Only in satyr-plays, in the comic epics, and for a few extravagant
characters in comedy (such as the boastful soldier) were grotesque
appellations employed. For the rest, the Greek habit of nomenclature
made it possible to use significant names which were at the same time
probable enough in daily life. For example, a slave might be called
Onesimus, "useful," or a soldier Polemon, to imply his warlike function;
but both names would be familiar to the audience in actual use.]
_BOOK II_
THE BEGINNING
_CHAPTER VI_
THE POINT OF ATTACK: SHAKESPEARE AND IBSEN
Though, as we have already noted, the writing of plays does not always
follow the chronological sequence of events, in discussing the process
of their evolution we are bound to assume that the playwright begins at
the beginning, and proceeds in orderly fashion, by way of the middle, to
the end. It was one of Aristotle's requirements that a play should have
a beginning, middle and end; and though it may seem that it scarcely
needed an Aristotle to lay down so self-evident a proposition, the fact
is that playwrights are more than sufficiently apt to ignore or despise
the rule.
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