Aeschylus

Aeschylus was born in 525 BC in Eleusis, a small town in western Attica. He was probably the first dramatist to present plays as a trilogy. His Oresteia is the only extant and ancient example. The Persians, is one of very few classical Greek tragedies concerned with contemporary events, and the only one extant.

About Aeschylus in brief

Aeschylus was born in 525 BC in Eleusis, a small town in western Attica. He was probably the first dramatist to present plays as a trilogy. His Oresteia is the only extant and ancient example. At least one of his plays was influenced by the Persians’ second invasion of Greece. The Persians, is one of very few classical Greek tragedies concerned with contemporary events, and the only one extant. He is often described as the father of tragedy, and his work is generally acclaimed by modern critics and scholars. His epitaph commemorates his participation in the Greek victory at Marathon while making no mention of his success as a playwright. The oldest surviving play, which was performed in 472 BC, won the first prize at the Demeterinian Mysteries, an ancient cult of Demeter based in his home town of Eleususis. The details of specific rites are sparse as members were sworn to non-initiates to reveal anything about the penalty of death, as well as the secret rites of the afterlife, which are likely to have been kept a secret for many years after the death of the initiates. In 480 BC, he was called into military service again, together with his younger brother Ameinias, against Xerxes I of Persia at the Battle of Salamis. He also fought in the Battle Pl79 BC, a prominent war record and record for his contribution in Salamis’ Salamisis holds a prominent place in the record of his life and contribution to Greek history.

In the last decade of the 6th century, Aescholus and his family were living in the deme of EleUSis. His father, Euphorion, was a member of the Eupatridae, the ancient nobility of Attica, but this might be a fiction invented by the ancients to account for the grandeur of AesChylus’ plays. Some scholars argue that his date of birth may be based on counting back forty years from his first victory in the Great Dionysia. In 510 BC, when he was 15 years old, Cleomenes I expelled the sons of Peisistratus from Athens. Cleisthenes’ reforms included a system of registration that emphasized the importance of the Deme over family tradition. The Athenians emerged triumphant and the victory was celebrated across the city-states of Greece, for which his countrymen extolled him as a hero. He died in 456455 BC, and was buried in the city of Eleussis in what is now known as the Acropolis of Athens. His son Euphorions is thought to be the author of Prometheus Bound, one of the oldest plays in the world, which he wrote in the 4th century BC. The only surviving play from his time is The Persian, which won a prize for the best play of the year at the Demeterinian mysteries, which is still performed today.

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