Aeschylus

This article is about the ancient Greek playwright. For other uses, see Aeschylus (disambiguation) Aeschylus (525—456 BC; Greek: Αισχυλος) was a playwright of ancient Greece.
Aeschylus was the earliest of the three greatest Greek tragedians, the others being Sophocles and Euripides.

Biography

Born in Eleusis, a district of Athens, he wrote his first plays in 498 BC, but his earliest surviving play is possibly The Suppliants, written in approximately 490 BC. That same year, he participated in the Battle of Marathon, and in 480 BC he fought at the Battle of Salamis. Salamis was the subject of his play The Persians, written in 472 BC; it is possible that The Suppliants was written after this, making The Persians his earliest surviving play.

The inscription on his gravestone was written by himself before his death, and makes no mention of his theatrical renown. He chose to commemorate his military achievements only. It read:

"This gravestone covers Aeschylus, son of Euphorion, from Athens, who died in fertile Gela.
The field of Marathon will speak of his bravery, and so will the longhaired Mede who learnt it well".

In Greek:
"Αισχύλον Ευφορίωνος Αθηναίον τόδε κεύθει μνήμα, πεπνυμένον πυροφόροιο Γέλας.
Αλκήν δ' ευδόκιμον μαραθώνειον άλσος αν είποι και βαθυχαιτήεις Μήδος επιστάμενος"

Works

Aeschylus is known to have written over 70 plays, only six of which remain extant: