We may, therefore, summarize the preceding discussion as follows: If we follow Dindorf in reading ιέ for λέ in the hypothesis to Aristophanes’ _Birds_, the numerals are capable of a uniform interpretation; they were a library device and were assigned to the plays represented in some collection, most probably that at Alexandria, according to the dates of their premières. It is needless to state that in establishing the chronological sequence of the plays in their possession the library authorities would depend upon Aristotle’s _Didascaliae_ or other handbooks derived therefrom. FOOTNOTES [1] Cf. Hermann Deckinger, _Die Darstellung der persönlichen Motive bei Aischylos und Sophokles_ (1911), p. 1. [2] Cf. Aristotle _Poetics_ 1449_a_8. The other passages cited in this paragraph are _ibid._ 1449_b_33 and 1450_a_10, 1450_b_17-21, 1453_b_1-3, 1462_a_12, and 1462_a_14-17. [3] Cf. his paper entitled “Dramatic Criticism and the Theatre” in _Creative Criticism_, p. 56 (1917). [4] Cf. Aristotle _Rhetoric_ 1403_b_33 (Jebb’s translation). This statement needs to be interpreted in the light of pp. 190 f., below. [5] Cf. _op. cit._, p. 56. The italics are mine. [6] Cf. Clayton Hamilton, _The Theory of the Theatre_ (1910), p. 3; and J. B. Matthews, _North American Review_, CLXXXVII (1908), 213 f.: “They believe that the playhouse has now, has had in the past, and must always have a monopoly of the dramatic form. They cannot recognize the legitimacy of a play which is not intended to be played. They know that the great dramatist of every period when the drama has flourished has always planned his plays for performance in the theater of his own time, by the actors of his own time, and before the spectators of his own time”; and _The Independent_, LXVIII (1910), 187: “In other words, the literary quality is something that may be added to a drama, but which is not essential to its value as a play in the theater itself.” [7] Cf. _Conversations with Eckermann_, March 28, 1827 (Oxenford’s translation). [8] Cf. _The Inn of Tranquillity_ (1912), p. 277. [9] Cf. _Classical Philology_, IX (1914), 96. [10] Cf. _Euripides and His Age_ (1913), p. 89. See p. 217, below. [11] Cf. _The Theatre of Ideas_ (1915), pp. 9 ff. (copyrighted by the George H. Doran Company).