The purposes for which an ancient language may be studied are its
philology and its literature, or the arts and sciences, the notions and
manners, the history and beliefs of the people by whom it was spoken.
Particular branches may be preferably cultivated for the understanding
of each of these subjects, but there is no one species which will be
found to embrace so many purposes as the dramatic. The dialogue varies
from simple to elaborate, from the conversation of ordinary life to the
highest refinements of poetical taste. The illustrations are drawn from
every known product of art, as well as every observable phenomenon of
nature. The manners and feelings of the people are delineated, living
and breathing before us, and history and religion furnish the most
important and interesting topics to the bard. Wherever, therefore, there
exists a dramatic literature, it must be pre-eminently entitled to the
attention of the philosopher as well as the philologist, of the man of
general literary tastes as well as the professional scholar.