CHAPTER V. OF THE GREEK TRAGEDIANS. SECTION I. CHŒRILUS, PHRYNICHUS, AND PRATINAS. Use begets Use. GUESSES AT TRUTH. As soon as Tragedy had once established itself in Greece, it made very rapid advances to perfection. According to the received dates, the first exhibition of Thespis preceded by ten years only the birth of Æschylus, who in his younger days contended with the three immediate successors of the Icarian. CHERILUS began to represent plays in the 64th Ol. 523 в.c.', and in 499 B.C. contended for the prize with Pratinas and Eschylus. It is stated that he contended with Sophocles also, but the difference in their ages renders this exceedingly improbable, and the mistake may easily have arisen from the way in which Suidas mentions the book on the chorus which Sophocles wrote against him and Thespis'. It would seem that Tragedy had not altogether departed from its original form in his time, and that the chorus was still satyric, or tragic in the proper 1 Χοιρίλος, 'Αθηναῖος, τραγικός, ξδ' ὀλυμπιάδι καθεὶς εἰς ἀγῶνας καὶ ἐδίδαξε μὲν δράματα πεντήκοντα καὶ ρ'. ἐνίκησε δὲ ιγ'. Suidas. 2 See Näke's Choerilus, p. 7. Suidas. Zoporλns ypa↓ɛ λóyov kataλoɣáðnv περὶ τοῦ χοροῦ πρὸς Θέσπιν καὶ Χοιρίλον ἀγωνιζόμενος. 6 sense of the words. Charilus is said to have written 150 pieces 4, but no fragments have come down to us. The disparaging remarks of Hermeas and Proclus do not refer to him, but to his Samian namesake, and he is mentioned by Alexis in such goodly company, that we cannot believe that his poetry was altogether contemptible. One of his plays was called the Alopë, and it appears to have been of a strictly mythical character'. Some improvements in theatrical costume are ascribed to him by Suidas and Eudocia R. 13 PHRYNICHUS was the son of Polyphradmon, and a scholar of Thespis. The dates of his birth and death are alike unknown: it seems probable that he died in Sicily 10. He gained a tragic victory in 511 B. C.", and another in 476, when Themistocles was his choragus": the play which he produced on this occasion was probably the Phonissæ, and Æschylus is charged " with having made use of this tragedy in the composition of his Persæ, which appeared four years after, a charge which Eschylus seems to rebut in “ the Frogs” of Aristophanes'. In 494 B.c. Miletus was taken by the Persians, and Phrynichus, unluckily for himself, selected the capture of that city as the subject of a historical tragedy. The skill of the dramatist, and the recent 3 ἡνίκα μὲν βασιλεὺς ἦν Χοιρίλος ἐν Σατύροις. Anonym. 4 The numbers in Suidas are, however, in this instance, not to be depended on, as they are not the same in all the MSS. 5 See Näke's Chœrilus, p. 92. 6 Athen. iv. p. 164, c. Ορφεὺς ἔνεστιν, Ησίοδος, τραγῳδία, Χοιρίλος, "Ομηρος, Επίχαρμος, συγγράμματα 1 Pausan. i. 14, § 3. Χοιρίλῳ δὲ ̓Αθηναίῳ δρᾶμα ποιήσαντι ̓Αλόπην ἔστ ̓ εἰρημένα Κερκύονα εἶναι καὶ Τριπτόλεμον ἀδελφούς, κ. τ. λ. 8 οὗτος κατά τινας τοῖς προσωπείοις καὶ τῇ σκευῇ τῶν στολῶν ἐπεχείρησεν. Ο Φρύνιχος, Πολυφράδμονος, ἢ Μινύρου· οἱ δὲ Χοροκλέους ̓Αθηναῖος, τραγικός, μαθητής Θέσπιδος. Suidas in Φρύν. The first of the names mentioned here for the father of Phrynichus is the correct See Schol. Arist. Av. 750. Pausan. x. 31, 2. The name also appears under the form Phradmon. Prol. Arist. p. xxix. one. 10 Clinton, F. H. vol. ii. p. xxxi. ; note (t). 11 ἐνίκα ἐπὶ τῆς ἔζ' ὀλυμπιάδος. Suidas. 12 ̓Ενίκησε δὲ [Θεμιστοκλῆς] καὶ χορηγῶν τραγῳδοῖς, μεγάλην ἤδη τότε σπου δὴν καὶ φιλοτιμίαν τοῦ ἀγῶνος ἔχοντος. Καὶ πίνακα τῆς νίκης ἀνέθηκε, τοι αύτην ἐπιγραφὴν ἔχοντα —Θεμιστοκλῆς Φρεάριος ἐχορήγει, Φρύνιχος ἐδίδασκεν, ̓Αδείμαντος ἦρχεν.-Plutarch. in Themist. v. 13 By Glaucus, in his work on the subjects of the plays of Æschylus, see Arg. ad Persas. 14 ἀλλ ̓ οὖν ἐγὼ μὲν ἐς τὸ καλὸν ἐκ τοῦ καλοῦ ἤνεγκον αὔθ ̓, ἵνα μὴ τὸν αὐτὸν Φρυνίχῳ λειμῶνα Μουσῶν ἱερὸν ὀφθείην δρέπων.—Ran. 1294-1296. occurrence of the event, affected the audience even to tears, and Phrynichus was fined 1000 drachmæ for having recalled so forcibly a painful recollection of the misfortunes of an ally'. We have already mentioned the introduction of female characters into Tragedy by Phrynichus: he seems, however, to have been chiefly remarkable for the sweetness of his melodies, and the great variety and cleverness of his figure dances'. The Aristophanic Agathon speaks generally of the beauty of his dramas, though of course they fell far short of the grandeur of Eschylus, and the perfect art of Sophocles. The names of seventeen tragedies attributed to him have come down to us, 1 'Αθηναῖοι μὲν γὰρ δῆλον ἐποίησαν ὑπεραχθεσθέντες τῇ Μιλήτου ἁλώσει, τῇ τε ἄλλῃ πολλαχῆ, καὶ δὴ ποιήσαντι Φρυνίχῳ δράμα Μιλήτου ἅλωσιν, καὶ διδάξ αντι, ἐς δάκρυά τε ἔπεσε τὸ θέητρον, καὶ ἐζημίωσάν μιν, ὡς ἀναμνήσαντα οἰκήμα κακά, χιλίησι δραχμῇσι· καὶ ἐπέταξαν μηκέτι μηδένα χρᾶσθαι τούτῳ τῷ δράματι. Herod. vi. 21. 2 *Ενθεν, ὥσπερεὶ μέλιττα, Φρύνιχος ἀμβροσίων μελέων ἀπεβόσκετο καρπόν, ἀεὶ φέρων γλυκεῖαν ᾠδάν. Aristoph. Αν. 748. Philocleon, the old Dicast, as we are told by the chorus of his brethren, ἡγεῖτ ̓ ἂν ᾄδων Φρυνίχου· καὶ γάρ ἐστιν ἀνὴρ And a little before, these fellow-dicasts are represented by Bdelycleon as summoning their aged colleague at midnight, μινυρίζοντες μέλη ἀρχαιομελισιδωνοφρυνιχήρατα. ν. 219. Παρὰ τὰ μέλη καὶ τὴν Σιδῶνα καὶ τὸν Φρύνιχον καὶ τὰ ἐρατὰ ἔμιξεν, οἷον ἀρχαῖα μέλη Φρυνίχου ἐρατὰ καὶ ἥδεα. . Φρύνιχος δὲ ἐγένετο τραγῳδίας ποιητής, ὃς ἔγραψε δράμα Φοινίσσας, ἐν ᾧ μέμνηται Σιδωνίων. τὰ δὲ μέλη [τὸ δὲ μέλι ?] εἶπε διὰ τὴν γλυκύτητα τοῦ ποιητοῦ. Schol. in loc. Scribendum-μέλι- -cum Suida in ἀρχαῖος et μινυρίζω. Quod Aristarchum in codice suo legisse ex annotatione Scholiasta cognoscitur. Ares, 748: ἔνθεν ὡσπερεὶ μέλιττα Φρύνιχος κ. τ. λ.”Dindorf. See above, p. [52], note 2. 3 Plutarch (Symp. iii. 9) has preserved part of an epigram, said to have been written by the dramatist himself, in which he thus commemorates the fruitfulness of his fancy in devising figure-dances Σχήματα δ' ὄρχησις τόσα μοι πόρεν, ὅσσ ̓ ἐπὶ πόντῳ 4 Thesmophor. 164, seqq. 5 The difference between Phrynichus and Æschylus is distinctly stated in several passages of the Ranæ. τοὺς θεατάς ἐξηπάτα, μωροὺς λαβὼν παρὰ Φρυνίχῳ τραφέντας. 909. Upon which the Scholiast remarks, ἀπατεὼν γάρ, ὡς ἀφελέστερος ὁ Φρύνιχος. The same fact is also forcibly declared in the address of the Chorus to Æschylus in the same comedy ἀλλ ̓ ὦ πρῶτος τῶν ̔Ελλήνων πυργώσας ῥήματα σεμνά That the word Añpoç does not imply anything merely comical and ludicrous in the tragedies before Æschylus, is clear from the use of the word ληρεῖν, in v. 923. but it is probable that some of these belonged to the other two writers who bore the same name. We learn from Suidas the following particulars respecting PRATINAS. He was a Phliasian, the son of Pyrrhonides or Encomius, a tragedian, and the opponent of Chœrilus and Eschylus, when the latter first represented. As we have already stated', he was the first writer of satyrical dramas as a distinct species of entertainment; and we may connect this circumstance with the place of his birth; for Phlius was near Corinth and Sicyon, the cradles of the old tragedies of Arion and Epigenes. On one occasion, while he was acting, his wooden stage gave way, and in consequence of that accident, the Athenians built a stone theatre. He exhibited fifty dramas, of which thirty-two were satyrical. The Phliasians seemed to have taken great delight in these performances of their countryman, and according to Pausanias, erected a monument in the market-place in honour of "Aristias, the son of Pratinas, who with his father excelled all except Eschylus in writing satyrical Dramas." Pratinas also wrote Hyporchemes. His son Aristias inherited his father's talents, and competed with Sophocles'. 1 Above, p. 56. 2 See Schneider De Orig. Trag. p. 90. 3 ii. 13. Athen. xiv. p. 617, c. Πρατίνας δὲ ὁ Φλιάσιος, αὐλητῶν καὶ χορευτῶν μισθοφόρων κατεχόντων τὰς ὀρχήστρας, ἀγανακτεῖν τινας ἐπὶ τῷ τοὺς αὐλητὰς μὴ συναυλεῖν τοῖς χοροῖς, καθάπερ ἦν πάτριον, ἀλλὰ τοὺς χοροὺς συνάδειν τοῖς αὐληταῖς· ὃν οὖν εἶχε θυμὸν κατὰ τῶν ταῦτα ποιούντων ὁ Πρατίνας ἐμφανίζει διὰ τοῦδε τοῦ ὑπορχήματος. Τίς ὁ θόρυβος ὅδε, κ. τ. λ. Müller suggests (Hist. Lat. Gr. I. p. 295) that this Hyporchenie may have occurred in a satyrical drama. But we have seen above, pp. 19, 56, that the Satyric corresponded rather to the Pyrrhic than to the Hyporchematic dance. Auct. Vit. Sophocl. CHAPTER V. SECTION II. ESCHYLUS. Et digitis tria tura tribus sub limine ponit. OVID. ÆSCHYLUS, the son of Euphorion, was born at Eleusis', in the fourth year of the 63rd Olympiad. (B.c. 525.) In his boyhood he was employed in a vineyard, and, while engaged in watching the grapes, with his mind full of this occupation, and inspired with reverence for the god of the vintage, felt himself suddenly called upon to follow the bent of his own genius, and contribute to the spectacles which had just been established at Athens in honour of Dionysus'. He made his 1 Vit. Anonym., given in Stanley's edition of this poet, and the Arundel Marble. The invocation to the Eleusinian goddess, which he is made to utter by Aristophanes, may refer to the place of his birth: Δήμητερ, ἡ θρέψασα τὴν ἐμὴν φρένα, Εἶναί με τῶν σῶν ἄξιον μυστηρίων.-Ranæ, 884. These lines would seem to show that he had been initiated into the mysteries, which is quite at variance with the defence which he set up when accused before the Areopagus. See Clem. Αl. quoted below. 2 ̓́Εφη δὲ Αἰσχύλος μειράκιον ὃν καθεύδειν ἐν ἀγρῷ φυλάσσων σταφυλάς, καί οἱ Διόνυσον ἐπιστάντα, κελεῦσαι τραγῳδίαν ποιεῖν. ὡς δὲ ἦν ἡμέρα (πείθεσθαι γὰρ ἐθέλειν) ῥᾷστα ἤδη πειρώμενος ποιεῖν. οὗτος μὲν ταῦτα ἔλεγεν. Pausan. i. 21, 2. To this employment of the poet were probably owing the habits of intemperance with which he has been charged, and also his introduction on the stage of characters in a state of drunkenness. Athenaeus tells us (x. p. 428) : Καὶ τὸν Αἰσχύλον ἐγὼ φαίην ἂν τοῦτο διαμαρτάνειν· πρῶτος γὰρ ἐκεῖνος καὶ οὐχ, ὡς ἔνιοί φασιν, Ευριπίδης παρήγαγε τὴν τῶν μεθυόντων ὄψιν εἰς τραγῳδίαν. ἐν γὰρ τοῖς Καβείροις εἰσάγει τοὺς περὶ τὸν Ἰάσονα μεθύοντας. ἃ δ ̓ αὐτὸς ὁ τραγῳδιοποιὸς ἐποίει, ταῦτα τοῖς ἥρωσι περιέθηκε μεθύων γοῦν ἔγραφε τὰς τραγῳ δίας· διὸ καὶ Σοφοκλῆς αὐτῷ μεμφόμενος ἔλεγεν ὅτι, Ὦ Αἰσχύλε, εἰ καὶ τὰ δέοντα ποιεῖς, ἀλλ ̓ οὖν οὐκ εἰδώς γε ποιεῖς· ὡς ἱστορεῖ Χαμαιλέων ἐν τῷ περὶ Αἰσχύλου. The same observation of Sophocles is given in the same words, i. p. 22, and is |