Latest / Ancient Greece: Philosophy, Democracy, and Endless War — Fexingo History / Aeschylus the Playwright: From Marathon to the Oresteia
Transcript
- Lucas: So, we've talked a lot about Athenian democracy and its military exploits—Marathon, Salamis, the Peloponnesian War. But I think it's time we look at something that was just as central to Athenian identity: the theater. Luna: You mean the great tragedies? Lucas: Exactly. And there's no better place to start than with Aeschylus, the man often called the father of Greek tragedy. He was born around 525 BCE in Eleusis, and his life spanned the rise of Athenian democracy and the Persian Wars. He actually fought at Marathon in 490 and probably at Salamis ten years later. Luna: So he wasn't just a playwright—he was a soldier too. Lucas: Exactly. And that experience shaped his work. His earliest surviving play, The Persians, performed in 472, is unique because it's not based on myth—it's a historical drama about the Persian defeat at Salamis, told from the Persian perspective. Imagine an Athenian audience watching a sympathetic portrayal of their enemies just eight years after the battle. Luna: That's remarkable. Were there other playwrights doing that? Lucas: Not really. Aeschylus was an innovator in many ways. Before him, Greek tragedy had only one actor—the protagonist—who interacted with the chorus. Aeschylus introduced a second actor, which allowed for actual dialogue and conflict between characters. Later, Sophocles added a third. But Aeschylus also developed the trilogy format: three plays on a related theme, followed by a satyr play. His Oresteia is the only complete trilogy we have. Luna: The Oresteia—that's the one about Agamemnon's return from Troy and his murder, right? Lucas: Yes, and it's a masterpiece. The first play, Agamemnon, shows the king returning from Troy only to be killed by his wife Clytemnestra and her lover Aegisthus. The second, Choephori or The Libation Bearers, follows his son Orestes who returns to avenge his father by killing his mother. The third, Eumenides, deals with the aftermath: Orestes is pursued by the Furies, the goddesses of vengeance, and finally stands trial in Athens before the Areopagus council, with Athena casting the deciding vote. Luna: So it's a story about justice evolving from blood vengeance to a legal system. Lucas: Exactly. And that's where it connects directly to Athenian politics. The Eumenides was performed in 458 BCE, just a few years after the democratic reforms of Ephialtes in 462/1, which stripped the Areopagus—an ancient aristocratic council—of most of its political powers, leaving it primarily a homicide court. Aeschylus' play essentially dramatizes the founding of that court and the transition from old tribal justice to civic law. Luna: So he was commenting on contemporary events through myth. Lucas: Precisely. And the play is also a celebration of Athenian democracy and the rule of law. Athena persuades the Furies to accept a place of honor beneath the city, becoming the Eumenides, or 'Kindly Ones.' It's a powerful statement about reconciliation and the integration of older, darker forces into a new civic order. Luna: I remember you mentioning that Aeschylus died in Sicily. What's the story there? Lucas: He died around 456 BCE in the city of Gela, in Sicily. According to legend, an eagle mistook his bald head for a rock and dropped a tortoise on it to crack the shell, killing him. Probably apocryphal, but it's a vivid image. What's more telling is his epitaph, which he supposedly wrote himself. It doesn't mention his plays at all—only that he fought at Marathon. For a Greek, military service mattered as much as art. Luna: That says a lot about their values. Lucas: It does. But his plays were hugely influential. He won first prize at the City Dionysia—the main dramatic competition—at least thirteen times. His works were so revered that after his death, the Athenian assembly passed a decree allowing his plays to be revived in competition, a unique honor. Luna: So he was considered a classic even in his own lifetime. Lucas: Absolutely. And his innovations—the second actor, the trilogy structure, the use of spectacle and elaborate costumes—set the stage for Sophocles and Euripides. But there's something raw and monumental about Aeschylus that his successors didn't quite match. His language is dense, his choruses are powerful, and his themes are cosmic: justice, fate, the relationship between gods and humans. Luna: I guess if you've been listening and finding these deep dives useful, the way we keep this show ad-free is through listener support. If today was helpful, you can help us keep going at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Luna: Yeah, it's a small way to say that this kind of history matters. And we really appreciate it. Lucas: So back to Aeschylus—one thing that's often overlooked is his role in the development of the chorus. In his earlier plays, the chorus is central, sometimes even a character. In The Suppliants, the chorus of Danaids is the protagonist. But in the Oresteia, he gradually reduces the chorus's role, giving more to the actors. It's a shift toward the drama we recognize today. Luna: So he was constantly experimenting. Lucas: He was. And he wasn't afraid to tackle controversial themes. Take the Eumenides again: it not only endorses the Areopagus but also promotes the idea of patriarchy—Apollo argues that the mother is not a true parent, only the father is. That reflects Athenian gender politics, but it also shows how theater could debate social norms. Luna: Did any of his plays cause controversy? Lucas: Not that we know of, but his portrayal of the gods is sometimes critical. In Prometheus Bound—which may or may not be by Aeschylus—Zeus is depicted as a tyrant. That's pretty bold. But for the most part, his work reinforces civic values. He's often called the most 'religious' of the tragedians, deeply concerned with divine justice. Luna: How did his work survive? Lucas: Only seven of his roughly seventy plays survive. The Oresteia is the only trilogy. Others include The Persians, Seven Against Thebes, and The Suppliants. We have fragments of many more. The survival is largely due to Byzantine scholars who copied and preserved them. Without them, we'd have lost a huge part of Greek literature. Luna: It makes you wonder what we're missing. Lucas: It does. But what we have is enough to see his genius. Aeschylus bridged the archaic world of Homeric heroes and the classical world of democratic Athens. He gave voice to the collective fears and hopes of his city, and in doing so, created a art form that still moves us. Luna: And he did it all while fighting for his city. Lucas: Exactly. Soldier, poet, innovator—Aeschylus embodied the Athenian ideal. Next time, we can look at Sophocles and how he took tragedy in a new direction. Luna: Sounds great.