The three great masters of the tragic drama lived and
wrote in Athens during the splendid half century between the Persian and the
Peloponnesian wars. Such was the fertility of their genius that they are said
to have written altogether nearly three hundred plays. Only thirty-two have
come down to us. Aeschylus, the first of the tragic poets, had fought at
Marathon and Salamis. One of his works, the Persians, is a magnificent
song of triumph for the victory of Hellas. Sophocles, while yet a young man,
gained the prize in a dramatic contest with Aeschylus. His plays mark the
perfection of Greek tragedy. After the death of Sophocles the Athenians revered
him as a hero and honored his memory with yearly sacrifices. Euripides was the
third of the Athenian dramatists and the most generally popular. His fame
reached far beyond his native city. We are told that the Sicilians were so fond
of his verses that they granted freedom to every one of the Athenian prisoners
captured at Syracuse who could recite the poet's lines.
ATHENIAN COMEDY
Athenian comedy during the fifth century B.C. is
represented by the plays of Aristophanes. He was both a great poet and a great
satirist. In one comedy Aristophanes attacks the demagogue Cleon, who was
prominent in Athenian politics after the death of Pericles. In other comedies
he ridicules the philosophers, makes fun of the ordinary citizen's delight in
sitting on jury courts and trying cases, and criticizes those responsible for
the unfortunate expedition to Sicily. The plays of Aristophanes were performed
before admiring audiences of thousands of citizens and hence must have had much
influence on public opinion.
