Biography
Aeschylus (c. 525 BC – c. 456 BC) was the earliest of the three great ancient Greek tragedians whose complete plays have survived, the others being Sophocles and Euripides. He is often described as the “father of tragedy” because of his decisive role in the development of Greek drama.
Aeschylus is traditionally credited with writing around seventy to ninety plays, including tragedies and satyr plays. Only seven works attributed to him have survived complete, and the authorship of one of them, Prometheus Bound, has long been disputed by scholars. Fragments of many other plays have survived through quotations in later authors and in papyri discovered in Egypt, offering valuable glimpses into works that would otherwise have been completely lost.
Aeschylus played an important role in the development of tragedy as a dramatic form. He is traditionally credited with introducing a second actor, allowing greater interaction between individual characters and reducing the dominant role previously held by the chorus. He also developed the use of connected plays presented as trilogies. His Oresteia — consisting of Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers and The Eumenides — is the only complete trilogy of ancient Greek tragedies to have survived.
The Persian Wars, which Aeschylus experienced during his lifetime, had a profound influence on his work. His tragedy The Persians, first performed in 472 BC, dramatizes the Persian defeat at Salamis and is exceptional because it deals not with mythology but with an event from recent history. It is the earliest surviving Greek tragedy and an important literary source for understanding how the Greeks viewed the conflict with the Persian Empire.
Aeschylus married and had two sons, Euphorion and Euaeon, both of whom also became tragic poets.
He was not only a playwright but also a soldier. He fought against the Persians at the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC, where his brother Cynegeirus was killed. Ancient tradition also associates Aeschylus with other battles of the Persian Wars, including Salamis and Plataea, although the evidence for his participation in these engagements is less certain.
His military service clearly held an important place in the way his life was remembered. The epitaph traditionally attributed to him makes no mention of his extraordinary achievements as a playwright, but instead commemorates his courage at Marathon:
“Beneath this stone lies Aeschylus, son of Euphorion, the Athenian,
who died in the wheat-bearing land of Gela;
of his noble courage the grove of Marathon can speak,
and the long-haired Mede, who knew it well.”
