No More Learning

MORSHEAD

_INTRODUCTORY NOTE

Of the life of Aeschylus, the first of the three great masters of
Greek tragedy, only a very meager outline has come down to us. He was
born at Eleusis, near Athens, B. C. 525, the son of Euphorion. Before
he was twenty-five he began to compete for the tragic prize, but did
not win a victory for twelve years. He spent two periods of years in
Sicily, where he died in 456, killed, it is said, by a tortoise which
an eagle dropped on his head. Though a professional writer, he did his
share of fighting for his country, and is reported to have taken part
in the battles of Marathon, Salamis, and Plataea.

Of the seventy or eighty plays which he is said to have written, only
seven survive: "The Persians," dealing with the defeat of Xerxes at
Salamis; "The Seven against Thebes," part of a tetralogy on the legend
of Thebes; "The Suppliants," on the daughters of Danaus; "Prometheus
Bound," part of a trilogy, of which the first part was probably
"Prometheus, the Fire-bringer," and the last, "Prometheus Unbound";
and the "Oresteia," the only example of a complete Greek tragic
trilogy which has come down to us, consisting of "Agamemnon,"
"Choephorae" (The Libation-Bearers), and the "Eumenides" (Furies).

The importance of Aeschylus in the development of the drama is
immense. Before him tragedy had consisted of the chorus and one actor;
and by introducing a second actor, expanding the dramatic dialogue
thus made possible, and reducing the lyrical parts, he practically
created Greek tragedy as we understand it. Like other writers of his
time, he acted in his own plays, and trained the chorus in their
dances and songs; and he did much to give impressiveness to the
performances by his development of the accessories of scene and
costume on the stage. Of the four plays here reproduced, "Prometheus
Bound" holds an exceptional place in the literature of the world. (As
conceived by Aeschylus, Prometheus is the champion of man against the
oppression of Zeus; and the argument of the drama has a certain
correspondence to the problem of the Book of Job. ) The Oresteian
trilogy on "The House of Atreus" is one of the supreme productions of
all literature. It deals with the two great themes of the retribution
of crime and the inheritance of evil; and here again a parallel
may be found between the assertions of the justice of God by
Aeschylus and by the Hebrew prophet Ezekiel.
Both contend against the
popular idea that the fathers have eaten sour grapes and the
children's teeth are set on edge; both maintain that the soul that
sinneth, it shall die. The nobility of thought and the majesty of
style with which these ideas are set forth give this triple drama its
place at the head of the literary masterpieces of the antique
world. _

* * * * *

THE HOUSE OF ATREUS

BEING

THE AGAMEMNON, THE LIBATION-BEARERS,
AND THE FURIES OF AESCHYLUS

AGAMEMNON

DRAMATIS PERSONAE

A WATCHMAN
A HERALD
CHORUS
AGAMEMNON
AEGISTHUS
CLYTEMNESTRA
CASSANDRA

_The Scene is the Palace of Atreus at Mycenae. In front of the
Palace stand statues of the gods, and altars prepared for
sacrifices. _


_A Watchman_

I pray the gods to quit me of my toils,
To close the watch I keep, this livelong year;
For as a watch-dog lying, not at rest,
Propped on one arm, upon the palace-roof
Of Atreus' race, too long, too well I know
The starry conclave of the midnight sky,
Too well, the splendours of the firmament,
The lords of light, whose kingly aspect shows--
What time they set or climb the sky in turn--
The year's divisions, bringing frost or fire.

And now, as ever, am I set to mark
When shall stream up the glow of signal-flame,
The bale-fire bright, and tell its Trojan tale--
_Troy town is ta'en:_ such issue holds in hope
She in whose woman's breast beats heart of man.

Thus upon mine unrestful couch I lie,
Bathed with the dews of night, unvisited
By dreams--ah me! --for in the place of sleep
Stands Fear as my familiar, and repels
The soft repose that would mine eyelids seal.
And if at whiles, for the lost balm of sleep,
I medicine my soul with melody
Of trill or song--anon to tears I turn,
Wailing the woe that broods upon this home,
Not now by honour guided as of old.

But now at last fair fall the welcome hour
That sets me free, whene'er the thick night glow
With beacon-fire of hope deferred no more.
All hail!

[_A beacon-light is seen reddening the distant sky. _

Fire of the night, that brings my spirit day,
Shedding on Argos light, and dance, and song,
Greetings to fortune, hail!

Let my loud summons ring within the ears
Of Agamemnon's queen, that she anon
Start from her couch and with a shrill voice cry
A joyous welcome to the beacon-blaze,
For Ilion's fall; such fiery message gleams
From yon high flame; and I, before the rest,
Will foot the lightsome measure of our joy;
For I can say, _My master's dice fell fair--
Behold! the triple sice, the lucky flame! _
Now be my lot to clasp, in loyal love,
The hand of him restored, who rules our home:
Home--but I say no more: upon my tongue
Treads hard the ox o' the adage.