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Portrait of Aeschylus

Author

Aeschylus

Aeschylus, (525 BC/524 BC – 456 BC/455 BC) was a Greek playwright of the 6th century B.C.  Known as the founder of tragedy, he was the earliest of three Greek tragedians whose plays survive, the others being  Sophocles and  Euripides.

Many of Aeschylus' works were influenced by the Persian invasion of Greece, which took place during his lifetime. 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.

Aeschylus was born in Eleusis, a town near Athens, around 525 BC. He grew up during the development of Athenian democracy and fought at the battle of Marathon in 490 BC, a high point of Greek culture, when the Greek army, predominantly Athenians, defeated a force of Persian invaders. Aeschylus wrote many plays (probably around ninety), only seven of which have survived. His Oresteia, the only complete surviving trilogy of plays by an ancient Greek dramatist, won the annual drama competition in Athens in 458 BC.

Aeschylus died in Sicily in 455 BC. Some legends have it that the cause of death was a turtle dropped onto his head by a bird flying above him.

Books

Prometheus Bound

Seven Against Thebes

Suppliant Women

The Oresteia

The Persians

Resources

GREEK TRAGEDY • BACKGROUND GUIDE

A Student’s Guide to Greek Tragedy

An accessible introduction to ancient Greek tragedy, explaining its origins, major playwrights, theatrical conventions, Chorus, dramatic structure, religious context, and central conflicts. Includes essential literary terms, reading strategies, and questions students can apply to tragedies by Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides.

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GREEK TRAGEDY • BACKGROUND GUIDE

Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides: Three Greek Tragedians

A comparative introduction to Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, exploring their surviving tragedies, dramatic approaches, treatment of justice, knowledge, suffering, and the Chorus. Includes examples from the Oresteia, The Persians, Antigone, Oedipus the King, Medea, and The Bacchae, together with discussion questions and a comparative classroom activity.

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GREEK TRAGEDY • BACKGROUND GUIDE

Aristotle and Greek Tragedy

A student-friendly introduction to Aristotle's analysis of Greek tragedy, including hamartia, hubris, catharsis, recognition, reversal, and the importance of plot. Distinguishes Aristotle's ideas from later classroom formulas and provides examples from Oedipus the King, Antigone, and Medea, along with discussion questions and a classroom exercise.

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GREEK TRAGEDY • BACKGROUND GUIDE

Fate, Choice, and Responsibility in Greek Tragedy

An accessible examination of fate, prophecy, free choice, and moral responsibility in Greek tragedy. Uses examples from Sophocles and Aeschylus to distinguish unavoidable circumstances from individual decisions, with close-reading questions and a classroom activity for evaluating tragic choices.

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GREEK TRAGEDY • BACKGROUND GUIDE

Greek Tragedy and the Gods

An accessible guide to the role of the gods in Greek tragedy, examining divine authority, oracles, prophecy, sacred obligations, ritual, justice, and human responsibility. Includes examples from Sophocles and Euripides, close-reading questions, and a classroom activity distinguishing characters’ beliefs from dramatic evidence.

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GREEK TRAGEDY • HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

Greek Tragedy in Fifth-Century Athens

A student-friendly guide to the political, religious, and cultural setting of Greek tragedy in fifth-century Athens. Explains Athenian democracy and its limits, the festivals of Dionysus, dramatic competitions, audiences, empire, warfare, and the historical settings of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides. Includes discussion questions and a classroom activity.

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THE WORLD OF THE ANCIENT GREEKS

Introduction to Ancient Greece

A concise guide to the geography, history, political life, and cultural development of ancient Greece, from the Bronze Age civilizations of Crete and Mycenae through the rise of the city-states, Classical Athens and Sparta, and the age of Alexander the Great.

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GREEK TRAGEDY • BACKGROUND GUIDE

Structure of a Greek Tragedy

A clear introduction to the structure of ancient Greek tragedy, explaining the prologue, parodos, episodes, stasima, and exodos. Includes additional dramatic terms, a simplified performance sequence, an example from Sophocles’ Antigone, close-reading questions, and a classroom exercise.

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GREEK TRAGEDY • BACKGROUND GUIDE

The Chorus in Greek Tragedy

An accessible guide to the Chorus in ancient Greek tragedy, explaining its role as a collective voice, dramatic participant, and performer of choral odes. Includes examples from Antigone, Oedipus the King, and Medea, along with reading strategies, discussion questions, and a classroom activity.

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GREEK TRAGEDY • THEATER & PERFORMANCE

The Greek Theater: Stage, Actors, Masks, and Audience

A student-friendly introduction to the ancient Greek theater and the performance traditions of tragedy. Explains the theatron, orchestra, skene, actors, masks, costumes, the Chorus, music, messenger speeches, and festival audiences, with practical questions to help students imagine how Greek tragedies were originally experienced

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GREEK TRAGEDY • BACKGROUND GUIDE

The Tragic Hero: What the Term Does—and Does Not—Mean

A critical introduction to the idea of the tragic hero, explaining why Greek tragedy cannot always be reduced to a noble character with a fatal flaw. Examines error, pride, suffering, moral responsibility, and the complexity of tragic protagonists, with examples from Antigone, Oedipus the King, Ajax, and Medea. Includes discussion questions and a comparative classroom activity.

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The Trojan War

Who Really Won the Trojan War?

The Greeks destroyed Troy—but victory proved far more complicated. Achilles was dead, Agamemnon returned home only to be murdered, Odysseus wandered for another ten years, and the defeated Trojans lived on in legend. The ancient stories leave us with a surprisingly modern question: if war devastates victors and vanquished alike, what does it really mean to win?

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