Aeschylus (
525 BC -
456 BC) was a playwright of ancient
Greece. He was the first of the three great Greek tragedians, the others being
Sophocles and
Euripides. Aeschylus' work has a strong moral and religious emphasis. Many of his plays end more "happily" than those of the other two; namely, his masterpiece
The Oresteia trilogy. Besides the literary merit of his work, Aeschylus' greatest contribution to the theater was the addition of a second actor to his scenes. Previously, the action took place between a single actor and the
Greek chorus.
Aeschylus is known to have written over 70 plays, only seven of which remain extant:
The Oresteia-
- Agamemnon
- The Libation Bearers / Choephori
- The Eumenides
Others-
- The Persians
- Seven Against Thebes
- The Suppliants
- Prometheus Bound