Papers of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens (6.1890-1897 (1897))

THE CHORUS IX THE LATER GREEK DRAMA. 415

Phrynichus, that is, an indiscriminate list of poets of the fifth and
fourth centuries. The article de comoedia et tragoedia, published
by Usener (_R/i. Mus. 28, 417 ff.) distinguishes between the prior
ac vetus comoedia ridicularis, whose author was Susarion, and the
later comedy, represented by Plautus and Terence among the Ro-
mans, the writers of which, omissa maledicendi Ubertate, privatorum
hominum vitam cum Mlaritate imitabantur. So far no mention of the
chorus. Tzetzes, in his verses irepl Kcop-wSiwi v. 68 ff., mentions
only the TraXaid and the via, the former having the chorus, the
latter not. The context does not show how far the first division
extends. This is true, also, of Horace's chorus turpiter obticidt,
which will be considered later. The two Vitae of Aristophanes
state that Aristophanes TrpwTos koX t?5? vias fccd/j,a>8ia<; tov Tpoirov
iTreSei^ev iv ra KcoKaXo), e'f ov Tr\v apyrqv \a/36p.evoi MevavSpo?
re teal <£>i\rj/j.a>v iSpap.arovp'yrjcrav. If the writer meant that the
new comedy began with the later plays of Aristophanes, which is
by no means a necessary inference, we shall see later that he was
in the wrong. The same holds true, so far as the chorus is con-
cerned, of Platonius who dates the chorusless middle comedy from
the same period. Anon, in makes the same threefold division
that prevails to-day, but says nothing of the chorus.

Two significant facts as regards these notices should be em-
phasized. Firstly, the poets who are assigned to the middle
comedy, (omitting Anon. Ill, who mentions Antiphanes and
Stephanus) are Eupolis, Cratinus, Pherecrates, etc., Plato always,
and generally Aristophanes, but never Antiphanes, Alexis and
others who belong to what we know as the middle comedy.33
On the other hand, there is no confusion between the repre-
sentatives of the comedy of the fourth and of the third cen-
turies. Now, however faulty these classifications are, if the
comedy of the fourth century had been recognized as forming a
distinct epoch, the poets of this period would not have failed to
receive mention. The question arises, therefore, whether this

331 refer, of course, only to those accounts which I have quoted above. Suidas,
Pollux, Athenaeus, the scholiasts, etc., often mention the poets of the fourth century
as belonging to the middle comedy. But these passages are not taken into considera-
tion here because they give no information on the question at issue.