Page:The Theatre of the Greeks, a Treatise on the History and Exhibition of the Greek Drama, with Various Supplements.djvu/238

 220 ON THE REPRESENTATION OF The place of exhibition was, in the days of the perfect Greek drama, the great stone theatre erected within the Len^eon, or in- closure sacred to Bacchus. The buikling was commenced in the year 500 B.C., but not finished till about 381 B.C., when Lycurgus was manager of the treasury. In the earlier days of the drama the theatre was of wood, but an accident having occurred at the repre- sentation of some plays of ^schylus and Pratinas, the stone theatre was commenced in its steads The student who wishes to entertain an adequate notion of the Greek Theatre must not forget that it was only an improvement upon the mode of representation adopted by Thespis, which it resembled in its general features. The two original elements were the 9v/jL6), or altar of Bacchus, round which the cyclian chorus danced 2, and the Xoyetov or stage from which the actor or exarchus spoke ^; it was the representative of the wooden table from which the earliest actor addressed his chorus^, and was also called oKpi^a^. But in the great stone theatres, in which the perfect Greek dramas -were represented, these two simple materials for the exhibition of a play were surrounded by a mass of buildings, and subordinated to other details of a very artificial and complicated description. That part of the structure, which was set apart for the audience, and was more properly called the Oiarpov, may be discussed without any doubt or difficulty; for not only are the authorities explicit in their accounts, but we have many remains which are sufficiently com- plete to serve as a safe basis for architectural restorations ; and the theatre at Aspendus in Pamphylia, which has come down to us without a single defect of any consequence in the stone work, en- ables us to restore, with very slight risk of error, all the details of Aristophanes, indeed, had on one occasion /om7' rival comedians to oppose {Argum. ill. in Plut.) ; but this was, in all likelihood, at the Lencea, when, perhaps, not a single tragedy had been offered for representation, and, consequently, a large proportion of choruses would be left disengaged for comic candidates. passage above, most probably intended by rGiv Tpayixihiuv tQiv eh fiiau aKpbaaiv rede/xe- v(j}v the exhibition of one such tetralogy. This supposition is in some measure supported by the fact, that there were three or four separate hearings in the day; since four tetralogies would occupy from twelve to sixteen hours : and if, as is natural, each competitor took up a whole hearing, tliis will confii-m our former induction with regard to the number of candidates." Former Editor. 1 Libanius' Argument. Deinosth. Olynth. I. and Suidas, Uparivas. 2 See Miiller, Anhang zum Buck, ^sch. Eanieniden, p. 35. 3 Above, p. 100, note 5. ^ Above, p. 60; Pollux, IV. 123: eXeos 5^ rjv rpdwe^a dpxaia, e^' 7]u irpb QeaTridos els Tis dfajSds rots x^pevracs dTreKpivero.
 * ' If the custom of contending with tetralogies was still retained, Aristotle, in the