Authors Biography : Aeschylus

QUICK FACTS
Name: Aeschylus
Occupation: Playwright and soldier
Birth: 525 BC Eleusis, Attica
Death: 456 BC Gela, Sicily

AESCHYLUS LIFE
Aeschylus was a Greek Dramatist, in the early days
of the art of tragedy, and was labeled the Father of Tragedy
creating up to 90 plays, only seven of these surviving until
modern age.
He fought for the Greeks in the Persian war, which
greatly influenced the tragedies he wrote.
Aeschylus' plays were known and respected even
then and were given honors on the performance of his
plays. Euphorion, his son, also became a famous dramatist.
Aeschylus was also known for adding a second
character on the stage. Originally, the stage of Dionysius
consisted of only a chorus, a group of 12-15 male singers
wearing masks, but Aeschylus added a second actor for minor parts and included more dialogue
in his plays. He was also famous for contributing the idea of: changing the stage scenery on the
stage by having a wheeled platform called, ekkyklema, and; a crane device used to lift the actors,
mechane.

VISUAL TIMELINE
525 BC Born in Eleusis with a well-off family and his father Euphorion was a member of
Eupatridae.
490 BC Aeschylus together with his brother Cynegeirus protected Athens from Darius I at
the Battle of Marathon. His brother didnt return witth him.
480 BC Now with his brother Ameinias, he continued his military service to fray Xerxes I at
the Battle of Salamis
479 BC He fought at the Battle of Plataea.
472 BC The Persians, Aeschylus oldest surviving play, was played in Dionysia. It won the first
prize and it was the kickoff of his success. It showed Salamis and Xerxes return to
Persia after the Greek won over the Persians in war.
467 BC Seven Against Thebes was played. Its all about the seige of Thebes where the sons of
Oedipus battle for the throne of Thebes. It was the last part of the trilogy which
included Laius as the first, and Oedipus as the second.
463 BC The Suppliants was played. It was suspected to be the first play in the trilogy of the
Daniads myth. The second play being The Egyptians and third, The Danaids.
458 BC He made the only surviving greek trilogy, The Orestia. It includes Agamemnon, The
Libation Bearers, and The Eumenides that is based to the family of Agamemnon, the King
of Argos. There was an accompanying play, Proteus, but it didnt survive
457 BC He wrote the tragedy, Prometheus Bound, which won an award under the Dionysian
stage but is under the criticism of many scholars as they suspect it was written by his
son Euphorion under the name of his father. It tackled the Titan Prometheus who
stole fire from the gods and is under the wrath of Zeus.
456 BC He died at Gela. According to Valerius Maximus, he died outside the Gela due to
falling tortoise dropped by the eagle.