title: Greek Tragedy (Penguin Classics)
author: Aeschylus
description: <b>Aeschylus</b> was born of a noble family near Athens in 525 BC. He took part in the Persian Wars and his epitaph, said to have been written by himself, represents him as fighting at Marathon. At some time in his life he appears to have been prosecuted for divulging the Eleusinian mysteries, but he apparently proved himself innocent. Aeschylus wrote more than seventy plays, of which seven have survived: <b>The Suppliants</b>, <b>The Persians</b>,<b> Seven Against Thebes</b>, <b>Prometheus Bound</b>, <b>Agamemnon</b>, <b>The Choephori</b>, and <b><b>The Eumenides</b></b>. (All are translated for Penguin Classics.) He visited Syracuse more than once at the invitation of Hieron I and he died at Gela in Sicily in 456 BC. Aeschylus was recognized as a classic writer soon after his death, and special privileges were decreed for his plays.<br><br><b>Euripides</b>, the youngest of the three great Athenian playwrights, was born around 485 BC of a family of good standing. He first competed in the dramatic festivals in 455 BC, coming only third; his record of success in the tragic competitions is lower than that of either Aeschylus or Sophocles. There is a tradition that he was unpopular, even a recluse; we are told that he composed poetry in a cave by the sea, near Salamis. What is clear from contemporary evidence, however, is that audiences were fascinated by his innovative and often disturbing dramas. His work was controversial already in his lifetime, and he himself was regarded as a &lsquo;clever&rsquo; poet, associated with philosophers and other intellectuals. Towards the end of his life he went to live at the court of Archelaus, king of Macedon. It was during his time there that he wrote what many consider his greates work, the <b><b>Bacchae</b></b>. When news of his death reached Athens in early 406 BC, Sophocles appeared publicly in mourning for him. Euripides is thought to have written about ninety-two plays, of which seventeen tragedies and one satyr-play are known survive; the other play which is attributed to him, the <b><b>Rhesus</b></b>, may in fact be by a later hand.<br><b><br>Sophocles</b> was born at Colonus, just outside Athens, in 496 BC, and lived ninety years. His long life spanned the rise and decline of the Athenian Empire; he was a friend of Pericles, and though not an active politician he held several public offices, both military and civil. The leader of a literary circle and friend of Herodotus, he was interested in poetic theory as well as practice, and he wrote a prose treatise <b>On the Chorus</b>. He seems to have been content to spend all his life at Athens, and is said to have refused several invitations to royal courts.
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  ## Conn Iggulden
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  ### THE FALCON OF SPARTA
  
  
  
  
  
  ![Penguin Books](../images/penguinLogo_small.gif.transcoded1046397049.png)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## Contents
  
  
  [Map](map.xhtml)
  
  
  [Prologue](prologue.xhtml)
  
  
  [Part One](part001.xhtml)
  
  
  [Chapter 1](chapter001.xhtml)
  
  
  [Chapter 2](chapter002.xhtml)
  
  
  [Chapter 3](chapter003.xhtml)
  
  
  [Chapter 4](chapter004.xhtml)
  
  
  [Chapter 5](chapter005.xhtml)
  
  
  [Chapter 6](chapter006.xhtml)
  
  
  [Chapter 7](chapter007.xhtml)
  
  
  [Chapter 8](chapter008.xhtml)
  
  
  [Chapter 9](chapter009.xhtml)
  
  
  [Chapter 10](chapter010.xhtml)
  
  
  [Chapter 11](chapter011.xhtml)
  
  
  [Chapter 12](chapter012.xhtml)
  
  
  [Chapter 13](chapter013.xhtml)
  
  
  [Chapter 14](chapter014.xhtml)
  
  
  [Chapter 15](chapter015.xhtml)
  
  
  [Chapter 16](chapter016.xhtml)
  
  
  [Chapter 17](chapter017.xhtml)
  
  
  [Chapter 18](chapter018.xhtml)
  
  
  [Chapter 19](chapter019.xhtml)
  
  
  [Part Two](part002.xhtml)
  
  
  [Chapter 2