ited to reduce the power of Dionysius the
Tyrant, as upon the greatest action they had ever done.

We may judge of the eagerness of the poets to signalize themselves in
these solemn games, from that of Dionysius himself.(171) That prince, who
had the foolish vanity to believe himself the most excellent poet of his
time, appointed readers, called in Greek, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PSI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH VARIA~} (_Rhapsodists_,) to read
several pieces of his composing at Olympia. When they began to pronounce
the verses of the royal poet, the strong and harmonious voices of the
readers occasioned a profound silence, and they were heard at first with
the greatest attention, which continually decreased as they went on, and
turned at last into downright horse-laughs and hooting; so miserable did
the verses appear. He comforted himself for this disgrace by a victory he
gained some time after in the feast of Bacchus at Athens, in which he
caused a tragedy of his composition to be represented.(172)

The disputes of the poets in the Olympic games were nothing, in comparison
with the ardour and emulation that prevailed at Athens; which is what
remains to be said upon this subject, and therefore I shall conclude with
it: taking occasion to give my readers, at the same time, a short view of
the shows and representations of the theatre of the ancients.

Those who would be more fully informed on this subject, will find it
treated at large in a work lately made public by the reverend father
Brumoi the Jesuit; a work which abounds with profound knowledge and
erudition, and with reflections entirely new, deduced from the nature of
the poems of which it treats. I shall make considerable use of that piece,
and often without citing it; which is not uncommon with me.

Extraordinary Fondness of the Athenians for the Entertainments of the
Stage. Emulation of the Poets in disputing the Prizes in those
Representations. A short Idea of Dramatic Poetry.

No people ever expressed so much ardour and eagerness for the
entertainments of the theatre as the Greeks, and especially the Athenians.
The reason is obvious: as no people ever demonstrated such extent of
genius, nor carried so far the love of eloquence and poesy, taste for the
sciences, justness of sentiments, elegance of ear, and del