Chapter 24

[144]p. 4.[145]Chap. VI.[146]1455b.[147]1452a.[148]1450b.[149]Plato (Symposium, 175 E) makes Socrates congratulate Agathon on his success in the presence of “more than 30,000 Greeks”. Modern archæologists, by statistics based on the seating-accommodation, would reduce this figure to 17,000.[150]There are fourteen of these at Athens.[151]This account is based on Dörpfeld (Das griechische Theater, Abschnitt VII) who believes there was no stage, and on Haigh (Attic Theatre³, edited by Mr. Pickard-Cambridge, Chap. III) who believes there was a stage.[152]That is, shorter, viewed from left to right by the spectators. The depth of the Vitruvian stage was 10 feet.[153]Vitruvius V, vii, 3-4.[154]By Wieseler and others.[155]Haigh³, pp. 165-74.[156]ἀναβαίνω:Knights, 148;Acharnians, 732;Wasps, 1342.[157]καταβαίνω:Eccles.1151;Wasps, 1514.[158]Euripides,Ion, 727,Electra, 4sq.,Herc. Fur.119. As Haigh (3rd ed., p. 167) points out, “in the last passage it is the chorus which makes the complaint; so that in this case, if there was any visible ascent, it cannot have been the ascent to the stage”.[159]This is a strong and favourite argument for the stage; when Haigh (3rd ed., p. 168) denies this because “a sufficient reason is ... the fact that, if they had gone into the palace, the scene of action would have been left empty for the time being,” he forgets that such a departure of the chorus is quite possible. It occurs inEumenides,Ajax,Alcestis, andHelena, not to mention Comedy.[160]Haigh³, p. 170sq.[161]Symposium, 194 B.[162]Ars Poetica, 278: Æschylus et modicis instravit pulpita tignis.[163]Das Gr. Theater, p. 350.[164]He wrote a lexicon to Plato in the third century after Christ.[165]Dörpfeld gives various optical diagrams to exhibit the effects.[166]We incessantly see this effect in modern theatres. But in Greece the presence of the chorus performing below would force spectators to regard the building as suspended.[167]Save, of course, those on the new lowest seats, which went down to the new level of the excavated half. Dörpfeld has discovered evidence that the present lowest seats at Athens were added after the rest.[168]Das griechische Theater, p. 364. After the publication of this view Dörpfeld altered his opinion, and suggested (Bull. Corr. Hell.1896, p. 577sqq.) that V. means not the ordinary Greek Theatre, but the Græco-Roman type found in Asia Minor. But this seems worse than his first thought. See Haigh³, pp. 147sq.[169]Ibid.pp. 146sq.[170]In Plato’s time this was notably so (Laws, 659 A-C, 700 C, 701 A).[171]Plutarch,Nicias, 524 D.[172]Aristotle,Rhetoric, III, i.[173]This is the usual term employed. See, however, Haigh³, p. 13, note 3: “the word τετραλογία was applied only to a group of four plays connected in subject,” etc.[174]This was certainly the number for comedy; it is assumed for tragedy.[175]τράγος. This was supposed to be the origin of the word “tragedy” (τραγῳδία “goat-song”).[176]Vitruvius, V, vi., and Pollux, iv., 126.[177]Professor Ridgeway makes much use of this custom in his theory that Greek drama originated in celebrations at the tombs of great persons. See hisOrigin of Tragedy, and pp. 2sq.above.[178]Haigh³, p. 187.[179]Clouds, 225.[180]Pollux (iv. 128), who gives the most definite description, adds: “one must understand it at each door, as it were in each house,” but his unsupported testimony on any subject is not trustworthy.[181]In fact Pollux, who is fond of making a particular case into a general rule, may have had this instance in his head. He writes (iv. 128): “the eccyclema is a lofty stand raised upon timbers and carrying a chair” (ἐπὶ ξύλων ὑψηλὸν βάθρον ᾧ ἐπίκειται θρόνος).[182]Ar.Knights, 1249.[183]This story occurs in the anonymousLifeof Æschines.[184]They are mutes, for the lines supposed to be uttered by one or both behind the scenes were probably delivered by one of the actors not needed “in front”.[185]TheŒdipus Coloneusis an exception. See Jebb’sIntroduction, 3rd ed., pp. 7, 8.[186]Cp. the vigorous protest of Pratinas (p. 6).[187]Pherecrates,Cheiron, frag. 1, cp. Arist.Thesmoph.100.[188]Ar.Frogs, 1314.[189]We hear from the scholiast onChoephorœ, 900, that the same actor took the part of Pylades and of the servant who gives the alarm. The latter after arousing Clytæmnestra rushes within, and when the Queen has uttered five lines Pylades appears accompanying Orestes. This example is given by Haigh³, p. 232.[190]Told by the scholiast on Aristophanes,Frogs, 303.[191]The slovenliness in this regard of many modern actors is mostly due to “long runs”. After saying the same thing hundreds of times, an actor naturally tends to mechanical diction. The writer has heard a performer in an emotional crisis suddenly (as it appeared) call for champagne. Feeling sure that “Pommery” could not be right, he reflected, and discovered that the mysterious syllables meant “Poor Mary!” Even actors at the head of the profession are guilty of such things as “the lor of Venice”.[192]See Haigh³, p. 279sq., for some highly interesting extracts.[193]Poetic1456a(tr. Butcher).[194]Ibid.[195]This was the normal mode of entry, but the plot sometimes demanded others. In theEumenidesthe Chorus rush in pell-mell; so probably in theBacchæ; in the EuripideanSupplicesthey are discovered grouped around the Queen.[196]See pp. 344sq.[197]ὥστ’ εἴ τις ὀρχοῖτ’ εὖ, θέαμ’ ἦν· νῦν δὲ δρῶσιν οὐδέν,ἀλλ’ ὥσπερ ἀπόπληκτοι βάδην ἑστῶτες ὠρύονται.[198]Haigh³, p. 318. Both the gestures described sound like a curious anticipation of the gestures favoured by the performers of “coon-songs”.[199]This was not always an advantage when comedy held the scene. There is a delightfully impudent passage in theFrogs(v. 297) where Dionysus to escape a hobgoblin appeals to his own priest for protection.[200]For a detailed description of the seating see Haigh³, pp. 94-101.[201]It is a fact familiar to students of comparative religion that obscenity is often a part of ritual. This is true of several Greek worships, including that of Dionysus. Hence even tragedy retained its satyric complement, though satyric drama regularly showed obscene features.[202]Puchstein would date it earlier (end of the fifth century).[203]Plutarch,Liber Amatorius, 756 B, C.[204]ἐκσυρίττειν (“to hiss off”).[205]Demosthenes,De Falsa Legatione, § 337.[206]Ethics, X, 1175 B.[207]Date: uncertain. Professor Tucker thinks the year 492-1 probable; Æschylus was then thirty-three years old. Historical considerations are here of doubtful value, but the technique of the play seems to prove beyond question that it is an early work.Arrangement: protagonist, Danaus, Egyptian herald; deuteragonist, King of Argos.[208]In the centre of the orchestra, as always.[209]Danaus is necessarily dismissed so that the actor who impersonates him may appear as the Egyptian herald.[210]vv. 991-2.[211]vv. 994-1013.[212]Ζεύς (or words derived therefrom) occurs about sixty times.[213]vv. 91-5 (Professor Tucker’s translation).[214]vv. 230-1.[215]Date: 472B.C.Arrangement: protagonist, Atossa and Xerxes; deuteragonist, Messenger and Darius.[216]The actor who presents the queen has now to present the king.[217]This was a satyric play, and must not be confused with the extantPrometheus.[218]See Patin,Eschyle, p. 211.[219]Henry V, IV, viii.[220]vv. 361-2.[221]Arrangement: protagonist: Eteocles and Antigone; deuteragonist, messenger, and herald. The part of Ismene was taken by a member of the chorus.[222]Frogs, 1021.[223]vv. 591-4.[224]Life of Aristides, III.[225]Dr. Verrall, however, in his Introduction (pp. xiv, xv) sees technical drama of the highest kind in the choosing of the champions. As the Theban warriors are told off one by one, the chorus (and audience) see with ever-increasing horror that Eteocles must be left as the opponent of Polynices.[226]Müller-Heitz (Griechische Litteraturgeschichte, ii. p. 88) point out, also, that this play needs more elaborate machinery than any other extant drama. But it may well be doubted whether all the effects mentioned by the poet are realized.[227]Bia (“Violence”), also present, is a mute.[228]See H. Weil’s masterlyNote sur le Prométhée d’Eschyle(Le drame antique, pp. 86-92).[229]Zeus had intended to wed Thetis. On hearing the secret, he married her to Peleus, who became the father of Achilles.[230]It is fairly certain that it dealt with Menelaus’ visit to Egypt on his way back from Troy. He was shipwrecked on an island and the prophetic Proteus gave him advice, sending him first to Egypt. SeeOdyssey, IV, 351-586.[231]Arrangement: protagonist, Clytæmnestra; deuteragonist, Herald, Cassandra; tritagonist, Sentinel, Agamemnon, Ægisthus.[232]See especially hisIntroduction(pp. xiii-xlvii of the 2nd edition).[233]This is noted by an admirable touch. Almost always a tragedy ends with words of the chorus as the least impassioned parties. In theAgamemnonthe closing words are uttered by Clytæmnestra.[234]Choephorœ, 889.[235]The Relapse, V, iv. 135.[236]Arrangement: protagonist, Orestes; deuteragonist, Electra, Clytæmnestra; tritagonist, Pylades, nurse, attendant, Ægisthus.[237]This is of course a conventionalmise-en-scène; we are to imagine the tomb as distant from the palace.[238]On this and the other “tokens” see below, p. 258.[239]The dead man is undoubtedly supposed to send aid in a mysterious way, but no ghost appears, as in thePersæ. This discrepancy points to a change in religious feeling. Clytæmnestra’s shade “appears” in theEumenides, but as a dream (see v. 116).[240]vv. 870-4. It seems most natural to suppose that they altogether quit the orchestra, returning before v. 930.[241]Not quite, however. The poet is to depict a man, with whom we are to sympathize, almost in the act of slaying his mother. Not only Orestes, but the spectator also, needs as much spiritual fortification as can be provided.[242]vv. 313: δράσαντι παθεῖν.[243]Arrangement.—Croiset gives: protagonist, Orestes; deuteragonist, Apollo; tritagonist, Athena, priestess, ghost of Clytæmnestra. Thisgroupingis certainly right, but it is not easy to suppose that the part of Athena was given to the tritagonist. It seems better to give Athena, etc., to the protagonist, Apollo to the second, and Orestes to the third actor.[244]Probably theeccyclemawas used. See pp. 66-8.[245]vv. 517-9:—ἔσθ’ ὅπου τὸ δεινὸν εὖκαὶ φρενῶν ἐπίσκοπονδεῖ μένειν καθήμενον.[246]The actual rule of the Areopagite Court was that if the votes were even the defendant was acquitted. This rule was explained as derived from the “Vote of Athena” in the trial of Orestes. It seems then that Athena’s vote here makes inequality, not equality. Therefore her pebble is not put into either urn, but laid between them.[247]It is implied by the title of the drama that they assume the title Eumenides or “Gracious Ones,” but this title is not used in the play itself. Their most usual name was Σεμναί, “Awful Ones”.[248]v. 644.[249]In her great speech to the court she plainly adopts the language of the Furies. See below.[250]v. 747: ἡμῖν γὰρ ἔρρειν, ἢ πρόσω τιμὰς νέμειν.[251]Dr. Verrall (Introductionto his edition, pp. xxxii, xxxiii) explains the reconciliation of the Furies as the result of a mystic revelation conveyed not in words but through a kind of spiritual magnetism exercised by Athena when she draws near to them at v. 886 (he notes the break in syntax at this point); such an influence could not be shown forth in words—it is too sacred and mysterious. But if a poet does undertake to dramatize the truths of religion, he must do so in dramatic form; he ought not suddenly to throw up his task. Several places in Æschylus can be found where he does put such ideas into words.[252]This appears to me certain from Athena’s language to the court, but the reader should not suppose that the Furies say so definitely; they acquiesce.[253]vv. 696-8.[254]This vital point is admirably demonstrated by Dr. Verrall on v. 1046.[255]This number is not certain. It is probably an under-statement.[256]ποδαπὸς ὁ γύννις;[257]ἐνθουσιᾷ δὴ δῶμα, βακχεύει στέγη.[258]βρῦτον.[259]On the death of Kirk-White: “’Twas thine own genius gave the fatal blow,” etc. The fiery verse, ὅπλων ὅπλων δεῖ· μὴ πύθῃ τὸ δεύτερον, recalls the famous line: “A horse, a horse! My kingdom for a horse!”[260]Frogs, 911-3.[261]Meineke, II, p. 1177.[262]οἱ θεῶν ἀγχίσποροιοἱ Ζηνὸς ἐγγύς ὧν κατ’ Ἰδαῖον πάγονΔιὸς πατρῴου βωμός ἐστ’ ἐν αἰθέρι,κοὔπω σφιν ἐξίτηλον αἷμα δαιμόνων.Cp. Plato,Republic, 391 E.[263]Oration52.[264]Only one has survived, that of Sophocles.[265]Titus Andronicus, II, i. 5-7.[266]Frogs, 924-5.[267]Ag.494-5. In spite of Dr. Verrall’s ingenious remarks, it seems best to take this phrase in the traditional way, as a mere extravagance.[268]P.V.170.[269]Septem, 493-4.[270]Choeph.451-2.[271]Eum.137-8.[272]Frogs, 1261-95.[273]Suppl.836-7. I see no reason for supposing that the Greek is defective.[274]Ibid.12.[275]Ibid.608.[276]Persæ, 115.[277]Ibid.346.[278]Persæ395.[279]Ibid.815.[280]Septem, 593.[281]P.V.89-90.[282]Ibid.993.[283]Ag.1434.[284]Choeph.647.[285]Eum.694.[286]Haigh,Tragic Drama, pp. 82sq.[287]Frogs, 932.[288]Professor Gilbert Murray,Literature of Ancient Greece, p. 217.[289]vv. 908sqq.[290]Frogs, 1119sqq.[291]Dr. Verrall’s theory is still, I believe, accepted only by a minority.[292]P.V.vv. 350-2.[293]Danaides.[294]Cp.Septem, 592-4 (Aristides),P.V.1068 (Themistocles), and the references to the Areopagus (vv. 681-710) and to the Athenian Empire (vv. 398-401) in theEumenides.[295]Choeph.313sq.: δράσαντι παθεῖν, τριγέρων μῦθος τάδε φωνεῖ.[296]Ag.750-7.[297]Septem, 689-91.[298]Choeph.1076.[299]Æschylus never worked himself entirely free from this savage conception of sin as a material defilement. Orestes, among the proofs that he has expiated his offence, mentions the use of swine’s blood as a cleansing power (Eum.v. 283).[300]See Dr. Verrall’s discussion of the prologue to theEumenides,Euripides the Rationalist, pp. 220-4.[301]Eum.vv. 640-51.[302]Arrangement: protagonist, Ajax, Teucer (Ajax, when dead, is represented by a lay figure); deuteragonist, Odysseus, Tecmessa; tritagonist, Athena, messenger, Menelaus, Agamemnon.

[144]p. 4.

[145]Chap. VI.

[146]1455b.

[147]1452a.

[148]1450b.

[149]Plato (Symposium, 175 E) makes Socrates congratulate Agathon on his success in the presence of “more than 30,000 Greeks”. Modern archæologists, by statistics based on the seating-accommodation, would reduce this figure to 17,000.

[150]There are fourteen of these at Athens.

[151]This account is based on Dörpfeld (Das griechische Theater, Abschnitt VII) who believes there was no stage, and on Haigh (Attic Theatre³, edited by Mr. Pickard-Cambridge, Chap. III) who believes there was a stage.

[152]That is, shorter, viewed from left to right by the spectators. The depth of the Vitruvian stage was 10 feet.

[153]Vitruvius V, vii, 3-4.

[154]By Wieseler and others.

[155]Haigh³, pp. 165-74.

[156]ἀναβαίνω:Knights, 148;Acharnians, 732;Wasps, 1342.

[157]καταβαίνω:Eccles.1151;Wasps, 1514.

[158]Euripides,Ion, 727,Electra, 4sq.,Herc. Fur.119. As Haigh (3rd ed., p. 167) points out, “in the last passage it is the chorus which makes the complaint; so that in this case, if there was any visible ascent, it cannot have been the ascent to the stage”.

[159]This is a strong and favourite argument for the stage; when Haigh (3rd ed., p. 168) denies this because “a sufficient reason is ... the fact that, if they had gone into the palace, the scene of action would have been left empty for the time being,” he forgets that such a departure of the chorus is quite possible. It occurs inEumenides,Ajax,Alcestis, andHelena, not to mention Comedy.

[160]Haigh³, p. 170sq.

[161]Symposium, 194 B.

[162]Ars Poetica, 278: Æschylus et modicis instravit pulpita tignis.

[163]Das Gr. Theater, p. 350.

[164]He wrote a lexicon to Plato in the third century after Christ.

[165]Dörpfeld gives various optical diagrams to exhibit the effects.

[166]We incessantly see this effect in modern theatres. But in Greece the presence of the chorus performing below would force spectators to regard the building as suspended.

[167]Save, of course, those on the new lowest seats, which went down to the new level of the excavated half. Dörpfeld has discovered evidence that the present lowest seats at Athens were added after the rest.

[168]Das griechische Theater, p. 364. After the publication of this view Dörpfeld altered his opinion, and suggested (Bull. Corr. Hell.1896, p. 577sqq.) that V. means not the ordinary Greek Theatre, but the Græco-Roman type found in Asia Minor. But this seems worse than his first thought. See Haigh³, pp. 147sq.

[169]Ibid.pp. 146sq.

[170]In Plato’s time this was notably so (Laws, 659 A-C, 700 C, 701 A).

[171]Plutarch,Nicias, 524 D.

[172]Aristotle,Rhetoric, III, i.

[173]This is the usual term employed. See, however, Haigh³, p. 13, note 3: “the word τετραλογία was applied only to a group of four plays connected in subject,” etc.

[174]This was certainly the number for comedy; it is assumed for tragedy.

[175]τράγος. This was supposed to be the origin of the word “tragedy” (τραγῳδία “goat-song”).

[176]Vitruvius, V, vi., and Pollux, iv., 126.

[177]Professor Ridgeway makes much use of this custom in his theory that Greek drama originated in celebrations at the tombs of great persons. See hisOrigin of Tragedy, and pp. 2sq.above.

[178]Haigh³, p. 187.

[179]Clouds, 225.

[180]Pollux (iv. 128), who gives the most definite description, adds: “one must understand it at each door, as it were in each house,” but his unsupported testimony on any subject is not trustworthy.

[181]In fact Pollux, who is fond of making a particular case into a general rule, may have had this instance in his head. He writes (iv. 128): “the eccyclema is a lofty stand raised upon timbers and carrying a chair” (ἐπὶ ξύλων ὑψηλὸν βάθρον ᾧ ἐπίκειται θρόνος).

[182]Ar.Knights, 1249.

[183]This story occurs in the anonymousLifeof Æschines.

[184]They are mutes, for the lines supposed to be uttered by one or both behind the scenes were probably delivered by one of the actors not needed “in front”.

[185]TheŒdipus Coloneusis an exception. See Jebb’sIntroduction, 3rd ed., pp. 7, 8.

[186]Cp. the vigorous protest of Pratinas (p. 6).

[187]Pherecrates,Cheiron, frag. 1, cp. Arist.Thesmoph.100.

[188]Ar.Frogs, 1314.

[189]We hear from the scholiast onChoephorœ, 900, that the same actor took the part of Pylades and of the servant who gives the alarm. The latter after arousing Clytæmnestra rushes within, and when the Queen has uttered five lines Pylades appears accompanying Orestes. This example is given by Haigh³, p. 232.

[190]Told by the scholiast on Aristophanes,Frogs, 303.

[191]The slovenliness in this regard of many modern actors is mostly due to “long runs”. After saying the same thing hundreds of times, an actor naturally tends to mechanical diction. The writer has heard a performer in an emotional crisis suddenly (as it appeared) call for champagne. Feeling sure that “Pommery” could not be right, he reflected, and discovered that the mysterious syllables meant “Poor Mary!” Even actors at the head of the profession are guilty of such things as “the lor of Venice”.

[192]See Haigh³, p. 279sq., for some highly interesting extracts.

[193]Poetic1456a(tr. Butcher).

[194]Ibid.

[195]This was the normal mode of entry, but the plot sometimes demanded others. In theEumenidesthe Chorus rush in pell-mell; so probably in theBacchæ; in the EuripideanSupplicesthey are discovered grouped around the Queen.

[196]See pp. 344sq.

[197]ὥστ’ εἴ τις ὀρχοῖτ’ εὖ, θέαμ’ ἦν· νῦν δὲ δρῶσιν οὐδέν,ἀλλ’ ὥσπερ ἀπόπληκτοι βάδην ἑστῶτες ὠρύονται.

[197]

ὥστ’ εἴ τις ὀρχοῖτ’ εὖ, θέαμ’ ἦν· νῦν δὲ δρῶσιν οὐδέν,ἀλλ’ ὥσπερ ἀπόπληκτοι βάδην ἑστῶτες ὠρύονται.

ὥστ’ εἴ τις ὀρχοῖτ’ εὖ, θέαμ’ ἦν· νῦν δὲ δρῶσιν οὐδέν,

ἀλλ’ ὥσπερ ἀπόπληκτοι βάδην ἑστῶτες ὠρύονται.

[198]Haigh³, p. 318. Both the gestures described sound like a curious anticipation of the gestures favoured by the performers of “coon-songs”.

[199]This was not always an advantage when comedy held the scene. There is a delightfully impudent passage in theFrogs(v. 297) where Dionysus to escape a hobgoblin appeals to his own priest for protection.

[200]For a detailed description of the seating see Haigh³, pp. 94-101.

[201]It is a fact familiar to students of comparative religion that obscenity is often a part of ritual. This is true of several Greek worships, including that of Dionysus. Hence even tragedy retained its satyric complement, though satyric drama regularly showed obscene features.

[202]Puchstein would date it earlier (end of the fifth century).

[203]Plutarch,Liber Amatorius, 756 B, C.

[204]ἐκσυρίττειν (“to hiss off”).

[205]Demosthenes,De Falsa Legatione, § 337.

[206]Ethics, X, 1175 B.

[207]Date: uncertain. Professor Tucker thinks the year 492-1 probable; Æschylus was then thirty-three years old. Historical considerations are here of doubtful value, but the technique of the play seems to prove beyond question that it is an early work.Arrangement: protagonist, Danaus, Egyptian herald; deuteragonist, King of Argos.

Arrangement: protagonist, Danaus, Egyptian herald; deuteragonist, King of Argos.

[208]In the centre of the orchestra, as always.

[209]Danaus is necessarily dismissed so that the actor who impersonates him may appear as the Egyptian herald.

[210]vv. 991-2.

[211]vv. 994-1013.

[212]Ζεύς (or words derived therefrom) occurs about sixty times.

[213]vv. 91-5 (Professor Tucker’s translation).

[214]vv. 230-1.

[215]Date: 472B.C.Arrangement: protagonist, Atossa and Xerxes; deuteragonist, Messenger and Darius.

[216]The actor who presents the queen has now to present the king.

[217]This was a satyric play, and must not be confused with the extantPrometheus.

[218]See Patin,Eschyle, p. 211.

[219]Henry V, IV, viii.

[220]vv. 361-2.

[221]Arrangement: protagonist: Eteocles and Antigone; deuteragonist, messenger, and herald. The part of Ismene was taken by a member of the chorus.

[222]Frogs, 1021.

[223]vv. 591-4.

[224]Life of Aristides, III.

[225]Dr. Verrall, however, in his Introduction (pp. xiv, xv) sees technical drama of the highest kind in the choosing of the champions. As the Theban warriors are told off one by one, the chorus (and audience) see with ever-increasing horror that Eteocles must be left as the opponent of Polynices.

[226]Müller-Heitz (Griechische Litteraturgeschichte, ii. p. 88) point out, also, that this play needs more elaborate machinery than any other extant drama. But it may well be doubted whether all the effects mentioned by the poet are realized.

[227]Bia (“Violence”), also present, is a mute.

[228]See H. Weil’s masterlyNote sur le Prométhée d’Eschyle(Le drame antique, pp. 86-92).

[229]Zeus had intended to wed Thetis. On hearing the secret, he married her to Peleus, who became the father of Achilles.

[230]It is fairly certain that it dealt with Menelaus’ visit to Egypt on his way back from Troy. He was shipwrecked on an island and the prophetic Proteus gave him advice, sending him first to Egypt. SeeOdyssey, IV, 351-586.

[231]Arrangement: protagonist, Clytæmnestra; deuteragonist, Herald, Cassandra; tritagonist, Sentinel, Agamemnon, Ægisthus.

[232]See especially hisIntroduction(pp. xiii-xlvii of the 2nd edition).

[233]This is noted by an admirable touch. Almost always a tragedy ends with words of the chorus as the least impassioned parties. In theAgamemnonthe closing words are uttered by Clytæmnestra.

[234]Choephorœ, 889.

[235]The Relapse, V, iv. 135.

[236]Arrangement: protagonist, Orestes; deuteragonist, Electra, Clytæmnestra; tritagonist, Pylades, nurse, attendant, Ægisthus.

[237]This is of course a conventionalmise-en-scène; we are to imagine the tomb as distant from the palace.

[238]On this and the other “tokens” see below, p. 258.

[239]The dead man is undoubtedly supposed to send aid in a mysterious way, but no ghost appears, as in thePersæ. This discrepancy points to a change in religious feeling. Clytæmnestra’s shade “appears” in theEumenides, but as a dream (see v. 116).

[240]vv. 870-4. It seems most natural to suppose that they altogether quit the orchestra, returning before v. 930.

[241]Not quite, however. The poet is to depict a man, with whom we are to sympathize, almost in the act of slaying his mother. Not only Orestes, but the spectator also, needs as much spiritual fortification as can be provided.

[242]vv. 313: δράσαντι παθεῖν.

[243]Arrangement.—Croiset gives: protagonist, Orestes; deuteragonist, Apollo; tritagonist, Athena, priestess, ghost of Clytæmnestra. Thisgroupingis certainly right, but it is not easy to suppose that the part of Athena was given to the tritagonist. It seems better to give Athena, etc., to the protagonist, Apollo to the second, and Orestes to the third actor.

[244]Probably theeccyclemawas used. See pp. 66-8.

[245]vv. 517-9:—ἔσθ’ ὅπου τὸ δεινὸν εὖκαὶ φρενῶν ἐπίσκοπονδεῖ μένειν καθήμενον.

[245]vv. 517-9:—

ἔσθ’ ὅπου τὸ δεινὸν εὖκαὶ φρενῶν ἐπίσκοπονδεῖ μένειν καθήμενον.

ἔσθ’ ὅπου τὸ δεινὸν εὖ

καὶ φρενῶν ἐπίσκοπον

δεῖ μένειν καθήμενον.

[246]The actual rule of the Areopagite Court was that if the votes were even the defendant was acquitted. This rule was explained as derived from the “Vote of Athena” in the trial of Orestes. It seems then that Athena’s vote here makes inequality, not equality. Therefore her pebble is not put into either urn, but laid between them.

[247]It is implied by the title of the drama that they assume the title Eumenides or “Gracious Ones,” but this title is not used in the play itself. Their most usual name was Σεμναί, “Awful Ones”.

[248]v. 644.

[249]In her great speech to the court she plainly adopts the language of the Furies. See below.

[250]v. 747: ἡμῖν γὰρ ἔρρειν, ἢ πρόσω τιμὰς νέμειν.

[251]Dr. Verrall (Introductionto his edition, pp. xxxii, xxxiii) explains the reconciliation of the Furies as the result of a mystic revelation conveyed not in words but through a kind of spiritual magnetism exercised by Athena when she draws near to them at v. 886 (he notes the break in syntax at this point); such an influence could not be shown forth in words—it is too sacred and mysterious. But if a poet does undertake to dramatize the truths of religion, he must do so in dramatic form; he ought not suddenly to throw up his task. Several places in Æschylus can be found where he does put such ideas into words.

[252]This appears to me certain from Athena’s language to the court, but the reader should not suppose that the Furies say so definitely; they acquiesce.

[253]vv. 696-8.

[254]This vital point is admirably demonstrated by Dr. Verrall on v. 1046.

[255]This number is not certain. It is probably an under-statement.

[256]ποδαπὸς ὁ γύννις;

[257]ἐνθουσιᾷ δὴ δῶμα, βακχεύει στέγη.

[258]βρῦτον.

[259]On the death of Kirk-White: “’Twas thine own genius gave the fatal blow,” etc. The fiery verse, ὅπλων ὅπλων δεῖ· μὴ πύθῃ τὸ δεύτερον, recalls the famous line: “A horse, a horse! My kingdom for a horse!”

[260]Frogs, 911-3.

[261]Meineke, II, p. 1177.

[262]οἱ θεῶν ἀγχίσποροιοἱ Ζηνὸς ἐγγύς ὧν κατ’ Ἰδαῖον πάγονΔιὸς πατρῴου βωμός ἐστ’ ἐν αἰθέρι,κοὔπω σφιν ἐξίτηλον αἷμα δαιμόνων.Cp. Plato,Republic, 391 E.

[262]

οἱ θεῶν ἀγχίσποροιοἱ Ζηνὸς ἐγγύς ὧν κατ’ Ἰδαῖον πάγονΔιὸς πατρῴου βωμός ἐστ’ ἐν αἰθέρι,κοὔπω σφιν ἐξίτηλον αἷμα δαιμόνων.

οἱ θεῶν ἀγχίσποροι

οἱ Ζηνὸς ἐγγύς ὧν κατ’ Ἰδαῖον πάγον

Διὸς πατρῴου βωμός ἐστ’ ἐν αἰθέρι,

κοὔπω σφιν ἐξίτηλον αἷμα δαιμόνων.

Cp. Plato,Republic, 391 E.

[263]Oration52.

[264]Only one has survived, that of Sophocles.

[265]Titus Andronicus, II, i. 5-7.

[266]Frogs, 924-5.

[267]Ag.494-5. In spite of Dr. Verrall’s ingenious remarks, it seems best to take this phrase in the traditional way, as a mere extravagance.

[268]P.V.170.

[269]Septem, 493-4.

[270]Choeph.451-2.

[271]Eum.137-8.

[272]Frogs, 1261-95.

[273]Suppl.836-7. I see no reason for supposing that the Greek is defective.

[274]Ibid.12.

[275]Ibid.608.

[276]Persæ, 115.

[277]Ibid.346.

[278]Persæ395.

[279]Ibid.815.

[280]Septem, 593.

[281]P.V.89-90.

[282]Ibid.993.

[283]Ag.1434.

[284]Choeph.647.

[285]Eum.694.

[286]Haigh,Tragic Drama, pp. 82sq.

[287]Frogs, 932.

[288]Professor Gilbert Murray,Literature of Ancient Greece, p. 217.

[289]vv. 908sqq.

[290]Frogs, 1119sqq.

[291]Dr. Verrall’s theory is still, I believe, accepted only by a minority.

[292]P.V.vv. 350-2.

[293]Danaides.

[294]Cp.Septem, 592-4 (Aristides),P.V.1068 (Themistocles), and the references to the Areopagus (vv. 681-710) and to the Athenian Empire (vv. 398-401) in theEumenides.

[295]Choeph.313sq.: δράσαντι παθεῖν, τριγέρων μῦθος τάδε φωνεῖ.

[296]Ag.750-7.

[297]Septem, 689-91.

[298]Choeph.1076.

[299]Æschylus never worked himself entirely free from this savage conception of sin as a material defilement. Orestes, among the proofs that he has expiated his offence, mentions the use of swine’s blood as a cleansing power (Eum.v. 283).

[300]See Dr. Verrall’s discussion of the prologue to theEumenides,Euripides the Rationalist, pp. 220-4.

[301]Eum.vv. 640-51.

[302]Arrangement: protagonist, Ajax, Teucer (Ajax, when dead, is represented by a lay figure); deuteragonist, Odysseus, Tecmessa; tritagonist, Athena, messenger, Menelaus, Agamemnon.

Back to Index Next