Professor White's Second Lecture.

In the lecture-room of the Jefferson Physical Laboratory, yesterday afternoon, Professor J. W. White gave his second lecture on the Greek Theatre and Drama. He said that the Greek drama was a development; it grew from the songs which were sung in worship of Dionysus at the festival of that god. The choral hymn sung on these occasions was called the dithyramb, and from it sprang both tragedy and comedy. The simple choral hymn soon took the form of a dialogue between the leader of the chorus and the chorus; then the chorus was improved in organization; next the number of principals in the dialogue was increased to three, and thus the complete action of the drama could be presented. In this development the chorus gradually became subordinated to the dialogue, but remained an important feature during the most flourishing period of the drama.

In chosing subjects for their dramas the writers of tragedy were limited. Tragedy dealt with the gods, and the story represented must be some wellknown myth, one which the whole audience knew in its main outlines. The story of the Medea of Euripides was told at this point to illustrate this. The writers of comedy were not thus limited, but were allowed to give free rein to their originality. This is Illustrated in the "Clouds," where Aristophanes attacks the new spirit of inquiry and culture which was growing up at Athens.

After describing the chorus and its duties, the lecturer said that the limiting of the number of actors to three had one important result: it insured that the parts would be well acted. In should be mentioned that in addition to the principal actors, "mute persons" could be brought on the stage. On account of their wearing masks, the actors could not use facial expressions, but relied utterly upon action to enforce the meaning. The costuming lacked the variety of the modern stage. The dress of the tragic actor was always the same, and in comedy there was not much more variety.

The audience in the Athenian theatre included the every-day class of citizens. In the front row were the priests and magistrates; behind them the body of the senate and other dignitaries. There was a place set apart for the ladies; women, however, do not appear to have been present at the performances of comedy. The people came early in the morning; they were garlanded, and brought their lunches. Tragedy was played in the morning, and comedy in the afternoon. From 20,000 to 30,000 people attended these performances, and, it is said, were deeply moved by the representations.