OLD COMEDY

good pc^Y^DLa^i^mpty-hi.nded3 while _

but generally, under tKe controT

better poets were chosen, and the
'chatterboxes', the 'degraders of their art', only got a chorus
once in their lives 1 Thej^ajrmgn^^ which always

consisted_of_citi5ens3 as well as^hejtptal cost of^the equipment
ofthe_glay and the_festive_meal which followedjthe performance,
was the jresponsibifi^pf the^choregus; only the actors were
chosen and paid by the archon, that is the State.2 The duty of
he choregus was not confined to the mere payment of money,
but involved weeks of painstaking preparation and care 3 This,
however, the choregus left for the most part to the poet and his
helpers. Even a choregus who was always victorious did not
necessarily understand anything about the technique of the
musical part or of producing a play 4 There were good and
bad choregi. 'Have you ever seen a choregus meaner than
him?'5 Such a man might well complain that it was no longer
possible to give the chorus quite simple clothes and food.6
A dinner after the performance was due to the members of
the chorus: 'The meat of the grouse is best to eat after a victory
on the stage.'7 WhenJ^j^^ the Frogs

are satis fiedjwith the breakfast theyjhaye Jiad, thi^^fgrgjtolKe

an processionTb

liturgieshich were
at

Em^^^

ancTat thejS^JnneT^rJe3" as anji^n^^
it was^oge^a^h^^Dipnysia to citizens only, at the Lenaia to
metics alsp. 9 As a ruIe7Tio^ver5Ha^^ was Tar

that of a tragedy. Naturally, the costum^Sjof^the
^ artistic tasjc was probably less

difficult, though the corruF^E^usTn 1tso^j^Tw2^1c'- aim

1 Kratmos 15 - P 80 iff, F 92ff
1 A 886£F, II 54ff — Stratts i This practice was probably introduced about
the middle of the century, cf K Schneider, P ~W III A, 506 Later there was
also an agon of comic actors at the Xurpcn, the last day of the Anthestena, and
this contest was used to select actors for the Great Dionysia (Plut mtae decent
orat. 841 F, IG 2 II/III 2325, p 6753, cf. Haigh, 31)
3 Antrphon VI, nff, cf frg 115, Plat 213
4 This latter was called SiSacrKocAicc Cf Xen mm III, 4, 3!'
6 Eupolis 306; cf Isaios V, 36 6 Pherekr 185, Kalhas 21
7 A 1 1 54ff, frg 433, cf also frg 253
8 F 376 • Schol PI 953, cf Lysias XII, 20