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ANCIENT GREECE.[CHAP, xv.heroic age,or at least as the times of Homer. 1Although itwas capable of receiving great ornaments, and did actuallyreceive them, it did not necessarily require any great preparations. The similar spectacleswhicli modern travellershave witnessed in the islands of the South Sea, especiallythe Society Islands, carry us back to the earlier world ofGreece. The drama was the result of those choruses ;butfrom its nature it could only be a later fruit of the poeticspiritof the nation.The drama interests us here only in its connexion withthe state. But this inquiry goes very deeply into its nature.A question arises of a twofold character ; What did the statedo for the drama, and in what respects was the drama, byits nature and organization, connected with and of importance to the state ?Dramatic poetry, whose object is to givea distinct andlively representation of an action, always requires decorations, however splendidor paltry they may be ;and an assembly, before which the representation may be made.Dramatic poetryis therefore essentially more public thanthat of any other description.Of all kinds of verse, thisconcerns the state the most nearly. Among the Greeks wemay add, that it was an affair of religion,and therefore anessential part of their festivals. But these festivals were entirely an affair of the state ; they belonged, as has beenobserved above, to the most urgent political wants. Herethen we find a reason why the state should not only haveso much encouraged dramatic exhibitions, but have evenconsidered them no less essential than the popular assemblies and popular tribunals. A Grecian state could notexist without festivals, nor festivals without choruses andplays.In what manner the state encouraged the drama, weknow only with respect to Athens. But that the otherGrecian cities in the mother country, and also in the colonies, had their theatres no less than Athens; is apparentfrom the remains of them, which are almost always to befound wherever there are traces of a Grecian city.Thetheatres were built and decorated at the public expense ;1See the Hymn, in Apoll. v.Ionian, festivals in Delos.147, etc. respectingthe choruses at the