The first real dramatist was Thespis, who, in 536 B. C., was summoned to Athens by the Pisistratides to produce a tragedy in which for the first time there appeared an actor outside of the chorus. It developed rapidly from then on--we need only mention the introduction of the comedy by Epicharmos (540-450) and its official sanctioning in Athens in 487. Phrynichos, the greatest dramatist before Æschylus, is remembered by the performance of the 'Fall of Milet’ for which, because it reminded the Athenians of their defeat, he was punished, and the political tragedy henceforth forbidden. The names of the three greatest tragic poets, Æschylus (525-456), Sophocles (496-406), and Euripides (450-395), are too well known to require comment. Our present task is simply to point out the important part which music played in their works. The parallel frequently drawn between the modern opera or music drama on the one hand, and the classic tragedy on the other, we may dismiss with the statement of Riemann, that 'the classic tragedy was a drama in which music as such coöperated, while in the modern (music drama) music occupies an eminently dominating place.’ We might add that, whereas we speak, for instance, of Wagner as being his own librettist, we might say of Euripides that he supplied his own music for his drama. The three elements of modern opera--soloists, chorus, and orchestra--were, indeed, represented in the classic drama. The soloists were the actors (who _sang_ most of their speeches) and the chorus leader with his assistants, who were sometimes drafted to the stage proper, to take part in the action. The chorus consisted of fifteen members in the tragedy, twenty-four in the comedy. It was placed on a lower eminence than the principals (on the 'orchestra’) and represented at first (with Æschylus and Sophocles) the 'moral consciousness of the people.’ Later, with Euripides, its contemplative function was superseded by its actual participation in the action as a mob. It sang together--or _tutti_, as we would say--the _parados_ and _aphodos_, the processional and recessional choruses--for which the chorus was sometimes divided into sections, appearing one after the other, as, for instance, in the 'Seven against Thebes,’ and the _stasima_, interspersed through the action. The choral dance of the tragedy, festive and stately, was called _emmeleia_; that of the satyr play, grotesque and rapid, the _sikinnis_, and the lampooning, lascivious dance of the comedy, _cordax_. The 'orchestra’ consisted of one simple flute player, who used the double _aulos_. This was traditionally the characteristic 'orgiastic’ instrument. The kithara, despite its popularity in other uses, was never admitted to the tragedy. The chief function of the flute may have been to keep the chorus 'in tune,’ but it is certain that it played interludes, etc., and at times solo numbers, for we know that aulos playing had become a highly developed