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Four of Aeschylus'' greatest plays reissued in the new Classical Greek Dramatists series Includes the Oresteia trilogy, a key sequence of plays within the Western dramatic tradition - widely studied in schools and universities. Agamemnon tells the tale of the king''s return from the battle of Troyto find that his wife has laid out a red carpet to welcome him that will, ironically, lead him to his death; The Libation Bearers continues the saga into the next generation with Orestes and Electra seeking justice for their dead father whilst in the Eumenides, the traces of inherited bloodlust are laid to rest by the figure of Athene. Translated with an introduction and notes from J. Michael Walton - the series editor for the Greek classics and reissued in the new Methuen Classical Greek Dramatists series in stylish, new and modern jackets.
About the author
Aeschylus (525-456 BC) The father of Greek tragic drama, usually considered the first great writer in the Western theatrical tradition. Only seven plays, of over 70 known titles, are extant. These are
The Persians (472 BC),
Seven Against Thebes (469 BC),
Prometheus Bound (c. 460 BC),
The Suppliant Women (c. 460 BC), and the
Oresteia trilogy (458 BC), comprising
Agamemnon,
Choephoroi, and
Eumenides. He also wrote numerous satyr plays, which have only survived in fragmentary form. Aeschylus's work is powerful and operatic, using majestic but often innovative language. His attitude to Greek society and religion was generally conservative, although he boldly depicted the sufferings of men and woman when moral systems, and the gods themselves, are in conflict. Legend says he was killed by a tortoise dropped by an eagle (to break the shell) on his bald head (mistaken for a stone). His tombstone makes no mention of his literary works, referring only to his service at the Battle of Marathon (490 BC).
