“Corinthians,” to a grand exhibition of the blessings of Peace under the form of a young lady, the liberal display of whose charms would have petrified a modern Chamberlain.  In one place, Trygaeus is riding to heaven on a dung-beetle, and of course a large fund of amusement is obtained from the literal and metaphorical manipulation of its food.  Socrates’ disciples are discovered in a kneeling posture, with their heads on the ground.  “What are they doing?” inquires the visitor.  “They are in search of things below the earth.”  “And why are their backs up in the air?” “With them they are studying astronomy.”

These passages will give some faint idea, though not an adequate one, of the coarseness of Aristophanes’ humour.  The primitive character of it is marked by the fact that the greater portion has no reference to the sexes.

It is a crumb of comfort to know that women were not generally present at performances of comedies, and Aristotle says that young men should not be allowed to attend them until they are old enough to sit at table and get drunk.  Moreover, to be humorous the comedian must necessarily have exceeded the bounds of ordinary usage.  Aristophanes occasionally deplores the degeneracy of his times,—­the youth of the period making “rude jests,” but his own writings are the principal evidence of this depravity.  His allusions are not excusable on the ground of ignorance; they are intentionally impure.  There was once an age of innocence—­still reflected in childhood, and among some unprogressive races—­in which a sort of natural darkness hung over the thoughts and actions of men,—­but it was in reality an age of ignorance.  When light broke forth delicacy sprang up, and when by degrees one thing after another had been forbidden and veiled from sight by the common consent of society, there was a large borderland formed outside immorality upon which the trespasser could enter and sport; and much could be said which was objectionable without giving serious offence.  Before the days of Aristophanes and the comic performances for which he wrote, very little genius or enterprise was directed into the paths of humour, but now every part of them was explored.  Indelicacy would here afford great assistance, from the attraction it possesses for many people and the ease with which it is understood.  Something perhaps is due to the fact that Greece had now reached the highest point of her prosperity, and that a certain amount of lawlessness prevailed as her brilliancy began to tremble and fade.  From whatever cause it arose, Aristophanes stands before us as one of the first to introduce this base ornamentation.  The most remarkable circumstance connected with it is that he assigns a large part of his coarse language to women.  His object was to amuse a not very refined audience, and one that relished something preposterous.