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The battle of the Greek tragedies

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Greek Playwrights

Encyclopedia.com (2015). Aeschylus. Retrieved 5 November, 2015, from http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Aeschylus.aspx#1
The Greek playwright Aeschylus (524-456 B.C.) is the first European dramatist whose plays have been preserved. He is also the earliest of the great Greek tragedians, and more than any other he is concerned with the interrelationship of man and the gods.
Mastin, Luke. (2009). Ancient Greece - Aeschylus. Retrieved 5 November, 2015, from http://www.ancient-literature.com/greece_aeschylus.html
Aeschylus (Aiskhylos) is often recognized as the father of tragedy, and is the first of the three early Greek tragedians whose plays survive extant (the other two being Sophocles and Euripides). In fact, by expanding the number of characters in plays to allow for conflict among them (previously, only a single character interacted with the Chorus) he was arguably the founder of all serious Greek drama (although some credit that honour to Phrynichus or the even earlier Thespis). Only seven of over seventy plays written by Aeschylus have survived into modern times, the best known being “The Oresteia” trilogy.
Cliff Notes. (2015). Aeschylus Biography. Retrieved 5 November, 2015, from http://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/a/agamemnon-the-choephori-and-the-eumenides/aeschylus-biography
With the beginning of the fifth century B.C., the city of Athens entered the most glorious era of its history. The tyranny of Peisistratus had been overthrown in 510, and a few years later there were important political reforms resulting in a complete democracy, the first in Europe. The Persian invasion took place in 480 B.C., and, by what then seemed to be an act of God, the massed power of Asia was defeated by a coalition of the tiny Greek city-states under Athenian leadership. Athens organized the Delian League and began slowly to transform it into an empire. The city became wealthy and powerful, the cultural and intellectual center of all Greece. The century opened by these events was marked throughout by an energetic enterprise and a flowering of genius in all areas of human activity that has rarely been paralleled in the thousands of years since.

Ancient History Encyclopedia. (2009-2015). Aristophanes. Retrieved 5 November, 2015, from http://www.ancient.eu/Aristophanes/
Aristophanes was the most famous writer of Old Comedy plays in ancient Greece and his surviving works are the only examples of that style. His innovative and sometimes rough comedy could also hide more sophisticated digs at the political elite and deal with social issues such as cultural change and the role of women in society. Indeed, the plays of Aristophanes are not only a record of Greek theatre but also provide an invaluable insight into many of the political and social aspects of ancient Greece, from the practicalities of jury service to details of religious rituals in major festivals.
Luke Mastin. (2009). Ancient Greece - Aristophanes. Retrieved 5 November, 2015, from http://www.ancient-literature.com/greece_aristophanes.html
Aristophanes was a prolific and much acclaimed comic playwright of ancient Greece, sometimes referred to as the Father of Comedy. Eleven of his forty plays have come down to us virtually complete (along with up to with 1,000 brief fragments of other works), and are the only real examples we have of a genre of comic drama known as Old Comedy. Aristophanes’ works recreate the life of ancient Athens perhaps more convincingly than those of any other author, although his biting satire and ridicule of his contemporaries often came close to slander.
Encyclopedia.com (2015). Aristophanes. Retrieved 5 November, 2015, from http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Aristophanes.aspx
Aristophanes (c. 450-after 385 B.C.) was the greatest of the writers of the Old Comedy, which flourished in Athens in the 5th century B.C., and the only one with any complete plays surviving. He wrote at least 36 comedies, of which 11 are extant.

Biography.com (2015). Euripides Biography. Retrieved 5 November, 2015, from http://www.biography.com/people/euripides-9289335
Euripides was one of the great Athenian playwrights and poets of ancient Greece, known for the many tragedies he wrote, including Medea and The Bacchae.
Ancient History Encyclopedia. (2009-2015). Euripides. Retrieved 5 November, 2015, from http://www.ancient.eu/Euripides/
Euripides (c. 484-407 BCE) was one of the greatest authors of Greek tragedy. In 5th century BCE Athens his classic works such as Medeia cemented his reputation for clever dialogues, fine choral lyrics and a gritty realism in both his text and stage presentations. The writer of some 90 plays, Euripides was also famous for posing awkward questions, unsettling his audience with a thought-provoking treatment of common themes, and spicing up the story with thoroughly immoral characters. This is probably why Euripides won only a few festival competitions compared to his great tragedian rivals Aeschylus and Sophocles, although he was tremendously popular with the public. The popularity of Euripides' work has never diminished and his plays continue to be performed in theatres today.
Luke Mastin. (2009). Ancient Greece - Euripides. Retrieved 5 November, 2015, from http://www.ancient-literature.com/greece_euripides.html
Euripides was the last of the three great tragedians of classical Greece (the other two being Aeschylus and Sophocles). Largely due to an accident of history, eighteen of Euripides' ninety-five plays have survived in a complete form, along with fragments (some substantial) of many of his other plays. He is known primarily for having reshaped the formal structure of traditional Greek tragedy by showing strong female characters and intelligent slaves, and by satirizing many heroes of Greek mythology. He is considered to be the most socially critical of all the ancient Greek tragedians, and his plays seem quite modern in comparison with those of his contemporaries.
Encyclopedia.com (2015). Euripides. Retrieved 5 November, 2015, from http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Euripides.aspx
Euripides (480-406 B.C.) was a Greek playwright whom Aristotle called the most tragic of the Greek poets. He is certainly the most revolutionary Greek tragedian known in modern times.

Cliff Notes. (2015). Sophocles Biography. Retrieved 5 November, 2015, from http://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/o/the-oedipus-trilogy/sophocles-biography
nformation about Sophocles' life is at best sketchy and incomplete, but some important details survive. Most of what scholars know about the playwright comes from two sources: the Suda Lexicon, a tenth-century Greek dictionary, and the anonymous Sophocles: His Life and Works, an undated manuscript found in the thirteenth century.
Ancient History Encyclopedia. (2015). Sophocles. Retrieved 5 November, 2015, from http://www.ancient.eu/sophocles/
Sophocles of Kolōnos (c. 496 - c. 406 BCE) was one of the most famous and celebrated writers of tragedy plays in ancient Greece and his surviving works, written throughout the 5th century BCE, include such classics as Oedipus the King, Antigone, and Women of Trachis. As with other Greek plays, Sophocles’ work is not only a record of Greek theatre but also provides an invaluable insight into many of the political and social aspects of ancient Greece, from family relations to details of Greek religion. In addition, Sophocles’ innovations in theatre presentation would provide the foundations for all future western dramatic performance, and his plays continue to be performed today in theatres around the world.
Luke Mastin. (2009). Ancient Greece - Sophocles. Retrieved 5 November, 2015, from http://www.ancient-literature.com/greece_sophocles.html
Sophocles (Sophokles) was the second of the three great ancient Greek tragedians (after Aeschylus and before Euripides) whose work has survived. Only seven of his 123 plays have survived in a complete form but, for almost fifty years, he was the most-awarded playwright in the Dionysia dramatic competitions of the city-state of Athens. Sophocles was an important influence on the development of the drama, most importantly by adding a third actor (and thereby reducing the importance of the Chorus in the presentation of the plot) and by developing his characters to a greater extent than earlier playwrights such as Aeschylus.
Encyclopedia.com (2015). Sophocles. Retrieved 5 November, 2015, from http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Sophocles.aspx
The Greek tragedian Sophocles (496-406 B.C.) ranks foremost among Greek classical dramatists and has been called the poet of Greek humanism par excellence.

ClickView Video Resources

1 hour : 35 min.Translated from Sophocles by Paul Roche also known by the Latin title Oedipus Rex, is an Athenian tragedy by Sophocles that was first performed c. 429 BCE.