EuripidesGreek Playwright

480 B.C.E 406 B.C.E

• Born: c. 480 B.C.E. Salamis, Greece • Died: c. 406 B.C.E. Pella, Greece • After his death the Athenians build him a monument• Aristotle (384–322 B.C.E. ) called the most tragic of

the Greek poets. • He is the most revolutionary Greek tragedian.• He has been called the philosopher of the Greek

theater .

Euripides's life

• Euripides was the son of Mnesarchus. The family owned property on the island of Salamis, and Euripides was twice married and had three sons.

• Euripides was raised in a cultured family, was witness to the rebuilding of the Athenian walls after the Persian Wars (wars fought between the Greek city-states and the Persian Empire during the first half of the fifth century B.C.E. ),

Euripides's style • Euripides completely refined and popularized Greek tragedy .• He was responsible for making tragedy something experienced by

ordinary citizens.• At the time of Euripides, the upper classes were the only ones

represented on stage as worthy of serious consideration. • Though he used the traditional form of the drama, he had some very

different things to say, and he said them in a language that was much easier to understand.

• He used many everyday expressions. • He was the first to introduce heroes in rags and on crutches and in

tears.• He treated slaves, women, and children as human beings and insisted

that nobility was not necessarily a quality of social status.

Dominant Themes

• . Euripides wrote about religion, revenge, and all-consuming love.

• He treated myths sensibly and expected men to use their logical powers.

• All of his existing plays are concerned with three basic themes: war, women, and religion.

• He investigated the social, political, religious, and philosophical issues of his day, and he truly loved Athens and sympathized genuinely with suffering humanity.

His plays Tragedies

• Euripides's existing plays are:• Medea (431 B.C.E. ), • Andromache (c. 430 B.C.E. ), • Hippolytus (428 B.C.E. ),• Hecuba (c. 425 B.C.E. ), • Suppliants (c. 420–419 B.C.E. ), • Heracles (c. 420–418 B.C.E. ), • Trojan Women (415 B.C.E. ), • Bacchae (c. 407 B.C.E. ).

Tragicomedies

• The tragicomedies (plays that include tragedy as well as comedy) are:

• Alcestis (438 B.C.E. ), • Ion (c. 418–413 B.C.E. ),• Iphigenia at Tauris (414–412 B.C.E. ),• Helen (412 B.C.E. ).

The melodramas

• Melodramas are(dramas with strong emotion that usually end happily)

• Electra (c. 415 B.C.E. ), • Phoenician Women (c. 409 B.C.E. ), • Orestes (408 B.C.E. ), • Iphigenia at Aulis (c. 407 B.C.E. ).