Aeschylus

Aeschylus was an ancient Greek writer of plays, known as a tragedian. He is often called the father of tragedy, a type of play that tells sad and serious stories. We learn about early Greek tragedy mostly from his works, because very little was written down before his time. According to Aristotle, Aeschylus made theatre more interesting by adding more characters who could act and have conflicts with each other. Before his time, characters mostly talked only to the chorus, a group of people who comment on the story.

Aeschylus wrote between 70 and 90 plays, but only seven of them have survived completely. One of these plays, called Prometheus Bound, has some people wondering if it was really written by him or maybe by his son Euphorion. We have pieces and quotes from his other plays, and we keep finding more on old pieces of paper called papyri in Egypt. He was probably the first to create a group of three plays called a trilogy, and his set called the Oresteia is the only one we still have from ancient times. One of his plays, The Persians, was about the war between Greece and Persia that happened in 480–479 BC. This is rare because most Greek tragedies were not about events happening at the same time. The war with Persia was so important to Aeschylus and the Greeks that when they wrote about him after he died, they remembered that he fought in the battle of Marathon but did not say much about his writing.

Life

Aeschylus was born around 525 BC in Eleusis, a small town near Athens. His family was wealthy, and he grew up in a time when Athens was changing under new leaders.

As a young man, Aeschylus worked in a vineyard. He began writing plays when he was just 26 years old. He became famous for his tragedies and won many awards for his work.

Aeschylus also fought in important battles against Persian invaders, helping protect Athens. Later in life, he traveled to Sicily and continued to write and perform his plays there.

Personal life

Aeschylus was married and had two sons named Euphorion and Euaeon. Both of his sons became tragic poets, with Euphorion winning a top prize in 431 BC against famous poets Sophocles and Euripides. Aeschylus also had a nephew named Philocles, who was also a poet and won a prize against Sophocles's play Oedipus Rex. Additionally, Aeschylus had two brothers, Cynegeirus and Ameinias.

Death

Aeschylus traveled back to Sicily and visited the city of Gela, where he passed away in either 456 or 455 BC. Some stories say an eagle dropped a tortoise on his head, thinking it was a rock. However, this might just be a legend.

After Aeschylus’s passing, the Athenians held his plays in such high regard that only his tragedies were allowed to be performed in future competitions. His sons Euphorion and Euæon, as well as his nephew Philocles, also became playwrights.

Works

The seeds of Greek drama began in festivals for the gods, especially Dionysus, the god of wine. During Aeschylus's time, these festivals included competitions for playwrights. Aeschylus took part in these contests, where playwrights presented their plays. He is believed to have written between seventy and ninety plays, but only seven of his tragedies still exist today: The Persians, Seven Against Thebes, The Suppliants, and the trilogy called The Oresteia, which includes Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, and The Eumenides. There is also Prometheus Bound, though we are not sure if Aeschylus wrote it.

Aeschylus often wrote plays in groups of three, called trilogies, where each play told part of a longer story. The Oresteia is the only one of these trilogies that we still have today. We know from other sources that Aeschylus likely wrote many more trilogies, some of which told stories from myths like the Trojan War.

Surviving plays

The Persians (472 BC)

Main article: The Persians

The Persians is the earliest play we still have from Aeschylus. It was performed in 472 BC and is special because it tells about a real event that happened not too long before — the Battle of Salamis. The play focuses on a big idea in Greek stories: the pride of leaders leading to problems. It starts with a messenger bringing bad news to the Persian capital, Susa. The message is about a big loss in a battle. The mother of the Persian king learns more from an old king’s ghost, who says the loss happened because the king was too proud. The play ends with the king still not understanding why he lost.

Seven Against Thebes (467 BC)

Main article: Seven Against Thebes

Seven against Thebes was performed in 467 BC. It shows how gods can change what happens to people. The play is about two brothers, Eteocles and Polynices, who both want to be king of Thebes. They agree to rule the city one after the other, but Eteocles refuses to give up his turn. Polynices starts a war to take the throne. The brothers fight and kill each other. The play also hints at a sad story about their family that will continue in other plays.

The Suppliants (463 BC)

Main article: The Suppliants (Aeschylus)

In The Suppliants from 463 BC, Aeschylus again talks about how cities and governments work. Fifty women, called the Danaids, run away to avoid being forced to marry men they don’t know. They ask the king of Argos for help. The king says the people of Argos should decide, and they agree to protect the women. This shows ideas about fair rules and democracy that were growing in Athens at the time.

The Oresteia (458 BC)

Main article: Oresteia

The Oresteia from 458 BC is almost completely preserved and is the only full set of three plays by any Greek writer that we still have. It tells the sad and busy story of Agamemnon’s family.

Agamemnon

The first play, Agamemnon, starts when King Agamemnon comes home after winning the Trojan War. His wife, Clytemnestra, is angry because he had to kill their daughter to start the war, and because he brought home another woman. She kills him. A woman named Cassandra, who knows what will happen, also dies.

The Libation Bearers

The Libation Bearers begins with Agamemnon’s son, Orestes, who has been away. He and his sister, Electra, plan to get back at Clytemnestra and her lover. Orestes kills them both. He then feels the anger of spirits called the Furies.

The Eumenides

In the third play, The Eumenides, Orestes runs from the Furies. He goes to a temple and asks for help. A goddess decides he should have a trial. After a vote, he is let go, and the Furies are renamed to show kindness. The play praises fair laws and reason.

Prometheus Bound (date disputed)

Main article: Prometheus Bound

Prometheus Bound tells the story of Prometheus, a Titan tied to a rock as punishment for giving fire to humans. Gods and other characters show they feel sorry for him. Prometheus tells the future to a woman named Io. The play ends with Prometheus being taken away because he refuses to tell Zeus a secret. This play may be part of a larger set of three plays about Prometheus.

Lost plays

We only know the titles and small pieces of many of Aeschylus’s other plays. With these pieces and comments from later writers, we can guess what happened in some of them.

Myrmidons

This play was based on parts of the Iliad. It shows Achilles sitting quietly because he feels upset with Agamemnon. Messengers from the Greek army try to convince Achilles to rejoin them, but he only listens to Patroclus. Patroclus then fights the Trojans wearing Achilles’s armor. We hear about Patroclus’s brave actions and his death from a messenger, followed by sad mourning.

Nereids

This play also comes from the Iliad. It follows the Daughters of Nereus, sea spirits, as they mourn Patroclus’s death. A messenger tells how Achilles may have made peace with Agamemnon and then defeated Hector.

Phrygians, or Hector's Ransom

After talking with Hermes, Achilles sits alone mourning Patroclus. Hermes brings King Priam of Troy, who gently convinces Achilles to give back his son Hector’s body. They use a scale to trade Hector’s body for gold, which amazes everyone.

Niobe

The children of Niobe were killed by the gods Apollo and Artemis because Niobe bragged about having more children than their mother, Leto. Niobe spends most of the play sitting quietly in sadness. The philosopher Plato once quoted a line from this play about how gods can ruin families.

These are the names of Aeschylus’s other 71 known plays:

• 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 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

When Aeschylus began writing plays, theater was just starting to grow. Before him, playwrights like Thespis had added one actor who could talk with the chorus. Aeschylus added a second actor, which made the stories more interesting, while the chorus did not play as big a part. He also made costumes more exciting and had actors wear special shoes to be seen better by the audience.

Aeschylus wrote his plays in verse and never showed any violence on stage. His stories often told about gods and happened in faraway places. His plays taught important lessons about right and wrong and about how people should behave toward the gods.

Influence outside Greek culture

Aeschylus’s plays stayed important long after he died. The famous composer Richard Wagner admired him greatly. Some writers say Wagner’s work was shaped by Aeschylus’s plays.

Other important writers, like those from the Renaissance and later times, were also inspired by Aeschylus. Even a modern American play called Mourning Becomes Electra by Eugene O'Neill was based on one of Aeschylus’s famous stories.

During a difficult time in 1968, Senator Robert F. Kennedy used a line from Aeschylus to comfort people after the death of Martin Luther King Jr.. Kennedy’s words helped bring hope and peace during a troubled moment.

Editions

Here are some important books and translations about the plays of Aeschylus:

• Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff published Aeschyli Tragoediae. Editio maior in Berlin in 1914.
• Gilbert Murray released Aeschyli Septem Quae Supersunt Tragoediae. Editio Altera in Oxford in 1955.
• Denys Page wrote Aeschyli Septem Quae Supersunt Tragoediae in Oxford in 1972.
• Martin L. West created Aeschyli Tragoediae cum incerti poetae Prometheo in its second edition, published in Stuttgart/Leipzig in 1998.
• The first English translation of seven of Aeschylus’s plays was done by Robert Potter in 1779.
• Anna Swanwick made a verse translation of all seven surviving plays called The Dramas of Aeschylus in 1886.
• Stefan Radt edited Tragicorum Graecorum Fragmenta. Vol. III: Aeschylus in Göttingen in 2009.
• Alan H. Sommerstein edited Aeschylus, Volume II, Oresteia: Agamemnon. Libation-bearers. Eumenides and Volume III, Fragments for the Loeb Classical Library in 2008 and 2009.