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Essays On Subjects Connected With History And Classical Learning.
"Why do not you , " says lie , " let the people amuse themselves with our quarrels ? " This dancer had such great powers in all his tragedies , that tie could draw tears from even those of the spectators the least used to the melting mood . And , in truth , the effect of these pantomimes , in general , was prodigious . Tears and sobs interrupted often the representation of the tragedy of Glaucus , in whicli the pantomimic Plancus played the principal character . But what is
, more surprising yet , Memphir , a Pythagorean philosopher , as Athensus tells us , expressed , by dancing , ail the excellence of the philosophy of Pythagoras , with more elegance , more clearness and energy , than the most eloquent professor of philosophy could have done . One instance of the regard shewn by Pilades to theatrical proprietyand the truth of natureis preserved to usand not unworth
, , , y of attention . He had been publicly challenged by Hilas , once a pupil of his , to represent the greatness of Agamemnon : Hilas came upon , the stage with buskins , which , in the nature of stilts , made him of an artificial height ; in consequence of which lie greatly overtopped the croud of actors who surrounded him . This passed well enoughtill Pilades appeared with an airstern and majestic . His
, , serious steps , his arms across , his motion sometimes slow , sometimes animated , with pauses full of meaning ; his looks now fixed oii the ground , now lifted to heaven , with all the attitudes of profound pensiveuess , painted strongly a man taken up with great things , which he was meditating , weighing , and comparing , with all the dignity of
kingly importance . 1 he spectators , struck with the justness , with the energy , and real elevation , of so expressive a portraiture , unanimously adjudged the preference to Pilades , who , coolly turning to Hilas , said to him , " Young man , we had to represent a king , who commanded over twenty kings : you made him tall ; I showed him great . " It was in the reign of Nero , that a cynical mock-philosophercalled
, Demetrius , saw , for the first time , one of these pantomime compositions . Struck with the truth of the representation , he could not help expressing the greatest marks of astonishment : but whether his pride made him feel a sort of shame for the admiration he had involuntarily shewn , or whether , naturally-envious and selfish , he could not bear the cruel pain of being forced to approve any thing but his own
singularities , he attributed to the music the strong impression that had been made upon him . As , in that reign , a-false philosophy very naturally had a greater influence than the real , this man was , it seems , of consequence enough for the managers of the dances to take notice of tin ' s partiality , or , at least , to be piqued enough , for their own honourto lay a scheme for undeceiving him . He was once more
, brought to their theatre , and seated in a conspicuous part of the house , without his having been acquainted with their intention . The orchestra began ; an actor opens die scene ; on the moment of his entrance , the symphony ceases , and the representation continues . Without , any aid but that of the steps , the positions of the body , the movements of the arms , the piece is performed ; in which are sue-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Essays On Subjects Connected With History And Classical Learning.
"Why do not you , " says lie , " let the people amuse themselves with our quarrels ? " This dancer had such great powers in all his tragedies , that tie could draw tears from even those of the spectators the least used to the melting mood . And , in truth , the effect of these pantomimes , in general , was prodigious . Tears and sobs interrupted often the representation of the tragedy of Glaucus , in whicli the pantomimic Plancus played the principal character . But what is
, more surprising yet , Memphir , a Pythagorean philosopher , as Athensus tells us , expressed , by dancing , ail the excellence of the philosophy of Pythagoras , with more elegance , more clearness and energy , than the most eloquent professor of philosophy could have done . One instance of the regard shewn by Pilades to theatrical proprietyand the truth of natureis preserved to usand not unworth
, , , y of attention . He had been publicly challenged by Hilas , once a pupil of his , to represent the greatness of Agamemnon : Hilas came upon , the stage with buskins , which , in the nature of stilts , made him of an artificial height ; in consequence of which lie greatly overtopped the croud of actors who surrounded him . This passed well enoughtill Pilades appeared with an airstern and majestic . His
, , serious steps , his arms across , his motion sometimes slow , sometimes animated , with pauses full of meaning ; his looks now fixed oii the ground , now lifted to heaven , with all the attitudes of profound pensiveuess , painted strongly a man taken up with great things , which he was meditating , weighing , and comparing , with all the dignity of
kingly importance . 1 he spectators , struck with the justness , with the energy , and real elevation , of so expressive a portraiture , unanimously adjudged the preference to Pilades , who , coolly turning to Hilas , said to him , " Young man , we had to represent a king , who commanded over twenty kings : you made him tall ; I showed him great . " It was in the reign of Nero , that a cynical mock-philosophercalled
, Demetrius , saw , for the first time , one of these pantomime compositions . Struck with the truth of the representation , he could not help expressing the greatest marks of astonishment : but whether his pride made him feel a sort of shame for the admiration he had involuntarily shewn , or whether , naturally-envious and selfish , he could not bear the cruel pain of being forced to approve any thing but his own
singularities , he attributed to the music the strong impression that had been made upon him . As , in that reign , a-false philosophy very naturally had a greater influence than the real , this man was , it seems , of consequence enough for the managers of the dances to take notice of tin ' s partiality , or , at least , to be piqued enough , for their own honourto lay a scheme for undeceiving him . He was once more
, brought to their theatre , and seated in a conspicuous part of the house , without his having been acquainted with their intention . The orchestra began ; an actor opens die scene ; on the moment of his entrance , the symphony ceases , and the representation continues . Without , any aid but that of the steps , the positions of the body , the movements of the arms , the piece is performed ; in which are sue-