Aeschylus (524–455 BCE)
Born 524 BCE, died 455 BCE.
Aeschylus (UK: , US: ; Ancient Greek: Αἰσχύλος Aischýlos; c. 525/524 – c. 456/455 BC) was an ancient Greek tragedian, 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. Aeschylus wrote an estimated 70 to 90 plays, of which only seven have survived in complete form. There is a long-standing debate regarding the authorship of one of them, Prometheus Bound, 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's work. He was likely the first dramatist to present plays as a trilogy, with his Oresteia being the only extant ancient example. At least one of his plays was influenced by the Persians' second invasion of Greece (480–479 BC).
Text from the Wikipedia article Aeschylus, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.