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Pantomime
(3 syl.), according to etymology, should be all dumb
show, but in modern practice it is partly dumb show and partly
grotesque speaking. Harlequin and Columbine never speak, but Clown and
Pantaloon keep up a constant fire of fun. Dr. Clarke says that
Harlequin is the god Mercury, with his short sword called
“herpe;” he is supposed to be invisible, and to be able to transport
himself to the ends of the earth as quick as thought. Columbine, he
says, is Psyche (the soul); the old man is Charon; and
the Clown Momus (the buffoon of heaven), whose large gaping
mouth is an imitation of the ancient masks. (Travels, iv. 459.)
The best Roman pantomimists were Bathylus (a freedman of Maecenas),
Pylades, and Hylas
Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894 More on Pantomime from Infoplease:
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