cannot indeed be put down to any author earlier than Homer; though many
such writers probably there were. But from Homer onward, instances can be
cited,--his own Margites, for example, and other similar compositions.
The appropriate metre was also here introduced; hence the measure is
still called the iambic or lampooning measure, being that in which people
lampooned one another. Thus the older poets were distinguished as writers
of heroic or of lampooning verse.

As, in the serious style, Homer is pre-eminent among poets, for he alone
combined dramatic form with excellence of imitation, so he too first laid
down the main lines of Comedy, by dramatising the ludicrous instead of
writing personal satire. His Margites bears the same relation to Comedy
that the Iliad and Odyssey do to Tragedy. But when Tragedy and Comedy
came to light, the two classes of poets still followed their natural
bent: the lampooners became writers of Comedy, and the Epic poets were
succeeded by Tragedians, since the drama was a larger and higher form of
art.

Whether Tragedy has as yet perfected its proper types or not; and whether
it is to be judged in itself, or in relation also to the audience,--this
raises another question. Be that as it may, Tragedy--as also Comedy ---
was at first mere improvisation. The one originated with the authors of
the Dithyramb, the other with those of the phallic songs, which are still
in use in many of our cities. Tragedy advanced by slow degrees; each new
element that showed itself was in turn developed. Having passed through
many changes, it found its natural form, and there it stopped.

Aeschylus first introduced a second actor; he diminished the importance
of the Chorus, and assigned the leading part to the dialogue. Sophocles
raised the number of actors to three, and added scene-painting. Moreover,