The legend went on to say, that Hephæstus, having in consequence of this act been ill-treated by his parents, entirely deserted Olympus, until Bacchus, having contrived to make him drunk, placed him on an ass, and thus brought him in jolly merriment back to Olympus; to which transaction the other title of the piece, “the Revellers,” evidently alludes. Now this scene also has been transmitted to us in some ancient paintings, which although they do not exhibit the theatrical dress and the place of performance so clearly as that just mentioned, are evidently taken from comedies. There is on a Coghill vase(1655) a procession in which the names of the several individuals composing it are superscribed; first Marsyas as a flute-player; then Comedy, in a state of violent motion; next Bacchus, in the ancient festival costume; and lastly, Hephæstus, who in other compositions of the same subject is drawn riding on an ass. 3. From these data, I will leave it to the judgment and taste of the reader to draw his own conclusions on the character of the drama of Epicharmus. But I may take this opportunity of remarking, that the painted vases of lower Italy often enable us to gain a complete and vivid idea of the theatrical representations of that country. From this source I have above traced a farce, in which Hercules delivers the Cercopes to Eurystheus, or some other king,(1656) and perhaps also the picture of Hercules in the form of a pigmy, and fighting with the cranes, was derived from a similar source.(1657) We may likewise mention the picture of Zeus and Hermes, the latter with a lantern, and the former with a ladder, both dressed in the most ridiculous and fantastical costume, in the act of ascending to a fair female, who is expecting them at her window.(1658) It seems also probable, that the buffoon represented on a vase, as sitting on a fish, and making ridiculous grimaces,(1659) is a caricature of the Tarentine fable of Taras on the dolphin. The costume, which reminds us of the Italian Policinello and Arlecchino,(1660) proves that it was taken from a dramatic representation, which however is still more conspicuous on the painted vase of Asteas,(1661) on which, among a number of clowns, one is seen stretched on a couch, evidently the bed of Procrustes. But it is remarkable, that in this case the performers do not bear the names of the heroes whom they travesty, but those of their masks. The one on the bed is called ΧΑΡΙΝΟΣ, or _Gracioso_ (which name was likewise in use at Sparta);(1662) the others are named ΔΙΑΣΥΡΟΣ “the jester:” ΚΑΓΧΑΣ “the laugher;”(1663) and ΓΥΜΝΑΣΟΣ, if the letters are read correctly: these are evidently names of standing characters of a dramatic fable, resembling the Attelane farces of Campania. The vase was moreover discovered in Campania.(1664)