The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1895-06-02


tic opera at tie other, we have this
week been given some idea of the
vast range over which dramatic art
may be carried, and the countless
variety of shapes ard hues this self
san%eart is capable of assuming.
OUT OF the huge category of plays
hich come under the head of TRACE
dies; and allowing for their several
and divers capabilities for the pro-
. ducing Of weird and lurid spectacle
lar effects, it is possible that not an
other one of them allows greater scope
for this than does Goethe's Faust"
more especially when taken in hand
by an ardent ard ambitious actor.
such as John Griffith undoubtedly is.
81 much attention has been ex-
pended by this actor towards develop
Ing TO the utmost all the terrors that
are incident to the Broken scene, and
the revels of the demons OF Walpur-
gis Night that its effect upon all on
lockers is Simply narrowing.
In this scene. even before the cur
tain was permitted TO ascend, and
whilst the theatre was plunged in an
all-perVading darkness, our fast chill
ing ears were RECALLED with blood-curd-
ling groans. agOniZed shrieks, means,
cries, Kisses, and other sounds of 4
like cheerful nature, emanating from
the supposed tortured inmates of the
bottomlesS pit, who were apparently
experiencing much discomfort from
yf$eir torrid quarters. The effect pro-
: dCced by this was by no means les
seaed when the curtain rose. disclos-
Ing Mephisto on the summit of the
Broken with the warning elements
around him, poor scared Faust at his
side, and numberless screeching devils
at is feet The eliminating point
was cached when the fire that is
never quenched' descended in a seeth-
Ing flood upon the tormented, with
Ing forms seen struggling in the
flames.
was simply awful! Weird, won
dertd' and magnificent we must allow,
but how appalling! Ugh
Prince Methusalem" at the Grand
Opera house touched us in another
NitaS&Ss Here all was life. light and
gayeI bright colors and eccentric
effectS There was nothing revolving,
but much to charm. Of course we
were disappointed in Strauss. How
could We help but be? Such strained
efforts at humor! Such ponderous at
tempts TO be light and airy, and what
thoroughly German wit all through |
But so gracefully did the little COM
pany endeavor to strengthen Strauss
IN his weakest parts, that we were
forced TO admire much and condemn
but little.
''The Eleusinia, or Festival of Fruit |
and Flowers TO Demeter. the Goddess
of Agriculture" is the title of an or
tginal entertainment to be given by
Miss Maud May Babcock at the Salt |
Lake Theatre, June 6. The idea upon .
which the entertainment is TO he |
built. is as follows:
DeKeter, the mythe tells US, a
dSSIghter of Kromos and Rhea, was
TIE goddess IF the earth in its ca
pacity OF bringing forth countless
fruits, the all nourishing mother, and
above al, the divine being who
watched over the growth of grain,
and the various products of vegeta-
tion and most important 10 man. Per
sephone, also called Kora by the
Greeks, and Proserpina or Liberia by
the Romans, was the daughter Of De-
meter and Zeus.
Struck by the charms of the beau
tiful Persephone, Hades, by the sane
tfon OF Zeus. carried off the virgin
goddess. He suddenly arose, the
anyth states. from a dark hole in the
earth. near where Persephone was
gathering narcissus, not far from
Aetna in Sicily. an1 T-7964 off --'
her to the under world in a chariot
drawn by four swift horses. III AN
Demeter searched for her daughter,
rraversing every land, until she
Learned what had taken place from
the U seeing, all hearing god of the
SIM Shen then entreated the gods to
give her daughter back, which was
granted provided Persephone should !
not vet have tasted anything in the
under world. Before Hermes who had
been sent by Zeus to bring back Per
eephone, reached the under world,
perseDhone had eaten half the pome-
granate which Hades had given heI
as an expression of love. She could ]
not therefore return 10 the upper
world, but must remain the Wife OF |
radas. she was, however, allowed 10 j
stay with her mother half the year {
among the gods of olympus, while the I
other half was to be spent with her !
husband below.
most kindly received in Eleusis,
rot far from Athens, and as a reward :
Cor their hospitality, she built her ,
ternnIe there, and instructed the inhab-
3tarts in the Eleusinian mysteries,
teaching the kim TriptoIema the art
of egriculture. 1t is stated that be- !
fore departing she presented Tripto- i.
Iona. her snake drawn car and the
seed OF the barley, that he might travel :
through all lands teaching mankind
now to SOW and to utilize the grain.
Two festivals were held at Eleusis
each wear TO Demeter, Persephone. and :
Dionveos (god of the vine), called the !
Fieus.nia. The lesser festival, of
fruit and fioN ars, was held in the
s-qring; the greater, of the harvest. a
Is held in September. Immense a
&eourses of people took part in the c
!. 1stfval. and it was Of national i'm
,nortance. However, but few were adj 2
11itted to the temple and the mysteries. S
1Toe persons in the final stage of initia- o
ton were called Epoptae, and those of P
she earlier stages were designated p
SIystae. 3
The first grand thought in the wor- g
ship of Demeter was the mysterious S
evolution Of life out Of the seed which b
Is cast into the ground and suffered
10 decay, a process Of nature which st. h
paul and st. John compare to the at S
Iainment Of a new life through c
christ. The seed left to decay in the p
ground was In the keeping of Perse- b
ohone. the goddess of the lower world: r,
he new life which sprang from it was c.
he gift of Demeter, and hence they
we're one and inseparable and were re- [
yarded as two in one" or 1.-The great b
lsit1es." Il
IN ane myth. Persephone. daughter Fl
n zeS the god of the heavens, which 81
II tn4 warmth and rain produce fer D