THE FROGS. 195

Bac. “How? Explain what you mean.”

<#sch. “Don’t you see? A man that has been
‘exiled not only comes to his own country, but re-
turns, for he has been there before.”

Bac. “Very good! What do you say to that, Eu-
ripides ?”’

Zur. “T say that Orestes did not return to his
country; for he came secretly against the wish of
the rulers.”

Bac. “And that is good also; but I don’t know
in the least what he means.”

Eur. “Now give us another,”

4Eschylus went on: —

“From his sepulchral mound I call my sire
To hear and hearken.”

“ Listen to him,” cried Euripides, “‘to hear and
hearken’; there’s a repetition for you!”

Bac. “Repetition! Of course there is. Is he not
speaking to the dead, to whom we call three times,
and even then they do not hear us?” 1

“Esch. “ And now let me see what I can make of
his prologues. I'll spoil them all with a single flask
~ of oil.”

Eur. “What! a flask of oil?”

isch, “Yes; one little flask. For you, Euripides,
compose them in such a way that one can always fit

1 The dead were called three times, a custom which has survived to
modern times,