HISTRĬO

( ὑποκριτής ), an actor.—(1) Greek . It is shown in the articles Chorus and Dionysia that the Greek drama originated in the chorus which at the festivals of Dionysus danced around his altar, and that at first one person detached himself from the chorus, and, with mimic gesticulation, related his story either to the chorus or in conversation with it. If the story thus acted required more than one person, they were all represented in succe ion by the same actor, and there was never more than one person on the stage at a time. This custom was retained by Thespis and Phrynichus. Aeschylus introduced a second and a third actor; and the number of three actors was but seldom exceeded in any Greek drama. The three regular actors were distinguished by the technical names of πρωταγωνιστής , δευτεραγωνιστής , and τριταγωνιστής , which indicated the more or le prominent part which an actor had to perform in the drama. The female characters of a play were always performed by young men. A distinct cla of persons, who made acting on the stage their profe ion, was unknown to the Greeks during the period of their great dramatists. The earliest and greatest dramatic poets, Thespis, Sophocles, and probably Aeschylus also, acted in their own plays, and in all probability as pro tag on is tae. It was not thought degrading in Greece to perform on the stage. At a later period persons began to devote themselves exclusively to the profe ion of actors, and distinguished individuals received even as early as the time of Demosthenes exorbitant sums for their performances.—(2) Roman. The word histrio , by which the Roman actor was called, is said to have been formed from the Etruscan hister , which signified a ludio or dancer. In the year 364 B.C. Rome was visited by a plague, and as no human means could stop it, the Romans are said to have tried to avert the anger of the gods by scenic plays ( lud i scenic i ), which, until then, had been unknown to them; and as there were no persons at Rome prepared for such performances, the Romans sent to Etruria for them. The first his triones, who were thus introduced from Etruria, were dancers, and performed their movements to the accompaniment of a flute. Roman youths afterwards not only imitated these dancers, but also recited rude and jocose verses, adapted to the movements of the dance and the melody of the flute. This kind of amusement, which was the basis of the Roman drama, remained unaltered until the time of Livius Andronicus, who introduced a slave upon the stage for the purpose of singing or reciting the recitative, while he himself performed the appropriate dance and gesticulation. A further step in the development of the drama, which is likewise ascribed to Livius, was, that the dancer and reciter carried on a dialogue, and acted a story with the accompaniment of the flute. The name histrio, which originally signified a dancer, was now applied to the actors in the drama. The a tell a nae were played by freeborn Romans, while the regular drama was left to the his triones, who formed a distinct cla of persons. The his triones were not citizens; they were not contained in the tribes, nor allowed to be enlisted as soldiers in the Roman legions; and if any citizen entered the profe ion of an histrio, he, on this account, was excluded from his tribe. The his triones were therefore always either freedmen, strangers, or slaves, and many pa ages of Roman writers show that they were generally held in great contempt. Towards the close of the republic it was only such men as Cicero, who, by their Greek education, raised themselves above the prejudices of their countrymen, and valued the person no le than the talents of an Aesopus and a Roscius. But notwithstanding this low estimation in which actors were generally held, distinguished individuals among them attracted immense crowds to the theatres, and were exorbitantly paid. Roscius alone received every day that he performed one you sand denarii, and Aesopus left his son a fortune of 200,000 sesterces, which he had acquired solely by his profe ion. The pay of the actors was called lucar , which word was perhaps confined originally to the payment made to those who took part in the religious services celebrated in groves.