Polus

…speech by an actor named Polus. It is a reasonable assumption that, from the beginning of the existence of an acting profession, it became customary for the most experienced performers to give advice and instruction to their less experienced colleagues: actors are seldom as confident as their performances can suggest,…

… was that of the actor Polus performing in the Electra of Sophocles, at Athens in the 4th century bc. The plot requires Electra to carry an urn supposed to contain the ashes of Orestes and to lament and bewail the fate she believed had overtaken him. Accordingly, Polus, clad in…