The Sun.
London, England, 1821-01-20 00:00:00

FOREIGN_ LITERATURE.

GREEK DRAMA.-7'he Greek 'Theatre, by the PERE Bite.
NOT, new Edition, by M. RAouL-RocuErrE,, mem.
be,r of the French Institute.
True knowledge is modest, of which M. Raoul-
Rochette affords another proof, by publishing
the work we announce, under the simple title
•of a Second Edition of the Greek Theatre, by the
Pere Brumoy ; when in fact the additions, cor-
rections, alterations in the arrangement,. phHolo-
gical dissertations, and new translations are so
numerous, that the original work of the learned
Je;uit forms but a very small portion of this new
-Edition.
- - M. Raoul-Rochette` has .conferred an import-
ant benefit on Literature, by completing a col-
lectiOn of the Dramatic Works of the ancient
Poets, by furnishing notes replete with sound
criticisms, which elucidate the meaning of ob-
scure passages, and by arranging in chronologi-
cal order, ag the plays of the Greek Theatre
which had been neglected by the Pere Brumoy.
In the prosecution of this plan, he has in seve-
ral instances given new translations, or intro-
duced the translations of M.M. Rochefort and du
Theil, in preference of the text of, the Pere
Bruthoy ; and at. the end of the work he has an-
nexed the criticisms of La Harne,
.on the Greek
prisms, and imitations in verse of the finest
scsnes in those pieces, by the same author, and
by a living poet, M. Terrasson.
After having bestowed' this just tribute of
praise on the labours of M. Raoul-Rochette, we
shall discuss a new literary doctrine peculiar to
himself,'-Which has been developed in a curious
dissertation at the beginning of the present work,
-entitled" Observations on the Origin of the Greek
Tragedy aii'd Comedy."
IL th s dissertation he has advanced an opinion
at variance with all antiquity, denying to Thespis
the merit of having first given a dramatic form to
Tragedy, imperfect as it was, since a cart was
the stage, and the whole company, except the
'chorus, consisted of one person only, who dis-
- guised his face, and recited the action. We will
now proceed to examine in detail the opinions of
M. Raoul-Rochette on the origin of Tragedy.
The word Tragedy means e song of a goat.
At first sight it is not easy to comprehend what
connection can possibly exist bet Ween a goat and
the, representation of the murder of Agamemnon;
but the mystery will soon be explained on a per-
. ilia' of history; and by reflecting on the strange
variations produced by time in things, without,
however, changing their names.
We know, for instance, that our theatrical re-
psesentations were called mysteries three hundred
years ago. If Trissino, in Italy, and lodelie, in
France, and the other Dramatic Authors of that
age, had not, when they restored the Greek
,Plays, preserved their antient names, our Tra-
gedies and Comedies would now bear the same
-appellation they had three hundred years ago.
A comic opera would.be a mystery, and so would
Eigh Life below Stairs, or Harlequin and Faustus.
Ancient traditions say that a certain Icaritis,
wl.o gave his name to part of Attica, and who
, introduced there the art of cultivating the vine,
caught one day a goat which had committed great
havoc in his vineyards. lie sacrificed it to Bac-
chus. This took place during the vintage season :
'the neighbours assembled, surrounded the vie-
tim, and amused themselves in singing hymns to
the god of wine. It was a gay and merry festi-
val they determined on repeating it frequently,
and called it-a tragedy.
A? that time, poetry was an object of public
amusement and general competition. The rich
'and harmonious language of Greece was admir-
ably calculated for the art of extempore speak-
ing : they composed at. the instant dithyrambics,
or songs in honour of Bacchus ; the chorus re-
'peated them as they danced round the sacrifice,
and the best improvisatore received as a prize,
either a flask of wine or a goat. This was the
commencement of tragedy.
Dur'ng the same period, the poeMs of Homer
And Hesiod were recited throughout all Greece
by RhapsOdi ; the beauty of the style, the sub-
'Entity of the ideas, and the importance of the
events celebrated by these two great Poets de-
lighted the people of Attica. In the time of So-
lon, Thespis conceived the idea of relieving the
joyous dythySambics of his tragedies, by the re-
tital of some heroic action delivered by a single
performer at the intervals of repose between these
Bacchic dances and stings. This happy innova-
tion succeeded. Thespis then began to travel
through the towns of Attica in a cart, from which
be dec:ainted his pieces, that is to say, his reci-
tatierts.intermi.Xed with dances and chorines.—
The flesh of the victims and wine were lavished
on his troop, and the profession of a tragedian
becaine lucrative ; we presume, however, not so
lucrative as to enable the actors of those- days
to keep hand Some country houses, as in modern
times ; they had then no established Theatres,
but performed in the open air.
After Thespis followed Plirynicus his pupil,
then Cheriltis and Pratinus, who seems to have
been the-first actor who fixed his residence with
his -T-heatre in the town' of Athens. Eschylus
at length appeared, and introduced two actors
on the stage, the only mode of representing a
true action ; he also invented the scenery and
machinery. After Eschylus, Sophocles his pu-
pil,and Euripides, brought tragedy to the height
of perfection at which the Greeks left it. Thespis
flourished in the sixtieth Olympiad, and So-
phocles and Euripides died in the nineteenth :
thus the time which elapsed between the inven-
tion.of the tragic spectacle, and its utmost degree
of splendour, does not exceed one hundred and
fifty years. Such is the information derived from..
the ancients on the origin of tragedy ; but M.,
Raoul-Rochette assures us that we have been led
by them into error..
He says, in the first place, that " it would be
" an insult to the good sense of his readers to
" imagine they could give credit to so Tidied-
" lous an origin, (the song of a goat) founded
46 on a story (that of Icarius) which is still more
4' ridiculous."
We cannot easily subscribe to the opinion of
M. Raoul-Rochette, which by the way is deli-
vered in rather too dictatorial a tone, and our op.=
position is founded first ou the authority of ety-