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AESCHYLUS.
[CH.
a portrait of Aeschylus on the following grounds.[1] It is admittedly the work of the fifth century; it represents a bald man of thoughtful aspect, thus corresponding with the ancient descriptions;[2] and it bears a general resemblance to the figure of Aeschylus in the gem. These reasons, no doubt, give a certain plausibility to the identification, but are manifestly far from conclusive.
Fig. 3.
§ 2. Improvements in Tragedy.
Aeschylus, if we consider the variety and significance of the work which he accomplished, appears to have been one of the greatest poetic geniuses that the world has ever seen. The influence which he exercised upon the growth of Greek tragedy was so powerful and decisive, that he was often regarded as its
- ↑ The copy is from the cast in the Oxford University Galleries.
- ↑ The description (Aristoph. Ran. 822 foll.) of Aeschylus preparing for the contest is sometimes quoted in reference to this matter—
φρίξας δ᾽ αὐτοκόμου λοφιᾶς λασιαύχενα χαίταν,
δεινὸν ἐπισκύνιον ξυνάγων κ.τ.λ.
But the language, as the Scholiast points out, is merely metaphorical, and need not invalidate the tradition that Aeschylus was a bald man.
