Publisher's Synopsis
Excerpt from The English Religious Drama
Persia, while the very name tragedy confesses the outgrowth of the Attic stage from sacrificial cere monies. E'lt the altar of Dionysus, giver of wine, giver of joy, giver of freedom, while the goat, the thank-offering, stood waiting to be slain, the Shaggy vestured priests, with one wild rhythm of voice and step and gesture, chanted an anthem of praise known as the goat-song (tpcifyos or tragedy. So the paean, with music of the ?utes and rhythmic dancing, was sung at Delphi in honour of Apollo; and song, too, entered into the mystic worship of Demeter at Eleusis. And as at Delphi there grew up, in connection with the lyric service, a repre sentation of the victory of the young god of light over the deadly serpent, and as at Eleusis the rape of Persephone and the wanderings of Demeter, Shown by the uncertain light of torches, were woven into the symbolical rites, so from the choral worship of Dionysus, by slower and more even steps, leading to transcendent height, rose the classic drama.
Yet even in beauty-loving Hellas there was a sen timent opposed to theatrical representation. Solon is reported to have said, on meeting the car of Thespis, that somewhat dim-featured founder of Greek tragedy: Are you not ashamed to tell so many lies? And the man of truth, Lycurgus, would allow no theatre in Sparta.
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
