§ 3. Fifth Century.
Long before one can distinguish definite plays reflected in the vase paintings, certain marks of interest in tragedy may be detected. There are, for example, representations of the ceremony connected with the dedication of the tripod-prize. The painters of cir. 460 B.C. have already taken up this part of the dramatic performances and have indicated thereby the growing interest in the theatrical exhibitions[[102]]. About the same time also the personification of tragedy and comedy makes its appearance on the vases[[103]]. These are not in themselves points of so great weight, but they help to clear the way for understanding the tremendous influence which the drama had upon artists of the succeeding generations.
Down to the middle of the fifth century the predominating force in the legendary scenes on the vases was Homer and the other epic writers. At this point the latter began to share their popularity with the tragedians, and gradually but surely passed into the second place. That Robert’s position is not a correct one seems to me highly probable, and nevertheless one finds his words so often quoted that there is need of placing the evidence together and inquiring anew into the question. For my own part I am unable to understand why the theatre did not exert an influence upon the smaller art of vase industry as well as it did upon the more important art of painting. When one notes in the fifth century that great artists like Timanthes and Parrhasios were drawn under the spell of tragedy it is but natural to suppose that the same was true also in the case of the less famous vase painters. Why should the influence have been more pronounced in one instance than in the other? If Aischylos and Euripides were popular enough to warrant the support of the illustrious artists, one may correctly assume that the vase painter grasped this point likewise. The latter was primarily concerned in producing something saleable, and the pictures that were popular and saleable for the first class were no less so for the second class. This so far has, however, no further weight than one’s personal opinion. Let us turn to the monuments and see what there is to bear out this view.
The Berlin Andromeda krater may be referred to first[[104]]. This is one of the most brilliant examples ascribable to tragedy. The profusely decorated costumes induce one to believe that the artist really reproduced the dress of the actors in Euripides’ play. The theatrical air about the work is quite unmistakable, and its Attic origin leads one to connect it directly with the immense success won by the Andromeda in 412 B.C. The Kyklops vase, published and discussed below, also dates from the last quarter of the fifth century[[105]]. A vase in Naples representing Diomedes’ rape of the Palladium has been referred to Sophokles’ Λάκαιναι, and its date is cir. 420 B.C.[[106]] The painting on the Lower Italy vase published below is also from about this same time and follows the Eumenides[[107]]. I refer lastly to the celebrated satyr-play vase in Naples as belonging to this period, and furnishing at the same time the most palpable evidence of theatrical influence upon the artist[[108]]. The picture shows a recital of a satyr chorus in the presence of Dionysos and Ariadne, and is, as it were, a snap-shot of this peculiar institution. The painting has long been the keystone of the ancient testimony concerning the nature of the satyric drama. The richness of the costume worn by Dionysos and Ariadne gives an invaluable illustration of the actors’ dress. In this regard the work is in direct accord with Pollux’s καὶ ἐσθῆτες μὲν τραγικαὶ ποικίλον ... ὁ δὲ κροκωτὸς ἱμάτιον· Διόνυσος δὲ αὐτῷ ἐχρῆτο, καὶ μασχαλιστῆρι ἀνθινῷ καὶ θύρσῳ[[109]].
These are the most important examples that can be brought forward to show the influence of the drama on fifth-century vase painting, and although not to be compared with the vast number of paintings of a later period that indicate the development of tragic tendencies, they seem nevertheless to constitute a considerable array of evidence for the occurrence of definite tragic scenes borrowed from the drama. The vase paintings therefore of the last quarter of this century do furnish undoubted traces of the forms of the myths seen in the theatre[[110]].