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GradeSaver : Aeschylus

Biography of Aeschylus | List of Works, Study Guides & Essays | GradeSaver Study Guides and Essays by Aeschylus Although no contemporary writers or biographers provide much reliable information about the life of Aeschylus as it actually unfolded, it has been possible to reconstruct, from later ancient chroniclers and historians, a tentative outline. Aeschylus was born around 525 B.C.E at Eleusis, a town west of Athens and famous home of the cult of Demeter, a mystery cult which, through various rituals, prepared Greek souls for their transition into the afterlife. His father was named Europhion and there is documentation of a brother who was later killed at the Battle or Marathon. The playwright matured under as the Athenian democracy regained power after a period of tyranny and sought to hold it against both internal and external threats. Significantly, his adolescent years saw the Athenians overthrow the tyrant Pisistratid family and establish the first democracy. The tension between democratic ideals and tyranny would eventually find its way into his plays, including Agagmemnon. Moreover, the ancient writer Pausanias wrote that Aeschylus' tombstone made no mention of drama's such as the Oresteia, but proclaimed his participation as a soldier in those famous Athenian military victories against the Persians at Salamis and Marathon which contributed to much to the growth of Athenian confidence and power. Athens returned the favor, since it regarded Aeschylus as one of the main representatives of its Golden Age, before the Peloponnesian War and the teaching of the Sophists had weakened traditional Athenian society.

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