ey
are in search of things below the earth." "And why are their backs up in
the air?" "With them they are studying astronomy."

These passages will give some faint idea, though not an adequate one, of
the coarseness of Aristophanes' humour. The primitive character of it is
marked by the fact that the greater portion has no reference to the
sexes.

It is a crumb of comfort to know that women were not generally present
at performances of comedies, and Aristotle says that young men should
not be allowed to attend them until they are old enough to sit at table
and get drunk. Moreover, to be humorous the comedian must necessarily
have exceeded the bounds of ordinary usage. Aristophanes occasionally
deplores the degeneracy of his times,--the youth of the period making
"rude jests," but his own writings are the principal evidence of this
depravity. His allusions are not excusable on the ground of ignorance;
they are intentionally impure. There was once an age of innocence--still
reflected in childhood, and among some unprogressive races--in which a
sort of natural darkness hung over the thoughts and actions of men,--but
it was in reality an age of ignorance. When light broke forth delicacy
sprang up, and when by degrees one thing after another had been
forbidden and veiled from sight by the common consent of society, there
was a large borderland formed outside immorality upon which the
trespasser could enter and sport; and much could be said which was
objectionable without giving serious offence. Before the days of
Aristophanes and the comic performances for which he wrote, very little
genius or enterprise was directed into the paths of humour, but now
every part of them was explored. Indelicacy would here afford great
assistance, from the attraction it possesses for many people and the
ease with which it is understood. Something perhaps is due to the fact
that Greece had now reached the highest point of her prosperity, and
that a certain amount of lawlessness prevailed as her brilliancy began
to tremble and fade. From whatever cause it arose, Aristophanes stands
before us as one of the first to introduce this base ornamentation. The
most remarkable circumstance connected with it is that he assigns a
large part of his coarse language to women. His object was to amuse a
not very refined audience, and one that relished something
preposterous.

Thus Aristophanes lowered his style to the level of his audience, but in
his brigh