Aeschylus (c. 525–c. 456 BC)

Athenian dramatist. He developed Greek tragedy by introducing the second actor, thus enabling true dialogue and dramatic action to occur independently of the chorus. Ranked with Euripides and Sophocles as one of the three great tragedians, Aeschylus composed some 90 plays between 500 and 456 BC, of which seven complete tragedies survive in his name: Persians (472 BC), Seven Against Thebes (467 BC), Suppliants (463 BC), the Oresteia trilogy (Agamemnon, Libation-Bearers, and Eumenides) (458 BC), and Prometheus Bound (the last, although attributed to him, is of uncertain date and authorship).

Aeschylus was born at Eleusis in Attica and known to have fought at the Battle of Marathon 490 BC. Towards the end of his life, he left Athens for Sicily. His work is characterized by spectacular tragedy, ornate language, and complex and vigorous use of choral song and dance. His Oresteia trilogy is the only surviving example from antiquity of three connected plays performed on the same occasion.