Pherae that Alexander was compelled to leave the theatre, because, as he afterwards told Theodorus, he was ashamed to be seen weeping over the sufferings of an actor, while he was perfectly callous about those of his countrymen.[842] The tomb of Theodorus, close to the banks of the Cephisus, was still to be seen in the time of Pausanias.[843] The other leading tragic actors of this period were Aristodemus, Neoptolemus, Thessalus, and Athenodorus. The two former were frequently at the court of Philip, and took a large part in bringing about the peace of Philocrates. They are therefore denounced by Demosthenes as traitors to their country, and advocates of Philip’s interests.[844] Neoptolemus was the actor who, at the banquet held in Philip’s palace on the day before his assassination, recited a passage out of a tragedy bearing upon the uncertainty of human fortune, and the inexorable power of death. The fact was afterwards remembered as an ominous coincidence.[845] Thessalus and Athenodorus were often rivals. At Tyre, after the return of Alexander from Egypt, they were the principal competitors in the great tragic contest, in which the kings of Cyprus were the choregi, and the chief generals of the army acted as judges. On this occasion Athenodorus won, to the great grief of Alexander, who said he would have given a part of his kingdom to have ensured the victory of Thessalus.[846] The same two actors were also competitors at the City Dionysia in the year 341, but both of them were then beaten by Neoptolemus.[847] Among the Greeks the distinction between the tragic and the comic actors was as complete as that between the tragic and comic poets.[848] There are no instances during the classical period of an actor attempting both branches of the profession. Still less is recorded about the great comic actors than about the actors of tragedy. A few names are mentioned, but there is almost a total absence of details concerning their style and mannerisms. We are told that one of Hermon’s jests was to knock the heads of his fellow-actors with a stick, and that Parmenon was celebrated for his skill in imitating the grunting of a hog.[849] Interesting criticisms on the acting and the actors in comedy are unfortunately nowhere to be found. CHAPTER VI THE CHORUS § 1. _History of the Chorus._