A History of Pantomime | Page 9

of the winter, and marking the difference between lightness
and darkness.
In India the origin of dramatic entertainments has been attributed to the
sage Bharata (meaning an actor), who received, it is said, a
communication from the god Brahma to introduce them, as the latter
had received his knowledge of them from the Vedas. Bharata was also
said to be the "Father of dramatic criticism." Pantomimic scenes

derived from the heathen Mythology of Vishnu--a collection of poems
and hymns on the Aryan religion--are even now in India occasionally
enacted by the Jatras of the Bengalis and the Rasas of the provinces in
the west, and, just as their forefathers did ages and ages ago. An
episode from the history of the god Vishnu, in relation to his marriage
with Laxmi, was a favourite subject for the early Indian Drama. Of
Vedic Mythology Professor Max Müller observes that in it "There are
no genealogies, no settled marriages between gods and goddesses. The
father is sometimes the son, the brother, the husband, and she who in
one hymn is the mother, is in another the wife. As the conceptions of
the poet vary so varies the nature of these gods."
The Hindoo dramatic writer, Babhavñti--the Indian
Shakespeare--introduced with success in one of his dramas, like in our
"Hamlet," "a play within a play," and much in a similar way as our
early dramatists used in their plays, the "dumb shows."
Between the native Tragedy and Comedy, as in China, there was no
definite distinction, and, although both contained some of the best and
noblest sentiments, yet the racial philosophy of caste enters greatly into
the construction of each.
In the Hindoo Mythology we have prototypes of the gods of the
Egyptian, Grecian, and Roman Mythologies. The god Vishnu, who, in
Aryan Mythology, is the wind and "Traverses the heavens in three
strides," is the greatest of all heathen deities. His dwelling-place was
"The aerial mountains, where the many horned and swiftly moving
cattle abide." In Grecian Mythology Hermes or Mercury took on some
of the characteristics of Vishnu.
In the Eleusinian Mysteries of the Greeks, the signs and symbols that
marked the worship of Vishnu by the Aryans, are apparent; and in the
British Museum the scenes of the vases of the Hamilton collection
agree closely with the Sacti rites of Hindustan.
After having briefly noticed and introduced Vishnu or Hermes to the
notice of the reader, we will now take another of the Aryan
deities--See-Va, the Wine god. This myth was the Dionysus, or

Bacchus, of the Greeks, and the expedition of this "immortal" through
the world to instruct mankind in agriculture, is likened as well as the
god himself by the Egyptians to their deity Osiris--the god of the Nile.
The worship of See-Va, Bacchus, or Osiris extended over Asia Minor,
Greece, and Italy.
The visit and advent of the Wine or Pleasure god Bacchus to India,
with his accompanying train of sylvan and rural deities, and nymphs, is
supposed to have conquered the Hindoos, and taught them civilization,
besides the cultivation of the vine. Strange to relate that when
Alexander and his army reached the present Cabul they found ivy and
wild vines (both sacred to Bacchus) growing in abundance, and they
were met by processions dressed in parti-coloured dresses, playing on
drums like the Bacchic festivals of Greece and Lower Asia of that time.
Female parts were acted by women, but it was not a general custom;
and the Clown of the piece was always a Brahma, or if not, at any rate a
pupil of Brahma.
Also among the minor characters was the Vita, "the accomplished
companion," a part sometimes played by men and sometimes by
women. Probably in this in the latter instance we have the origin of the
Columbine and Soubrette part in after years of the European stage as
the term "accomplished companion," would equally apply to both. It is
only a surmise, yet history as we know is continually repeating
itself--even in Soubrette parts, and in more senses than one.
Of scenic displays that it possessed there was little or none, though the
exits and entrances to the stage had probably some device to denote
them. What they possessed in the way of properties it is more than
useless to speculate, as, whatever could be said, could only be
conjectural. In dressing their parts propriety in costume, and in
adhering to the habits of the Indian Drama, seems to have been
observed with some show of consistency.
The Chinese Drama also arose from the Hindoo developing itself as
time rolled on from Pantomimes and ballets. A very ancient Pantomime
is said to have been symbolical of the conquest of China by Wou Wang.

Others were on subjects of the Harvest, War, and Peace; whilst many
were