to conceal the movements of actors, but it is not a proof that the paraskenia had already been erected. I have stated that this example in the Eumenides is the earliest absolutely certain instance of the passing of actors behind the scenes. But it was in all probability not the first instance. For if it be true, as most believe, that in the pre-Sophoclean period all the rôles in a play, except of course that of the chorus, were divided between two actors only, a screen of some sort was needed as early as the Suppliants of Aeschylus, a drama that is usually assigned to about the year 490 B.C.240 And the same is true also of the Persians (472 B.C.), the Seven against Thebes (467 B.C.) and probably the Prometheus Bound. Unfortunately, however, none of these plays affords a solution of the problem. But as the skene had been introduced several years before the performance of the Oresteia of Aeschylus (458 B.C.), the paraskenia may have been added at this time. But this is purely conjectural. If, however, the Aeschylean skene was erected on the terrace between the line connecting the parodi and the retaining wall at the rear, it is clear that a proskenion placed before this structure would have encroached upon the orchestra-area. Additions to the building, barring an upper story, could be made only at the ends, where we believe the paraskenia were constructed, or in the rear. In other words, after the paraskenia had been added, the building developed in the direction away from the auditorium rather than toward it, as is usually assumed. And this occurred, I believe, when the need of a second story was felt. For if a proskenion was not placed in front of the skene, and if the roof of the skene continued to be used as a platform, even after the addition of the upper story, then clearly the latter together with its substructure was erected at the rear. The date when the 240 On the number of actors in Greek drama see Rees, The So-called Rule of Three Actors in the Classical Greek Drama (1908); Kaffenberger, Das Dreischauspielergesetz in der griechischen Tragödie (1911). Naturally neither of these treatises deals at length with the pre-Sophoclean period. For Noack's view see note 63 above. scene-building was thus enlarged was probably not later than 430 B.C. and may have been many years earlier. And it is perhaps not unreasonable to conjecture that at the time when these additions were projected the position of the theater was shifted and not at the end of the fifth century or in the Lycurgean period. The precise date of this change however is not determinable. Whether this new portion of the scene-building extended the full length of the older structure including the paraskenia is not known. Nor do we know how the upper story (the episkenion) appeared. The reconstruction shown in figure 31 is conjectural. The early structure had been known as the skene (σkηvý or σKηva), and this designation continued to be used of the entire scene-building not only during the period of its evolution but even after it had become a large and imposing edifice. The wings at the end came to be called the paraskenia (rapá, "at the side of "), and the upper story, the episkenion (èí, "upon"). The use of the term proskenion (pó, "before") was due, I believe, to analogy and was applied to the original portion, which was now small in comparison with the whole and stood nearest the orchestra. This part, like all of the scene-building in the fifth century, was constructed of wood. And even after the other parts of the building were made of stone and marble this original portion, which was still the main background of the action and which was subject to modification in accordance with the exigencies of the plays, continued for many years to be a temporary, wooden erection. Actors, number of, 115. INDEX Butcher, 69. Bywater, 82. Capps, 36, 43, 47, 111. Aeschylus, 5, 43 ff.; theater of, 23, ἀναβαίνειν, 14, 36 f. Andocides (De Myst., 38), 34. Aristophanes, Acharnians, 36, 39, 49, Aristotle, 82. Athenaeus, 16. Frogs, 36 ff.; Peace, Cleophon, 18. Couve, 59. Croiset, 70. Curtain, 82. Cybulski, 95. Decharme, 63, 65, 104. Delian inscriptions, 15, 59, 67, 68. Dion Chrysostom, 78. Dionysus Eleuthereus, precinct of, 4, διστεγία, 64. Dörpfeld, 4, 8, 20, 80, 95, and passim. Auditorium, 1, 10, 23, 25, 35. See Dramas, evidence of, 43 ff.; types of, 50, 85; Antiope, 85; Bacchae, 54, | Jahn, 98, 104. кaтaßalveiv, 14, 36 ff. 56; Cyclops, 49, 86; Dictys, 77; Judeich, 4, 18, 25, 34. Exon, 84. Felsch, 69, 73. Fensterbusch, 36, 37, 43, 49, 69, 71. Gable, 64, 65. Gardner, E. A., 18, 19, 22, 25. Haigh, 8, 80, 89, 109, and passim. Harrison, 44, 51, 58, 101, 102. Hellenistic proskenion, 12, 15, 31; Hermann, 81. Hermon, comic actor, 80, 87. Heydemann, 101. Hoeber, 99. Höpken, 91. Holwerda, 111. Homolle, 15, 45, 59. Hyginus, 56. Ikpia, see Seats. Legrand, 55, 57. Plato, Laws, 817 c, 4. Plato, comicus, 59. Pollux, 52, 62, 64, 80, 83, 84, 87. Prickard, 43. Proskenion, 4, 14, 15, 16, 31, 89, 91, Puchstein, 8, 13, 15, 16, 19, 25, 82, Rayet et Collignon, 97. Reisch, 8, 27, 36, 39, 43, 76, 77, 84, Ridgeway, 74. Robert, 8, 29, 51, 73, 81, and passim. Theologeion, 62, 63. Roof, 63, 64. Rutherford, 37. Thespis. 5. Scaena ductilis, 81, 90. Thrasybulus, 18. Thymele, 38. Todt, 20. Tripods, street of, 33, 34. Scene, changes of, 70 ff., 76 ff., 87; Triglyph-frieze, 65 ff. kinds of, 47, 48. Scenery, 88 ff. Scene-building (vý), 1, 4, 6, 11, Unity, of time, 69; of place, 69 ff. 17, 59, 87, 94 ff., 111 ff. |