actions, and those of noble personages; and
the meaner sort the actions of the ignoble. The latter class produced
invectives at first, just as others did hymns and panegyrics. We know of
no such poem by any of the pre-Homeric poets, though there were probably
many such writers among them; instances, however, may be found from
Homer downwards, e.g. his _Margites_, and the similar poems of others.
In this poetry of invective its natural fitness brought an iambic metre
into use; hence our present term 'iambic', because it was the metre of
their 'iambs' or invectives against one another. The result was that
the old poets became some of them writers of heroic and others of iambic
verse. Homer's position, however, is peculiar: just as he was in the
serious style the poet of poets, standing alone not only through the
literary excellence, but also through the dramatic character of his
imitations, so too he was the first to outline for us the general forms
of Comedy by producing not a dramatic invective, but a dramatic picture
of the Ridiculous; his _Margites_ in fact stands in the same relation
to our comedies as the _Iliad_ and _Odyssey_ to our tragedies. As soon,
however, as Tragedy and Comedy appeared in the field, those naturally
drawn to the one line of poetry became writers of comedies instead of
iambs, and those naturally drawn to the other, writers of tragedies
instead of epics, because these new modes of art were grander and of
more esteem than the old.

If it be asked whether Tragedy is now all that it need be in its
formative elements, to consider that, and decide it theoretically and in
relation to the theatres, is a matter for another inquiry.

It certainly began in improvisations--as did also Comedy; the one
originating with the authors of the Dithyramb, the other with those of
the phallic songs, which still survive as institutions in many of our
cities. And its advance after that was little by little, through their
improving on whatever they had before them at each stage. It was in fact
only after a long series of changes that the movement of Tragedy stopped
on its attaining to its natural form. (1) The number of actors was first
increased to two by Aeschylus, who curtailed the business of the Chorus,
and made the dialogue, or spoken portion, take the leading part in the
play. (2) A third actor and scenery were due to Sophocles. (3) Tragedy
acquired also its magnitude. Discarding short stories and a ludicrous
di