Page:The Theatre of the Greeks, a Treatise on the History and Exhibition of the Greek Drama, with Various Supplements.djvu/72

 54 THE TRAGIC DIALOGUE. — THESPIS. With regard to the old iambic poems we may remark, that they are often addressed in the second j)erson singular. We ventm-e from this to conjecture, and it is only a conjecture, that these frag- ments were taken from speeches forming parts of moral dialogues, like the mimes of Sophron, from which Plato borrowed the form of his dialogues^; for on the supposition that they were recited, we have no other way of accounting for the fact. At all events, it is quite certain, that these old iambic poems were the models which the Athenian tragedians proposed to them- selves for their dialogues^. They were written in the same metre, the same moral tone pervaded both, and, in many instances, the dramatists have borrowed not only the ideas but the very words of their predecessors^. The rhapsode was not only the forerunner of the actor, but he was himself an actor {yTTOKpiTr]^ ^). If, therefore, 1 Plato Is said to have had Sophron under his pillow when he died. Sophron — mimorum quidem scriptor, sed quem Plato adeo probavit ut suppositos capiti libros ejus cum moreretur habuisse tradatur. Quintil. I, lo, 17. See Spalding's note. ^ This is expressly stated by Plutarch, de Musicd, Tom. x. p. 680: in de tQv iajJL^eiwv TO ra [xkv Xeyeadai rrapa ttjv Kpovcnv, tch, 5e adeadai 'A/)%tox6j' (paai /caraSet^ai, eW ovTia x/oTjo-acr^at rovs TpayiKovs. Do not the first words apply to a rhythmical recitation by the exarchus, followed by a musical performance by the chorus? ^ Whole pages might be filled with the plagiarisms of the Attic tragedians from even the small remains of the gnomic poets. The following are a few of the most striking. Archiloch. p. 30, 1. i, Liebel: Xp'OfJ'O'Tiav deXiTTOu ovMv iariv, ovd' arruixoTov' is repeated by Soph. Antig. 386: dva^, ^poTOLatv ovdeu ear ainJo/xoTov. ^sch. Eumen. 603 : TO, TrXeicrr' afieivou ev(ppoaLv dedey/xeur)' from Theognis, v. 762 (p. 52, Welcker): c55' elvaL kuI ajxdvov^ ev^pova dvpibv ix^^'''^^- ^sch, Agam. 36: rd 5' ciXXa aiyu}' fSovs iirl yXuiTTTjS fxeyas' from Theognis, 65 1, Welcker : jSoCs fxoi iirl yXdoacrrjs Kparepi^ irodl Xd^ eTrtjSawoju iVxet KiOTiWeiu Katirep eTncrdpLevov. Soph. Antig. 666: ToOSe [apxovTos] XPV k^€iv Kal afiiKpa Kal dUaia kuI ravavria' (i. e. fxeydXa Kal adiKo), from Solon's well-known line : 'kpx^v cLKGve Kal 5i/cata K&dtKa, as it ought to be read. ^ When Aristotle says {Rhet. ill. 1 ) : ets t7]v rpayiKTjv Kal papb:biav 6//e iraprjXOev (7/ vTroKpiacs), vireKplvovTO yap avrol rds TpayCjjdias oi iroi'qTal rb irpCJTov, he evidently means by the word viroKpiais the assumption of the poet's person by another ; which we conceive to have been the original, as it is the derived, meaning of the word. Compare vTropxtjP'O; &c. We think it more than probable that the names of the actors, 7rp(x}TayupiaTr]i, &c. were derived from the names of the rhapsodes who recited in