http://www.jstor.org

Review: [untitled]

Author(s): Oscar Broneer

Reviewed work(s): The History of the Greek and Roman Theater by Margarete Bieber

Source: The American Journal of Philology, Vol. 63, No. 2, (1942), pp. 248-250

Published by: The Johns Hopkins University Press

Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/291051

Accessed: 01/07/2008 03:09

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at

http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless

you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you

may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use.

Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at

http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=jhup.

Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed

page of such transmission.

JSTOR is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1995 to build trusted digital archives for scholarship. We work with the

scholarly community to preserve their work and the materials they rely upon, and to build a common research platform that

promotes the discovery and use of these resources. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

 

AMERICAN JOURNAL

OF

PHILOLOGY.

MERICAN JOURNAL

OF

PHILOLOGY.

tion

of

fragments

of

three

further

columns

pertaining

to

the

same

This

presentation

of the

contents

of

P. Tebt.

III,

ii,

could

be

continued

almost

endlessly,

and

it

is

certain

that the

texts,

although

exceedingly dry,

as

Edgar

himself

remarks,

will

grow

in im-

portance

as

they

are more

closely

studied.

And

from

this

estimate

I

do not

exclude

the

great

mass

of

that have been

gathered

together

at

the end

under

the

discouraging

rubric

Minor

Docu-

ments.

These

have at

least one

advantage

over the

more

fully

edited

texts:

they

show

an

unlimited

diversity

of content.

As

one

reads the

pages,

innumerable

aspects

of

Egyptian

life

pass

in

review.

They

are

the

kind

of

thing

out

of

which

many

a

papyrologist,

not

endowed

like our

English colleagues

with an

embarrassing

abundance

of

papyri

from

which

to

choose,

might

have been content

to make

an

independent publication.

I

must not

resort

to

illustration,

for

this

review

is

already overlong.

I

shall

call attention here

only

to what

may

be

overlooked,-the

important supplementary

Note on

p.

247,

where the

difficulty

raised

by

1022

with

regard

to

the sense of

7rvpo Ka0apos

in the

accounts is

briefly

mentioned.

The

astonishing

statements

in

1022, by

which additional

charges

appear

to be

deducted from

7r.

K.,

are

not

easy

to reconcile with the

conventional

treatment

described

by

the editors

in their note

to

837,

10.

The editors

have done

everything

that

could

be done to

increase

the

utility

of a volume that

is almost

perfect

technically.

On

p.

xix

is

a

list

of

the

mummies and

the

papyri

recovered

from

the carton-

nage

of each.

The

generously proportioned

indices

which

follow the

texts

provide

an

adequate

verbal

guide

to

both

parts

of Vol.

III,

and,

in view of the numerous textual corrections

scattered

through

the

notes,

the

final

index,

a

list of the

passages

discussed,

is

es-

pecially

welcome.

The

book is

brought

to

a

suitable

and

useful

conclusion

with the

four

plates

to

which

I

have

already

referred.

HERBERT

C.

YOUTIE.

UNIVERSITY

OF

MICHIGAN.

MARGARETE

BIEBER. The

History

of the Greek and Roman Theater.

Princeton,

Princeton

University

Press,

1939.

Pp.

x

+

465;

figs.

566.

$7.50.

It

is

a

comparatively

simple

task to

analyze,

to take

apart

and

scrutinize

the

component parts

of

any

object,

idea,

or

work

of art.

It is

easy

to build

attractive

theories

on a

particular

phase

of

phenomenon,

so

long

as

one can avoid the

conflicts

incurred

by

looking

at the

same

phenomenon

from

a

different

angle

or in a

different

light.

In this new book Miss Bieber has undertaken

the

difficult

task

of a

synthetic

treatment of the Greek

and

Roman

theater

and

of

the evolution of ancient

stagecraft.

Out

of a be-

wildering

multiplicity

of

sources,

literary,

sculptural,

architectural,

ceramic,

coroplastic,

pictorial,

she has

gathered

her material with

infinite

care

and

with

a

sympathetic understanding

of

the

subject

in

tion

of

fragments

of

three

further

columns

pertaining

to

the

same

This

presentation

of the

contents

of

P. Tebt.

III,

ii,

could

be

continued

almost

endlessly,

and

it

is

certain

that the

texts,

although

exceedingly dry,

as

Edgar

himself

remarks,

will

grow

in im-

portance

as

they

are more

closely

studied.

And

from

this

estimate

I

do not

exclude

the

great

mass

of

that have been

gathered

together

at

the end

under

the

discouraging

rubric

Minor

Docu-

ments.

These

have at

least one

advantage

over the

more

fully

edited

texts:

they

show

an

unlimited

diversity

of content.

As

one

reads the

pages,

innumerable

aspects

of

Egyptian

life

pass

in

review.

They

are

the

kind

of

thing

out

of

which

many

a

papyrologist,

not

endowed

like our

English colleagues

with an

embarrassing

abundance

of

papyri

from

which

to

choose,

might

have been content

to make

an

independent publication.

I

must not

resort

to

illustration,

for

this

review

is

already overlong.

I

shall

call attention here

only

to what

may

be

overlooked,-the

important supplementary

Note on

p.

247,

where the

difficulty

raised

by

1022

with

regard

to

the sense of

7rvpo Ka0apos

in the

accounts is

briefly

mentioned.

The

astonishing

statements

in

1022, by

which additional

charges

appear

to be

deducted from

7r.

K.,

are

not

easy

to reconcile with the

conventional

treatment

described

by

the editors

in their note

to

837,

10.

The editors

have done

everything

that

could

be done to

increase

the

utility

of a volume that

is almost

perfect

technically.

On

p.

xix

is

a

list

of

the

mummies and

the

papyri

recovered

from

the carton-

nage

of each.

The

generously proportioned

indices

which

follow the

texts

provide

an

adequate

verbal

guide

to

both

parts

of Vol.

III,

and,

in view of the numerous textual corrections

scattered

through

the

notes,

the

final

index,

a

list of the

passages

discussed,

is

es-

pecially

welcome.

The

book is

brought

to

a

suitable

and

useful

conclusion

with the

four

plates

to

which

I

have

already

referred.

HERBERT

C.

YOUTIE.

UNIVERSITY

OF

MICHIGAN.

MARGARETE

BIEBER. The

History

of the Greek and Roman Theater.

Princeton,

Princeton

University

Press,

1939.

Pp.

x

+

465;

figs.

566.

$7.50.

It

is

a

comparatively

simple

task to

analyze,

to take

apart

and

scrutinize

the

component parts

of

any

object,

idea,

or

work

of art.

It is

easy

to build

attractive

theories

on a

particular

phase

of

phenomenon,

so

long

as

one can avoid the

conflicts

incurred

by

looking

at the

same

phenomenon

from

a

different

angle

or in a

different

light.

In this new book Miss Bieber has undertaken

the

difficult

task

of a

synthetic

treatment of the Greek

and

Roman

theater

and

of

the evolution of ancient

stagecraft.

Out

of a be-

wildering

multiplicity

of

sources,

literary,

sculptural,

architectural,

ceramic,

coroplastic,

pictorial,

she has

gathered

her material with

infinite

care

and

with

a

sympathetic understanding

of

the

subject

in

24848

 

all

its

phases

and has

reconstructed

in a

convenient

and

attractive

volume the

history

of the ancient

theater.

It

is no mean

achievement

in a

subject

of

this nature to steer a

straight

course

between

the

Scylla

of

argumentative

speculation

and

the

Charybdis

of

ignoring

existing

difficulties.

No branch

of classical

scholarship

has

been

so

theory-ridden

as that of the

ancient

theater,

and

the amount

of

literature on

the

subject

is

truly

appalling.

It

is

a

experi-

ence

for

once to

lay

theorizing

aside

and

to follow

the

author's

account

of the

development

of

ancient

dramatic

art from

its

humble

beginnings

in the

sixth

century

before

Christ

through

its

phenomenal

progress

in

the fifth

century

and

its

subsequent

decline

to

its final

deterioration

in

the

late Roman

period.

We

need

not minimize

the

importance

of the work

of other

scholars,

of

the

philologists

who

have

edited

and made

intelligible

the texts

of

the

ancient

dramas,

of

the

excavators and

architects

who have

laid

bare the

extant

remains and

reconstructed out

of

seemingly insignifi-

cant

walls

and

architectural

debris the

playhouses

of

Greek

and

Roman

times,

or of the

numerous other

investigators

who

have

offered

solutions to

many

of

the

problems

involved in

a

study

of

the

ancient

theater.

Without

their

efforts

a

synthetic

account

such

as Professor

Bieber

has

given

us

could

not

have been

written,

and

this

fact

is

clearly pointed

out

in

the

author's

preface.

In

a

comprehensive

study

of

this nature it

is

natural

that

special-

ists will

find

many

things

to which

they

can

raise

objections.

The

author

has in

some

cases

gone

too far

in

attempting

to

make use

of

the

contributions of

other

scholars,

even

to the

extent

of

presenting

with

acquiescence

mutually

exclusive

theories. She

accepts,

for

ex-

ample,

the

unsubstantiated

theory

of

Doerpfeld

that

the

orchestra

in

the

earliest

period

was

circular,

and

yet

she

believes

that in

Athens

as

at

Thoricus the

earliest

form

of

the

auditorium

was

the flat

type.

The

existing

blocks

from

the

base of the

early proedria

in

Athens,

which

she

does

not

mention,

cannot

easily

be

combined

with

a

circular

orchestra.

She

also

subscribes

to

Fiechter's

theory

of

the

skenotheke,

although

she

suggests

a

later

date

for

its

origin.

Even

more

serious

is

her

adherence

to

Fiechter's

unhappy

conclusion

that

the

earliest

permanent

theater in

Athens

was similar

in form

to

the

theater

at

Epidaurus,

and

she

reproduces

Fiechter's

section of

the

lower

seats

and

orchestra

passage

(Fig.

190)

to show

that

the

early

form

of

gutter

in

the

broad

shallow

type.

She

states

categori-

cally (p. 240)

that the

revered

classical

theater

of

Lykurgos

was

given

a

proskenion

not

earlier

than

the

second

century

B.

C.,

and

perhaps

only

after

the

destruction of

Athens

by

Sulla

in

86

B.

C.

This

improbable

hypothesis

is

one of the

many

obfuscating

con-

tributions of

Bulle.

Fig.

170

is

incorrectly

labeled

Oldest

Founda-

tion for

Skene. It

shows the

reduced

paraskenia,

whereas the

earliest

skene

had

the

deeper

paraskenia,

the

foundations of

which

are

partly

preserved.

The

book

is written in

an

easy

and

readable

style,

rarely

marred

by

obscure or

meaningless

expressions.

Occasionally,

however,

one

finds such

statements as

these:

(p.

47)

Sophokles

must

have

allowed

his

figures

to

appear

against

the

skene-in

sharply

defined

silhouette,

unlike

Aeschylus'

figures

which

were

seen

in

the

round

;

235)

REVIEWS.

249

235)

 

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF

PHILOLOGY.

The

ramps

(in

the Theater at

Eretria)

are

slightly

inclined,

for

they

run

parallel

to the

slanting

analemmata,

the

supporting

walls

of

the auditorium. The

ramps

are

laid

out

horizontally,

etc.;

and

(p.

238)

If at

the same

time the

upper

wall in Oiniadae was

opened

into five

thyromata,

there

would

be

proof

that

this late form came

very

early

from the East to

Macedonia.

There

is

a

strange inconsistency

in

the

spelling

of Greek words

and

names. There

may

be

a

justification

for

shifting

from

pro-

skenion in

the

early

part

of the book to

proscenium

in

the

chapters dealing

with

the Roman

stage,

since this

change

in terms

denotes

a

change

in

construction. But

in

many

cases

the

choice

of

spelling

seems

to be

entirely arbitrary

as

in the

following

examples

picked

at random:

Athenaios the

engineer,

but

Athenaeus

the

author;

Herakles and

Asklepios,

but

Dionysus'

and

Silenus;

Alkaios,

Sopho-

kles,

Peisistratos,

Archelaos,

Demetrios,

Brygos,

but

Aeschylus,

Herodotus,

Archilochus, Epictetus, Duris,

and

Epicurus;

Pentelikon

and

Pergamon,

but

Olympus

and

Byzantium;

dadouchos

and

Chytroi,

but

diadochi and Lenaea.

Hybrids

such

as

Lykosura,

Oiniadae,

and

Lykurgos

occur

frequently.

But these are

slight

defects

which detract but little

from the real

value

of

the book.

The illustrations are

exceedingly

well

chosen

and

interpreted

with

ingenuity

and

understanding. By

comparing

Professor

Bieber's

book

with

many

of the

older treatises

in

which the texts

of

the dramas

were used

as

the

chief or

only

source for the reconstruction

of

the

classical

theater,

we realize the

importance

of

archaeological

investi-

gations

for

a

proper

understanding

of ancient

authors.

If

the

major

part

of the book has been devoted to

an

interpretation

of the

material

remains

and the

literary

evidence

has

been

less

fully

treated,

this is

perhaps

justified

by

the fact that

the

archaeological

material

is

less

well

known than the texts of

the dramas.

Repeated

reference

is

made

to

the

leading

works

on

the ancient drama

in

which the

philological aspects

are

fully

discussed.

An

adequate handling

of

the

literary

sources would

have

added

unduly

to the bulk

of

the

book,

and the author's

purpose

to

discuss this material in a

supplementary

volume seems

to me

a

wise

choice.

Professor Bieber's

book will

constitute

an

indispensable

com-

panion

to

classroom

study

of ancient

drama,

and to the

specialist

on

the theater

it

furnishes

a

convenient

integration

of

the

scattered

and

fragmentary

material on

which

his

work

is based. But it

deserves to

be used

by

the

wider

circle

of

readers

who

are

interested

in

the

evolution

of the modern drama and

stage.

It

is

to be

hoped

that

it

will find its

way

not

only

into the

hands

of

classical

scholars but

also

into the

library

of

every

theater

in

which

attempts

are

made

to

present

Greek

plays

to

modern

spectators.

OSCAR

BRONEER.

AMERICAN

SCHOOL

OF

CLASSICAL

STUDIES,

AND

INSTITUTE

FOR ADVANCED

STUDY,

PRINCETON,

N. J.

250