the "auto sacramental" may be defined as a dramatic representation of the mystery of the eucharist. at least this is the definition that would apply to the "auto" of the time of calderón. it does not so well fit, however, those of the preceding century, many of which were sacramental in character only because they were presented during the feast of corpus christi. they are usually allegorical, the characters representing, for example, faith, hope, air, sin, death, etc. there were some indeed, in which not a single human character appeared, but personifications of the virtues, the vices, the elements, etc.