Manners and Customs of Ancient Greece. Vol II., by J.A. St. John

966. Sch. Aristoph. Av. 1404. Schneid. de Orig. Trag. Græc. c. i. p. 2. The Dithyrambic ode was said to have been invented by Arion at Corinth. Schol. Pind. Olymp. xiii. 25, seq. The first choral songs were improvisations. Max. Tyr. Dissert. xxi. p. 249.

967. Poll. iv. 108. Sch. Aristoph. Acharn. 210.

968. Cf. Schol. ad Æschin. Tim. Orator. Att. t. xii. p. 376. Tzetz. ad Lycoph. p. 251, sqq. See also Müller, Dissert. on the Eumenides of Æschylus, p. 54. Schol. Aristoph. Eq. 587.—“Nous savons que sur les Théâtres Grecs les femmes dansaient dans les chœurs.”—Winkel. Mon. Ined. iii. p. 86. I have found no proof in any ancient author that this was the practice among the Greeks.

969. Sch. Aristoph. Acharn. 848.

970. Vit. Æschyl. p. vi.

971. Bœttiger, Furies, p. 2. Poll. iv. 110. Schol. Aristoph. Av. 298. Eq. 586.

972. According to Mr. Bœttiger, however, “chez “chez les anciens Atheniens les femmes n’ont jamais assisté aux représentations théatrales.”—Furies, p. 3, note. But, in addition to the proofs of the contrary, accumulated in the preceding book, the reader may consult the testimony of Aristides, who severely blames his countrymen for allowing their wives and children to frequent the theatres, t. i. p. 518, cf. p. 507.—Jebb. He speaks, indeed, more particularly of the Smyrniotes; but Smyrna was an Ionian colony.—Herod. i. 149.

973. Cf. Schol. Aristoph. Acharn. 209.

974. Cf. Scalig. Poet, i. 21. Leroy, Ruines des plus beaux Monumens de la Grèce, p. 14.

975. Cf. Hesych. v. νέμησις ὑποκριτῶν.

976. This, however, I merely conjecture from the practice of marking with lines the station of the chorus. Hesych. v. γραμμαί.

977. When making their exit, it is said they were preceded by a flute-player. Sch. Aristoph. Vesp. 582. These musicians wore, while playing, straps of leather called φορβείαι, bound over their mouth in order to regulate the quantity of air transmitted into the pipe. Id. ibid. See Burney, Hist. of Music, i. 279.

978. Cf. Torrent. in Suet. Domit. Com. p. 390. a. The best auletæ were those of Thebes. Dion Chrysost. i. 263.

979. Suidas, v. ῥαβδοῦχοι, t. ii. p. 672. f. Scalig. Poet. i. 21.

980. See Cahusac, Traité Historique de la Dance, ii. i. t. i. p. 61, sqq.

981. It is said that certain ancient poets were called orchestic,—as Thespis, Phrynichos, Pratinas, Carcinos,—not only because they adapted the subjects of their pieces to the dances of the chorusses, but, also, because they instructed in dancing the chorusses of other dramatic writers. Athen. i. 39. The above poet, Carcinos, was likewise celebrated for being the father of three sons who danced in the tragic chorusses, and, from their extremely diminutive stature, obtained the name of Quails. Schol. Aristoph. Pac. 761.

982. Hesych. v. ἐμμέλεια. Sch. Aristoph. Nub. 532. Poll. iv. 99. Athen. xiv. 27, seq. Luc. de Saltat. § 22. 26. Plut. Symposiac. ix. 15. 1.

983. Suid. v. Φρυνίχου πάλαισμα, t. ii. p. 1092. b. c. d.

984. Poll. iv. 103. Athen. xiv. 27.

985. Poll. iv. 103. Cf. Xenoph. Conviv. vi. 4.

987. Pfeiffer. Antiq. Græc. ii. 58. p. 382.

988. Cf. Dodwell, Classical Tour in Greece, vol. i. p. 133, seq.

989. Athen. xiv. 27. Poll. iv. 104.

990. Poll. iv. 10. 2. Aristoph. Vesp. 1492. 1495, et Schol.

991. Poll. iv. 105. See, in the Mus. Cortonens. tab. 60, the representation of a group of dancers on a platform in a boat, on the margin of the sea.

993. Athen. xiv. 27.

994. On the character of the old comedy, which tolerated these dances, see Plut. Lucull. § 39. Demet. § 12. Pericl. § 5.

998. See Müller. ii. 354.

1000. Schol. Aristoph. Nub. 534.

1001. Poll. iv. 104.

1002. Vitruv. i. 1.—Poll. iv. 104.

1003. Plut. Artaxerx. § 18.

1004. Duport. ad Theoph. Char. c. 6. p. 305, sqq. Poll. iv. 99.—Athen. xiv. 29. On the Cretan warlike dances Orsites and Epicredios, id. xiv. 26.—Luc. de Saltat. § 9.

1005. Athen xiv. 29.

1007. Poll. iv. 105.

1008. Luc. de Saltat. § 2.

1009. Athen. xiv. 27.

1010. It may possibly have been in this dance that Eumelos or Arctinos, an old Corinthian poet, introduced Zeus himself sporting the toe:—

Μέσσοισιν Μέσσοισιν δ᾽ ὠρχεῖτο πατὴρ ἀνδοῶν τε θεῶν τε. Athen. i. 40.

Cf. Plut. Sympos. ix. 15.

1011. Luc. de Saltat. § 17.

1012. Athen. xiv. 27.

1013. Cf. Lips. Physiolog. Stoic. ii. 22. t. iv. p. 955.

1014. De Poet. i. 18.

1015. Luc. de Saltat. § 12.

1016. Poll. iv. 101. Spanh. ad Callim. t. ii. p. 513. Plut. Thes. § 21. Cf. Douglas, Essay on some points of Resemblance, &c., p. 123.

“One of the dances still performed by the Athenians has been supposed that which was called the Crane, and was said to have been invented by Theseus, after his escape from the labyrinth of Crete. The peasants perform it yearly in the street of the Frank convent at the conclusion of the vintage; joining hands and preceding their mules and asses, which are laden with grapes in panniers, in a very curved and intricate figure; the leader waving a handkerchief, which has been imagined to denote the clue given by Ariadne.” Chandler, ii. 151.

1017. Like the Cyclic Chorus. Vid. Izetzes ad Lycoph. i. p. 251, sqq. Sch. Aristoph. Nub. 311.

1018. Athen. iii. 82. xiv. 27.

1019. Poll. iv. 93. Xenoph. Conviv. vii. 5. Plat. De Legg. vii. t. viii. p. 55. Cf. Herm. Comment. ad Arist. Poet. xxvii. 3. p. 190, sqq.

1020. Scalig. Poet. i. 18.

1021. Cf. Buleng. de Theat. c. 55.

1022. Dem. cont. Mid. § 7, seq. Athen. iii. 62. Animadv. t. vii. p. 215.

1023. Bœttiger, Furies, p. 28, sqq. and pl. ii. Casaub. ad Athen. xii. 2. Aristoph. Plut. 423.

1024. On the actors’ wardrobe, see Poll. iv. 113, sqq.

1025. Müller, Dissert. on the Eumenides, p. 100. Mr. Donaldson, Theatre of the Greeks, p. 132, adopts this opinion.

1026. Luc. Jup. Tragœd. § 41. Cf. Xen. Cyrop. viii. 8, 17. Poll. ii. 151. vii. 62.

1027. See Winkel. Monum. Ined. t. iii. p. 84. c. ix. § 1. Les extrémités des Cothurnes étoient ronds et quelquefois un peu aigues; mais on n’en vit jamais de carrés, comme aux gravés sur l’estampe, de Vasali. p. 85. Cf. Luc. de Saltat. § 27. Their height depended first upon the stature of the actor, second, upon that of the character represented. Sometimes they were satisfied with attributing four cubits even to the heroes.—Aristoph. Ran. 1046. Cf. Athen. v. 27. But the ghost of Achilles when it appeared to Apollonios of Tyana, rose five cubits in height, and, no doubt, the spectre was careful to accommodate itself to public opinion.—Philost. Vit. Apoll. Tyan. iv. 16. Aul. Gell. iii. 10. See, also, Scalig. Poet. i. 13. Scaliger relates à propos of the Cothurnus a facetious remark of his father: “Italas mulieres altissimis soccis usas vidimus; quamvis diminutiva dicant voce Socculos. Patris mei perfacetum dictum memini. Ejusmodi uxorum dimidio tantùm in lectis frui maritos, alter dimidio cum soccis deposito,” p. 53.

1028. Poll. iv. 119.

1029. Cf. Mus. Chiaramont. tavv. 3. 7. 16.

1030. Poll. vii. 60. Bœttiger, Furies, p. 32. Luc. Jup. Tragoed. § 41.

1031. On voit parmi les plus belles peintures d’Herculaneum un de ces premiers acteurs, ou protagonistes, avec une large ceinture de couleur d’or, une sceptre dans une main, et l’épée au côté.—Winkelmann. Monum. Ined. t. iii. p. 84. Pitt. Ercol. i. 4. i. 41.—Plutarch observes, that, together with their royal garments, actors assumed the very strut of kings.—Vit. Demet. § 18.—Demetrius moreover, is said to have resembled a tragic actor, because he went clad in cloth of purple and gold, and wore sandals of purple and gold tissue. § 41.

1032. Aristoph. Av. 512, et Schol. Nub. 70. Poll. iv. 115. Suid. v. Ξυστὶς. t. ii. p. 264. e.—The actor who personated Heracles made his appearance with club and lion’s skin.—Luc. de Saltat. § 27.

1033. Poll. iv. 116, 117. Aristoph. Nub. 71, et Schol. Lysist. 1189.

1034. Deipnosoph. v. 22.

1035. Poll. iv. 117. Hesych. v. ἀγρηνὸν.

1036. Poll. iv. 118.

1037. It behoved the actors, however, to take care of their gold and jewels, since it would appear that thieves found their way even to the stage.—Aristoph. Acharn. 258.

1038. Poll. iv. 118.

1039. Dion. Chrysost. i. 231. Scalig. Poet. i. 13.

1040. Poll. iv. 119, sqq.

1041. Scalig. Poet. i. 13.

1042. When actors displeased the audience they were sometimes compelled to take off their masks and face those who hissed them, which was regarded as a serious punishment. Duport. ad Theoph. Char. p. 308. We ought, perhaps, to understand Lucian cum grano, when he informs us that actors who performed their parts ill were scourged. Piscator, § 33. On the derivation of the word persona, Aul. Gell. v. 7. Cf. Aristoph. Poet. c. 5. Scalig. Poet. i. 13, on the derivation of πρόσωπον. Etym. Mag. 691. 1.

1043. Vid. Cassiod. iv. 51. Plin. xlvii. 10. Solin. cxxxvii. Lucian. de Saltat. § 27. De Gymnast. § 23. A tragic poet, Hieronymos, exposed himself to ridicule by introducing into one of his pieces a mask of frightful aspect. Aristoph. Acharn. 390.

1044. Cf. Suid. v. φλοιός. t. ii. p. 1073. Diog. Laert. iv. p. 27.

1045. Plin. xxxvii. 56.

1046. See Burney’s Hist. of Music, i. 153. sqq. Scalig. Poet. i. 21. Antiq. of Athens, &c., Supplementary to Stuart, by Cockerell, Kinnaird, Donaldson, &c. p. 39.

1047. Vitruv. v. 6. Antiq. of Ath. by Cockerell, Donaldson, &c. p. 39. Tectum porticus quod est in summa gradatione, respondet Sienæ altitudinem, ut vox crescens æqualiter ad summas gradationes et tectum perveniat. Buleng. de Theat. c. 17.

1048. Marinus’s edition of Vitruv. t. iv. tab. 81.

1049. Empty pots were built into the walls of certain public edifices to augment the sound of the voice. Aristot. Prob. xi. 8. i. 1. v. 5. The orchestra was sometimes strewed with chaff, which was found to deaden the voice. 25. Plin. ii. 51.

1050. Scalig. Poet. i. 14. Poll. iv. 143.

1051. Suid. in θέσπις, p. 1315. d. Poll. x. 167.

1052. Virg. Georg. ii. 387.

1053. Vid. Horat. de Art. Poet. 278. Athen. xiv. 77. Suid. v. χοιρίλλος, t. ii. p. 1160. f. Etym. Mag. 376. 47. Poll. iv. 133, sqq. Schol. Soph. Œdip. Tyr. 80.

1054. Meare’s Voyage, p. 254.

1055. On the Roman Stage the actors appeared in hats up to the age of Livius Andronicus. Roscius Gallus was the first who put on a mask, which he did on account of his squinting. Ficorini, Masch. Scen. p. 15. On the origin of the Mask see Paccichelli De Larvis, Capillamentis, et Chirothecis. Neap. 1693.

1056. Schol. Aristoph. Nub. 29. Scalig. Poet. i. 13.

1057. Schol. Aristoph. Eq. 545. Nub. 29.—Demosth. De Coron. § 37. Ulp. in. § 5.

1058. Scalig. Poet. i. 13.—Poll. iv. 133, sqq.

1059. Cf. Thucyd. i. 6, et Schol. Ælian. Var. Hist. iv. 22.

1060. See a beautiful head of Aphrodite with a pole of curls. (ὄγκος) Mus. Chiaramont. tav. 27. Cf. a tragic female mask, with the hair bound by a fillet, in the Cabinet d’ Orleans, pl. 52.

1061. It may be remarked that persons ridiculed upon the stage were introduced with masks exactly resembling their countenances. They seized, however, upon the ludicrous features, which any one happened to possess, as the eyebrows of Chærephon, and the baldness of Socrates. Sch. Aristoph. Nub. 147, 224. This applies to living characters. The dead were protected from ridicule by the laws. Sch. Pac. 631. The Comic mask was said to have been invented by Mason. Athen. xiv. 77. The Comte de Caylus, however, attributes the invention of masks to the Etruscans. Recueil d’ Antiq. i. 147, seq.

1062. Cic. de Orat. ii. 46. See in Agostini Gemme Antiche, pl. 17, a representation of one of these masks. For examples of hideous masks see Mus. Florent. t. i. pp. 45–51.