GREEK LITERATURE & CULTURE
Greek Literature and the Tragic Vision
Ian Johnston explores how Greek ideas of justice, divine power, and human freedom shaped the heroic and tragic vision of ancient Greek literature.
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Author
Aeschylus
Aeschylus, (525 BC/524 BC – 456 BC/455 BC) was a Greek playwright of the 6th century B.C. Known as the founder of tragedy, he was the earliest of three Greek tragedians whose plays survive, the others being Sophocles and Euripides.
Many of Aeschylus' works were influenced by the Persian invasion of Greece, which took place during his lifetime. The war was so important to Greeks and to Aeschylus himself that, upon his death around 456 BC, his epitaph included a reference to his participation in the Greek victory at Marathon but not to his success as a playwright.
Aeschylus was born in Eleusis, a town near Athens, around 525 BC. He grew up during the development of Athenian democracy and fought at the battle of Marathon in 490 BC, a high point of Greek culture, when the Greek army, predominantly Athenians, defeated a force of Persian invaders. Aeschylus wrote many plays (probably around ninety), only seven of which have survived. His Oresteia, the only complete surviving trilogy of plays by an ancient Greek dramatist, won the annual drama competition in Athens in 458 BC.
Aeschylus died in Sicily in 455 BC. Some legends have it that the cause of death was a turtle dropped onto his head by a bird flying above him.
Resources
Introduction to Ancient Greece
A concise guide to the geography, history, political life, and cultural development of ancient Greece, from the Bronze Age civilizations of Crete and Mycenae through the rise of the city-states, Classical Athens and Sparta, and the age of Alexander the Great.
Read resource →GREEK MYTH & TRAGEDY
The House of Atreus - A Note on the Mythological Background to the Oresteia
Ian Johnston traces the violent history of the House of Atreus, from Tantalus and Pelops through the rivalry of Atreus and Thyestes to Agamemnon, Clytaemnestra, Orestes, and Electra, providing the mythological background to some of the most important stories of Greek tragedy.
Read resource →The Trojan War
Who Really Won the Trojan War?
The Greeks destroyed Troy—but victory proved far more complicated. Achilles was dead, Agamemnon returned home only to be murdered, Odysseus wandered for another ten years, and the defeated Trojans lived on in legend. The ancient stories leave us with a surprisingly modern question: if war devastates victors and vanquished alike, what does it really mean to win?
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Prometheus Bound Book Trailer
A visual introduction to Prometheus Bound, a Greek tragedy depicting defiance, suffering, divine tyranny, and humanity’s benefactor.
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The Oresteia Book Trailer
A visual introduction to Aeschylus’ Oresteia, a tragic trilogy tracing cycles of vengeance toward justice, law, and civic order.
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