Aeschylus (, ; grc-gre,
Αἰσχύλος
Aeschylus (, ; grc-gre, Αἰσχύλος ; c. 525/524 – c. 456/455 BC) was an ancient Greek tragedian, and is often described as the father of tragedy. Academic knowledge of the genre begins with his work, and understanding of earlier Greek ...
; c. 525/524 – c. 456/455 BC) was an
ancient Greek tragedian
Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a main character. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy i ...
, and is often described as the father of
tragedy.
Academic knowledge of the genre begins with his work, and understanding of earlier Greek tragedy is largely based on inferences made from reading his surviving plays. According to
Aristotle, he expanded the number of characters in the theatre and allowed conflict among them. Formerly, characters interacted only with the
chorus
Chorus may refer to:
Music
* Chorus (song) or refrain, line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse
* Chorus effect, the perception of similar sounds from multiple sources as a single, richer sound
* Chorus form, song in which all verse ...
.
[The remnant of a commemorative inscription, dated to the 3rd century BC, lists four, possibly eight, dramatic poets (probably including Choerilus, Phrynichus, and Pratinas) who had won tragic victories at the Dionysia before Aeschylus had. Thespis was traditionally regarded the inventor of tragedy. According to another tradition, tragedy was established in Athens in the late 530s BC, but that may simply reflect an absence of records. Major innovations in dramatic form, credited to Aeschylus by Aristotle and the anonymous source ''The Life of Aeschylus'', may be exaggerations and should be viewed with caution (Martin Cropp (2006), "Lost Tragedies: A Survey" in ''A Companion to Greek Tragedy'', pp. 272–74)]
Only seven of his estimated seventy to ninety plays have survived. There is a long-standing
debate regarding the authorship of one of them, ''
Prometheus Bound
''Prometheus Bound'' ( grc, Προμηθεὺς Δεσμώτης, ''Promētheús Desmṓtēs'') is an Ancient Greek tragedy traditionally attributed to Aeschylus and thought to have been composed sometime between 479 BC and the terminus an ...
'', with some scholars arguing that it may be the work of his son
Euphorion. Fragments from other plays have survived in quotations, and more continue to be discovered on Egyptian
papyri. These fragments often give further insights into Aeschylus' work. He was likely the first dramatist to present plays as a
trilogy. His ''
Oresteia'' is the only extant ancient example. At least one of his plays was influenced by the
Persians' second invasion of Greece (480–479 BC). This work, ''
The Persians'', is one of very few classical Greek tragedies concerned with contemporary events, and the only one extant. The significance of the war with Persia was so great to Aeschylus and the Greeks that his epitaph commemorates his participation in the Greek victory at
Marathon while making no mention of his success as a playwright.
Life
Aeschylus was born in c. 525 BC in
Eleusis, a small town about 27 km northwest of
Athens, in the fertile valleys of western
Attica
Attica ( el, Αττική, Ancient Greek ''Attikḗ'' or , or ), or the Attic Peninsula, is a historical region that encompasses the city of Athens, the capital of Greece and its countryside. It is a peninsula projecting into the Aegean Se ...
. Some scholars argue that his date of birth may be based on counting back forty years from his first victory in the Great Dionysia. His family was wealthy and well established. His father, Euphorion, was said to be a member of the
Eupatridae
Eupatridae (literally "good fathered", i.e. "offspring of noble fathers" or "the well-born") refers to the ancient nobility of the Greek region of Attica.
Origin
Tradition ascribes to Theseus, whom it also regards as the author of the union (''sy ...
, the ancient nobility of Attica.
, but this might be a fiction invented by the ancients to account for the grandeur of Aeschylus' plays.
As a youth, Aeschylus worked at a vineyard until, according to the 2nd-century AD geographer
Pausanias Pausanias ( el, Παυσανίας) may refer to:
* Pausanias of Athens, lover of the poet Agathon and a character in Plato's ''Symposium''
*Pausanias the Regent, Spartan general and regent of the 5th century BC
* Pausanias of Sicily, physician of ...
, 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, he began to write a tragedy, and his first performance took place in 499 BC, when he was 26 years old.][ He won his first victory at the ]City Dionysia
The Dionysia (, , ; Greek: Διονύσια) was a large festival in ancient Athens in honor of the god Dionysus, the central events of which were the theatrical performances of dramatic tragedies and, from 487 BC, comedies. It was the sec ...
in 484 BC.
In 510 BC, when Aeschylus was 15 years old, Cleomenes I
Cleomenes I (; Greek Κλεομένης; died c. 490 BC) was Agiad King of Sparta from c. 524 to c. 490 BC. One of the most important Spartan kings, Cleomenes was instrumental in organising the Greek resistance against the Persian Empire of Dariu ...
expelled the sons of Peisistratus
Pisistratus or Peisistratus ( grc-gre, Πεισίστρατος ; 600 – 527 BC) was a politician in ancient Athens, ruling as tyrant in the late 560s, the early 550s and from 546 BC until his death. His unification of Attica, the triangular ...
from Athens, and Cleisthenes
Cleisthenes ( ; grc-gre, Κλεισθένης), or Clisthenes (c. 570c. 508 BC), was an ancient Athenian lawgiver credited with reforming the constitution of ancient Athens and setting it on a democratic footing in 508 BC. For these accomplishm ...
came to power. Cleisthenes' reforms included a system of registration that emphasized the importance of the deme
In Ancient Greece, a deme or ( grc, δῆμος, plural: demoi, δημοι) was a suburb or a subdivision of Athens and other city-states. Demes as simple subdivisions of land in the countryside seem to have existed in the 6th century BC and ear ...
over family tradition. In the last decade of the 6th century, Aeschylus and his family were living in the deme of Eleusis.[Kopff 1997 pp. 1–472]
The Persian Wars
The Greco-Persian Wars (also often called the Persian Wars) were a series of conflicts between the Achaemenid Empire and Greek city-states that started in 499 BC and lasted until 449 BC. The collision between the fractious political world of the ...
played a large role in Aeschylus' life and career. In 490 BC, he and his brother Cynegeirus fought to defend Athens against the invading army of Darius I of Persia
Darius I ( peo, 𐎭𐎠𐎼𐎹𐎺𐎢𐏁 ; grc-gre, Δαρεῖος ; – 486 BCE), commonly known as Darius the Great, was a Persian ruler who served as the third King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire, reigning from 522 BCE until his d ...
at the Battle of Marathon
The Battle of Marathon took place in 490 BC during the first Persian invasion of Greece. It was fought between the citizens of Athens, aided by Plataea, and a Persian force commanded by Datis and Artaphernes. The battle was the culmination o ...
. The Athenians emerged triumphant, and the victory was celebrated across the city-states of Greece. Cynegeirus was killed while trying to prevent a Persian ship retreating from the shore, for which his countrymen extolled him as a hero.
In 480 BC, Aeschylus was called into military service again, together with his younger brother Ameinias, against Xerxes I
Xerxes I ( peo, 𐎧𐏁𐎹𐎠𐎼𐏁𐎠 also Khshayārsha; grc-gre, Ξέρξης ; – August 465 BC), commonly known as Xerxes the Great, was the fourth King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire, ruling from 486 to 465 BC. He was the son ...
's invading forces at the Battle of Salamis
The Battle of Salamis ( ) was a naval battle fought between an alliance of Greek city-states under Themistocles and the Persian Empire under King Xerxes in 480 BC. It resulted in a decisive victory for the outnumbered Greeks. The battle was fo ...
. Aeschylus also fought at the Battle of Plataea
The Battle of Plataea was the final land battle during the second Persian invasion of Greece. It took place in 479 BC near the city of Plataea in Boeotia, and was fought between an alliance of the Greek city-states (including Sparta, Athens, ...
in 479 BC. Ion of Chios
Ion of Chios (; grc-gre, Ἴων ὁ Χῖος; c. 490/480 – c. 420 BC) was a Greek writer, dramatist, lyric poet and philosopher. He was a contemporary of Aeschylus, Euripides and Sophocles. Of his many plays and poems only a few titles and fr ...
was a witness for Aeschylus' war record and his contribution in Salamis. Salamis 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 were initiated into the Eleusinian Mysteries
The Eleusinian Mysteries ( el, Ἐλευσίνια Μυστήρια, Eleusínia Mystḗria) were initiations held every year for the cult of Demeter and Persephone based at the Panhellenic Sanctuary of Elefsina in ancient Greece. They are the "m ...
, an ancient cult of Demeter based in his home town of Eleusis. According to Aristotle, Aeschylus was accused of asebeia Asebeia ( Ancient Greek: ἀσέβεια) was a criminal charge in ancient Greece for the "desecration and mockery of divine objects", for "irreverence towards the state gods" and disrespect towards parents and dead ancestors. It translates into E ...
(impiety) for revealing some of the cult's secrets on stage.
Other sources claim that an angry mob tried to kill Aeschylus on the spot but he fled the scene. Heracleides of Pontus asserts that the audience tried to stone Aeschylus. Aeschylus took refuge at the altar in the orchestra of the Theater of Dionysus. He pleaded ignorance at his trial. He was acquitted, with the jury sympathetic to the military service of him and his brothers during the Persian Wars. According to the 2nd-century AD author Aelian, Aeschylus' younger brother Ameinias helped to acquit Aeschylus by showing the jury the stump of the hand he had lost at Salamis, where he was voted bravest warrior. The truth is that the award for bravery at Salamis went not to Aeschylus' brother but to Ameinias of Pallene.
Aeschylus travelled to Sicily once or twice in the 470s BC, having been invited by Hiero I, tyrant of Syracuse
Syracuse may refer to:
Places Italy
*Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa''
*Province of Syracuse
United States
*Syracuse, New York
**East Syracuse, New York
**North Syracuse, New York
* Syracuse, Indiana
* Syracuse, Kansas
* Syracuse, Mi ...
, a major Greek city on the eastern side of the island. He produced ''The Women of Aetna'' during one of these trips (in honor of the city founded by Hieron), and restaged his ''Persians''. By 473 BC, after the death of Phrynichus, one of his chief rivals, Aeschylus was the yearly favorite in the Dionysia, winning first prize in nearly every competition. In 472 BC, Aeschylus staged the production that included the ''Persians'', with Pericles
Pericles (; grc-gre, Περικλῆς; c. 495 – 429 BC) was a Greek politician and general during the Golden Age of Athens. He was prominent and influential in Athenian politics, particularly between the Greco-Persian Wars and the Pelop ...
serving as ''choregos
In the theatre of ancient Greece, the ''choregos'' (pl. ''choregoi; el, χορηγός, Greek etymology: χορός "chorus" + ἡγεῖσθαι "to lead") was a wealthy Athenian citizen who assumed the public duty, or ''choregiai'', of financ ...
''.
Personal life
Aeschylus married and had two sons, Euphorion and Euaeon, both of whom became tragic poets. Euphorion won first prize in 431 BC in competition against both Sophocles
Sophocles (; grc, Σοφοκλῆς, , Sophoklễs; 497/6 – winter 406/5 BC)Sommerstein (2002), p. 41. is one of three ancient Greek tragedians, at least one of whose plays has survived in full. His first plays were written later than, or c ...
and Euripides. A nephew of Aeschylus, Philocles
Philocles ( el, Φιλοκλῆς), was an Athenian tragic poet during the 5th century BC. Through his mother, Philopatho ( el, Φιλοπαθώ), he had three famous uncles: Aeschylus, the famous poet, Cynaegirus, hero of the battle of Marathon ...
(his sister's son), was also a tragic poet, and won first prize in the competition against Sophocles' '' Oedipus Rex''. Aeschylus had at least two brothers, Cynegeirus and Ameinias.
Death
In 458 BC, Aeschylus returned to Sicily for the last time, visiting the city of Gela, where he died in 456 or 455 BC. Valerius Maximus wrote that he was killed outside the city by a tortoise dropped by an eagle which had mistaken his head for a rock suitable for shattering the shell, and killed him stone dead.[ ]Pliny
Pliny may refer to:
People
* Pliny the Elder (23–79 CE), ancient Roman nobleman, scientist, historian, and author of ''Naturalis Historia'' (''Pliny's Natural History'')
* Pliny the Younger (died 113), ancient Roman statesman, orator, w ...
, in his '' Naturalis Historiæ'', adds that Aeschylus had been staying outdoors to avoid a prophecy that he would be killed by a falling object, but this story may be legendary and due to a misunderstanding of the iconography on Aeschylus's tomb. Aeschylus' work was so respected by the Athenians that after his death his tragedies were the only ones allowed to be restaged in subsequent competitions. His sons Euphorion and Euæon and his nephew Philocles also became playwrights.
The inscription on Aeschylus' gravestone makes no mention of his theatrical renown, commemorating only his military achievements:
According to Castoriadis, the inscription on his grave signifies the primary importance of "belonging to the City" ( polis), of the solidarity that existed within the collective body of citizen-soldiers.
Works
The seeds of Greek drama were sown in religious festivals for the gods, chiefly Dionysus, the god of wine.[ During Aeschylus' lifetime, dramatic competitions became part of the ]City Dionysia
The Dionysia (, , ; Greek: Διονύσια) was a large festival in ancient Athens in honor of the god Dionysus, the central events of which were the theatrical performances of dramatic tragedies and, from 487 BC, comedies. It was the sec ...
, held in spring.[ The festival opened with a procession which was followed by a competition of boys singing dithyrambs, and all culminated in a pair of dramatic competitions.] The first competition Aeschylus would have participated in involved three playwrights each presenting three tragedies and one satyr play
The satyr play is a form of Attic theatre performance related to both comedy and tragedy. It preserves theatrical elements of dialogue, actors speaking verse, a chorus that dances and sings, masks and costumes. Its relationship to tragedy is stro ...
.[ Such format is called a continuous tragic ]tetralogy
A tetralogy (from Greek τετρα- ''tetra-'', "four" and -λογία ''-logia'', "discourse") is a compound work that is made up of four distinct works. The name comes from the Attic theater, in which a tetralogy was a group of three tragedies f ...
. It allowed Aeschylus to explore the human and theological and cosmic dimensions of a mythic sequence, developing it in successive phases. A second competition involving five comedic playwrights followed, and the winners of both competitions were chosen by a panel of judges.[
Aeschylus entered many of these competitions, and various ancient sources attribute between seventy and ninety plays to him.] Only seven tragedies attributed to him have survived intact: '' The Persians'', ''Seven Against Thebes
The Seven against Thebes were seven champions in Greek mythology who made war on Thebes. They were chosen by Adrastus, the king of Argos, to be the captains of an Argive army whose purpose was to restore Oedipus' son Polynices to the Theban ...
'', '' The Suppliants'', the trilogy known as ''The Oresteia
The ''Oresteia'' ( grc, Ὀρέστεια) is a trilogy of Greek tragedies written by Aeschylus in the 5th century BCE, concerning the murder of Agamemnon by Clytemnestra, the murder of Clytemnestra by Orestes, the trial of Orestes, the end of t ...
'' (the three tragedies ''Agamemnon
In Greek mythology, Agamemnon (; grc-gre, Ἀγαμέμνων ''Agamémnōn'') was a king of Mycenae who commanded the Greeks during the Trojan War. He was the son, or grandson, of King Atreus and Queen Aerope, the brother of Menelaus, the hus ...
'', ''The Libation Bearers
The ''Oresteia'' ( grc, Ὀρέστεια) is a trilogy of Greek tragedies written by Aeschylus in the 5th century BCE, concerning the murder of Agamemnon by Clytemnestra, the murder of Clytemnestra by Orestes, the trial of Orestes, the end of t ...
'' and '' The Eumenides''), and ''Prometheus Bound
''Prometheus Bound'' ( grc, Προμηθεὺς Δεσμώτης, ''Promētheús Desmṓtēs'') is an Ancient Greek tragedy traditionally attributed to Aeschylus and thought to have been composed sometime between 479 BC and the terminus an ...
'' (whose authorship is disputed). With the exception of this last play – the success of which is uncertain – all of Aeschylus's extant
Extant is the opposite of the word extinct. It may refer to:
* Extant hereditary titles
* Extant literature, surviving literature, such as ''Beowulf'', the oldest extant manuscript written in English
* Extant taxon, a taxon which is not extin ...
tragedies are known to have won first prize at the City Dionysia.
The Alexandrian ''Life of Aeschylus'' claims that he won the first prize at the City Dionysia thirteen times. This compares favorably with Sophocles' reported eighteen victories (with a substantially larger catalogue, an estimated 120 plays), and dwarfs the five victories of Euripides, who is thought to have written roughly 90 plays.
Trilogies
One hallmark of Aeschylean dramaturgy appears to have been his tendency to write connected trilogies in which each play serves as a chapter in a continuous dramatic narrative. The '' Oresteia'' is the only extant example of this type of connected trilogy, but there is evidence that Aeschylus often wrote such trilogies. The satyr plays that followed his tragic trilogies also drew from myth.
The satyr play Proteus
In Greek mythology, Proteus (; Ancient Greek: Πρωτεύς, ''Prōteus'') is an early prophetic sea-god or god of rivers and oceanic bodies of water, one of several deities whom Homer calls the "Old Man of the Sea" ''(hálios gérôn)''. ...
, which followed the ''Oresteia'', treated the story of Menelaus' detour in Egypt on his way home from the Trojan War. It is assumed, based on the evidence provided by a catalogue of Aeschylean play titles, scholia, and play fragments recorded by later authors, that three other extant plays of his were components of connected trilogies: ''Seven Against Thebes'' was the final play in an Oedipus trilogy, and ''The Suppliants'' and ''Prometheus Bound'' were each the first play in a Danaid trilogy and Prometheus trilogy, respectively. Scholars have also suggested several completely lost trilogies, based on known play titles. A number of these treated myths about the Trojan War. One, collectively called the '' Achilleis'', comprised ''Myrmidons'', ''Nereids'' and ''Phrygians'' (alternately, ''The Ransoming of Hector'').
Another trilogy apparently recounted the entrance of the Trojan ally Memnon
In Greek mythology, Memnon (; Ancient Greek: Μέμνων means 'resolute') was a king of Aethiopia and son of Tithonus and Eos. As a warrior he was considered to be almost Achilles' equal in skill. During the Trojan War, he brought an army ...
into the war, and his death at the hands of Achilles (''Memnon'' and ''The Weighing of Souls'' being two components of the trilogy). ''The Award of the Arms'', ''The Phrygian Women'', and ''The Salaminian Women'' suggest a trilogy about the madness and subsequent suicide of the Greek hero Ajax
Ajax may refer to:
Greek mythology and tragedy
* Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea
* Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris
* ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Greek ...
. Aeschylus seems to have written about Odysseus' return to Ithaca after the war (including his killing of his wife Penelope's suitors and its consequences) in a trilogy consisting of ''The Soul-raisers'', ''Penelope'', and ''The Bone-gatherers''. Other suggested trilogies touched on the myth of Jason and the Argonauts (''Argô'', ''Lemnian Women'', ''Hypsipylê''), the life of Perseus (''The Net-draggers'', ''Polydektês'', ''Phorkides''), the birth and exploits of Dionysus (''Semele'', ''Bacchae'', ''Pentheus''), and the aftermath of the war portrayed in ''Seven Against Thebes'' (''Eleusinians'', ''Argives'' (or ''Argive Women''), ''Sons of the Seven'').
Surviving plays
''The Persians'' (472 BC)
''The Persians'' (''Persai'') is the earliest of Aeschylus' extant plays. It was performed in 472 BC. It was based on Aeschylus' own experiences, specifically the Battle of Salamis
The Battle of Salamis ( ) was a naval battle fought between an alliance of Greek city-states under Themistocles and the Persian Empire under King Xerxes in 480 BC. It resulted in a decisive victory for the outnumbered Greeks. The battle was fo ...
. It is unique among surviving Greek tragedies in that it describes a recent historical event.[ ''The Persians'' focuses on the popular Greek theme of ]hubris
Hubris (; ), or less frequently hybris (), describes a personality quality of extreme or excessive pride or dangerous overconfidence, often in combination with (or synonymous with) arrogance. The term ''arrogance'' comes from the Latin ', mean ...
and blames Persia's loss on the pride of its king.[
It opens with the arrival of a messenger in Susa, the Persian capital, bearing news of the catastrophic Persian defeat at Salamis, to ]Atossa
Atossa (Old Persian: ''Utauθa'', or Old Iranian: ''Hutauθa''; 550–475 BC) was an Achaemenid empress. She was a daughter of Cyrus the Great, and a wife of Darius I.
Name
The name "Atossa" (or "Atusa") means "bestowing very richly" or "well ...
, the mother of the Persian King Xerxes. Atossa then travels to the tomb of Darius, her husband, where his ghost appears, to explain the cause of the defeat. It is, he says, the result of Xerxes' hubris in building a bridge across the Hellespont, an action which angered the gods. Xerxes appears at the end of the play, not realizing the cause of his defeat, and the play closes to lamentations by Xerxes and the chorus.[Vellacott: 7–19]
''Seven Against Thebes'' (467 BC)
''Seven against Thebes'' (''Hepta epi Thebas'') was performed in 467 BC. It has the contrasting theme of the interference of the gods in human affairs.[ Another theme, with which Aeschylus' would continually involve himself, makes its first known appearance in this play, namely that the polis was a key development of human civilization.]
The play tells the story of Eteocles
In Greek mythology, Eteocles (; ) was a king of Thebes, the son of Oedipus and either Jocasta or Euryganeia. Oedipus killed his father Laius and married his mother without knowing his relationship to either. When the relationship was reve ...
and Polynices, the sons of the shamed king of Thebes, Oedipus. Eteocles and Polynices agree to share and alternate the throne of the city. After the first year, Eteocles refuses to step down. Polynices therefore undertakes war. The pair kill each other in single combat, and the original ending of the play consisted of lamentations for the dead brothers.[Aeschylus. "Prometheus Bound, The Suppliants, Seven Against Thebes, The Persians." Philip Vellacott's Introduction, pp. 7–19. Penguin Classics.] But a new ending was added to the play some fifty years later: Antigone and Ismene mourn their dead brothers, a messenger enters announcing an edict prohibiting the burial of Polynices, and Antigone declares her intention to defy this edict. The play was the third in a connected Oedipus trilogy. The first two plays were ''Laius'' and ''Oedipus''. The concluding satyr play
The satyr play is a form of Attic theatre performance related to both comedy and tragedy. It preserves theatrical elements of dialogue, actors speaking verse, a chorus that dances and sings, masks and costumes. Its relationship to tragedy is stro ...
was ''The Sphinx''.
''The Suppliants'' (463 BC)
Aeschylus continued his emphasis on the polis with ''The Suppliants'' (''Hiketides'') in 463 BC. The play gives tribute to the democratic undercurrents which were running through Athens and preceding the establishment of a democratic government in 461. The Danaids (50 daughters of Danaus
In Greek mythology, Danaus (, ; grc, Δαναός ''Danaós'') was the king of Libya. His myth is a foundation legend of Argos, one of the foremost Mycenaean cities of the Peloponnesus. In Homer's ''Iliad'', "Danaans" ("tribe of Danaus") and ...
, founder of Argos) flee a forced marriage to their cousins in Egypt. They turn to King Pelasgus of Argos for protection, but Pelasgus refuses until the people of Argos weigh in on the decision (a distinctly democratic move on the part of the king). The people decide that the Danaids deserve protection and are allowed within the walls of Argos despite Egyptian protests.
A Danaid trilogy had long been assumed because of ''The Suppliants cliffhanger ending. This was confirmed by the 1952 publication of Oxyrhynchus Papyrus 2256 fr. 3. The constituent plays are generally agreed to be ''The Suppliants'' and ''The Egyptians'' and ''The Danaids''. A plausible reconstruction of the trilogy's last two-thirds runs thus: In ''The Egyptians'', the Argive-Egyptian war threatened in the first play has transpired. King Pelasgus was killed during the war, and Danaus rules Argos. Danaus negotiates a settlement with Aegyptus, a condition of which requires his 50 daughters to marry the 50 sons of Aegyptus. Danaus secretly informs his daughters of an oracle which predicts that one of his sons-in-law would kill him. He orders the Danaids to murder their husbands therefore on their wedding night. His daughters agree. ''The Danaids'' would open the day after the wedding.[Sommerstein 2002, 89.]
It is revealed that 49 of the 50 Danaids killed their husbands. Hypermnestra did not kill her husband, Lynceus, and helped him escape. Danaus is angered by his daughter's disobedience and orders her imprisonment and possibly execution. In the trilogy's climax and dénouement, Lynceus reveals himself to Danaus and kills him, thus fulfilling the oracle. He and Hypermnestra will establish a ruling dynasty in Argos. The other 49 Danaids are absolved of their murders, and married off to unspecified Argive men. The satyr play following this trilogy was titled ''Amymone'', after one of the Danaids.
''The Oresteia'' (458 BC)
Besides a few missing lines, the '' Oresteia'' of 458 BC is the only complete trilogy of Greek plays by any playwright still extant (of ''Proteus
In Greek mythology, Proteus (; Ancient Greek: Πρωτεύς, ''Prōteus'') is an early prophetic sea-god or god of rivers and oceanic bodies of water, one of several deities whom Homer calls the "Old Man of the Sea" ''(hálios gérôn)''. ...
'', the satyr play which followed, only fragments are known).[ '']Agamemnon
In Greek mythology, Agamemnon (; grc-gre, Ἀγαμέμνων ''Agamémnōn'') was a king of Mycenae who commanded the Greeks during the Trojan War. He was the son, or grandson, of King Atreus and Queen Aerope, the brother of Menelaus, the hus ...
'' and ''The Libation Bearers
The ''Oresteia'' ( grc, Ὀρέστεια) is a trilogy of Greek tragedies written by Aeschylus in the 5th century BCE, concerning the murder of Agamemnon by Clytemnestra, the murder of Clytemnestra by Orestes, the trial of Orestes, the end of t ...
'' (''Choephoroi'') and '' The Eumenides''[ together tell the violent story of the family of ]Agamemnon
In Greek mythology, Agamemnon (; grc-gre, Ἀγαμέμνων ''Agamémnōn'') was a king of Mycenae who commanded the Greeks during the Trojan War. He was the son, or grandson, of King Atreus and Queen Aerope, the brother of Menelaus, the hus ...
, king of Argos.
''Agamemnon''
Aeschylus begins in Greece, describing the return of King Agamemnon
In Greek mythology, Agamemnon (; grc-gre, Ἀγαμέμνων ''Agamémnōn'') was a king of Mycenae who commanded the Greeks during the Trojan War. He was the son, or grandson, of King Atreus and Queen Aerope, the brother of Menelaus, the hus ...
from his victory in the Trojan War, from the perspective of the townspeople (the Chorus) and his wife, Clytemnestra
Clytemnestra (; grc-gre, Κλυταιμνήστρα, ''Klytaimnḗstrā'', ), in Greek mythology, was the wife of Agamemnon, king of Mycenae, and the twin sister of Helen of Troy. In Aeschylus' ''Oresteia'', she murders Agamemnon – said by E ...
. Dark foreshadowings build to the death of the king at the hands of his wife, who was angry that their daughter Iphigenia
In Greek mythology, Iphigenia (; grc, Ἰφιγένεια, , ) was a daughter of King Agamemnon and Queen Clytemnestra, and thus a princess of Mycenae.
In the story, Agamemnon offends the goddess Artemis on his way to the Trojan War by huntin ...
was killed so that the gods would restore the winds and allow the Greek fleet to sail to Troy. Clytemnestra was also unhappy that Agamemnon kept the Trojan prophetess Cassandra
Cassandra or Kassandra (; Ancient Greek: Κασσάνδρα, , also , and sometimes referred to as Alexandra) in Greek mythology was a Trojan priestess dedicated to the god Apollo and fated by him to utter true prophecies but never to be belie ...
as his concubine. Cassandra foretells the murder of Agamemnon and of herself to the assembled townsfolk, who are horrified. She then enters the palace knowing that she cannot avoid her fate. The ending of the play includes a prediction of the return of Orestes
In Greek mythology, Orestes or Orestis (; grc-gre, Ὀρέστης ) was the son of Clytemnestra and Agamemnon, and the brother of Electra. He is the subject of several Ancient Greek plays and of various myths connected with his madness and ...
, son of Agamemnon, who will seek to avenge his father.[
]
''The Libation Bearers''
''The Libation Bearers'' opens with Orestes' arrival at Agamemnon's tomb, from exile in Phocis. Electra meets Orestes
In Greek mythology, Orestes or Orestis (; grc-gre, Ὀρέστης ) was the son of Clytemnestra and Agamemnon, and the brother of Electra. He is the subject of several Ancient Greek plays and of various myths connected with his madness and ...
there. They plan revenge against Clytemnestra and her lover, Aegisthus
Aegisthus (; grc, Αἴγισθος; also transliterated as Aigisthos, ) was a figure in Greek mythology. Aegisthus is known from two primary sources: the first is Homer's ''Odyssey'', believed to have been first written down by Homer at the en ...
. Clytemnestra's account of a nightmare in which she gives birth to a snake is recounted by the chorus. This leads her to order her daughter, Electra, to pour libations on Agamemnon's tomb (with the assistance of libation bearers) in hope of making amends. Orestes enters the palace pretending to bear news of his own death. Clytemnestra calls in Aegisthus to learn the news. Orestes kills them both. Orestes is then beset by the Furies, who avenge the murders of kin in Greek mythology.[
]
''The Eumenides''
The third play addresses the question of Orestes' guilt.[ The Furies drive Orestes from Argos and into the wilderness. He makes his way to the temple of Apollo and begs Apollo to drive the Furies away. Apollo had encouraged Orestes to kill Clytemnestra, so he bears some of the guilt for the murder. Apollo sends Orestes to the temple of ]Athena
Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarded as the patron and protectress of ...
with Hermes
Hermes (; grc-gre, Ἑρμῆς) is an Olympian deity in ancient Greek religion and mythology. Hermes is considered the herald of the gods. He is also considered the protector of human heralds, travellers, thieves, merchants, and orator ...
as a guide.[
The Furies track him down, and Athena steps in and declares that a trial is necessary. Apollo argues Orestes' case, and after the judges (including Athena) deliver a tie vote, Athena announces that Orestes is acquitted. She renames the Furies ''The Eumenides'' (The Good-spirited, or Kindly Ones), and extols the importance of reason in the development of laws. As in ''The Suppliants'', the ideals of a democratic Athens are praised.][
]
''Prometheus Bound'' (date disputed)
''Prometheus Bound'' is attributed to Aeschylus by ancient authorities. Since the late 19th century, however, scholars have increasingly doubted this ascription, largely on stylistic grounds. Its production date is also in dispute, with theories ranging from the 480s BC to as late as the 410s.
The play consists mostly of static dialogue. The Titan
Titan most often refers to:
* Titan (moon), the largest moon of Saturn
* Titans, a race of deities in Greek mythology
Titan or Titans may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
Fictional entities
Fictional locations
* Titan in fiction, fictiona ...
Prometheus is bound to a rock throughout, which is his punishment from the Olympian Zeus for providing fire to humans. The god Hephaestus
Hephaestus (; eight spellings; grc-gre, Ἥφαιστος, Hḗphaistos) is the Greek god of blacksmiths, metalworking, carpenters, craftsmen, artisans, sculptors, metallurgy, fire (compare, however, with Hestia), and volcanoes.Walter B ...
and the Titan Oceanus and the chorus
Chorus may refer to:
Music
* Chorus (song) or refrain, line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse
* Chorus effect, the perception of similar sounds from multiple sources as a single, richer sound
* Chorus form, song in which all verse ...
of Oceanids all express sympathy for Prometheus' plight. Prometheus is met by Io, a fellow victim of Zeus' cruelty. He prophesies her future travels, revealing that one of her descendants will free Prometheus. The play closes with Zeus sending Prometheus into the abyss because Prometheus will not tell him of a potential marriage which could prove Zeus' downfall.[
''Prometheus Bound'' seems to have been the first play in a trilogy, the '']Prometheia
The ''Prometheia'' ( grc, Προμήθεια) is a trilogy of plays about the titan Prometheus. It was attributed in Antiquity to the 5th-century BC Greek tragedian Aeschylus. Though an Alexandrian catalogue of Aeschylean play titles designate ...
''. In the second play, '' Prometheus Unbound'', Heracles frees Prometheus from his chains and kills the eagle that had been sent daily to eat Prometheus' perpetually regenerating liver, then believed the source of feeling. We learn that Zeus has released the other Titans which he imprisoned at the conclusion of the Titanomachy
In Greek mythology, the Titanomachy (; grc, , , Titan battle) was a ten-year series of battles fought in Ancient Thessaly, consisting of most of the Titans (the older generation of gods, based on Mount Othrys) fighting against the Olympians ...
, perhaps foreshadowing his eventual reconciliation with Prometheus.[For a discussion of the trilogy's reconstruction, see (e.g.) Conacher 1980, 100–02.]
In the trilogy's conclusion, '' Prometheus the Fire-Bringer'', it seems that the Titan finally warns Zeus not to sleep with the sea nymph Thetis, for she is fated to beget a son greater than the father. Not wishing to be overthrown, Zeus marries Thetis off to the mortal Peleus. The product of that union is Achilles, Greek hero of the Trojan War. After reconciling with Prometheus, Zeus probably inaugurates a festival in his honor at Athens.
Lost plays
Of Aeschylus' other plays, only titles and assorted fragments are known. There are enough fragments (along with comments made by later authors and scholiasts) to produce rough synopses for some plays.
''Myrmidons''
This play was based on books 9 and 16 of the '' Iliad''. Achilles sits in silent indignation over his humiliation at Agamemnon's hands for most of the play. Envoys from the Greek army attempt to reconcile Achilles to Agamemnon
In Greek mythology, Agamemnon (; grc-gre, Ἀγαμέμνων ''Agamémnōn'') was a king of Mycenae who commanded the Greeks during the Trojan War. He was the son, or grandson, of King Atreus and Queen Aerope, the brother of Menelaus, the hus ...
, but he yields only to his friend Patroclus, who then battles the Trojans in Achilles' armour. The bravery and death of Patroclus are reported in a messenger's speech, which is followed by mourning.
''Nereids''
This play was based on books 18 and 19 and 22 of the ''Iliad''. It follows the Daughters of Nereus, the sea god, who lament Patroclus' death. A messenger tells how Achilles (perhaps reconciled to Agamemnon and the Greeks) slew Hector.
''Phrygians'', or ''Hector's Ransom''
After a brief discussion with Hermes
Hermes (; grc-gre, Ἑρμῆς) is an Olympian deity in ancient Greek religion and mythology. Hermes is considered the herald of the gods. He is also considered the protector of human heralds, travellers, thieves, merchants, and orator ...
, Achilles sits in silent mourning over Patroclus. Hermes then brings in King Priam of Troy, who wins over Achilles and ransoms his son's body in a spectacular coup de théâtre
Coup de Theatre may refer to:
* ''Coup de théâtre'', a literary term for an unexpected event in a play or a theatrical trick
* ''Coup de Theatre'' (album), by Haiku d'Etat, 2004
* "Coup de théâtre", a 2015 TV episode of '' Les Mystères de ...
. A scale is brought on stage and Hector's body is placed in one scale and gold in the other. The dynamic dancing of the chorus of Trojans when they enter with Priam is reported by Aristophanes
Aristophanes (; grc, Ἀριστοφάνης, ; c. 446 – c. 386 BC), son of Philippus, of the deme Kydathenaion ( la, Cydathenaeum), was a comic playwright or comedy-writer of ancient Athens and a poet of Old Attic Comedy. Eleven of his ...
.
''Niobe''
The children of Niobe, the heroine, have been slain by Apollo
Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...
and Artemis
In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Artemis (; grc-gre, Ἄρτεμις) is the goddess of the hunt, the wilderness, wild animals, nature, vegetation, childbirth, care of children, and chastity. She was heavily identified with Sel ...
because Niobe had gloated that she had more children than their mother, Leto. Niobe sits in silent mourning on stage during most of the play. In the '' Republic'', Plato quotes the line "God plants a fault in mortals when he wills to destroy a house utterly."
These are the remaining 71 plays ascribed to Aeschylus which are known:
*''Alcmene''
*''Amymone''
*''The Archer-Women''
*''The Argivian Women''
*''The Argo'', also titled ''The Rowers''
*''Atalanta''
*''Athamas''
*''Attendants of the Bridal Chamber''
*''Award of the Arms''
*''The Bacchae''
*''The Bassarae''
*''The Bone-Gatherers''
*''The Cabeiroi''
*''Callisto''
*''The Carians'', also titled ''Europa''
*''Cercyon''
*''Children of Hercules''
*''Circe''
*''The Cretan Women''
*''Cycnus''
*''The Danaids''
*''Daughters of Helios''
*''Daughters of Phorcys''
*''The Descendants
''The Descendants'' is a 2011 American comedy-drama film directed by Alexander Payne. The screenplay by Payne, Nat Faxon, and Jim Rash is based on the 2007 novel of the same name by Kaui Hart Hemmings. The film stars George Clooney in the mai ...
''
*''The Edonians''
*''The Egyptians''
*''The Escorts''
*''Glaucus of Pontus''
*''Glaucus of Potniae''
*''Hypsipyle''
*''Iphigenia''
*''Ixion''
*''Laius''
*''The Lemnian Women''
*''The Lion''
*''Lycurgus''
*''Memnon''
*''The Men of Eleusis''
*''The Messengers''
*''The Myrmidons''
*''The Mysians''
*''Nemea''
*''The Net-Draggers''
*''The Nurses of Dionysus''
*''Orethyia''
*''Palamedes''
*''Penelope''
*''Pentheus''
*''Perrhaibides''
*''Philoctetes''
*''Phineus''
*''The Phrygian Women''
*''Polydectes''
*''The Priestesses''
*''Prometheus the Fire-Bearer''
*''Prometheus the Fire-Kindler''
*''Prometheus Unbound''
*''Proteus''
*''Semele'', also titled ''The Water-Bearers''
*''Sisyphus the Runaway''
*''Sisyphus the Stone-Roller''
*''The Spectators'', also titled ''Athletes of the Isthmian Games''
*''The Sphinx''
*''The Spirit-Raisers''
*''Telephus''
*''The Thracian Women''
*''Weighing of Souls''
*''Women of Aetna'' (two versions)
*''Women of Salamis''
*''Xantriae''
*''The Youths''
Influence
Influence on Greek drama and culture
The theatre was just beginning to evolve when Aeschylus started writing for it. Earlier playwrights such as Thespis had already expanded the cast to include an actor who was able to interact with the chorus
Chorus may refer to:
Music
* Chorus (song) or refrain, line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse
* Chorus effect, the perception of similar sounds from multiple sources as a single, richer sound
* Chorus form, song in which all verse ...
. Aeschylus added a second actor, allowing for greater dramatic variety, while the chorus played a less important role.[ He is sometimes credited with introducing ''skenographia'', or scene-decoration, though Aristotle gives this distinction to Sophocles. Aeschylus is also said to have made the costumes more elaborate and dramatic, and made his actors wear platform boots (''cothurni'') to make them more visible to the audience. According to a later account of Aeschylus' life, the chorus of Furies in the first performance of the ''Eumenides'' were so frightening when they entered that children fainted and patriarchs urinated and pregnant women went into labour.
Aeschylus wrote his plays in verse. No violence is performed onstage. The plays have a remoteness from daily life in Athens, relating stories about the gods, or being set, like ''The Persians'', far away.] Aeschylus' work has a strong moral and religious emphasis.[ The ''Oresteia'' trilogy concentrated on humans' position in the cosmos relative to the gods and divine law and divine punishment.
Aeschylus' popularity is evident in the praise that the comic playwright ]Aristophanes
Aristophanes (; grc, Ἀριστοφάνης, ; c. 446 – c. 386 BC), son of Philippus, of the deme Kydathenaion ( la, Cydathenaeum), was a comic playwright or comedy-writer of ancient Athens and a poet of Old Attic Comedy. Eleven of his ...
gives him in '' The Frogs'', produced some 50 years after Aeschylus' death. Aeschylus appears as a character in the play and claims, at line 1022, that his ''Seven against Thebes'' "made everyone watching it to love being warlike". He claims, at lines 1026–7, that with ''The Persians'' he "taught the Athenians to desire always to defeat their enemies." Aeschylus goes on to say, at lines 1039ff., that his plays inspired the Athenians to be brave and virtuous.
Influence outside Greek culture
Aeschylus' works were influential beyond his own time. Hugh Lloyd-Jones
Sir Peter Hugh Jefferd Lloyd-Jones FBA (21 September 1922 – 5 October 2009məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ..., in 1982, and spent his last 27 years at their home in Wellesley.
Major publicat ...
draws attention to Richard Wagner's reverence of Aeschylus. Michael Ewans argues in his ''Wagner and Aeschylus. The Ring and the Oresteia'' (London: Faber. 1982) that the influence was so great as to merit a direct character by character comparison between Wagner's ''Ring'' and Aeschylus's ''Oresteia''. But a critic of that book, while not denying that Wagner read and respected Aeschylus, has described the arguments as unreasonable and forced.
J.T. Sheppard argues in the second half of his ''Aeschylus and Sophocles: Their Work and Influence'' that Aeschylus and Sophocles
Sophocles (; grc, Σοφοκλῆς, , Sophoklễs; 497/6 – winter 406/5 BC)Sommerstein (2002), p. 41. is one of three ancient Greek tragedians, at least one of whose plays has survived in full. His first plays were written later than, or c ...
have played a major part in the formation of dramatic literature from the Renaissance to the present, specifically in French and Elizabethan drama. He also claims that their influence went beyond just drama and applies to literature in general, citing Milton and the Romantics.
Eugene O'Neill's ''Mourning Becomes Electra
''Mourning Becomes Electra'' is a play cycle written by American playwright Eugene O'Neill. The play premiered on Broadway at the Guild Theatre on 26 October 1931 where it ran for 150 performances before closing in March 1932, starring Lee Baker ...
'' (1931), a trilogy of three plays set in America after the Civil War, is modeled after the ''Oresteia''. Before writing his acclaimed trilogy, O'Neill had been developing a play about Aeschylus, and he noted that Aeschylus "so changed the system of the tragic stage that he has more claim than anyone else to be regarded as the founder (Father) of Tragedy."
During his presidential campaign in 1968, Senator Robert F. Kennedy quoted the Edith Hamilton
Edith Hamilton (August 12, 1867 – May 31, 1963) was an American educator and internationally known author who was one of the most renowned classicists of her era in the United States. A graduate of Bryn Mawr College, she also studied in German ...
translation of Aeschylus on the night of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...
Kennedy was notified of King's murder before a campaign stop in Indianapolis, Indiana, and was warned not to attend the event due to fears of rioting from the mostly African-American crowd. Kennedy insisted on attending and delivered an impromptu speech that delivered news of King's death. Acknowledging the audience's emotions, Kennedy referred to his own grief at the murder of Martin Luther King and, quoting a passage from the play ''Agamemnon'' (in translation), said: "My favorite poet was Aeschylus. And he once wrote: 'Even in our sleep, pain which cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart, until in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom through the awful grace of God.' What we need in the United States is not division; what we need in the United States is not hatred; what we need in the United States is not violence and lawlessness; but is love and wisdom, and compassion toward one another, and a feeling of justice toward those who still suffer within our country, whether they be white or whether they be black ... Let us dedicate ourselves to what the Greeks wrote so many years ago: to tame the savageness of man and make gentle the life of this world." The quotation from Aeschylus was later inscribed on a memorial at the gravesite of Robert Kennedy following his own assassination.
Editions
*Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff
Enno Friedrich Wichard Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff (22 December 1848 – 25 September 1931) was a German classical philologist. Wilamowitz, as he is known in scholarly circles, was a renowned authority on Ancient Greece and its literatur ...
, ''Aeschyli Tragoediae. Editio maior'', Berlin 1914.
* Gilbert Murray, ''Aeschyli Septem Quae Supersunt Tragoediae. Editio Altera'', Oxford 1955.
* Denys Page, ''Aeschyli Septem Quae Supersunt Tragoediae'', Oxford 1972.
* Martin L. West, ''Aeschyli Tragoediae cum incerti poetae Prometheo'', 2nd ed., Stuttgart/Leipzig 1998.
The first translation of the seven plays into English was by Robert Potter in 1779, using blank verse for the iambic trimeters and rhymed verse for the choruses, a convention adopted by most translators for the next century.
*Anna Swanwick
Anna Swanwick (22 June 1813 – 2 November 1899) was an English author and feminist.
Life
Anna Swanwick was the youngest daughter of John Swanwick and his wife, Hannah Hilditch. She was born in Liverpool on 22 June 1813. The Swanwicks des ...
produced a verse translation in English of all seven surviving plays as ''The Dramas of Aeschylus'' in 188
full text
*Stefan Radt (ed.), ''Tragicorum Graecorum Fragmenta. Vol. III: Aeschylus'' (Göttingen, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2009) (Tragicorum Graecorum Fragmenta, 3).
*Alan H. Sommerstein (ed.), ''Aeschylus, Volume II, Oresteia: Agamemnon. Libation-bearers. Eumenides. 146'' (Cambridge, Massachusetts/London: Loeb Classical Library, 2009); ''Volume III, Fragments. 505'' (Cambridge, Massachusetts/London: Loeb Classical Library, 2008).
See also
* 2876 Aeschylus, an asteroid named for him
* Ancient Greek literature
Ancient Greek literature is literature written in the Ancient Greek language from the earliest texts until the time of the Byzantine Empire. The earliest surviving works of ancient Greek literature, dating back to the early Archaic period, are ...
* Ancient Greek mythology
A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the lives and activities of ...
* Ancient Greek religion
Religious practices in ancient Greece encompassed a collection of beliefs, rituals, and mythology, in the form of both popular public religion and cult practices. The application of the modern concept of "religion" to ancient cultures has been ...
* Battle of Marathon
The Battle of Marathon took place in 490 BC during the first Persian invasion of Greece. It was fought between the citizens of Athens, aided by Plataea, and a Persian force commanded by Datis and Artaphernes. The battle was the culmination o ...
* Classical Greece
Classical Greece was a period of around 200 years (the 5th and 4th centuries BC) in Ancient Greece,The "Classical Age" is "the modern designation of the period from about 500 B.C. to the death of Alexander the Great in 323 B.C." ( Thomas R. Marti ...
* Dionysia
* Music of ancient Greece
Music was almost universally present in ancient Greek society, from marriages, funerals, and religious ceremonies to theatre, folk music, and the ballad-like reciting of epic poetry. It thus played an integral role in the lives of ancient Gr ...
* Theatre of ancient Greece
* "Live by the sword, die by the sword
"Live by the sword, die by the sword" is a proverb in the form of a parallel phrase, derived from the Gospel of Matthew ( Matthew 26, ): "Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall per ...
"
Notes
Citations
References
*
*Bierl, A. ''Die Orestie des Aischylos auf der modernen Bühne: Theoretische Konzeptionen und ihre szenische Realizierung'' (Stuttgart: Metzler, 1997)
*Cairns, D., V. Liapis, ''Dionysalexandros: Essays on Aeschylus and His Fellow Tragedians in Honour of Alexander F. Garvie'' (Swansea: The Classical Press of Wales, 2006)
*
*
*Deforge, B. ''Une vie avec Eschyle. Vérité des mythes'' (Paris, Les Belles Lettres, 2010)
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*Lefkowitz, Mary (1981). ''The Lives of the Greek Poets''. University of North Carolina Press
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*— (2002). ''Greek Drama and Dramatists''. London: Routledge Press.
*
*Summers, David (2007). ''Vision, Reflection, and Desire in Western Painting''. University of North Carolina Press
* Thomson, George (1973) Aeschylus and Athens: A Study in the Social Origin of Drama. London: Lawrence and Wishart (4th edition)
*
*Vellacott, Philip, (1961). ''Prometheus Bound and Other Plays: Prometheus Bound, Seven Against Thebes, and The Persians''. New York: Penguin Classics.
*
*Zeitlin, Froma (1982). ''Under the sign of the shield: semiotics and Aeschylus' Seven against Thebes''. Lanham, Md.: Lexington Books, 2nd ed. 2009 (Greek studies: interdisciplinary approaches)
*Zetlin, Froma (1996). "The dynamics of misogyny: myth and mythmaking in Aeschylus's ''Oresteia''", in Froma Zeitlin, ''Playing the Other: Gender and Society in Classical Greek Literature''. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. pp. 87–119.
*Zeitlin, Froma (1996). "The politics of Eros in the Danaid trilogy of Aeschylus", in Froma Zeitlin, ''Playing the Other: Gender and Society in Classical Greek Literature''. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. pp. 123–171.
External links
*
*
*
*
Selected Poems of Aeschylus
Aeschylus-related materials at the Perseus Digital Library
Complete syntax diagrams at Alpheios
*
"Aeschylus, I: Persians" from the Loeb Classical Library, Harvard University Press
"Aeschylus, II: The Oresteia" from the Loeb Classical Library, Harvard University Press
"Aeschylus, III: Fragments" from the Loeb Classical Library, Harvard University Press
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aeschylus
5th-century BC Greek people
5th-century BC writers
520s BC births
450s BC deaths
Year of birth uncertain
Year of death uncertain
Tragic poets
Ancient Greeks accused of sacrilege
Greek people of the Greco-Persian Wars
Battle of Marathon
Accidental deaths in Italy
Deaths due to animal attacks