[24] This, however, is certainly stated by Aristotle (_Nic. Ethics_, 1111_a_). On the other hand, Æschylus says in the _Frogs_ (886); Δήμητερ, ἡ θρέψασα τὴν ἐμὴν φρένα, εἶναί με τῶν σῶν ἄξιον μυστηρίων. [25] Aristotle, Poetic, 1449_a_. [26] The following plays were performed with two actors only: of Æschylus, _Supplices_, _Prometheus_, _Persæ_, _Seven against Thebes_; of Euripides, _Medea_, and perhaps _Alcestis_. [27] By Plutarch, _Life of Cimon_, VIII. Haigh (_The Tragic Drama of the Greeks_, p. 128²) gives good reasons for rejecting the story. [28] One of these occasions was that on which he presented the _Œdipus Tyrannus_. [29] A fragment of Ion’s Ἐπιδημίαι remarks: τὰ μέντοι πολιτικὰ οὔτε σοφὸς οὔτε ῥεκτήριος ἦν, ἀλλ’ ὡς ἄν τις εἷς τῶν χρηστῶν Ἀθηναίων. [30] Aristophanes, too, in the _Frogs_ (v. 82), bears witness to his charm: ὁ δ’ εὔκολος μὲν ἐνθάδ’, εὔκολος δ’ ἐκεῖ· “Sophocles, on the other hand, is gentle here (_i.e._ in Hades) as he was in life.” [31] _Œd. Col_. 1225-8. [32] _Poetic_, 1460_b_: Σοφοκλῆς ἔφη αὐτὸς μὲν οἵους δεῖ ποιεῖν, Εὐριπίδην δὲ οἷοι εἰσίν. [33] Plutarch, _De Profectu in Virtute_, 79 B: ὁ Σοφοκλῆς ἔλεγε, τὸν Αἰσχύλου διαπεπαιχὼς ὄγκον, εἶτα τὸ πικρὸν καὶ κατάτεχνον τῆς αὐτοῦ κατασκευῆς, τρίτον ἤδη τὸ τῆς λέξεως μεταβάλλειν εἶδος ὅπερ ἐστὶν ἠθικώτατον καὶ βέλτιστον. [34] See Haigh, _Tragic Drama_, p. 162. [35] Aristotle, _Poetic_, 1449_a_. [36] Suidas (_s.v._ Σοφοκλῆς): καὶ αὐτὸς ἦρξε τοῦ δρᾶμα πρὸς δρᾶμα ἀγωνίζεσθαι, ἀλλὰ μὴ τετραλογίαν. [37] In the Anonymous _Life_. [38] See Haigh, _Attic Tragedy_, pp. 139 _sq._, where this excellent point is made. [39] The most celebrated is the description of the sun as a “clod” (_Orestes_, 983). _Alcestis_, 904 _sqq._, may very possibly refer to the death of Anaxagoras’ son. [40] XV, 20. [41] A passage in his _Life_ suggests that he was indifferent to the strictly “theatrical” side of his profession: οὐδεμίαν φιλοτιμίαν περὶ τὰ θέατρα ποιούμενος· διὸ τοσοῦτον αὐτὸν ἔβλαπτε τοῦτο ὅσον ὠφέλει τὸν Σοφοκλέα. [42] _Oxyrhynchus Papyri_, Vol. IX, pp. 124-82. [43] Pp. 29 _sq._ [44] ἀκριβῶς ὅλως περιείληφεν τὸν Ἀναξαγόρειον διάκοσμον ἐν τρισὶν περιόδοις. [45] Aristotle, _Poetic_, 1452_b_. [46] Not all. The elegance of his iambic style excited Aristophanes’ admiration: indeed he confessed to imitating it, and the great Cratinus invented a significant compound verb εὐριπιδαριστοφανίζειν. See Meineke, _Frag. Comicorum Græcorum_, II, 1142. [47] _Frogs_, v. 1122: ἀσαφὴς γὰρ ἦν ἐν τῇ φράσει τῶν πραγμάτων. [48] vv. 846-54. [49] vv. 518-44. [50] _Frogs_, 939 _sqq._ [51] _Ibid._ 948 _sqq._ [52] _Ibid._ 959: σύνεσμεν may recall Grant Allen’s famous sentence about taking Hedda Gabler down to dinner. [53] Of these three points the first two come from Suidas (under the article Νεόφρων), the third from the argument to the extant _Medea_: τὸ δρᾶμα δοκεῖ ὑποβαλέσθαι τὰ Νεόφρονος διασκευάσας, ὡς Δικαίαρχός τε περὶ τοῦ Ἑλλάδος βίου καὶ Ἀριστοτέλης ἐν ὑπομνήμασι.