Aeschylus was alive between 525-456 B.C. He was an Athenian tragic dramatist.
He wrote around 90 plays but only 7 are complete stories. He won 13 first prizes at the Dionysia, the spring festival where each dramatist submitted four plays which were linked:
· A tragic trilogy
· Lighter satyr play.
Before Aeschylus, tragedy had been limited dialogue between a chorus and one actor. Aeschylus added an actor, who often took more than one part, therefore allowing for dramatic conflict. He also introduced costumes and stage decoration. Sometimes, he appeared on stage acting too!
Some plays, in order, starting from the earliest:
· The Suppliant
· The Persians
· The Seven against
· Prometheus Bound
Aeschylus wrote a number of other successful plays, such as "Seven Against Thebes", "The Suppliants" and "Oresteia". Those individual plays were extremely popular, but even better, he managed to make a Trilogy of theatre production. The Trilogy won first prize in the Dionysia Festival in Athens, approximately 460BC. The trilogy consisted of:
Agamemnon: Clytemnestra awaits the return of her husband, Agamemnon, from the Trojan War. She pretends to be in love with him, but she despises him for the sacrifice of their daughter, Iphgenia. Clytemnestra convinces Agamemnon to use the bathroom, but she kills him in the bath. If Cassandra was to enter, she would be killed as well. She decides to enter anyways, as she cannot avoid her fate. You can hear the screams of the death of Agamemnon and Cassandra. A platform is laid out showing the gruesome dead bodies of Agamemnon and Cassandra. Clytemnestra attempts to explain the actions. Aegisthus storms out and delivers an arrogant speech to the chorus, who almost start a fight with Aegisthus and his minions. However, Clytemnstra halts the dispute, and says: "There is enough pain already, Let us not be bloody now." The play ends at this point, leaving a large cliffhanger for the next part in the series...
The Libation Bearers: In the palace of Argos, Clytemnestra shares her bed and the throne with Aegisthus and wakes up from a nightmare. She dreamt that she had given birth to a snake, but now, instead of it getting milk from the bosom, insted it draws blood. She is worried by this, and thinks its a sign from the gods. She tells her only daughter, princess electra, to pour Libations (drink for the gods) on her fathers grave. Electra finds a man by the tomb who had just placed a lock of hair there. They begin to speak, and it gets awkwardly it turns out that the man is her brother Orestes. She had only thought of him for revenge against their mother and her new husband, Aegisthus. Oresters doubts about murdering his own mother, but he is guided by Apollo (Greek God of Medicine and Healing) and his close friend, to continue this "correct" course of action. Orestes and his close friend pretend to be travellers and ask for hospitality. Clytemnestra sends a servant to summon Aegisthus. Orestes kills the man first, and then his mother. As soon as he flees the palace, Furies (Furious Angels bent on revenge) begin attacking him.
