Page:The Theatre of the Greeks, a Treatise on the History and Exhibition of the Greek Drama, with Various Supplements.djvu/211

 ARISTOPHANES. 193 vigour and vivacity. . The Plutus is not yet a play of the Middle Comedy, but it has lost all the characteristic features of the ancient comic drama of Athens. The last two Comedies which Aristophanes wrote were called ^olosicon and Cocalus; they were brought out about the time of the peace of Antalcidas, by Araros, one of the sons of the poet, who had been his principal actor at the representation of the second edition of the Plutus, They both belonged to the second variety of Comedy; namely, the Comedy of Criticism. The jEolosicon was a parody and criticism of the JEolus of Euripides ^ The Cocalus was, perhaps, a similar criticism of a Tragedy or Epic Poem, the hero of which was Cocalus, the fabulous king of Sicily, who slew Minos 2; it was so near an approach to the third variety of Comedy, that Philemon was able to bring it again on the stage with very few alterations^. It is altogether unknown in what year Aristophanes died ; it is probable, however, that he did not long survive the commencement of the 100th Olympiad, 380 B.c.^ He left three sons, Philippus, Araros, and Nicostratus, who were all poets of the Middle Comedy, but do not appear to have inherited any considerable portion of their father's wonderful abilities. Their mother was not a very estimable woman ; at all events, the poet is said to have declared, in one of his Comedies, that he was ashamed of her and his two foolish sons ; meaning, we are told, the two first-mentioned^. The number of Comedies brought out by Aristophanes is not known with certainty : the reader will see in the note a list of forty- four names of Comedies attributed to him^. 1 See Grauert, in the Rhein. Mas. for 1828, pp. 50 fol. The name AloXoaiKojv is a compound (like 'HpaKXeio^avdias, &c.) of the name of Euripides's tragic hero, and Sicon, a celebrated cook. Grauert, p. 60. And for this reason the whole Comedy- was full of cookery terms. Grauert, pp. 499 fol. 2 Grauert, p. 507. ^ Clemens Alex. Strom. VI. p. 628 : t6u fxivTOL KdjKaXou rbv iroiridiuTa 'Apapori rep ' ApiaTO(pduovs vlec, ^ir]jj,o}u 6 koj/jlikos inraWd^as iu 'Tiro^oKL/xala} iKWfiCitSrjaev. ■* Ranke, p. cxcix. ^ Vit. Anonym, p. xvii: {' Apia-rocpduijs) /xeTriWa^e rbv ^iov TraiSas KaraXLTrwu rpeis, ^iXiinrov bp-dovvpLov ry Trdinru) Kai '^LKbcrrpaTOv /cat 'Apapora. — tiv^s d^ dvo <pacri, ^IXiir- TTOv Koi ''Apapbra, wv Kal adrbi ^pLvrjadrj' Tt]u yvudiKU 8e alax^i^oixai rcb r' ov cppovovvre Traidico' i(TO)S avTovs Xiywv. ^ I. AatraX^s. II. 'Ba^vXwvioi. in. 'Axapvrjs. IV. 'Itttt-^s. v. Ne^Aat Trpbrepai. VI. Upodyojv. VII. ZcpTJKes. VIII. Wip-qurj irpor^pa. IX. 'Ap.(ptdpaos. X. "OpviOes. XI. AvtriaTpdrrj. XII. Qea/xocpoptd^oucrat Trpbrepai. XIII. UXoutos Trpbrepos. XIV. Bd- D. T. G. 13