“ THESPIS (6th cent. B.C.) , Greek poet, of Icaria, in Attica, generally considered the inventor of tragedy, flourished in the time of the Peisistratidae. According to Diogenes Laërtius (iii. 56) , he introduced for the first time in the old dithyrambic choruses a person distinct from the chorus, who conversed with the leader, and was hence called ὑποκριτής ("answerer") . [1] His claim to be regarded as the inventor of tragedy in the true sense of the term depends upon the extent to which this person was really an "actor" (see Drama) . ”