Note 669 — Chapter IV · THE SCENERY

Bethe (Prolegomena, pp. 198 ff.) thinks the drop-scene was introduced into the Greek theatre about 427 B.C., at the same time as the raised stage. His reason is that none of the plays which begin with a tableau are previous to 427 in date. But the Agamemnon commences with the watchman reclining on the palace roof. The Heracleidae (probably anterior to 427) opens with a group of suppliants at an altar. The Oedipus Rex, which also begins with a tableau, is of unknown date, and there is nothing to show that it was later than 427.