Page:The Theatre of the Greeks, a Treatise on the History and Exhibition of the Greek Drama, with Various Supplements.djvu/111

Rh selected the capture of that city as the subject of a historical tragedy. The skill of the dramatist, and the recent occurrence of the event, affected the audience even to tears, and Plnynichus was lined 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 Ælschylus, and the perfect art of Sophocles. The names of seventeen tragedies attributed