Aeschylus Biography and Quotes
Born: 525 BC
Commemoration: 455 BC
Nationality: Greek
67
Years Old
Famously Known For
Aeschylus is renowned for being the first playwright whose works have survived modern society. His most famous play is The Oresteia, which consisted of three parts, namely; Agamemnon, The Eumenides, and The Libation Bearers.
Early Life
Aeschylus was born in Eleusis, a town in Greek. He was the son to Euphorion, a wealthy Athenian man of the upper class. Aeschylus’s education was majorly inspired by the writings of Homer, a Greek poet that lived in the 800BCs. Through Homer’s writings, Aeschylus was motivated to write plays right from when he was only a teen.
Aeschylus joined annual tragedy competitions in his home town, and it is reported that he won his first award in 484 BC. According to The Alexandrian Life of Aeschylus, it is claimed that Aeschylus was able to take first place awards in Tragedy writing, thirteen times.
Personal Life
Aeschylus was married and had two sons, Euaeon and Euphorion. It is however not recorded who their mother was. The two sons also became tragic poets as their father achieving great prominence in the field with Euphorion also taking the first position in a tragic poetry competition against Sophocles and Euripides.
Contributions, Style and Philosophy
Since Aeschylus was among the pioneer playwrights in Greek, he is credited with creating several poetic features. Most notably, it was Aeschylus that introduced more than two actors, use of costumes and dance in one play contrary to older plays that only had one actor and a chorus.
Aeschylus is also described as the mighty Theologian because most of his plays focused on the connection between Greek gods and man.
Surviving Plays
1. The Persians
2. Seven against Thebes
3. The Suppliants
4. The Oresteia (a trilogy consisting of three plays)
5. Prometheus Bound
Death
According to Valerius Maximus, Aeschylus was killed by a tortoise that was dropped on his bald head by an eagle. It is not clear on when the exact year of death was with some reporting it to be on 456 BC while other reports indicate that it happened in 455 BC.
Aeschylus was 67 years old at his time of death.
