Page:The Theatre of the Greeks, a Treatise on the History and Exhibition of the Greek Drama, with Various Supplements.djvu/289

 GREEK PLAYS IN GENERAL. 263 man is dressed entirely in yellow, and this is the coloiu* of the robe in the picture, which represents a comic performer in the act of being masked and dressed by Bacchus ^ The soccus as a general rule seems to have been yellow 2. The choruses of Aristophanes were arrayed in fantastic cos- tumes more or less expressive of the allegorical caricature which they represented. Thus the Bti-ds had masks with huge open beaks, and the Wasps flitted about the orchestra protruding enor- mous stings. That the dresses of the actors in the satyrical drama did not differ in kind from those of the performers of the chief parts in the Trage- dies, which they followed, is an obvious inference, and the fact is established by the last group in the Pio-Clementine Mosaic, which represents an actor accompanied by one of the chorus of satyrs, seen at a distance or in a diminutive form. There is also a painting on a vase in the Museo Borbonico at Naples^, which gives us not only the three actors in a satyrical drama, but a chorus of eleven, two musicians, one playing on the flute, the other a citharist, and the leader of the chorus, who is called Demetrius. In the midst Bacchus is reclining on a bed, with Kora- Ariadne in his arms; and the Muse, with a mask in her hand, is sitting at the end of the bed, attended by Himeros. Of the three actors, one is attired in the full tragic costume ; another, who represents Hercules, has a highly decorated tunic, which, however, is shorter than the usual syrma; the third actor, who represents Silenus, has a closely-fitting, hairy dress, and bears a panther's skin on his left shoulder. The cho- reutae, with the exception of one who is handsomely dressed, and another, who has ornamented drawers, like our mountebanks'^, have goat-skins about their loins with phallic appendages, but are other- wise naked. The same fashion of dressing the choreutse in nothing except shaggy aprons is observable in a very beautiful Mosaic found at Pompeii, a copy of which is subjoined^. This picture in- 1 Mus. Borhon. VoL in. Tav. iv. ; VTieseler, Taf, x, i. 2 MiiUer, Handh. d. Arch. § 388, 2. 3 Monum. ined. deW Inst, di CovTisp. Arch. Vol, in. T. xxi. ; Wieseler, Taf. vi. No. 2, p. 47. VI. 3), and by the satyric citharist on Laborde's vase (Wieseler, VI. 5). ^ Gell, Pompeii, New Series, Vol. i. PI. xlv. ; Mus. Borhon. Vol. ii. T. lvi. ; "Wieseler, Taf. vi. i. The accompanying engraving (fig. 26, p. 264), which is taken from the Museo Borbonico, is not quite accurate ; for there are only two masks before the teacher, the third being on the table behind him.
 * These drawers are worn by the satyric choreutse on Tischbeiu's vase (Wieseler,