Aristophanes.

Last evening in Harvard 1 Professor White gave a most interesting lecture before the members of the Classical Club and their friends. His subject was "Aristophanes and the Old Comedy." The substance of his remarks was briefly as follows:

The discussion of old comedy necessarily begins with its origin. According to Aristotle, comedy had its origin in the processions in honor of Dionysos. Slow in its growth, comedy attained a perfect form much later than did tragedy. Comedy thrived especially in the Dorian race. Megara in Greece and in Sicily became celebrated as the homes of comedy. Susarion, a Megarian, wandering to Attica with a band of players, established himself at Icaria and thus gave the first impulse to Attic comedy.

It was not until after the Persian wars that comedy began its true course. Cretinus, who died in 422 B. C., was the real originator of Attic comedy. He was a poet of great merit. Though much addicted to drink, he lived to the great age of ninety-eight. Aristophanes ridiculed him in the "Nights," but regretted it afterwards, as Cretinus amply revenged himself in the "Whiskey Flask."

The division of Greek comedy into three stages was due to the Alexandrian grammarians and corresponds to the three marked periods in the national history of Athens. There seems to have been some quality inherent in the atmosphere of Attica, which had the remarkable honor of producing comic poets. The names of no less than one-hundred and sixty-eight of these are known. Aristophanes was by no means the only great comedy writer of his time. It is certain that he was defeated six times by other poets.

Provokingly little is known above the life of Aristophanes. Born in 444 B. C., he wrote his first play at the age of seventeen. He continued to write for forty years. Of his comedies eleven are extant besides fragments of thirty-three others. His plays are purely fanciful, as their names suggest. They contain lampoons upon the public men of the day which are sometimes bitter and always witty.

The stage in the days of the old comedy was often crowded, that is there were a great many of the actors and chorus on at a time. The chorus had all sorts of accessories to carry out the illusion. The dramatic structure of the old comedy was rather curious. First was the prologue which gave a general idea of what the play was about. Then followed the episodes. About the middle came the parabasis, when the actors withdrew and the entire chorus came forward and amused the audience. Peculiar to the old comedy is the "agon," or contest, between the two chief actors. This was not clearly recognized until 1885.

There never was a more perfect master of rhythm than Aristophanes. His verses are tetrameters in three-eighths time. His lyrics, which contain a distinctly operatic quality, are very fine. The music and dance which accompanied the latter are lost.

Aristophanes's plays sparkle with jests. The humor is often broad and sometimes coarse. Whether Aristophanes wrote merely in fun or for a serious purpose is a mooted question. If he intended to bring about a reform, he made a dismal failure. Great as his talents were, he took no stock in tragedy or philosophy, but chose to exert all his energies in comedy. His efforts were well rewarded, for he still remains the greatest comic poet of all time.

Wednesday evening, May 8, Professor White will again address the Classical Club. The lecture will be on the "Birds" of Aristophanes, and will be illustrated by lantern slides taken from the representation of that play at Cambridge, England, several years ago.