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On the Costume of the Greek Tragic Actor in the Fifth Century b.c.
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 February 2009
Extract
‘In forming our estimate of tragedy, let us first consider its externals—the hideous appalling spectacle that the actor presents. His high boots raise him out of all proportion, his head is hidden under an enormous mask; his huge mouth gapes upon the audience as if he would swallow them; to say nothing of the chest-pads and stomach-pads with which he contrives to give himself an artificial corpulence lest his deficiency in this respect should emphasize his disproportionate height.’.
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- Copyright © The Classical Association 1907
References
page 226 note 1 Lucian, Περì 'Opx- 27 (trans, of F. G. Fowler), compare also 
page 226 note 2 Hor. Ars. Poet. 278; Suidas, Aìσχúλoς Athen. 21 E; Philostr., Apoll. Tyan. vi. II; Vita Aeschyli
page 226 note 3 Haigh, Trag. Drama of the Greeks, p. 68, so also Muller, Gr. Biihnenalt. S. 229
page 226 note 4 The use of the high-soled shoe or buskin in Greek tragedy of the fifth and fourth centuries B.C. Harvard Studies in Class. Phil xvi. (1905), pp. 123 sqq.
page 227 note 1 Ibid. pp. 163 sq
page 227 note 2 Based upon a plaque-painting from Herculaneum; see Hallisches Winckelmannsprogr. 22, p. 14 sqq. The painting is published also by Wieseler, Theatergeb. u. Denim. PI. XI. 5.
page 227 note 3 The objections offered by Mr. H. Richards, Class. Rev. Mar. 1906, pp. 129 f., are not really cogent.
page 227 note 4 Harv. Stud. xvi. p. 162.
page 227 note 5 Published in Mon. Ined.. xi. 13; Haigh, Gr. Theat.2 p. 273
page 227 note 6 Bethe (Proleg. 2. Gesch. d. Theat. S. 320 sqq,.) believes that the high-soled buskin was used in the fifth century; but one cannot follow him when he says: ‘ aber unangenehm auffallen konnten diese hohen Schuhe schwerlich, da die Zuschauer ihre Blicke auf Kopf und Arme, nicht auf die Beine richten.’ High soles imply a padded figure.
page 227 note 7 Aesch. Agam. 944 sqq. I agree with Mr. Smith (Harv. Stud. xvi. p. 142) who says with reference to Professor Robert's hypothesis ‘ that there was here only a show of taking off the shoes, and that they were kept on in reality. This hypothesis is not the natural one: it is rather the result of prejudgment of the point at issue. To one not concerned about the tragic boot the lines would certainly mean that the shoes came off; and if they came off, they could not have been high-soled.’
page 228 note 1 Haigh, Gr. Theatre 2p. 284. Usually explained also as due to the vast size of the theatre; but we have no evidence that the theatre in the fifth century was so large.
page 228 note 2 Jevons, Man. of Gr. Antiq. p. 699.
page 228 note 3 Athen. Mitt. vii. PI. XIV; also Haigh, Gr. Th 2 p. 271.
page 228 note 4 Jahrb. d. deulsch. Arch. Inst. 1896, S. 292, p. 2 and Engelmann, Arch.-Stud. z. Trag. Fig. 20.
page 228 note 5 Haigh, Gr. Th. 2 p. 280.
page 228 note 6 Ibid. p. 290; also Jahr. d.d. Arch. Inst. 1893, S. 78, 80.
page 228 note 7 Compte Rendu de la Com. Imp. Arch. 1870–1871, PI. IV. I; also Haigh, Gr. Theat.2p. 289.
page 228 note 8 P. Gardner, Gram, of Gk. Art, p. 18.