Phrynicus ;J 

 and at last, under the impulse given by the 

 genius of $lschylus, the migratory waggon and 

 temporary scaffold were exchanged for a stage ; 

 dialogue was introduced, and by degrees estab- 

 lished in due preeminence over the lyric effusions 

 of the chorus; theatrical dress and decoration 

 became sumptuous and effective; and Tragedy 

 assumed, in shape and in substance, its noblest 

 attributes. Hitherto the art had been in embryo, 



B. C. 500. t B. C. 533. I B. C. 5tl. 



a mere larva struggling into form ; now it started 

 up as the finished Specimen, perfect in all its 

 members, although hues of beauty and powers of 

 flight were afterwards added or increased. 



^Eschylus is a glorious example of the Athe- 

 nian character in its highest perfection ; genius, 

 patriotism, and valour. The virtues of the 

 soldier-citizen, called forth by the shock of 

 foreign arms, and inflamed by the remembrance 

 of hard-earned triumphs, have given peculiar 

 force to the poetry of one, who had personally 

 shared the dangers of the conflict. It is every- 

 where the language of a hero, and seems to re- 

 sound with the noise of battle. At the same time, 

 the innate propensities of the mind of Jtschylus, 

 as well as the emotions naturally excited by the 

 Persian invasion, and by the great part which 

 Athens had sustained in the contest, are to be 

 traced in the daring flights and lofty conceptions 

 of his muse. There was something gigantic in 

 his mental character, that found congenial 

 elements in the antique mythology and legends 

 of Greece; in the Titans who combated with 

 Jove, the founders of extinct dynasties, and 

 those deeds and crimes of the olden time, which 

 were magnified by the mist of intervening ages 

 into features of transcendent greatness or atrocity. 

 That ideal standard, which all poetry erects for 

 itself, since all poetry has more or less of an ideal 

 tincture in its composition, was clothed, in his 

 imagination, with an aspect of supernatural 

 strength, wisdom, or power. Hence it is, that 

 beings and faculties of more than mortal mould 

 are so often conjured within the circle of this 

 potent enchanter. Hence, too, the extravagance 

 and eccentricity of thought and diction, which 

 have always been pointed out as the chief faults 

 of JEschylus. His metaphors, like the masks of 

 his invention, are exaggerated images; his 

 genius, like his actors, bellows through a trum- 

 pet Yet, though fonder of commanding our 

 wonder than our sympathy, he was not without an 

 intimate knowledge of the human heart, and 

 sometimes penetrates the soul of his readers by 

 touches of exquisite feeling. Occasionally, like- 

 wise, there is a simplicity of language, continued 

 through long passages, that is the more astonish- 

 ing in his plays, when we recollect how close they 

 lie to the confines of lyric song, and what a per- 

 petual struggle vKsdiylus must have maintained 

 against the inflation of ideas and expression, 

 which is incidental to that species of poetry. But 

 simplicity, as a general characteristic, is to be 

 sought, not in the style but in the plan of his 

 tragedies. The primitive artlessness, and direct 

 movement of his plots cannot be exceeded. In 

 comparing them with the dramatic productions of 



