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Connections 2 : Greek Drama
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Aeschylus 525-456 B.C.
Aeshylus was the earliest of the great Greek
tragedians and the principal creator of Greek drama.
He added a new element to the ancient celebrations when
he introduced a second actor into the play, reducing
the chorus in size. The chorus retreated from the center of attention
and assumed a secondary role, commenting, warning or setting
the mood for the action of the play which was now carried by the actors.
www link :
Aeschylus
Short biography and plays
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Sophocles 496-406 B.C.
Sophocles gave tragedy its classical form by
introducing the third actor into the plot. The chorus
is much less prominent than in Aeshylus' works,
the action is swifter and the dialogue sharper.
When Sophocles was a young man, Athens was
still supremely confident from victory over Persia;
when he died, civil war with Sparta had brought
disaster over the city. He despaired for the Athens he
loved; but, as he saw life, outside circumstance was
in the ultimate sense powerless; within himself,
he held, no man is helpless.
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Euripides 480-406 B.C.
Euripides was the most revolutionary of
the Greek tragedians. The early poets still shared
the traditional beliefs with the majority of their
audiences, but a younger man, like Euripides, who
was influenced by the free-thinking spirit of his
time, no longer believed in the power of a god like
Dionysus, whose festival he, as a tragic poet,
was required to celebrate.
Euripides solved his dilemna by presenting
his plot in a way that implicitly contradicted
the many answers his divine messengers
provided for the difficulties of life.
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The critical spirit of Euripides was far too
advanced for his time. It was not surprising, therefore,
that after Euripides no other great poet rose in Athens
to carry on the tragic tradition.
Philosophers took over where tragedians left off. The advantage of
philosophic dialogue was that it didn't have to appeal to the entire
citizenship. Dramatic poets depended on the assent of the crowd - hence
when disagreement between the public and the most advanced thinkers of
Athens set in, further investigation into the nature of man could only occur
in the more private medium of philosophic dialogue.
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