the popular feeling, invented a novel and mixed kind of play. The Poet*, borrowing from Tragedy its external form and mythological materials, added a chorus of Satyrs, with their lively songs, gestures, and movements. This was called the Satyric Drama, first exhibited by Pratinas; probably at a period not long subsequent to Olymp. LXX, 2, B. C. 499 +. It quickly obtained great celebrity. The tragic poets, in compliance with the humour of their auditors, deemed it adviseable to combine this ludicrous exhibition with their graver pieces. One satyric drama was added to each tragic trilogy, as long as the custom of contending with a series of plays, and not with single pieces, continued ‡. Æschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides were all distinguished Satyric composers; and in the Cyclops of the latter we possess the only extant specimen of this singular exhibition §. He, whilst the chorus-strains proceed, For see, with ivy chaplet crown'd, Bacchus appears! He speaks in me Hear, and obey the god's decree! Pratinas is quoted on four other occasions (ix. 392, xi. 461, xiv. 624, 633, Cas.) by Athenæus; but the commentators are of opinion that, in these instances, reference is made to his Dithyrambic poems. * Schlegel, Lect. Dram. p. 186, &c. The exact date of this new invention is nowhere recorded. All we know is, that Pratinas contended with Eschylus and Chœrilus, B. C. 499, and that of his fifty pieces thirty-two were satyric.-(Suidas). Now it is probable that it was as a tragedian he competed with those two tragedians, and that he had not at that time produced the Satyric Drama. In all likelihood the decided superiority of Æschylus turned him at length from Tragedy to seek fame in a department of the Drama, which was at first all his own. This, then, was subsequent to B. C. 499. Again, from the number of his Satyric dramas it would seem that he introduced this Tragi-comedy at no late period of his dramatic career. See below-Theatrical contests, chap. iii. sect. 1. § The other principal Satyric poets were Aristias, Achæus, Xenocles, Philocles, Astydamas, Iophon, Plato the Comedian, Lycophron, Bion, and Demetrius.—On this subject see particularly Casaub. de Sat. Poes. i. c. 5. SECT. II. ÆSCHYLUS, SOPHOCLES, AND EURIPIDES. ÆSCHYLUS, son of Euphorion, was born of a noble family at Eleusis * in Attica, Olymp. LXIII, 4, Β. c. 525. Pausanias records a story of his boyhood †, professedly on the authority of the Poet himself, which, if true, shows that his mind at a very early period had been enthusiastically struck with the exhibitions of the infant Drama. An impression like this, acting upon his fervid imagination, would naturally produce such a dream as is described. At the age of twenty-five he made his first public attempt as a Tragic author †, Olymp. Lxx, Β. C. 499. The next notice § which we have of him is at Olymp. LXXII, 3, B. C. 490; when, along with his two celebrated brothers, Cynægeirus and Ameinias, he was graced at Marathon with the prize of preeminent bravery, being then in his thirty-fifth year. How dearly he valued the distinction there acquired by his valour we learn from Pausanias || (Attic. * Vit. Anonym., given in Stanley's edition of this Poet, and the Arundel Marble. The invocation to the Eleusinian goddess, which he is made to utter by Aristophanes, seems to refer to the place of his birth : † Εφη δὲ ̓Αισχύλος μειράκιον ὄν καθεύδειν ἐν ἀγρῷ φυλάσσων σταφυλὰς, καὶ οἱ Διόνυσον ἐπιστάντα, κελεῦσαι τραγῳδίαν ποιεῖν. ὡς δὲ ἦν ἡμέρα (πείθεσθαι γὰρ ἐθέλειν) ῥᾷστα ἤδη πειρώμενος ποιεῖν. οὗτος μὲν ταῦτα ἔλεγεν. Attic. p. 36. † Suidas in Αἰσχ. From another passage already quoted (p. 113, note,) we learn that Pratinas and Chorilus were his antagonists. § Εν μάχῃ συνηγωνίσατο Αἰσχύλος ὁ ποιητὴς [ἐτ][ν] ὦν ΔΔΔΙΙ. Marm. Arund. No. 49. Vit. Anonym. | Φρονῆσαι δὲ ̓Αθηναίους ἐπὶ τῇ νίκῃ ταύτῃ μάλιστα εἰκάζω. Καὶ δὲ καὶ Αἰσχύλος, ὡς οἱ τοῦ βίου προσεδοκᾶτο ἡ τελευτὴς τῶν μὲν ἄλλων ἐμνημόνευσεν οὐδενὸς, δόξης ἐς τοσοῦτον ἥκων ἐπὶ ποίησιν καὶ πρὸ ̓Αρτεμισίου καὶ ἐν Σαλαμῖνι ναυμαχήσας· ὁ δὲ τότε ὄνομα προτεθὲν καὶ τὴν πόλιν ἔγραψεν, καὶ ὡς τῆς ἀνδρεῖας μάρτυρας ἔχοι τὸ Μαραθώνιον ἄλσος καὶ Μήδων τούς ἐς αὐτὸ ἀποβάντας. Thus also Athenæus (xiv. 6.): Ομοίως δὲ καὶ Αἰσχύλος τηλικαύτην δόξαν ἔχων διὰ τὴν ποιητικὴν, οὐδὲν ἧττον ἐπὶ τοῦ τάφου ἐπιγρα chap. i. 4.); where, apparently alluding to the epitaph which the exiled dramatist composed for himself, the topographer tells us, that Eschylus, out of all the topics of his glory as a poet and a warrior, selected his exploits at Marathon as his highest honour. Six years after that memorable battle, Eschylus gained his first Tragic victory, Olymp. LXXIV, B. C. 484. Four years after this was fought the battle of Salamis, in which Eschylus † took part along with his brother Ameinias; to whose extraordinary valour the ἀριστεῖα were decreed †. In the following year he served in the Athenian troops at Platæa §. Eight years afterwards he gained the prize with a tetralogy, composed of the Persa, the Phineus, the Glaucus Potniensis, and the Prometheus Ignifier, a satyric drama. The latter part of the Poet's life is involved in much obscurity ¶. That he quitted Athens and died in Sicily is agreed on all hands; but the time and the cause of his departure are points of doubt and conjecture. It seems that Eschylus had laid himself open to a charge of profanation **, by too boldly introducing on the stage ̓Αλκὴν δ ̓ εὐδόκιμον Μαραθώνιον ἄλσος αν ἔιποι Καὶ βαθυχαιτήεις Μῆδος ἐπιστάμενος. For the whole epigram see below, p. 118. * Arundel Marble. + Vit. Anonym. Herod. viii. 93. Diod. Sic. ix. Elian. Var. Hist. v. 19. § Vit. Anonym. || Argument. ad Pers. ¶ The subject is discussed by the present learned bishop of Chester in his preface to the Persæ, p. xvi, &c., and in a note upon the Argument of the Agamemnon, pp. xix and xx; and at length by Boeck, De Græcæ Tragœdiæ Principibus, capp. iv and v; which are contained in the Miscellanea Græca Dramatica, published by W. P. Grant, Cambridge. ** Schlegel suggests another reason for the poet's self-exile. The German critic supposes the chief aim of his Eumenides to have been (a) the support of the Areiopagus, whose authority was at that time attacked by a demagogue named Ephialtes. "This Ephialtes was murdered one night by an unknown hand. Eschylus received the first prize in the theatrical games; but we know, at the same time, that he left Athens immediately afterwards, and passed his remaining days in Sicily. It is possible that, although the theatrical judges did him the justice to which he was entitled, he might be held in aversion by the multitude notwithstanding; and that (a) This opinion respecting the object of this play is probably, to a certain extent, correct. The Eumenides, as one piece in a connected trilogy, can scarcely be said to have been written expressly in defence of the Areiopagus, or that defence to have been its chief aim. But the poet might so contrive his plot as incidentally to bring in that court, and afford him an opportunity of speaking on its behalf; which is the case. In lines 683-5 (Wellauer's Edition) some such attempt as this of Ephialtes is alluded to. something connected with the Mysteries. He was tried and acquitted; but the peril which he had run, the dread of a multitude ever merciless in their superstitions, indignation at the treatment which he had received, joined, in all likelihood, to feelings of vex-. ation and jealousy at witnessing the preference occasionally given to young and aspiring rivals*, were motives sufficiently powerful to induce his proud spirit to leave his native city, and seek a retreat in the court of the munificent and literary Hiero, prince of Syracuse f. This must have been before Olymp. LxxvIII, 2, B. C. 467, for in that year Hiero died. In Sicily he composed this, without any express sentence of banishment, might have induced him to leave his native city.” Dram. Lit. p. 107. This idea of Schlegel's does not accord with the chronology of the poet's latter days. It appears certain that Æschylus went to Sicily during the lifetime of Hiero. (See note below.) Now Hiero died B. C. 467, and the Eumenides was not performed till B. C. 458; consequently, if these dates be correct, Schlegel's hypothesis must be wrong. The account in the text is grounded upon an obscure allusion in Aristotle's Ethics, explained by Clemens Alexandrinus and Alian: ὅ δὲ πράττει, ἀγνοήσειεν αν τις· οἷον λέγοντές φασιν ἐκπείειν αὐτοὺς, ἢ οὐκ εἰδέναι ὅτι ἀπόῤῥητα ἦν, ὥσπερ Αἰσχύλος τὰ μυστικά. iii. l. p. 87. Αἰσχύλος (says Clemens) τα μυστήρια ἐπὶ σκηνῆς ἐξεπὼν ἐν ̓Αρειῳ πάγῳ κριθεὶς, οὕτως ἀφέισθη, ἐπιδείξας αὑτὸν μή μεμνημένον. Strom. ii. — Elian tells the tale in a somewhat different way ; a more romantic one of course: Αἰσχύλος ὁ τραγῳδὸς ἐκρίνετο ἀσεβείας ἐπί τινι δράματι. Ετόιμων οὖν ὄντων Αθηναίων βάλλειν αὐτὸν λίθοις, ̓Αμεινίας ὁ νεώτερος ἀδελφὸς, διακαλυψάμενος τὸ ἱμάτιον ἔδειξε τὴν πήχυν ἔρημον τῆς χειρός. Ἔτυχε δὲ ἀριστεύων ἐν Σαλαμῖνι ὁ ̓Αμεινίας ἀποβεβληκως τὴν χεῖρα, καὶ πρῶτος ̓Αθηναίων τῶν ἀριστείων ἔτυ χεν. Ἐπεὶ δὲ εἶδον ὁι δικασταὶ τοῦ ἀνδρὸς τὸ πάθος, ὑπεμνησθῆσαν τῶν ἔργων αὐτοῦ καὶ ἀφῆκαν τὸν Αἰσχύλον. Var. Hist. v. 19. * The author of the anonymous Life, quoted above, mentions, amongst other reasons assigned for his voluntary banishment, a victory obtained over him by Simonides in an elegiac contest; and, what is more probable, the success of Sophocles, who carried off from him: the tragic prize, according to the common account, Olymp. LXXVIII, B. C. 468. Plutarch (vit. Cim.) confirms the latter statement. If so, he could not have been more than a year in Sicily before Hiero's death. An anecdote of Eschylus recorded by Athenæus shows that he had met with vexations and injustice in his theatrical career : Φιλόσοφος δὲ ἦν τῶν πάνυ ὁ Αἰσχύλος, ὅς καὶ ἡ ττηθεὶς ἀδίκως ποτὲ ὡς Θεόφραστος ἤ Χαμαιλέων ἐν τῷ Περὶ Ἥδονῆς εἴρηκεν, ἔφη “ χρόνῳ τὰς τραγῳδίας ἀνατιθέναι” εἰδὼς ὅτι κομιεῖται τὴν προσήκουσαν τιμήν. viii. 348. ..... † ̓Απῆρε δὲ εἰς Ιέρωνα τὸν Σικελίας τύραννον. Vit. Anonym. So Pausanias: Καὶ ἐς Συρακούσας πρὸς ̔Ιέρωνα Αἰσχύλος καὶ Σιμωνίδης ἐστάλησαν. i. 2 —Also Plutarch : Καὶ γὰρ καὶ οὗτος [Αἰσχύλος] εἰς Σικελίαν ἀπῆρε καὶ Σιμωνίδης πρότερον. De Exilio Æschylus in Siciliam secessit, ibique Catanæ, eo tempore quo Hiero Syracusarum tyrannus eam urbem de novo condens a vicino monte Ætnam appellavit, sedes fixit. Post obitum autem Hieronis et Thrasybuli Hieronis fratris exilium, Gelam videtur migrasse. Prideaux in Marm. Arundel.— Besides Símonides, Pindar and Epicharmus were his companions in the court of Hiero. a drama*, intitled Etna, to gratify his royal host, who had recently founded a city of that name. During the remainder of his life it is doubtful whether he ever returned to Athens. If he did not, those pieces of his, which were composed in the interval, might be exhibited on the Athenian stage under the care of some friend or relation, as was not unfrequently the case. Among these dramas was the Orestean tetralogy†, which won the prize Olymp. LXXX, 2, B. C. 458, two years before his death. At any rate, his residence in Sicily must have been of considerable length, as it was sufficient to affect the purity of his language. We are told by Athenæus that many Sicilian words are to be found in his later plays. Eschylus died at Gela § in the sixty-ninth year of his age, Olymp. LXXXI, B. C. 456. His death ||, if the common account be true, was of a most singular nature. Sitting motionless, in silence and meditation, in the fields, his head, now bald, was mistaken for a stone by an eagle, which happened to be flying over him with a tortoise in her bill. The bird dropped the tortoise to break the shell; and the poet was killed by the blow. The Geloans ¶, to show their respect for so illustrious a sojourner, interred him with much pomp in the public cemetery, and engraved on his tomb the following epitaph, which had been composed by himself; * Vit. Anonym.—Eschyli tragœdia est, quæ inscribitur Ætna. In hac cum de Palicis loqueretur sic ait, &c. Macrob. Saturn. v. 19. See Pindar. Pyth. i. 68, &c. † Argument. ad Agamem. Schol. Aristoph. Ran. 1155. † Οὐκ ἀγνοῶ δὲ, ὅτι οἱ περὶ τὴν Σικελίαν κατοικοῦντες ἀσχέδω καλοῦσι τὸν σύαγιον. Αἰσχύλος γοῦν ἐν Φορκίσι, παρεικάζων τὸν Περσέα τῷ ἀγρίῳ τούτῳ συΐ, φησίν· Εδω δ ̓ ἐς άντρον ἀσχέδωρος ὡς. Ὅτι δὲ Αἰσχύλος, διατρίψας ἐν Σικελία, πολλαῖς κέχρηται φωναῖς Σineλinaïs, ovdiv Tavμaosòv. Athen. ix. p. 402. b.-To the same effect Eustathius : Χρῆσις δὲ φασιν ἀσχεδώρου παρ' Αἰσχύλῳ διατρίψαντι ἐν Σικελίᾳ καὶ εἰδότι. Ad Odyss. p. 1872.—And Macrobius: Ita et Dii Palici in Siciliâ coluntur; quos primum omnium Æschylus tragicus, vir utique Siculus, in literas dedit, &c. &c. Saturnal. v. 19. Some Sicilian forms are to be found in his extant plays : thus, πεδάρσιος, πεδαίχμι, πεδάοροι, μάσσων, μᾶ, &c. for μετάρσιος, μεταίχμιοι, μετέωροι, μείζων, μήτερ, &c. See Blomfield, Prom. Vinc. 277. Gloss., & Boeck De Trag. Græc. c. v. Miscell. Dram. Grant. Cambridge. § Αφ ̓ οὗ Αἰσχύλος ὁ ποιητὴς, βιώσας ἔτη [4]ΔΠΙΙΙΙ, ἐτελεύτησεν ἐν [Γέλ]ᾳ τῆς [Σι]κελίας ἔτη Η[Α]ΑΔΔΔΙΠΙ, άρχοντος ̓Αθήνησι Καλλίου τοῦ προτέρου. Mar. Arund. no. 50. || Vit. Anonym. Suidas in Xax Muv. Valer. Max. ix. 2. Ælian. Hist. Anįmal. vii. 16. |