THE ' AGAMEMNON* AND <TRACHINI&* 13 



is interrupted by the scene in which a Herald brings confirma- 

 tion of the news that Troy had fallen. In preparation for this 

 scene the old men at line 440 revert from the past to the 

 present, from the flight of Helen to their own position and 

 feelings, which are described in two strophes. 



Mr. Browning has followed the usual arrangement in giving 

 Clytemnestra the speech announcing the Herald's approach, 

 but it would be more consistent with the general scheme if, as. 

 Scaliger thought, this speech were allotted to the chorus; we' 

 should then, as usual, have some lines spoken by them after the 

 conclusion of their ode, and telling the spectators the name 

 of the coming actor. This is no work for a queen, and the 

 Herald, when he comes, addresses himself exclusively to the 

 chorus, which he could hardly have done if Clytemnestra had 

 been present. He greets his country and his countrymen, 

 expresses his own joy, tells the great news, and describes the 

 sufferings of the army before Troy. Clytemnestra certainly 

 hears some part of the Herald's speech, for when he ends she 

 speaks, boasting of the accuracy of the news she had long 

 before announced. She then despatches the Herald to Aga- 

 memnon with a message, and leaves the stage. There is 

 nothing realistic in the dialogue ; her short appearance seems 

 designed simply to give the Herald breathing space. He pro- 

 ceeds to describe the tempest which separated Menelaus from 

 Agamemnon while they were returning to Greece, and then 

 this interlude ends abruptly. He takes no farewell, nor do the 

 chorus bid him godspeed. Without a line of preparation they 

 return to the story of Helen, taking it up at line 662, exactly 

 where they left off at line 440. The description of Helen's 

 flight and her reception in Troy closes at line 724, with the 

 declaration that this lovely bride was really an avenging fury 

 sent by Jove. The chorus now become mere old men full of 

 ancient saws; as usual the concluding strophes are full of 

 moralising, and, when the poem ends, the chorus as usual 

 announce the approach of the personage who is to open the 

 next dramatic scene. Agamemnon arrives, and the main action 

 of the play begins. 



We are probably justified in regarding this earlier part of 

 the ' Agamemnon ' as an example of the old-fashioned Thespian 



