Aeschylus

Author profile

born

in Eleusis, Attica, Greece

December 30, 0524

died

December 31, 0455

gender

male

genre

Literature & Fiction, Poetry

About this author

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Aeschylus (525 BC – 456 BC) was an ancient Greek playwright. He is often recognized as the father or the founder of tragedy, and is the earliest of the three Greek tragedians whose plays survive extant, the others being Sophocles and Euripides. According to Aristotle, he expanded the number of characters in plays to allow for conflict among them; previously, characters interacted only with the chorus. Unfortunately, only seven of an estimated 70 plays by Aeschylus have survived into modern times; one of these plays, Prometheus Bound, is sometimes thought not to be the work of Aeschylus.

At least one of Aeschylus' works was influenced by the Persian invasion of Greece, which took place during his lifetime. His play The Persians remains a good...more Aeschylus (525 BC – 456 BC) was an ancient Greek playwright. He is often recognized as the father or the founder of tragedy, and is the earliest of the three Greek tragedians whose plays survive extant, the others being Sophocles and Euripides. According to Aristotle, he expanded the number of characters in plays to allow for conflict among them; previously, characters interacted only with the chorus. Unfortunately, only seven of an estimated 70 plays by Aeschylus have survived into modern times; one of these plays, Prometheus Bound, is sometimes thought not to be the work of Aeschylus.

At least one of Aeschylus' works was influenced by the Persian invasion of Greece, which took place during his lifetime. His play The Persians remains a good primary source of information about this period in Greek history. The war was so important to Greeks and to Aeschylus himself that, upon his death around 456 BC, his epitaph included a reference to his participation in the Greek victory at Marathon but not to his success as a playwright.

There are no reliable sources for the life of Aeschylus. He was said to have been born in c. 525 in Eleusis, a small town about 27 kilometers northwest of Athens, which is nestled in the fertile valleys of western Attica, though the date is most likely based on counting back forty years from his first victory in the Great Dionysia. His family was both wealthy and well-established; his father Euphorion was a member of the Eupatridae, the ancient nobility of Attica. As a youth, he worked at a vineyard until, according to the 2nd-century AD geographer Pausanias, the god Dionysus visited him in his sleep and commanded him to turn his attention to the nascent art of tragedy. As soon as he woke from the dream, the young Aeschylus began writing a tragedy, and his first performance took place in 499 BC, when he was only 26 years old. After fifteen years, his skill was great enough to win a prize for his plays at Athens' annual city Dionysia playwriting competition. But in the interim, his dramatic career was interrupted by war. The armies of the Persian Empire, which had already conquered the Greek city-states of Ionia, entered mainland Greece in the hopes of conquering it as well.

In 490 BC, Aeschylus and his brother Cynegeirus fought to defend Athens against Darius's invading Persian army at the Battle of Marathon. The Athenians, though outnumbered, encircled and slaughtered the Persian army. This pivotal defeat ended the first Persian invasion of Greece proper and was celebrated across the city-states of Greece. Though Athens was victorious, Cynegeirus died in the battle. Aeschylus continued to write plays during the lull between the first and second Persian invasions of Greece, and won his first victory at the city Dionysia in 484 BC. In 480 he was called into military service again, this time against Xerxes' invading forces at the Battle of Salamis. This naval battle holds a prominent place in The Persians, his oldest surviving play, which was performed in 472 BC and won first prize at the Dionysia.

Aeschylus was one of many Greeks who had been initiated into the Eleusinian Mysteries, a cult to Demeter based in his hometown of Eleusis. As the name implies, members of the cult were supposed to have gained some sort of mystical, secret knowledge. Firm details of the Mysteries' specific rites are sparse, as members were sworn under the penalty of death not to reveal anything about the Mysteries to non-initiates. Nevertheless, according to Aristotle it was alleged that Aeschylus had placed clues about the secret rites in his seventh tragedy, Prometheus Bound. According to some sources, an angry mob tried to kill Aeschylus on the spot, but he fled the scene. When he stood trial for his offense, Aeschylus pleaded ignorance and was only spared because of his brave service in the Persian Wars.

Aeschylus traveled to Sicily once or twice in the 470s BC, having been invited by Hieron, tyrant of Syracuse(less)

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Aeschylus's Books

Average rating: 3.92 · 26,503 ratings · 748 reviews · 124 distinct works · Similar authors

	The Oresteia: Agamemnon / The Libation Bearers / The Eumenides by Aeschylus, Robert Fagles (Translator), W.B. Stanford (Introduction, Notes, Glossary) 3.95 of 5 stars 3.95 avg rating — 13,948 ratings — published -575 — 152 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Agamemnon (Oresteia, #1) by Aeschylus, Judith Affleck, John Harrison (Editor) 3.86 of 5 stars 3.86 avg rating — 4,057 ratings — published -458 — 68 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Prometheus Bound by Aeschylus, James Scully (Translator), C. John Herington (Translator) 3.94 of 5 stars 3.94 avg rating — 5,617 ratings — published -480 — 101 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Agamemnon, Prometheus Bound, Oedipus the King, Antigone & Hippolytus (Greek Tragedies, Volume 1) by Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides 4.21 of 5 stars 4.21 avg rating — 681 ratings — published 1960 — 2 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Persians 3.59 of 5 stars 3.59 avg rating — 567 ratings — published -472 — 26 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Seven Against Thebes 3.6 of 5 stars 3.60 avg rating — 329 ratings — published -467 — 30 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Greek Tragedy: Agamemnon, Oedipus Rex, Medea, Frogs [Extracts], Poetics [Extracts] by Aeschylus, Euripides, Sophocles 3.99 of 5 stars 3.99 avg rating — 193 ratings — published 2004 — 3 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Greek Tragedies: Volume 2: The Libation Bearers, Electra, Iphigenia in Tauris, Electra & The Trojan Women by Aeschylus, Euripides, Sophocles 4.19 of 5 stars 4.19 avg rating — 160 ratings — published 1960	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Eumenides by Aeschylus, Alan H. Sommerstein 3.61 of 5 stars 3.61 avg rating — 223 ratings — published 1970 — 24 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Suppliants 3.42 of 5 stars 3.42 avg rating — 124 ratings — published -463 — 16 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Aeschylus…

Series by Aeschylus

Ορέστεια (2 books)
by Aeschylus
3.8556650246305417 of 5 stars 3.86 avg rating — 4,060 ratings

The Complete Greek Tragedies: U of Chicago Press (1 book)
by Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, David Grene (Editor, Translator), Richmond Lattimore (Editor, Translator)
4.209985315712188 of 5 stars 4.21 avg rating — 681 ratings

Quotes by Aeschylus

“Happiness is a choice that requires effort at times.”
― Aeschylus

tags: happiness, inspirational

125 people liked it

“He who learns must suffer;
and even in our sleep
pain that cannot forget
falls drop by drop upon the heart,
and in our own despair,
against our will,
comes wisdom
by the awful grace of God.”
― Aeschylus

91 people liked it

“Better to die on your feet than live on your knees.”
― Aeschylus, Agamemnon

42 people liked it

See all Aeschylus's quotes »

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