Dionysus.
Thespis had introduced the first actor, who, in the pauses of the choral
song, related in monologue the adventures of the god or engaged in
dialogue with the leader of the chorus. To Aeschylus is due the
invention of the second actor. This essentially changed the character of
the performance. The dialogue could now be carried on by the two actors,
who were thus able to enact a complete story. The functions of the
chorus became less important, and the lyrical element was subordinated
to the action. (The word "drama" signifies action.) The number of actors
was subsequently increased to three, and Aeschylus in his later plays
used this number. This restriction imposed upon the Greek playwright
does not mean that he was limited to two or three characters in his
play, but that only two, or at the most three, of these might take part
in the action at once. The same actor might assume different parts. The
introduction of the second actor was so capital an innovation that it
rightly entitles Aeschylus to be regarded as the creator of the drama,
for in his hands tragedy first became essentially dramatic. This is his
great distinction, but his powerful genius wrought other changes. He
perfected, if he did not discover, the practice of introducing three
plays upon a connected theme (technically named a _trilogy_), with an
after-piece of lighter character. He invented the tragic dress and
buskin, and perfected the tragic mask. He improved the tragic dance, and
by his use of scenic decoration and stage machinery, secured effects
that were unknown before him. His chief claim to superior excellence,
however, lies after all in his poetry. Splendid in diction, vivid in the
portraiture of character, and powerful in the expression of passion, he
is regarded by many competent critics as the greatest tragic poet of
all time.

The Greek lexicographer, Suidas, reports that Aeschylus wrote ninety
plays. The titles of seventy-two of these have been handed down in an
ancient register. He brought out the first of these at the age of
twenty-five, and as he died at the age of sixty-nine, he wrote on an
average two plays each year throughout his lifetime. Such fertility
would be incredible, were not similar facts authentically recorded of
the older tragic poets of Greece. The Greek drama, moreover, made
unusual demands on the creative powers of the poet. It was lyrical, and
the lyrics were accompanied by the dance. All these elements--poet