Page:The Theatre of the Greeks, a Treatise on the History and Exhibition of the Greek Drama, with Various Supplements.djvu/272

246 ON THE EEPRESENTATION OF down the front, but the thickness of the sole seems to have re- quired that for ordinary purposes the buskin should not fit closely to the foot so that the name Kodopvo^iwas adopted as a designation of Theramenes, who was regarded as a turn-coat or trimmer in in politics^. But although the ordinary KoOopvo^ or ap^vXr] had a very thick sole against which stones and other obstacles struck with a ringing sound as the passenger stumped along the road^, it bore no comparison in this respect to the tragic buskins. Their enormous and extravagant height may be seen in the accom- panying figure of the Tragic Muse, and is singularly shown in the two monuments which are our principal authorities for the costume of the Greek drama. In the Pio-Clementine Mosaic, as Millin well remarks'*, the figures seem at first sight to have no ^ See the story of Alcmseon, who made his cothurni, like the jackboots of Hudi- bras, serve as an additional pocket for his gold. Herod, vi. 125. ^ Xen. Hell. II. 3, § 31 : 66ev hriirov Kal KoOoppos eircKaXe'iTaL' Kal yap 6 Kodopvcs apfx6TT€iv iJ.kv Tots TToa-lv dfi(poT^pois doK€L, dTrojSXiirei 5' iv* aficpoTepov. ^ Theocrit. vii. 25, 26 : ws rev TToal vetacro/xevoLo Trdaa idos irraioKra ttot' dp^vXldcaaiv deidet. ^ P. 16 : On diroit qu'ils n'ont pas de pieds; ils ont I'air de ces marionettes que Ton promfene a travers les fentes des planches d'un theatre, et dont les fils qui les font mouvoir sont dessous, au lien d'etre dessus."