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CHAPTER VIII.

OF THE THREE SORTS OF SCENES, AND OF THETHEATRES OF THE GREEKS.

There are three sorts of scenes, the Tragic, the Comic,and the Satyric. The decorations of these are differentfrom each other. The tragic scenes are ornamentedwith columns, pediments, statues, and other royal deco-rations. The comic scene represents private buildingsand galleries, with windows similar to those in ordinarydwellings. The satyric scene is ornamented with trees,caves, hills, and other rural objects in imitation of nature.In the theatres of the Greeks the design is not made onthe same principles as those above mentioned. First,as to the general outline of the plan: whereas, in theLatin theatre, the points of four triangles touch the cir-cumference, in the theatres of the Greeks the angles ofthree squares are substituted, and the side of that squarewhich is nearest to the place of the scene, at the pointswhere it touches the circumference of the circle, is theboundary of the proscenium. A line drawn parallel tothis at the extremity of the circle, will give the front ofthe scene. Through the centre of the orchestra, oppo-site to the proscenium, another parallel line is drawntouching the circumference on the right and left, thenone foot of the compasses being fixed on the right handpoint, with a radius equal to the distance from the leftpoint, describe a circle on the right hand side of theproscenium, and placing the foot of the compasses on theleft hand point, with the distance of the right hand in-terval, describe another circle on the left side of theproscenium. Thus describing it from three centres, theGreeks have a larger orchestra, and their scene is fur-ther recessed. The pulpitum, which they call Xoyeiov,is less in width: wherefore, among them, the tragic andcomic performers act upon the scene; the rest going