Sophocles, however, abandoned the trilogy, and While he produced three plays acted in succes non, there seems' to have been no nexus be tween them. Sometimes there was a change of scene in tragedy, and, more rarely, in comedy.
This usual adherence to one place for the ac tion, which was fixed by the presence of the chorus, was called the uunity of place?' The rule of ((unity of time" was more strictly ob served than in modern drama, though by no means so strictly as is commonly supposed. The ((unity of is of universal application, resting upon the fundamental principle of dramatic art that every part of a play must con duce to a common end and to the development of the main theme.
Most of the subjects of Greek tragedy are taken from the poems of the Epic Cycle, and almost all the rest from the legendary history of the heroic age. The scenic appliances were partly invented by 1Eschylus, partly im proved and completed. He paid great attention to detail. Of the three great tragedians lEschylus was the most practical : he superin tended the performance, the arrangement of each part, the decoration of the stage. All the machinery requisite for his gigantic productions was carefully studied. Nevertheless, his drama reached farther than his scenic representation. The Athenians were born debaters, and the ele vation of this inborn capacity to the higher ranges of art was the work of .Eschylus; he was practically the creator of the dramatic dialogue. None of his successors ever equaled him in inventiveness; none surpassed him in the variety and artistic arrangement of rhythms. lEschylus crystallized the language and devel oped a lofty style; and, with a single exception (the 'Persians'), he selected his themes ex clusively from the heroic myths. .Eschylus really marks a greater advance on Phrynichus in the development of tragedy than Sophocles on lEschylus. Henceforth the chorus forms, in a certain measure, an ideal public, which partici pates in the action as a sympathizing witness. Though the drama has its origin in religion, its development and perfection is due to art. The
art-form was completely developed by iEschy lus. The next great dramatic artist was Soph odes. The changes attributed to him in the external economy of the stage are not great: the temper and tone of tragedy is changed; the actors are made to play better; the material is narrowed to the compass of a single tragedy; the characterization becomes sharper; the dia logue moves more briskly; and the action be comes more complicated, the meshes of intrigue finer. The effects of Sophoclean scenes can hardly be comprehended to-day: tableaus, full of horror or pathos, which the noble grace of the actors' movements made more expressive a calm and simple unfolding of a simple story, constructed with consummate art, each part of which contributed to the beauty and perfection of the whole. The chorus still respond to the action, as the strings of one lyre vibrate when those of another are struck; but the lyre simply reflects, no longer bears the piece. The plot, on the other hand, was developed with the most exact thoughtfulness. How subtly the plot is articulated is seen best in Sophocles' 'King Oedipus.' But it is particularly in dramatic psychology, in the portrayal of character, that Sophocles marks a distinct advance on Xschy lus. Euripides, the third of the great triad, brings his poetry nearer earth, but he does not differ entiate his characters so well as Sophocles. lEschylus evokes fear, Euripides compassion, Sophocles both, and in due proportion. If one can read but one great tragic poet of Greece, he should select Sophocles, who has his inevitable perfection. Theoretically he is the chiefest of the three. He is the one consummate master of style, versification, melody and vocabulary, who always maintains a noble Homeric grace, and never sinks below the calm level of high art.
The dramatic performances were given at two yearly festivals, the Lenaean, in January, and the city Dionysia in March. (See GREEK FESTIVALS; GREEK THE). Most of the villages in Attica had their local festivals in December, called the Rural Dionysia.