Aeschylus

-525–-456

Aeschylus was an Athenian tragedian whose surviving plays connect myth, justice, war and civic order.

Aeschylus fought in the Persian Wars and became one of the earliest major dramatists whose works survive. Plays such as The Persians, Seven Against Thebes, Prometheus Bound and the Oresteia use myth and recent history to examine divine law, vengeance and political change.

He belongs in Classical for Greek drama, the Persian Wars, Athenian civic culture and the development of tragedy. His plays are also useful background for fiction about Athens because they show how myth, public performance and political identity interacted.

Periods and events

Ancient Greece Classical Greece Greco-Persian Wars Athens Athenian Democracy Ancient World Achaemenid Persian Empire Greek Mythology and Heroic Legend Athenian Tragedy and the City Dionysia

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