Aeschylus (B.C. 525-456) was the heroic poet of Athens. He had fought
certainly at Marathon, and, we may be pretty sure, at Salamis, so that
the narrative of the battle of Salamis in "The Persae" is probably
that of an eye-witness; and that he had fought at Marathon, not that
he had won the prize in drama, was the inscription which he desired
for his tomb. He is of the old school of thought and sentiment, full
of reverence for religion and for eternal law. The growing scepticism
had not touched him. His morality is lofty and austere. In politics he
was a conservative, of the party of Cimon, opposed to the radically
democratic party of Pericles; and his drama, especially the Oresteian
trilogy, teems with conservative sentiment and allusion. His
characters are of heroic cast. He deals superbly with the moral forces
and destiny; though it may be that more philosophy has been found in
him, especially by his German commentators, than is there, and that
obscurity arising from his imperfect command of language has sometimes
been mistaken for depth. His "Agamemnon" is generally deemed the
masterpiece of Greek tragedy. His language is stately and swelling, in
keeping with the heroic part of his characters; sometimes it is too
swelling, and even bombastic. Though he is the greatest of all, art in
him had not arrived at technical perfection. He reminds us sometimes
of the Aeginetan marbles, rather than the frieze of the Parthenon.

In Sophocles (B.C. 495-405) the dramatic art has arrived at technical
perfection. His drama is regarded as the literary counterpart of the
Parthenon. Its calm and statuesque excellence exactly met the
requirements of the taste which we call classic, and seems to
correspond with the character of the dramatist, which was notably
gentle, and with his form, which was typically beautiful. His
characters are less heroic, and nearer to common humanity than those