Analysis of Ars Poetica, part 15

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The style of the tragic muse was unknown till Thespis. It was Thespis who first introduced the muse. He carried his play in wagons with men’s faces decorated with lees of wine. Next came Aeschylus who introduced the mask and the comic robe. He made his actors use high sounding diction and buskin’s stately gait. After this came old comedy which was very much praised but it’s usage was very soon licenced and there was violence. As a result, the control put on it was accepted and the chorus was silenced. Horace says that the writers of his time try out various things and they get very much fame in doing so. They even discard the Greeks and write about the exploits of the nation and tragic and comic writers alive.

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