_ 267 ff.) as the running slave, he is still out
of breath at 326-7! Stasimus in _Trin._ 1008 ff., though his mission is
also proclaimed as desperately urgent, pauses to declaim on public morals!
Considerable light has been thrown upon this subject recently by the
dissertation of Weissman, _De servi currentis persona apud comicos
Romanes_ (Giessen, 1911), though his explanation of the _modus operandi_
is inconclusive. Langen has commented on it at some length,[125] but
offers no solution. Weise frankly admits:[126] "Wie sie gelaufen sind, ist
ein Raetsel fur uns." LeGrand[127] follows Weise's conclusion that it is an
imitation from the Greek and in support of this instances Curculio's use,
while running, of the presumed translations from the Greek: _agoranomus_,
_demarchus_, etc. He also cites as parallels some unconvincing phrases from
fragments of New Comedy, while developing an ingenious theory that the
device is a heritage from the Greek orchestra, where it could have been
performed with a hippodrome effect. Terence berates the practice,[128] but
makes use of it himself.[129]
Weissman's conclusions are worth a summary. He notes the following as the
usual essential concomitants: 1. It is mentioned in the text that the
slave is on the run. 2. He is the bearer of news of the moment; 3. He
fails to recognize other characters on stage; 4. He is halted by the very
man he is so violently seeking.
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