Chapter III: Preface: To the Third Edition

After the lamented death of Mr. Haigh, the Delegates of the Clarendon Press entrusted me with the revision of his book for a third edition, and his relatives kindly supplied me with the materials which he had collected for a revision. I have tried to follow as far as possible such indications as I could find of his own intentions in regard to the new edition. He had re-written parts of Chapters I and II, and his review of Puchstein’s _Die griechische Bühne_ showed sufficiently what view he took of that work. He also left careful analyses of many papers which had appeared in periodicals since the second edition, with occasional criticisms. It is clear from the manner in which the portions of the book referred to were re-written that he intended to cut out many of the repetitions, both of matter and expression, which had been allowed to remain in the second edition. I have therefore felt at liberty to follow him in this respect; but the space gained has been almost all filled by the new matter which it has been necessary to insert, either at the suggestion of his own notes, or in consequence of important writings on the subject since the last edition.

Since 1898 the inscriptions bearing upon the Greek drama have been the subject of thorough investigation at the hands of Prof. Edward Capps, Dr. Adolph Wilhelm, and others. The complete treatment of all the inscriptional evidence in the latter’s _Urkunden dramatischer Aufführungen in Athen_, just published, is an invaluable contribution to the history of the Greek theatre and drama, and I have made as much use of it as the time of its publication allowed, the revision of the present volume having been almost completed by that date. It was beyond the scope of the present work to embark on a full discussion of the points of detail on which the chief authorities on the inscriptions differ; but I have re-written many of the notes on these points, and have tried to give sufficient indications of the character of the evidence. Further, in re-writing Appendix B, as it was necessary to do in the light of recent work on the subject, I have thought it best to give the reader access to considerably more of the inscriptional material, though still omitting many fragments whose readings, date, or meaning were too uncertain to allow them to be of value to the ordinary student.

Puchstein’s book, _Die griechische Bühne_, above referred to, is the other work of first-rate importance in connexion with the Greek theatre which has appeared since 1898. There has been much controversy in regard to the theories contained in it, and Dr. Dörpfeld has published a reply to most of Puchstein’s contentions (_Athenische Mittheilungen_, 1903, 383 ff.). But though in several points of detail Puchstein’s position seems to be open to criticism, it is very difficult to believe that Dr. Dörpfeld has improved his case for his own theory; and I have followed both Mr. Haigh’s view and my own conviction, in not modifying in any essential point the opinions expressed in the last edition. I have, however, altered the expressions ‘Lycurgean’ and ‘Hellenistic’ in most cases where they were applied in the last edition to the stage-buildings of different periods, since Puchstein’s work makes it at least an open question whether some of the ‘Lycurgean’ work is not to be ascribed to an earlier period, and some of the ‘Hellenistic’ work to Lycurgus. Mr. Haigh’s manuscript notes show, I think, that he would have approved of this. The new section on Puchstein’s theory follows in most points the lines of Mr. Haigh’s article on the subject in the _Classical Review_. I have inserted a number of references to the writings of Puchstein, Dörpfeld, and others who have taken part in the controversy as to the stage-buildings; and I have in many cases written fresh notes upon these and other points which have come into dispute since 1898, or upon which fresh light has been thrown. In cases where I could find no warrant in Mr. Haigh’s own notes or writings for the views expressed, I have included these notes in square brackets, and I have, so far as I could, avoided inserting in the text anything with which I had reason to think he would have disagreed.

On one point on which there has recently been much controversy, the site of the Lenaeum, I have thought it best to relegate the discussion to a new Appendix; partly owing to its complicated character, and partly because I am not sure that Mr. Haigh would have entirely agreed with my views. He had not of course seen Miss Harrison’s _Primitive Athens_, and I do not think he had read some other recent writings on the subject, when he began to rewrite Chapter I; in particular, he seems not to have been acquainted with Nilsson’s _Studia de Dionysiis Atticis_—the most valuable contribution of recent years to discussions on the festivals. I have therefore allowed myself a fairly free hand in dealing with this topic. I am much indebted to Mr. W. H. Forbes of Balliol College for his kind criticisms on this part of my work.

The following are the principal writings which have been published since the last edition, and which I have been able to consult, besides those already named: E. Capps, papers in the _American Journal of Philology_, _American Journal of Archaeology_, and _Chicago Decennial Publications_, vol. vi; Miss Harrison, _Prolegomena to the Study of Greek Religion_; E. A. Gardner, _Ancient Athens_; Roberts and Gardner, _Greek Epigraphy_, vol. ii; Mazon, _Sur le Proagon_ (Rev. de Philologie, 1903); A. Müller, _Untersuchungen zu den Bühnenalterthümern_, and papers in _Philologus_ and _Berlin. Philolog. Wochenschrift_; Noack, _Das Proskenion in der Theaterfrage_ (Philologus, lviii); Exon, _A New Theory of the Eccyclema_ (Hermathena, xxvi); Dörpfeld, papers in _Hermes_ and _Athenische Mittheilungen_; Frei, _De certaminibus Thymelicis_; Hampel, _Was lehrt Aischylos’ Orestie für die Theaterfrage?_; Flickinger, _The meaning of ἐπὶ τῆς σκηνῆς in the Fourth Century B.C._; Engelmann, _Archäologische Studien zu den Tragikern_; P. Gardner, _The Scenery of the Greek Stage_ (J. Hell. Stud., 1899); Devrient, _Das Kind auf der antiken Bühne_; Dignan, _The Idle Actor in Aeschylus_; Völker, _Berühmte Schauspieler im griechischen Alterthum_; J. W. White, _An Unrecognized Actor in Greek Comedy_ (Harvard Stud. Class. Phil., 1906); Hense, _Die Modificirung der Maske in der griechischen Tragödie_; Körte, _Das Fortleben des Chors im griechischen Drama_ (Neue Jahrb. für Philol., 1900); Navarre, _Utrum Mulieres Athenienses scenicos ludos spectaverint_; Römer, _Über den litterarisch-aesthetischen Bildungsstand des attischen Theaterpublikums_; Foucart, _Le Culte de Dionysos en Attique_; besides the reviews of many of these works, and the introductions and notes to Starkie’s, Rogers’s, Sharpley’s, and van Leeuwen’s editions of a number of plays of Aristophanes, and various articles in Pauly-Wissowa, _Real-Encyclopädie_.

A. W. PICKARD-CAMBRIDGE.

BALLIOL COLLEGE, _January, 1907_.

CONTENTS

PAGE

CHAP. I. DRAMATIC CONTESTS AT ATHENS 1

§ 1. General Character of the Contests 1

§ 2. Earliest history of Dramatic Competitions 5

§ 3. The City Dionysia 6

§ 4. Tragedy at the City Dionysia 10

§ 5. Comedy at the City Dionysia 20

§ 6. Order of Contests at the City Dionysia 23

§ 7. The Lenaea 24

§ 8. Rural Dionysia and Anthesteria 29

§ 9. The Judges 31

§ 10. The Prizes 38

§ 11. Contests between Actors 40

§ 12. Records of Dramatic Contests 44

CHAP. II. THE PREPARATION FOR THE CONTESTS 49

§ 1. The Poets 49

§ 2. The Choregi 53

§ 3. Selection of the Actors 57

§ 4. The Training of the Chorus 60

§ 5. The Expenses of the Choregia 63

§ 6. The Performances in the Theatre 67

§ 7. Reproduction of Old Plays 71

CHAP. III. THE THEATRE 78

§ 1. Introductory 78

§ 2. The old Wooden Theatres at Athens 80

§ 3. The Stone Theatre 86

§ 4. The Auditorium 90

§ 5. The Orchestra 101

§ 6. Ruins of the Stage-buildings at Athens 112

§ 7. The Earlier Stage-buildings 116

§ 8. The Later Stage-buildings of the pre-Roman period 120

§ 9. Puchstein’s Theory of the Stage-buildings 130

§ 10. The Stage-buildings in Roman Times 133

§ 11. Exceptional Stage-buildings 137

§ 12. Wieseler’s Theory of the Greek Stage 140

§ 13. Dörpfeld’s Theory of the Greek Stage 144

§ 14. Various Details 174

CHAP. IV. THE SCENERY 179

§ 1. General Character of the Scenery 179

§ 2. Mechanical Arrangements for the Scenery 186

§ 3. The Entrances to the Stage 188

§ 4. Changes of Scene 195

§ 5. Stage Properties, &c. 199

§ 6. The Ekkyklema 201

§ 7. The Mechane and Theologeion 209

§ 8. Other Mechanical Contrivances 217

CHAP. V. THE ACTORS 221

§ 1. Rise of the Actor’s Profession 221

§ 2. The distribution of the Parts among the Actors 230

§ 3. Extra Performers 234

§ 4. Costume of the Tragic Actors 237

§ 5. Costume of Satyric Actors 255

§ 6. Costume of Comic Actors 257

§ 7. Speech, Song, and Recitative 266

§ 8. Importance of the Voice in Greek Acting 272

§ 9. Style of Greek Acting 275

§ 10. The Actors’ Guild 278

§ 11. Social Position of Actors 281

§ 12. Celebrated Athenian Actors 282

CHAP. VI. THE CHORUS 285

§ 1. History of the Chorus 285

§ 2. Size of the Chorus 288

§ 3. Costume of the Chorus 290

§ 4. Arrangement of the Chorus 298

§ 5. The Delivery of the Choral Part 305

§ 6. The Dancing 311

§ 7. The Music 319

CHAP. VII. THE AUDIENCE 323

§ 1. Composition of the Audience 323

§ 2. Price of Admission 329

§ 3. The Distribution of the Seats 334

§ 4. Various Arrangements in connexion with the Audience 341

§ 5. Character of Attic Audiences 343

APPENDIX A. Arguments, &c., to Plays 349

APPENDIX B. Dramatic Inscriptions 352

APPENDIX C. The Original Place of the Lenaea 368