§ 5 Stage Properties, &c.
In addition to the scenery in the background, the stage was of course decorated with such objects and properties as were required by the particular play. Aeschylus is said to have been the first to adorn the stage in this manner.614 If the scene was a palace or temple, statues of the gods were generally placed in front of it, and are frequently referred to in the course of the drama. For instance, there was the statue of Athene in front of her temple in the Eumenides, and the statues of the tutelary deities before the palace of the Atreidae in the Electra of Sophocles. In the Hippolytus there were two statues in front of the palace of Theseus, one of Artemis the huntress, and the other of Cypris, the goddess of love. When Hippolytus returns from the hunt, he offers a garland of flowers to the statue of Artemis, but refuses to pay any homage to the statue of Cypris, in spite of the remonstrances of his attendant. Again, in the country region depicted in the Oedipus Coloneus the statue of the hero Colonus stood in a conspicuous position.615 Other examples of the practice of decorating the stage with statues are often to be met with both in tragedy and in comedy. Altars, again, were very common objects upon the Greek stage. In the Supplices of Aeschylus the fugitive maidens take refuge round an altar. The Oedipus Tyrannus opens with the spectacle of a group of Thebans kneeling in supplication before the altar of Apollo.616 Another constant feature in the stage decoration was the stone obelisk in honour of Apollo of the Highways. It was an ordinary practice among the Greeks to place such obelisks in front of their houses. Their presence upon the stage is often referred to by the dramatic poets.617 Various other objects were occasionally required by particular plays. There was the tomb of Darius in the Persae, and the tomb of Agamemnon in the Choephori. In the Oedipus Coloneus a rocky ledge was needed for Oedipus to rest himself upon. In the Acharnians and the Knights a few benches must have been erected upon the stage to serve as a rude imitation of the Pnyx. Walls, watch-towers, and beacon-towers are mentioned by Pollux; and the presence of other similar decorations and erections can be inferred from the extant tragedies and comedies.618
There was one piece of realism which the Greeks were not averse to, and that was the presence of horses and chariots in the theatre. We have already referred to the instances in tragedy where persons from a distance arrive in chariots drawn by horses or mules. The vast size of the Greek theatre made it peculiarly suitable for displays of this character. In the Agamemnon of Aeschylus, Agamemnon and Cassandra approach the palace in a chariot; Agamemnon remains seated there for a considerable time, while he converses with Clytaemnestra; he then dismounts and enters the palace, leaving Cassandra still in the chariot. In the Electra of Euripides, when Clytaemnestra comes to visit her daughter at the country cottage, she arrives in a chariot, accompanied by Trojan maidens, who assist her to dismount.619 Animals for riding were also occasionally introduced. In the Prometheus there is the winged steed upon which Oceanus makes his entrance; and in the Frogs of Aristophanes Xanthias rides in upon a donkey.620