FIG. 23.

-THE SCENE-BUILDING OF THE FIFTH-CENTURY THEATER (DöRPFELD).

VII

THE ALLEGED PROTHYRON OF THE VASE-PAINTINGS

Among the various proskenia which Dörpfeld assumes were in use during the fifth and fourth centuries should doubtless be included the columned porch, with stylobate, entablature and gable, which forms a prominent feature of Dörpfeld's well known reconstruction of the scene-building in the fifth century (Fig. 23).212 A structure of this sort, it is supposed, would serve as a realistic representation of a palace or a temple and would be particularly useful in the case of portico-scenes (p. 55), while its stylobate would provide a convenient, though low, platform which could be used in lieu of a stage.

The archaeological argument adduced by Dörpfeld in support of the hypothesis that the skene was sometimes so adorned may be briefly summarized as follows. Many Greek vase-paintings depict scenes that appear to have been inspired by the contemporary drama. These fall into several distinct groups, the majority of which were executed in southern Italy during the fourth and third centuries. Some of these paintings reflect unmistakably the influence of Euripidean tragedy and are characterized in several instances by the presence of a small, columned structure or aedicula, which apparently represents a palace (Figs. 24, 2729). But in the fourth century palaces of this type could hardly be found elsewhere than in the theater. Some of the pictures indeed in which these buildings occur clearly show in other respects the influence of the drama and dramatic conventions, and the

212 Das griechische Theater, fig. 93, p. 373. It is reproduced in color by Cybulski (Tabulae quibus Antiquitates Graecae et Romanae illustrantur, 12); also by Durm (Die Baukunst der Griechen (ed. 3, 1910), p. 470), but without approbation.

VASE AT MUNICH.

idea of placing the leading characters within the building in these paintings may also have been suggested by the tragic performances, many of whose scenes were enacted in the colonnade (Vorhalle) of the palace. We may assume therefore that these little structures are conventionalized reproductions of a prothyron or portico erected before the central portion of the scene-building. And if a proskenion of this description was employed in the fourth century, it follows a fortiori that it must have been in common. use in the preceding century also.21

Relying on this course of reasoning Dörpfeld restores the scenebuilding with a projecting porch whose floor is elevated above the level of the orchestra (Fig. 23); while his collaborator Reisch boldly makes this restoration the basis for the interpretation of certain passages in the fifth-century drama. But the argument when tested fails to convince. Its validity has often been questioned. 214 But because it has exercised a not inconsiderable

213 Das griechische Theater, p. 208 (Reisch): "Auf Vasenbildern sehen wir solche Vorplätze, die um eine Stufe über den davorliegenden Platz erhöht und von einem weit vorspringenden Thürdach überdeckt sind. Ähnliche Prothyra wird man bei den Theaterhäusern voraussetzen dürfen; die Stufe des Prothyron gab dem Schauspieler Gelegenheit, wo es vorteilhaft erschien, einen erhöhten Standplatz zu gewinnen." Ibid., p. 309 (Dörpfeld): "Diese Säulengeschmückten Bauten stellen . . . durchweg Paläste vor, und die Vorbilder für solche, mit Giebeln ausgestattete Paläste wird man im IV. Jahrhundert schwerlich anderswo als im Theater suchen durfen." Page 310: "Wie wenig den Malern dabei an einer getreuen Wiedergabe eines wirklichen Vorbildes gelegen war, geht schon daraus hervor, dass sie die Säulenhalle als eine freistehende, auch rückwärts offene Halle zeichnen, ohne einen hinteren Bau oder auch nur eine Hinterwand anzugeben, so dass es unklar bleibt, ob sie die dargestellten Vorgänge wirklich in der Vorhalle oder im Innern des Palästes gedacht wissen wollten. Dennoch darf man wohl die schlanke leichte Bauart dieser Hallen auf die Holzarchitektur der Proskenionbauten zurückführen und ihre kleinen Abmessungen daraus erklären, dass die 2-4 säuligen Hallen vor dem Mittelthor des Theaterpalastes als nächstes Vorbild gedient haben."

214 As, for example, by Fiechter, Die baugeschichtliche Entwicklung des antiken Theaters (1914), p. 42: "Ob jene Hallen oder aediculae auf Vasenbildern des IV. Jahrhunderts mit Dorpfeld-Reisch, a. O. S. 308, mit dem Theater in Verbindung zu bringen sind, bleibt unsicher. Gewiss können ähnliche Dekorationen im Drama des IV. Jahrhunderts vor die Skene gestellt worden sein, aber aus diesern Bildern ist das nicht zu entnehmen." Flickinger (The Greek Theater and its Drama, 1918, p. 237) is less positive. He remarks: "But perhaps these paintings are only conventionalized representations of the proscenium colonnade itself. In any case it is important to observe that no background corresponding to the scene-building is indicated on the vases."