And sun and stars shed radiance, garnishings Of Time the decorator, artist good. Thence shoots the meteor, thence distils the shower. The life of mortals, and for that effect Thus lawlessness by law was tamed and quenched, "The wheel was come full circle" when tragic persons could discourse thus frigidly about religious belief. CHAPTER XV ILLUSTRATION: THE STORY OF CAMBYSES IN Chapter IV. it has been observed that the Greek tragic poet of the best period was severely restricted in his choice of subjects (1) by the requirements of his audience, who demanded something associated with their national traditions, and (2) by the conditions of his art, which, the more clearly they came to be understood, more imperatively prescribed the selection from the cycle of Hellenic story of those fables which had the tragic note in them. If the "best period" could have been prolonged, if other poets of equal originality had arisen to reawaken and satisfy the taste which had been cultivated by Sophocles, it is probable that, as the narrowness of local patriotism was modified, many of the life-histories, which Herodotus and other Greek historians had so vividly told, might have been dramatised with effect. It may therefore not be wholly extravagant if, as an illustration of the views advanced in the preceding pages, I attempt to show how the story of Cambyses, for example, could be arranged for treatment in an Athenian drama. The reader must forget Falstaff's burlesque allusion to "King Cambyses' vein," as well as Thomas Preston's "Lamentable tragedy, mixed full of pleasant mirth, containing the life of Cambyses, King of Persia," except in so far as these mock-heroics imply a sense of what is really tragic in the old tale. There is one great preliminary difficulty to be overcome before the Cambyses of history (for whom see Dict. of Class. Biography) can be transformed into a hero of tragedy. The Cambyses of Herodotus is passionate enough, and abundantly unfortunate, but sadly wanting in nobility. He is altogether too lawless, too utterly self-willed, too barbarous to enlist our sympathy. If he is to interest a Greek audience, the worst features of his life must be suppressed, and his excesses must be attributed to the perversion of high motives. Some colour for this is afforded by his dying speech (Her. iii. 65), in which he shows a real solicitude for the Persian name. With this proviso the argument might run somewhat as follows:— subdued Egypt, resolves to extend the Persian. empire and religion over the whole of Africa. He sends armies against Carthage and against the Ammonian oasis, and himself marches into Ethiopia. But one army is baffled, another overwhelmed, and his own troops are worn by famine and compelled to return. His fiery patriotism and fanatical zeal are only increased by this, and while the Egyptians are in high festival on the apparition of Apis, he insults their god. As he is glorying in this achievement and boasting high things, he is warned in a dream that the kingdom is to be taken from him and given to Smerdis. This leads to his crowning guilt the assassination of his brother Smerdis by his command. No sooner is this accomplished than the news arrives that Smerdis-the Magian, as it proves has usurped the throne. Cambyses hastily mounts his charger to return, but is accidentally wounded by his own sword, and in a dying state gives the Persian nobles around him his last commands." The character of Cambyses would be contrasted on the one hand with that of his sister, who might be named Parysatis, and on the other with that of his confidential minister, Praxaspes. The aged Croesus would supply the place of Teiresias, as a kind of seer. The dramatis personae are then as follows: PARYSATIS, sister of Cambyses. CHORUS of Persian elders. CAMBYSES, King of Persia. HERALD. SECOND MESSENGER. The groundwork being so far prepared, we may attempt the following scenario: PARYSATIS. Prologos. PRAXASPES. Parysatis confides to Praxaspes her anxiety for her two brothers, (1) for Cambyses, who is on the verge of madness, (2) for Smerdis, who is left in charge at home. Cambyses is returned from Ethiopia disappointed, weakened, overstrained. What if the other expeditions to Carthage and to Ammon have likewise failed? Will he not pass all bounds? Praxaspes also owns to his anxiety (1) for Persia, (2) for his own children, (3) for his lord Cambyses. Not only the king's disappointment is to be feared, but his zeal for Persia and for Ormuzd. Has Parysatis heard that bull Apis, the epiphany of Osiris, has just appeared? The Messenger now arrives and reports the failure of the armies. |