Aeschylus
	Civilization:	Greek: Athens
	Era:	Golden Age
525–456 BC	Field of Renown:	literature: Playwright

Aeschylus From a bust in the capitoline museum at Rome.

Aeschylus was very highly regarded as a playwright in his own time, as well as a great war hero. He fought at both the battle of Marathon and Salamis. On his gravestone, he commemorated only his military accomplishments, of which he was most proud, in spite of the fact that the world for all ages has considered him primarily as a brilliant playwright. In addition to the great literary quality of his plays, Aeschylus invented several important theatrical innovations. Before his time, the action of a play was between a single performer, and a chorus. He invented the second actor. Modern audiences now expect scenes with multiple players, but it was Aeschylus who first helped convert a song and poetry performance into a drama. His plays, in general, were religiously reverent, and he won the first place award at the Dionysia festival over 13 times. Though it is claimed that he wrote over 70 plays, only seven currently survive in complete form. These are:

The following story links are predominantly to simplified renditions of his plays, rather than to stories about his personal life. In addition to stories based on his work, Aristophanes's The Frogs is included, since Aeschylus is a major character in that comedy.

	Image Links
Aeschylus: From a bust in the capitoline museum at Rome. in Pictures from Greek Life and Story	Theatre of Dionysus in Story of the Greeks	Aeschylus (In the capitol at Rome) in Story of the Greek People
Theatre of Dionysus, Restored.  in Old World Hero Stories