EURIPIDES, the last of the three great tragic poets of Greece, was born in the second decade of the fifth century. He was fifteen years younger than Sophocles, and ten years younger than Socrates, though not of Athenian. origin, his parents being refugees, living upon one of the Greek islands. His early education was not favourable for the development of his talents. He was first trained as an athlete, then he studied painting. Finally, however, he began to pursue rhetoric and philosophy, and it was these two which formed his character and developed his talent; and in after years, when he had become devoted to tragedy, it was the spirit of these rhetorical and philosophical studies of his youth which shone through his compositions in marked contrast to the religious and martial spirit which animated the drama of Eschylus. We find in his plays the same scheme of the world as in the writings of Anaxagoras, and the same foundation

of morals as in the teachings of Socrates. sophie dramatist.

He is often called the philo

Notwithstanding the varied experience through which he had passed, he was but twenty-five years of age when he wrote his first tragedy. This piece, now lost, was unfavourably received by the public; and, in common with several others which shared the same fate, was afterwards re-written and altered by him. Then followed "Hecuba," "Orestes," "Medea," "Hippolytus," "Alcestis," "Andromache," and "Iphigeneia." The number of his plays is variously estimated at from seventy-five to ninety-two. Of these, there are eighteen complete tragedies, one satiric drama, and fragments of others still extant.

The philosophical studies of Euripides turned him against Greek mythology, and he treated the subjects he took from it in such a manner as to rouse the prejudices of the aristocratic classes. He stripped the gods of their ideal greatness, and reduced them to the level of men-a method which pleased the populace greatly. In delincating woman and the workings of strong passion, Euripides displays special excellence, and has also filled his works with neat quotable sayings applicable to all the phases of human life.

After a literary career of nearly half a century, he retired to Macedonia, much to the regret of the Athenians. Here, two years later, tradition says, he met a tragic death, being torn in pieces by the king's hounds when alone in the woods.

The names of Eschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides are always mentioned together. Of this most famous dramatic triad it is customary to call Eschylus the most sublime, Sophocles the most beautiful and perfect, and Euripides the most pathetic and human. It is the latter who has been taken as the model by all later writers of classic drama, the Romans, the Italians, the French, and the Germans. His two best known plays, "Medea" and "Iphigeneia," have been imitated again and again the "Iphigeneia" of Racine and that of Goethe are familiar to all. Professor Jebb calls Euripides the mediator between ancient and modern drama.

"Euripides was only fifteen years younger than Sophocles; but when Euripides began to write, it must have been clear to any man of his genius and culture that, though an established prestige might be maintained, a new poet who sought to construct tragedy on the old basis would be building on sand. For, first, the popular religion itself-the very foundation of tragedy-had been undermined; secondly, scepticism had begun to be busy with the legends which that religion consecrated.

"Euripides made a splendid effort to maintain the place of tragedy in the spiritual life of Athens, by modifying its interests in the sense which his own generation required. Could not the heroic personages still excite interest if they were made more real, if in them the passions and

C

sorrows were portrayed with greater vividness and directness? and might not the least cultivated part of an audience enjoy thrilling plot, especially if written from the home legends of Athens ?"

Thus Euripides marks in a striking manner the transition from the religious to the philosophic epoch; and it is in no wise the fault of the poet it is the inevitable movement of art, which is forced to follow the march of the human mind. We may regard it as a progress rather than an alteration; or, at least, if there is a decadence on one side, there is then a progress on the other. Euripides had in effect discovered an unknown world, the world of the feelings; a new mine, the mine of the heart; and that discovery became the source of a most brilliant success.

One cannot deny to him the merit of being a grand painter of the human heart. It is by this that he stands, and by this that he must continue to please throughout all time-because he has traced the eternal sentiments of our being. His chief aim is to move; he knows the nature of human passions, and how to create the situations in which they are developed with the greatest force.

The following characteristic thoughts are from the writings of Euripides:

"The tongue may swear and leave the heart unsworn."

"There is nothing worse than a bad woman, and nothing better than a good one."

"Politeness costeth not much, and may win for us a great deal.”

"We teach our children many things, but too often do we pass by the thing of most importance-good sense."

"In all states there be three classes: one that is rich, and lazy, and selfish; one that is poor, and jealous, and reckless; and a middle one that is ingenious, and thoughtful, and trustworthy; for while this latter hath something to win, it hath very much to lose."

"There be men that can prove black white, and, for a time, their cunning prospereth, but in the end it is found to be very foolishness, and the cunning man cometh to own with his neighbour, that honesty is the best policy."

"Of everything there is satiety; so have I known men tired with beauty become enamoured of plain faces; and men used to luxury turn to peasant fare."

Homer stands for epic

FOUR of the Greek poets are representative men. poetry, Pindar for lyric poetry, and Eschylus for tragedy. We have now to add for comedy the name of Aristophanes.

Of the life of this poet we have no particulars. We know that he began to be famous at Athens, as a writer, about the fourth year of her great war with Sparta, 427 B.C.; we know from a caricature in Plato that he was a convivial fellow, fond of pleasure, drank much wine, and, like many other Athenians, spent whole nights in witty conversation; and from his works we know that he was the greatest comic writer that ever lived. Not more than a third of the total number of his plays have come down to us, but every one of them is a masterpiece. Chief of these are

"The Clouds," which ridicules Socrates and natural philosophy.

"The Knights," an attack on Cleon.

"The Frogs," a satire on Euripides, in which he is unfavourably contrasted with the elder dramatist, Æschylus.

"The Birds," in which we have represented a fine philosophical Eutopia; a model city, built by birds. It is called Cloud-Cuckoo-Town. In this play is found a curious cosmogony, and a highly interesting plan for laying out a city on scientific principles.

The "Acharnians," the "Peace," and the "Lysistrata," are three pleas for putting an end to the civil war.

In "The Wasps," the poet satirizes the Athenian passion for lawsuits, and the popular mania for serving on the jury.

Finally, we have "The Female Parliament," a play representing an exciting conspiracy of the softer sex to effect a social revolution.

In these compositions the audacity of the writer knows no bounds. He lampoons Aspasia, Cleon, Socrates, Euripides, and the god Dionysus himself; burlesques woman's rights, the model societies of the philosophers, and the courts of justice; denounces the war policy, and attacks popular education. His whole work is a burlesque upon all existing men and things. "The old comedy was an audacious and scathing satire of public men, and an attack on popular movements." The licence which the poet takes with the manners and customs, with the citizens, and even with the gods of Athens themselves, is not only startling, but seems to us at first incredible.

Aristophanes ever remains as the chief source of study for historians, and all who wish to bring before their mind a true picture of the time, the age of Pericles.

In regard to his portrait, the face of the antique bust is characteristic; the features are those of broad humour, yet without being in any sense simple or undignified. As we contemplate the face, we are led irresistibly to the impression that it is just ready to burst into an uproarious laugh. It is exactly the face we should expect to see belonging to the prince of jokers.

Concerning his character, several passages in the "Banquet" refer to him, and seem to throw a light upon the manner in which he was regarded at least by the philosophers. On taking his place at table, he is made to say

"You speak well on this point, that we should by all means procure for ourselves an easy method in our drinking, for I am one of those who was thoroughly drenched yesterday."

A little further on, Socrates votes that each person in turn shall discourse on love. "Not a single man," he says, "will give a contrary vote. Not Agathon, nor Pausanias; nor would, I ween, Aristophanes, whose occupation relates to Dionysus and Aphrodite.”