ὑποκριτῶν, παρελήλυθεν εἰς τὸ θέατρον; καὶ οὐ προσέχομεν ̓Αριςοτέλει, ὅτι τὸ μὲν πρῶτον ὁ χορὸς εἰσιῶν ἤδεν εἰς τοὺς θεούς. Θέσπις δὲ πρόλογοντε καὶ ῥῆσιν ἐξεῦρεν· Αἰσχύλος δὲ τρίτον ὑποκριτὴν καὶ ἀκρίβαντας· τὰ δὲ πλείω τοῦτων Σοφοκλεούς ἀπηλαύσομεν και Εὐριπίδε ; and Quintilian says that Eschylus was the first who wrote tragedies in the true style, (vid. Lib. x. c. 1.) "Sublimis et gravis et grandiloquus sæpè usque ad vitium; sed rudis in plerisque et incompositus." Therefore we must conclude that Thespis was the first who brought it into the ideas of

men.

277. Peruncti fæcibus ora. These actors had "their faces daubed over with the lees of wine," either in commemoration of Bacchus, the god of wine, to whose honour the games, from which tragedy is supposed to have originated, were instituted, (vide note 220.) or more probably that they might appear like Silenus, and the satyrs attendant upon him, (and who formed the chorus, vid, note 239.) who were represented with bloated countenances, and half inebriated.

279. Eschylus, a poet of Athens. He wrote about 90 tragedies, of which 40 gained the public prize;

but of these we have only seven. Aristophanes says, ταυρηδὸν ἕπβλε Tε, that when he composed, his countenance was so ferocious, that he looked like a bull. He was killed by a tortoise falling on his head, 456 B. C. It may be well to compare this account of the rise and progress of the drama, with that of Aristotle (vid. περὶ ποιητ. ι.) Καὶ τὸ, τε τῶν ὑποκριτῶν πλῆθος ἐξ ἐνὸς εἰς δύο πρῶτος Αἰσχύλος ἤγαγε, καὶ τὰ τοῦ χοροῦ ἠλάττωσε, καὶ τὸν λόγον πρωταγωνισὴν παρεσκεύασε τρεῖς δὲ και σκηνογραφίαν Σοφοκλῆς.—Et modicis instravit pulpita lignis. Vide

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garians, says Aristotle, claim the invention of comedy; but as he also adds the derivation, &c. it may be better to compare it with the passage before us, (περὶ ποιητ. ε.) Τῆς μὲν κωμῳδίας οἱ Μεγαρεῖς· (οἵ τε ἐνταῦθα, ὡς ἐπὶ τῆς παρ' αὐτοῖς δημοκρατίας γενομένης, καὶ οἱ ἐκ Σικελίας ἐκεῖθεν γὰρ ἦν Επίχαρμος ὁ ποιητὴς, πολλῷ πρότερος ὢν Χωννίδε και Μάγ νητος.) καὶ τῆς τραγῳδίας ἔνιοι τῶν ἐν Πελοποννήσῳ, ποιούμενοι τὰ ὀνόματα σημεῖον· οὗτοι μὲν γὰρ κώμας τὰς περ ριοικίδας καλεῖν φασιν,Αθηναιοι δὲ δήμες ὡς κωμῳδούς, οὐκ ἀπὸ τοῦ κωμάζειν λεχθέντας, ἀλλὰ τῇ κατὰ κώμας πλανῃ, ἀτιμαζομένες ἐκ τοῦ ἄξεως, &c. Comedy was divided into three kinds: Vetus, Media, and Nova. The old was unpolished, and full of obscenities, (vid. note 220.) in which style Epicharmus, and Phormis, among the Sicilians, Crates, from Athens, and indeed Eupolis, Cratinus, and Aristophanes wrote, but of these writers we know very little. Horace mentions some of them, (Lib. i. Sat. iv. 1.)

Eupolis, atque Cratinus; Aristophanesque poetæ, Atque alii, quorum comœdia prisca virorum

est.

The peculiarities of the old were; that generals, heroes, and gods even, were not free from sarcasm;

it was founded on real facts, and the proper names were used; it was entirely composed of chorus (vide note 204.), and admitted every kind of metre.

282, &c. Sed in vitium libertas excidit. This he has told us in Lib. ii. Ep. i. 148.

donec jam sævus apertam In rabiem verti cœpit jocos, &c. and 152.

quin etiam lex

Pœnaque lata, malo quæ nollet carmine quemquam Describi.

This happened about 400 B. C. after the taking of Athens by Lysander. We are now come to the second division of comedy, viz. Media: in this style wrote Philiscus and Stephanus. The peculiarities were, that the liberties of the chorus were abridged, and digressions from the subject were allowed, (vide note 204.) the plot was fictitious. but the names were proper. This lasted till the time of Alexander the Great, who made even stricter regulations concerning the drama, B. C. 330. Then it

was that through fear of the law, the chorus, "turpiter obticuit." And in this style we have the Comedies of Menander preserved by Terence, and some few written by Plautus.

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285 a

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284. Turpiter obticuit, sublato jure nocendi. Evidently because, though the jus nocendi was taken away, yet that was no good reason why the chorus should entirely cease. Properly speaking, the law only abolished the abuse of the chorus. The ignominy lay in dropping the entire use of it, on account of this restraint. HURD.

287. Et celebrare domestica facta. Such as the loves of youth, the deceits of servants, &c. We are now come to the third division of comedy, viz. Nova, in which style wrote Plautus and Terence. The peculiarities were, that there now existed no chorus at all, the flute, &c. being substituted, both the plot and name were fictitious, and contained rarely any severe satire.

288. Vel qui prætextas, vel qui docuere togatas. Vid. Diomed. Lib. iii. de Com. et Trag. Different. "Togata fabulæ dicuntur, quæ scriptæ sunt, secundum ritus et habitus hominum togatorum, i. e. Romanorum (toga namque Romana est) sicut Græcas fabulas ab habitu æquè palliatas Varro ait nominari. Togatas autem cum sit generale nomen, specialitèr tamen pro tabernariis, non modo communis error usurpat, sed et poëtæ. Togatarum fabularum species tot ferè sunt, quot et pal

liatarum. Nam prima species togatarum, quæ prætextatæ dicuntur, in quibus imperatorum negotia agebantur et publica, et reges Romani vel duces inducuntur, personarum et argumentorum sublimitate tragœdiis similes. Prætextatæ autem dicuntur, quia ferè regum vel magistratuum qui prætexta utuntur,in hujusmodi fabulis acta comprehenduntur. Secunda species togatarum,

quæ tabernaria dicuntur, humilitate personarum et argumentorum similitudine comœdiis pares. Tertia species est fabularum latinarum, quæ Atellanæ dicta sunt, similis satyricis fabulis Græcis. Quarta species est planipedis, Græcè dicitur Miuos. Togata prætextata differt, à tragoediâ. In tragœdiâ heroes introducuntur. Pacuvius tragœdias nominibus heroïcis scripsit Oresten, Cresten, Crysen, et his similia. Item Accius. In prætextata, autem scribitur, Brutus, vel Decius, vel Marcellus. Togata tabernaria à comœdiâ differt, quod in comœdiâ Græci ritus inducuntur, personæque Græcæ, Laches, Sostrata. In illâ vero Latinæ," &c. from which we may collect, that the prætexta were comedies, the subjects of which were the nobles; and that the togata were about the private families and plebeians. See farther in the notes of HURD.