vernment of the Athenians. Thirdly, Upon the notion we ought to entertain of Aristophanes, with respect to Eschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides. Fourthly, Upon the jest which he makes upon the gods. These things will not be treated in order, as a regular discourse seems to require, but will arise sometimes separately, sometimes together, from the view of each particular comedy, and from the reflections which this free manner of writing will allow. I shall conclude with a short view of the whole, and so finish my design.

III. I shall not repeat here what Madame Dacier, and so many others before her, have collected of all that can be known relating to the History of history of comedy. Its beginnings are as comedy. obscure as those of tragedy, and there is an appearance that we take these two words in a more extensive meaning; they had both the same original, that is, they began among the festivals of the vintage, and were not distinguished from one another but by a burlesque or serious chorus, which made all the soul and all the body. But, if we give these words a stricter sense, according to the

fortune, and pleasure, and never to be in debt, is all I de'sire.' He was very covetous, and was pictured with his fingers hooked, so that he set his comedies at a high price. He lived about a hundred years, some say a hundred and one. Many tales are told of his death; Valerius Maximus says, that he died with laughing at a little incident: seeing an ass eating his figs, he ordered his servant to drive her away; the man made no great haste, and the ass eat then all. Well 'done, says Philemon, now give her some wine.' Apuleius and Quintilian placed this writer much boow Menander, but give him the second place.

notion which has since been formed, comedy was produced after tragedy, and was in many respects a sequel and imitation of the works of Eschylus. It is in reality nothing more than an action set before the sight by the same artifice of representation. Nothing is different but the object, which is merely ridicule. This original of true comedy will be easily admitted, if we take the word of Horace, who must have known better than us the true dates of dramatick works. This poet supports the system which I have endeavoured to establish in the second discourse * so strongly as to amount to demonstrative proof.

Horace + expresses himself thus, "Thespis is " said to have been the first inventor of a species " of tragedy, in which he carried about in carts, " players smeared with the dregs of wine, of whom "some sung and others declaimed." This was the first attempt both of tragedy and comedy; for Thespis made use only of one speaker, without the least appearance of dialogue. "Eschylus after"wards exhibited them with more dignity. He "placed them on a stage, somewhat above the " ground, covered their faces with masks, put bus"kins on their feet, dressed them in trailing robes, " and made them speak in a more lofty style." Horace omits invention of dialogue, which we learn from Aristotle 1. But, however, it may be well enough inferred from the following words of Horace; this completion is mentioned while he speaks of Eschylus, and therefore to Eschylus it must be

* Greek Theatre, part i. vol. i.

+ Hor. Poet, v. 275..

Poet. ch. 4.

ascribed: "Then first appeared the old comedy, " with great success in its beginning." Thus we see that the Greek comedy arose after tragedy, and by consequence tragedy was its parent. It was formed in imitation of Eschylus, the inventor of the tragick drama; or, to go yet higher into antiquity, had its original from Homer, who was the guide of Eschylus. For, if we credit Aristotle *, comedy had its birth from the Margetes, a satirical poem of Homer, and tragedy from the Iliad and Odyssey. Thus the design and artifice of comedy were drawn from Homer who is author and Eschylus. This will appear of comedy. less surprising, since the ideas of the

human mind are always gradual, and arts are seldom invented but by imitation. The first idea contains the seed of the second; this second, expanding itself, gives birth to a third; and so on. Such is the progress of the mind of man; it proceeds in its productions step by step, in the same manner as nature multiplies her works by imitating, or repeating her own act, when she seems most to run into variety. In this manner it was that comedy had its birth, its increase, its improvement, its perfection, and its diversity.

IV. But the question is, who was the happy author of that imitation, and that shew, whether only one like Eschylus of tragedy, or whether they were several? for neither Horace, nor any before him, explained thist. This poet only quotes three

* Poet. ch. 4.

† The alterations, which have been made in tragedy, ، were perceptible, and the authors of them unknown; but writers who had reputation in the old Comedy, Eupolis*, Cratinus+, and Aristophanes, of whomhe says, 'That they, and others who wrote in the same ' way, reprehended the faults of particular persons • with excessive liberty.' These are probably the poets of the greatest reputation, though they were not the first, and we know the names of many others . Among these three we may be sure

'comedy has lain in obscurity, being not cultivated, like tragedy, from the time of its original: for it was long before 'the magistrates began to give comick choruses. It was first 'exhibited by actors, who played voluntarily, without orders ' of the magistrates. From the time that it began to take ' some settled form, we know its authors, but are not in

formed who first used masks, added prologues, increased ' the numbers of the actors, and joined all the other things 'which now belong to it. The first that thought of form⚫ing comick fables were Epicharmus and Phormys, and consequently this manner came from Sicily: Crates was the first Athenian that adopted it, and forsook the practice of gross raillery that prevailed before. Aristot. ch. 5. Crates flourished in the 82d Olympiad, 450 years before our Æra, twelve or thirteen years before Aristophanes.

* Eupolis was an Athenian; his death, which we shall mention presently, is represented differently by authors, who almost all agree that he was drowned. Elian adds an incident which deserves to be mentioned: he says (book x. Of Animals), that one Augeas of Eleusis, made Eupolis a present of a fine mastif, who was so faithful to his master as to worry to death a slave who was carrying away some of his comedies. He adds, that when the poet died at Egene, his dog staid by his tomb till he perished by grief and hunger.

† Cratinus of Athens, who was son of Callimedes, died at the age of ninety-seven. He composed twenty comedies, of which nine had the prize: he was a daring writer, but a cowardly warrior.

# Hertelius has collected the sentences of fifty Greek poets of the different ages of comedy.

that Aristophanes had the greatest character, since not only the king of Persia * expressed a high esteem of him to the Grecian ambassadors, as of a man extremely useful to his country, and Plato † rated him so high, as to say, that the graces resided in his bosom; but likewise because he is the only writer of whom any comedies have made their way down to us, through the confusion of times. There are not indeed any proofs that he was the inventor of comedy, properly so called, especially since he had not only predecessors who wrote in the same kind, but it is at least a sign, that he had contributed more than any other to bring comedy to the perfection in which he left it. We shall, therefore, not inquire farther, whether regular comedy was the work of a single mind, which seems yet to be unsettled, or of several contemporaries, such as these which Horace quotes. We must distinguish three forms which comedy wore, in consequence of the genius of the writers, or of the laws of the magistrates, and the change of the government of many into that of few.

That comedy, which Horace calls The old, midthe ancient, and which, according to dle, and new his account, was after Eschylus, re- comedy. tained something of its original state,

and of the licentiousness which it practised, while it was yet without regularity, and utterred loose

* Interlude of the second act of the comedy intitled The Asbarniens.

† Epigram attributed to Plato.

This history of the three ages of comedy, and their different characters, is taken in part from the valuable fragments of Platoni us.