Juppiter Tragoedus

Zeus Good, Hermes; that is an excellent proclamation: see, here they come pell-mell; now receive and place them in correct precedence, according to their material or workmanship; gold in the front row, silver next, then the ivory ones, then those of stone or bronze. A cross-division will give precedence to the creations of Phidias, Alcamenes, Myron, Euphranor, and artists of that calibre, while the common inartistic jobs can be huddled c

together in the far corner, hold their tongues, and: just make up the rank and file of our assembly.

Hermagoras All right; they shall have their proper places. But here is a point: suppose one of them is gold, and heavy at that, but not finely finished, quite amateurish and ill proportioned, in fact—is he to take precedence of Myron’s and Polyclitus’s bronze, or Phidias’s and Alcamenes’s marble? or is workmanship to count most?

Zeus It should by rights. Never mind, put the gold first.

Hermagoras I see; property qualification, comparative wealth, is the test, not merit.—Gold to the front row, please.—