ACTOR, in Dramatic Poetry, one who represents some Person or Character upon the Theatre. See PERSON, and CHARACTER.
Tragedy, in its original, only consisted of a simple Chorus, who sang Hymns in honor of Bacchus. See TRAGEDY, and CHORUS.
Thespis was the first who took upon him to introduce a Persona, or Actor; who was to ease the Chorus by reciting the adventures of some of their heroes.
Aeschylus, finding a single person tiresome, thought to entertain the audience more agreeably by the introduction of a second person, who should converse and make dialogue with the first. He likewise dressed his actors a little more decently than they had been before, and put them on the Buskin. See BUSKIN.
Sophocles, finding the two persons of Aeschylus too few for the variety of incidents, added a third; and here the Greeks stopped; at least, we don't find in any of their tragedies, more than three persons in the same scene: though in their comedies, they took further liberty.
The moderns have brought a much greater number of actors upon the stage. — This heightens the trouble, and distress that should reign there; and makes a diversity, in which the spectator is sure to be interested.
Horace speaks of a kind of secondary Actors in his time, whose business was to imitate the first; and lessen themselves, to become better foils to their Principals. We have little notion of how these subaltern actors behaved. See MIME, PANTOMIME, etc.
