“A sufficiently lively if entirely commonplace story.”
+ − N Y Times p26 D 26 ’20 380w
GREGORY, ODIN. Caius Gracchus, a tragedy; with an introd. by Theodore Dreiser. *$2 Boni & Liveright 812
20–13984
“A five-act historical tragedy in blank verse.” (Freeman) “Caius Gracchus, idealist and statesman, had stirred the Roman plebs to a consciousness of their own existence, not as servile beasts, but as human beings. His success had disturbed the patricians, who, forthwith, plotted his downfall in true Roman fashion, couching their scheme in religion, and thus outwitting a less guileful populace.... In the end, when the plebs find themselves disbursed and outwitted, when, in the slow process of reasoning, they discover in the dead Gracchus a martyr to their cause, the few among them rally their mental energies and press forward toward the ideal.” (Springf’d Republican)
“Ambitious as this work is, however, and interesting in detail it is hardly likely to kindle beacons on Olympus. As a play, ‘Caius Gracchus’ sticks too close to polemics ever to achieve the heights of tragedy. Occasionally, one encounters felicitous phrases, but these have to be sought for, like bright pebbles scattered along a dry, sandy beach.” L. B.
+ − Freeman 2:261 N 24 ’20 210w
“A drama of the excellence of ‘Caius Gracchus’ is a solid achievement of which any modern writer might well be proud. The constant declaration of their lofty sentiments by the chief characters is an accepted convention of the English and French classical tradition which Odin Gregory follows, but modern realistic drama has made it difficult to accept this convention unmodified, even under the shelter of the old forms.” C. M. S.
+ − Grinnell R 16:330 Ja ’21 480w