dromos or iter, by which the Chorus entered the orchestra, were called Tápodo, and it would be quite in accordance with analogy if we supposed that the Tápodos was, what the name denotes, a song of the χορὸς ἐν παρόδῳ, i.e. of the choreutæ in the act of passing along the Spópos θυμελή. to the Ovueλn. Accordingly, this is the definition given by the Scholiast on Euripides 46: "the parodos is a song of the Chorus when it is moving, being sung at the time of its entrance." It will be observed that there is not, strictly speaking, a parodos in every Play. Confining ourselves to Sophocles, I should say that in the Edipus Tyrannus the Chorus is already grouped on the thymele when the Play begins, and that the first Chorus is a stasimon, as is pretty clearly indicated by the address of the Priest of Jupiter, which precedes it: "My children, let us take our stand: we came Hither but to obtain what he has promised 47." In the Edipus Coloneus and Philoctetes, the Chorus first appears on the stage, and unless the ode at v. 668 in the former, is to be considered as a parodos (which I much doubt), there is no entrance-song for the Chorus in either Play. The first ode in the Trachiniæ (v. 205 but I will refer Mr. Paley to Müller, Hist. Gr. Lit. 1. p. 297: "The opposition of the Chorus and the scenic actors is generally that of the λαοὶ and ἄνακτες.” And I will remind him that the Chorus had been disarranged in the orchestra by the violence of the Egyptian herald, and that the anapasts recited by them and the king are the proper measure for the evolution by which they would resume their places on the thymele. For the thymele, as the dancing-stage of the Chorus, see Jahrb. f. Phil. u Pädag. Vol. LI. p. 3—22. 46 Ad Phoeniss. 210: πάροδος δέ ἐστιν ᾠδὴ χοροῦ βαδίζοντος, ᾀδομένη ἅμα τῇ ἐσόδῳ. 47 ν. 147 : Ὦ παῖδες ἱστώμεσθα· τῶνδε γαρ χάριν Καὶ δεύρ' ἔβημεν ὧν ὅδ ̓ ἐξαγγέλλεται. sqq.) is neither a stasimon nor a parodos, but, as the Scholiast tells us, a little dancing-song to express the joy of the attendants of Deianeira 48. But we may plainly recognize the parodos in the Play before us. The Chorus, entering by the left hand wápodos, files away to the thymele in three parties of five each. After the first address to the Sun, which is sung in the Tápodos by the Chorus at large, the coryphæus leads the first four to the north side of the thymele, chanting the anapastic march-tune, v. 110-116. Then, the antistrophe having been sung by the whole Chorus, the coryphæus, now stationed on the thymele, with two of his own σTixos on either side, marches the next five of the choreutæ to their place, immediately to the south of his own σrixos, by chanting the second anapæstic march, v. 127-133. The second strophe follows, sung as before: and the coryphæus then completes his Chorus by making the remaining five choreutæ march to the south of the second rank, while he chants the third set of anapæsts, v. 141-147. With the whole Chorus thus drawn up, in three orixo of five each facing the stage, the second antistrophe is sung; and then the coryphæus introduces Kreon to the audience with the closing system of anapæsts (v. 155, sqq.); and the same rhythm accompanies the subsequent entrances of Antigone, Ismene, and Hæmon; and also the final departure of Kreon at the end of the play. In the Ajax of Sophocles, the parodos commences with a system of anapæsts recited by the coryphæus; and the same is the case in the Supplices, Persa, and Agamemnon of Eschylus. But in the Electra 48 τὸ γὰρ μελύδριον οὐκ ἔστι στάσιμον, ἀλλ ̓ ὑπὸ τῆς ἡδονῆς ὀρχοῦνται. of Sophocles, the heroine herself plays the part of leader to the Chorus; and, conversely, Tecmessa, in the Ajax, follows up the parodos with an anapastic dialogue anò σκηνῆς. § 9. The following may suffice as an analysis of the plot or action. I. Пpóλoyos. Just before sun-rise, Antigone, tỏ escape being overheard in the apartments of the women, leads forth her sister Ismene into the open space before the palace, and communicates to her Kreon's decree, forbidding the sepulture of Polyneikes, and her own resolve to violate it. Ismene vainly endeavours to dissuade her, and is greeted in return with indignant reproaches. They part: Ismene returns by the lefthand door into the women's apartments, and Antigone descends by the right-hand steps into the orchestra, in order to visit the spot, delineated on the right hand periaktos, where the body lay. The reader must fancy the actors dressed in sweeping under-garments of black, fringed with gold, and in upper robes of pale green, or bright yellow. Their masks would be expressive of the highest female beauty, and would be surmounted by the glittering frontlet which marked the woman of exalted rank. Antigone carries in her hand the prochus, or pitcher with which she poured forth the triple libations around the dead body. She wears, also, the long linen girdle crossing over her bosom, and passing 49 J. Poll. IV. § 118: τῆς δ ̓ ἐν συμφορᾷ, ὁ μὲν συρτὸς μέλας, τὸ δ ̓ ἐπίβλημα γλαυκὸν ἢ μήλινον. 50 Whence the epithet λɩарáμπvέ. round her waist, with which she afterward destroyed herself 51. II. Πάροδος.—The choreutæ enter the orchestra by the lower entrance to the left, and file away to the thymele, as described in the previous section. They briefly describe the siege of Thebes, and the defeat of the Argive host, and express their joy and thankfulness to the gods. It may be necessary to remark, for the information of some readers, that the choreuta, who were much nearer to the audience than the actors on the logeium, were not exaggerated in stature or size by high soles or padding, but, in the case before us, appeared as old men of the upper class, deckt out in Bacchic costume of the most brilliant and expensive description 52. ΙΙΙ. Επεισόδιον πρῶτον.—Kreon comes forth from the centre door of the Proscenium with a retinue of attendants. He wears his crown, and royal robes, and bears in his right hand the long sceptre, which is seen in ancient works of art 53. He alludes to his throne in 51 See note on Pind. O. vi. 31. For the figure of Antigone in the frontispiece I must be held responsible. It was reduced by the artist from a sketch, which I had composed after the best authorities. Although it is designed to exhibit Polus as he might be supposed to appear when masked for this character, I have ventured to make a few departures from the ungainly stiffness of the tragic attire. For instance, I have avoided all exaggeration in the mask, and have substituted the thick-soled sandal for the clumsy cothurnus. The prochus is borne by a figure in a tragic scene, found at Pompeii. M. Bocage, in arranging the mise en scéne for the French version of this tragedy, introduces Antigone with a full-sized amphora on her shoulder! 52 See, for example, Demosth. c. Mid. pp. 519, 520, 531; and Antiphanes apud Athen. III. p. 103, F: ἢ χορηγὺς αἱρεθείς, ἱμάτια χρυσᾶ παρασχὼν τῷ χορῷ. 53 I am disposed to think that the word kpárŋ in ver. 173 is an SOPH. ANT. C 173, and probably took his seat upon it. Addressing the Chorus, he states the reasons which induced him to forbid the burial of Polyneikes under the penalty of death, and while he invites them to sanction his enactment by giving no countenance to the disobedient, he informs them that he has already posted a watch over the dead body. In the mean time, Antigone has, at day-break, performed the necessary rites, and has then concealed herself in the olive-grove hard by, in order to watch the proceedings of the sentinels. One of them now makes his appearance to inform Kreon of what had been done, the first day-watch having speedily discovered the attentions which had been paid to the corpse. This watchman, or sentinel, who, of course, approaches from the right, probably wore the xλaiva ovλn, or outer cloak of thick piled wool 54, and the Baotian fir-cone hat 55 ; he would bear on his left arm the Baotian shield, with indentations for the lance 56; and in his right hand some sort of spear. The reader will observe that Sophocles has used this character much in the same way as Shakspere employs his clowns-by way of contrast to the elevated and tragic tone of the drama. The Sentinel is, in the lowest sense of the term, paulos, or "vulgarminded 57." Antigone, as naturally cooλn, is willing to allusion to the sceptre in his hand, which was the emblem of his power, and which is so constantly mentioned in connexion with the throne; cf. Ed. Col. 426: ὃς νῦν σκῆπτρα καὶ θρόνους ἔχει. 450 : θρόνους καὶ σκῆπο τρα κραίνειν. 1356: σκῆπτρα καὶ θρόνους ἔχων. Pind. Ρ. IV. 152: καὶ σκαπο τον μόναρχον, καὶ θρόνος, ᾧ πότε Κρ. ἐγκαθίζων ἱππόταις εὔθυνε λαοῖς δίκας. 54 That it was necessary for watchmen, &c. to have such a cloak, is clear from Hom. Od. XIV. 478, sqq. 55 Theophrast. Hist. Pl. III. 9. 56 Müller, Ancient Art and its remains, p. 352. Engl. Tr. 57 For this term, as the regular opposite to κaλòs κảyalòs, see |