The Washington times., 1904-11-27
Two Rare Comedies
THE Eternal Feminine" and
The AmaZonS The Girl
From KaU's" Mr. Hack
ett's New Plau - Red
Feather" Again.

Whosoever read OF The Eternal
Feminine" last week and saw il not,
the same hath suffered a great loss.
Herr Misch. the author; Miss Anglin.
the star. and Mr.. Perley, the pFOduc-
ing manager. have alike contributed
10 one OF the most enjoyable plays pro-
dueed on the American stage for
many years. It's comedy has a tang
OF unpieasantness. The play lacks
compactness. 1t was not altogether
tactful in the author 10 emphasize the
uneomeliness of "a virago like the
queens chief counselor. This IS all
the fault me most captious could note.
In every other respect The Eternal
Feminine" is an unalloyed delight
There is no purpose 10 repeat here
the review which The Times pub
ilshed last Tuesday. II is not map
propriate 10 suggest, however, tllat
after the first act this play became
one OF the most poetical offerings in
the observation OF this generation.
The text hammered into English was
stiIl impressive. fluent, rich, and fanci-
ful-as much so as many Of Shake
speare's finest passages. What de-
light il must be in German! The
third and fourth acts were, indeed,
of A class with Twelfth Night" and
hAs You Like It." though the OBJ
serving will note that only two OF the
four acts are placed ia that high grad
ing.
Who Were the Amazons?
one effect of the engagement was to
arouse q sudden interest IN the
Amazons II they ever existed and were
half so lovely as Miss Anglin and her
attendants IL Is no wonder that Ly-
sander was taken captive twice. Quin-
tus Curtius described them as tabled
tribes or warliEe communities Of women
in Sythia. Asia. and Africa" observ-
Ing:
They were said 20 be descendants OF
Sythians OF Cappadocia, where their
husbands. having made incursions. were
all slain IN ambuscades. The widows
formed "a feminine state declaring mat
rimony a shameful s5rvitude.'
The Amazous We're said 10 have boon
conquered By TEeseus about 1871 3. C.
According 10 Homer they were allies
OF the TrOlans In the siege Of Troy,
where their queen. Pentheslea. was
slai. BIZ Achilles THE AmaZons" were
constantly NJ war" continues old Cur
thus. and for ease IN handling their
weapons their right breasts were de-
stroyed whence their Greek namel.
About SEQ b. Z. their queen. Thalestris,
visited Alexander the Great. in Asia,
with so women ia her train"
Miss Angltn appears as Anti0pe Il
happens there was once a queen Of the
Amaz0ns OF that name. but she lived
AID died centuries before the date Of
Herr Misch's play. and did not resemble
his heroine IN the least The traditional
AntiOpe bore Theseus a son. Hippolytus.
How Theseus became possessed or her
Is variously explained Either she gave
herself up 10 him. when with Hercules
he captured Themiscyra, the seat OF the
AmazOns, or she fell 70 his lot as cap
tive. or. Theseus himself invaded the
dominion OF the Amazons and carried
of. Occasioning thereby a counter In
Yasion or Attica by the Amazons. After
four months OF war, peace was made.
and AntiOpe was left with Theseus as
q hostage The queen came 20 her death
either at the hand Of another Amazon,
Moipadia, a rival In her affection for
Theseus. or was killed by that demi-
god himself IN fulhilment Of an oracle.
Only a Fairy Tale.
Most men feel the students interest
IN the Amazons as an illustration OF the
curious disposition or their ancestors to
indulge their fancy. Stories or their
proves were reported by the earliest
travellers, and they are now supposed 10
typify the dangers which beset the an
Client mariner Ia later days they were
discovered by Holland Dutch voyagers
who explored the Essequibo and other
rivers Ia the northern part Of South
America Francisco OTellana, a Span
lard. coming from Peru IN 1910. sailed
down the Amazon River 10 the Atlantic.
and with his men saw armed women on
the hanks. Therefore, they named the
Maranon the AmazOnia. and the myth
took on new life.
Reading OF Amazons In ones library.
however, Is a very different thiag from