The speeches uttered by
the heroes in such poems as the "Iliad" are put into the mouths of real
personages who appear in sight of the audience and represent with
fitting gestures and costumes the characters of the story. The dialogue
is interspersed with songs or odes, which reach their perfection in the
choruses of Sophocles.
The drama is undoubtedly the most intellectual, as it is the most
artificial, form of poetry. The construction of the plot, and the
arrangement of the action, give room for the most thoughtful and
deliberate display of genius. In this respect the Greek drama stands
forth as most philosophically perfect. The drama, moreover, has always
been by far the most popular form of poetry; because it aids, as much as
possible, the imagination of the auditor, and for distinctness and
clearness of impression stands preeminent above both the epic narrative
and the emotional description of the lyric.
The drama in India appears to have been a perfectly indigenous creation,
although it was of very late development, and could not have appeared
even so early as the Alexandrian pastorals which marked the last phase
of Greek poetry.
Pages:
394
395
396
397
398
399
400
401
402
403
404
405
406
407
408
409
410
411
412
413
414
415
416
417
418