Ancient Literature

Study Notes

Aeschylus was an ancient Greek Tragedian and is often described as "The Father of Tragedy".
He expanded the number of characters in plays to allow conflict among them.
Only seven of his estimated 70-90 plays survived, and there is a longstanding debate regarding one of his plays, "Prometheus Bound".
He was probably the first dramatist to present plays as a trilogy.
His Oresteia is the only ancient example of this form that survives.
The Persians is the only surviving classical Greek tragedy concerned with contemporary events.
Oresteia is acclaimed by today's literary academics.

His seven surviving tragedies are: "The Persians" (472 BC), "Seven Against Thebes" (407 BC), "The Suppliants" (463 BC), "Oresteia" trilogy, and "Prometheus Bound" (authorship is disputed).
Oresteia trilogy consists of three tragedies: "Agamemnon", "The Libation Bearers", and "The Eumenides".
The trilogy tells the bloody story of the family of Agamemnon, King of Argos.

Sophocles is one of the ancient Greek Tragedians whose plays are survived.
He wrote 123 plays during the course of his life, but only seven have survived in complete form.
His most famous tragedies feature Oedipus (means "swollen foot") and also "Antigone".
These plays are generally known as the "Theban Plays".
He also developed his characters to a greater extent than earlier playwrights such as Aeschylus.

The seven surviving plays are: "Ajax", "Antigone", "The Women of Trachis", "Oedipus the King", "Electra", "Philoctetes", and "Oedipus at Colonus".
Only two of seven surviving plays can be dated securely, namely "Philoctetes" (409 BC) and "Oedipus at Colonus".
The "Theban Plays" concern the fate of Thebes during and after the reign of King Oedipus.

Euripides was a tragedian of classical Athens.
According to Suda, out of 92 plays by him, 18 or 19 have survived more or less complete.
In the Hellenistic Age, he became a cornerstone of Ancient Literary education along with Homer, Demosthenes, and Menander.
He also became "The most tragic of poets".

Notable works include: "Alcestis" (438 BC), "Medea" (431 BC), "Heracleidae" (430 BC), "The Bacchae" (405 BC), and many more.

Socrates was a classical Greek Philosopher credited as one of the founders of Western Philosophy.
He is an enigmatic figure chiefly known through the accounts of classical writers, especially the writings of his students Plato and Xenophon, and the plays of his contemporary Aristophanes.
Socrates has become renowned for his contribution to the field of Ethics, and it is this Platonic Socrates who lends his name to the concept of Socratic Irony and the Socratic Method.
Socrates also made important and lasting contributions to the field of Epistemology.