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PLAYHOUSE. 
ninety-one years; and in his eightieth, to vindicate him- 
felf from a charge of mental imbecility, lie read to the 
Judges his (Edipus Coloneus, the mod: beautiful, at leaf! 
the mod perfefl, of his tragedies. He furvived Euripides, 
his molt, formidable rival, of whom alfo we muf! fpeak a 
few words. 
Euripides is the firl! tragedian who paid tribute to the 
paffion which has been too exclufively made the moving 
caufe of intereft on the modern ftage, the firlt who fa- 
crificed to “ Cupid, king of gods and men.” But the 
dramatic life of this padion has been purified in modern 
times, by the introduction of that tone of fentiment which, 
fince the age of chivalry, has been a principal ingredient 
in heroic affedlion. This was unknown to the ancients, 
in whole fociety females, generally fpeaking, held a low 
and degraded place, from which few individuals emerged, 
unlefs tbofe who afpired to the talents and virtues proper 
to the mafculine fex. Women were not forbidden to be¬ 
come competitors for the laurel or the oaken crown 
offered to genius and to patriotifm ; but antiquity held 
out no myrtle wreath, as a prize for the domeftic virtues 
peculiar to the female character. Love, therefore, in 
Euripides, does not always breathe purity of fentiment, 
but is flained with the mixture of violent and degrading 
padions. This, however, was the fault of the age, rather 
than of the poet. This great dramatift was Tefs happy 
than Sophocles in the conftrudlion of his plots; and, 
inftead of the happy expedients by which his predeceffor 
introduces us to the bufinefs of the drama, he had too 
often recourfe to the mediation of a prologue, who came 
forth to explain, in detail, the previous hillory necelfary 
to underftand the piece. 
The divifion betwixt tragedy and comedy, for both 
fprung from the fame commdn origin, namely, the fealis 
in honour of Bacchus, and the difguifes adopted by his 
worfhippers, feems to have taken place gradually until 
the jells and frolics, which made a principal part of thefe 
revels, were found mifplaced when introduced with 
graver matter, and were made, by Sufarion perhaps, the 
fubjefl of a feparate province of the drama. The 
Grecian comedy was divided into the ancient, the middle, 
and the modern, ftyle of compofition. 
The ancient and original comedy was of a kind which 
may, at firl! fight, appear to derogate from the religious 
purpofes which we have pointed out as the foundation of 
the drama. They frequently turn upon parodies, in 
which the perfons and adventures of thofe gods and 
heroes w<ho w'ere the fublime fubjefts of the tragic drama 
are introduced for the purpofe of fport and ridicule, as in 
our modern farces of Midas and the Golden Pippin. 
Hercules appears in one of thofe pieces aftonilhing his 
boll by an extravagant appetite, which the cook in vain 
attempts to fatiate, by placing before him, in lucceffion, 
all the various dilhes which the ancient kitchen afforded. 
In another comedy, Bacchus (in w'hofe honour the fo- 
lemnity was inftituted) is brought in only in order to ri¬ 
dicule his extreme cowardice. 
It is probable, that, had the old Grecian comedy con¬ 
tinued to diredl its Ihafts of ridicule only again!! the inha¬ 
bitants o! Olympus, it would not have attradled the 
coercion of the magiftracy. But its kingdom was far 
more extenfive, and the poets claimed the privilege of 
laying their opinions on public affairs before the people 
in this lhape. Cratinus, Eupolis, and particularly 
Ariftophanes, a daring, powerful, and apparently un¬ 
principled, writer, converted comedy into an engine for 
alfailing the credit and charadler of private individuals, 
as well as the perfons and political meafures of thofe who 
adminiftered the Hate. The dodlrines of philofophy, the 
power of the magiftrate, the genius of the poet, the rites 
proper to the Deity, were alternately made the fubjedl of the 
molt uncompromifingand fevere fatire. Itwas foon dilcover- 
ed that the moredireflly perfonal the affault could be made, 
and the more revered or exalted the perfonage, the great¬ 
er was the malignant fatisfaftion of the audience, who 
Vol. XX. No. 1398. 
loved to fee wifdom, authority, and religious reverence, 
brought down to their own level, and made fubjeifts ot 
ridicule by the powers of the mercilefs fatirift:. The ufe 
of the mafic enabled Ariftophanes to render his fatire yet 
more pointedly perfonal; for, by forming it fo as to 
imitate, probably with fome abfurd exaggeration, the 
features of the objed! of his ridicule, and by imitating 
thedrefsand manner of the original, the player ftepped 
upon the ftage, a walking and fpeaking caricature of the 
hero of the night, and was ufually placed in fome ludi¬ 
crous pofition, amidlf the fanciful and vvhimfical chimeras 
with which the fcene was peopled. In this manner, 
Ariftophanes ridiculed with equal freedom Socrates, the 
wife!! of the Athenians, and Cleon, the demagogue, when 
at the height of his power. As no one durft: perform the 
latter part, for fear of giving offence to one fo powerful, 
the author affed Cleon himfelf, with his face fmeared 
with the lees of wine. 
Like the fatire of Rabelais, the political and perfonal 
invedlive of Ariftophanes was mingled with a plentiful 
allowance of fcurrilous and indecent jefts, which were 
calculated to infure a favourable reception from the bulk 
of the people. Yet though his indecency, and the often- 
five and indifcriminate lcurrility of his fatire, deferve 
cenfure ; though he merits the blame of the wife for his 
attack upon Socrates, and of thelearned for his repeated 
and envenomed aflanlts on Euripides; Ariftophanes has 
neverthelefs added one deathlefs name to the deathlefs 
period in which he flourifhed ; and, from the richnefs of 
his fancy, and gaiety of his tone, has deferved the title of 
the Father of Comedy. When the ftyle of his farcafrn 
pofleffed the rarenefs of novelty, it was confidered of fo 
much importance to the ftate, that a crown of olive was 
voted to the poet, as one who had taught Athens the 
defedls of her public men. 
The ancient comedy, however, was of a charaCler too 
licentious to be long tolerated. Two or three decrees 
having been in vain palled, in order to protedl the citizens 
again!! libels of this poignant defcription, the ancient 
comedy was finally profcribed by that oligarchy which 
affumed the government of Athens upon the downfal 
of the popular government towards the end of the Pelo- 
ponnefian war. By order of thefe rulers, Anaxander, an 
adtor, was punifhed capitally, for parodying a line of 
Euripides fo as to infer a flight of the government. 
He was llarved to death, to which, as an appropriate 
punifhment, the public has fince his time often indirectly 
condemned both adfors and dramatifts. Ariftophanes, 
who was Hill alive, bowed to the ftorm, and relinquifhed 
the critical and fatirical fcourge, which he had hitherto 
exercifed in the combined capacity of fatirift, reformer, 
and reviewer; and the ufe of the chorus vtas prohibited 
to comic authors, as it feems to have been in their ftanzas 
chiefly that the offenfive fatire was inverted. To this 
edidt Horace alludes in the well known lines : 
The ancient comedy next play’d its part, 
Well-fam’d, at firft, for fpirit and for art; 
But, Liberty o’erleaping decent awe, 
Satiric rage required refiraint from law, 
The edict fpoke ; difhonour’d filence bound 
The chorus, and forbade their ancient right to wound. 
In the middle copied}/, Thalia and her votaries feemed 
to have retraced their fteps, and, avoiding perfonal fatire, 
reforted once more to general fuhjedts of burleique 
raillery. We learn from hiftory, real or fabulous, or 
from the works of the elder poets, that thefe plays had 
the fanciful wildnefs without the perfonal fatire of the 
ancient comedy; for the authors were obliged to take 
care that there was no “offence” in their pleafantry. At 
mod, they only ventured to touch on matters of inffant 
intereft in the way of inuendo, under feigned titles and 
oblique hints, and had no longer the audacity to join 
men’s vices or follies to their names. Ariftophanes re¬ 
call feveral of his pieces in this manner. But the fame 
8 C food, 
