In the analysis of Aeschylus’ _Suppliants_ on p. 164, the reader will remember that Danaus, having declared “I will return with helpers and defenders,” took his departure at vs. 775; after an ode, the suitors’ herald arrived on the scene (vs. 836) but was balked by the entrance of the Argive king (vs. 907). One would surely expect Danaus to accompany the king, but as a matter of fact he does not reappear until vs. 980. The reason for this is plain—Danaus and the herald are played by the same actor, and consequently the former can return only after the latter’s departure at vs. 953. Moreover, Aeschylus sought to gloss over the blemish by having Danaus refer in advance to the possibility of his being slow in spreading the alarm (vs. 730) and by having the chorus request the king to send their father back to them (vss. 968 ff.), as if his absence had been perfectly natural. This incident teaches us four things: (1) A single actor could carry several rôles; the simplicity and sameness of ancient costumes and the ease of slipping them off and on, together with the use of masks by the actors, made this practice more feasible than it is with us. Overzealous classicists have not merely asked us to tolerate this practice but even to admire its results. Thus, when one character returns to report the death of another the spectators are supposed to have been doubly moved if they could penetrate the messenger’s disguise and from the identity of stature, build, and voice recognize the ghost, as it were, of the departed visibly before them (!).[275] (2) This practice oftentimes necessitated the arbitrary withdrawal of a character from the scene of action and his enforced absence when he would naturally be present. (3) By inventing an inner reason for this the poet strove to conceal or gloss over his yielding to external need. (4) The intervals between the withdrawal of Danaus and the entrance of the herald (vss. 776-836) and vice versa (vss. 953-80) afford an inkling as to the length of time required for such shifts in rôles.