Judge — January 28, 1928 — page 20: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

JUDGE MODERN MELODRAMA AND THE EARLY GREEKS Will Durant, that bearded sage of the Kentucky, once pointed out the fact that the 5 were at the bottom of Will right. s were the very basis Melodrams every was The Gre of Americ: today. To drive the striking similarity between our plays and theirs, take the opening scene of The Eumenides, by Eschylus, and compare it with Manhattan Mary or any other hit on Broad- as it is home ie scene of Mr. -Eschylus’ is laid on the t of a 1 bull in Northern Thes- ly. At the rise of the cur- ain the 3 Prometheus Brothers 3 are discovered right, left and center discussing the various merits of their loved one, Io the daughter of Inachus. Now Io, it seems, is a very charming Spar- tan belle, and were it not for the slight suggestion of a goitre on her neck she might have been unanimously elected Miss Greece the weck before at Atlantic City. The use of the sacrificial bull, of course, is something that needs a bit of explaining. Every spring the Early Grecks made it a point to gather together at Delphi, where the Oracle would forecast the stock quotations for the com- ing year. On this festal occasion it was the envied privilege of the most respected bull of the country to be lowered head fore- most into the sacred waters of the Well of Life. This well en- dowed all those who were ducked therein with perpetual life, and therefore everywhere you went in Greece you would’ run into these damn bulls. They simply would not die off, and there were so many of them that the streets, temples and theaters were simply packed, and this one was a little bolder than the rest and came right up onto the stage. The brother on the extreme left, with his feet directly over the animal's kidneys, holds a spear in his right hand. The poor fellow brought it as a prac- tical joke, and little does he know that before the evening is half over he himself will feel its sharp point jammed into his mid- riff. The elder brother, Tom, is in the center. He has his feet planked against the third brother's chest, for he is a doctor and uses his feet for s Greek feet are so se’ third brother, Hephaestus, really no brother at all. He i the other boy's father—s rible fact which he breaks down and confesses at special matinées for men only. So Greek drama, as you see, is really very, very, very much like our own. After all, is there any- thing new on God's Green Foot- stool ? —Servss Keep yer thumb outa me eye if ya don’t want this contest to sink into a exhibition of brutality. comicbooks.com