Aeschylus

Lore & Background

Aeschylus was born around 525 BC in Eleusis, a small town about 27 kilometres northwest of Athens. His family was wealthy and well established; his father, Euphorion, was said to be a member of the Eupatridae, the ancient nobility of Attica. As a youth, Aeschylus worked at a vineyard. According to the 2nd-century AD geographer Pausanias, the god Dionysus visited him in his sleep and commanded him to turn his attention to tragedy. His first performance took place in 499 BC, and he won his first victory at the Dionysia in 484 BC.

The Persian Wars played a large role in his life. In 490 BC, he and his brother Cynegeirus fought at the Battle of Marathon; Cynegeirus was killed. In 480 BC, Aeschylus served at the Battle of Salamis (a later tradition, recorded by Plutarch, claims his brother Ameinias fought alongside him, but this relationship is disputed). His participation at the Battle of Plataea in 479 BC is uncertain and not supported by reliable ancient sources. Salamis features prominently in his play The Persians, performed in 472 BC. Aeschylus was initiated into the Eleusinian Mysteries. According to a later source (Heraclides Ponticus via a scholiast), he was accused of impiety for revealing cult secrets on stage; he was acquitted, with the jury sympathetic to his military service. He travelled to Sicily once or twice in the 470s BC, invited by Hiero I, tyrant of Syracuse. He died in Gela, Sicily, in 456 or 455 BC. Valerius Maximus wrote that he was killed by a tortoise dropped by an eagle.

Reader's Guide

Aeschylus is foundational to Western drama. He is often described as the father of tragedy because his surviving plays are the earliest complete works of the genre, and all earlier Greek tragedy is understood largely through inferences from his texts. He expanded the number of characters in theatre, allowing conflict among them, a shift from earlier practice where characters interacted only with the chorus. He was likely the first dramatist to present plays as a trilogy; his Oresteia is the only extant ancient example. Of an estimated 70 to 90 plays, only seven survive in complete form, with authorship of Prometheus Bound disputed. His play The Persians is one of very few classical Greek tragedies concerned with contemporary events and the only one extant, influenced by the Persian invasion of 480–479 BC. Aeschylus's work was so respected that after his death his tragedies were the only ones allowed to be restaged in subsequent competitions. His epitaph commemorates only his military participation at Marathon, not his theatrical success, indicating the significance of the Persian Wars to him and the Greeks.

Did You Know?

• Aeschylus expanded the number of characters in theatre, allowing conflict among them; formerly, characters interacted only with the chorus.
• He wrote an estimated 70 to 90 plays, of which only seven survive in complete form; authorship of Prometheus Bound is disputed.
• His epitaph commemorates his participation in the Greek victory at Marathon but makes no mention of his success as a playwright.
• According to Valerius Maximus, Aeschylus was killed by a tortoise dropped by an eagle that mistook his head for a rock.

Notable Quotes (Wikiquote)

"Aeschylus (Greek: Αἰσχύλος; 525 BC – 456 BC) was a playwright of ancient Greece, the earliest of the three greatest Greek tragedians, the others being Sophocles and Euripides." — Aeschylus "Ἔστι γὰρ πλοῦτός γ᾽ ἀμεμφής, ἀμφὶ δ᾽ ὀφθαλμῷ φόβος·ὄμμα γὰρ δόμων νομίζω δεσπότου παρουσίαν." — Aeschylus "Wealth itself is blameless, but there can be fear for its precious eye; for I consider the presence of a house's master to be its saving light." — Aeschylus "Bitter, being first to tell you bitter news." — Aeschylus