AESCHYLUS


Towards the end of the sixth century before Christ, one of the most
momentous advances in literature was made by the genius of Aeschylus.
European drama was created and a means of utterance was given to the
rapidly growing democratic spirit of Greece. Before Aeschylus wrote,
rude public exhibitions had been given of the life and adventures of
Dionysus, the god of wine. Choruses had sung odes to the deity and
variety was obtained by a series of short dialogues between one of the
Chorus and the remainder. Aeschylus added a second actor to converse
with the first; he thus started a movement which eventually ousted the
Chorus from its place of importance, for the interest now began to
concentrate on the two actors; it was their performance which gave
drama its name. In time more characters were added; the Chorus became
less necessary and in the long run was felt to be a hindrance to the
movement of the story. This process is plainly visible in the extant
works of the Attic tragedians.

Aeschylus was born at Eleusis in 525; before the end of the century he
was writing tragedies. In 490 he fought in the great battle of
Marathon and took part in the victory of Salamis in 480. This
experience of the struggle for freedom against Persian despotism added
a vigour and a self-reliance to his writing which is characteristic of
a growing national spirit. He is said to have visited Sicily in 468
and again in 458, various motives being given for his leaving Athens.
His death at Gela in 456 is said to have been due to an eagle, which