Aeschylus
Aeschylus,Athenian tragic dramatist
Life
(?525/4–456/5 BC) Aeschylus was probably born at Eleusis in 525/4 BC (Marmor Parium). He fought in two great battles in which the Greeks defeated the invading Persians: the battle of Marathon in 490 (Marmor Parium; Vita 4, 11) and probably at Salamis (Ion of Chios, Fragmente der griechischen Historiker 392 F 7). His first tragic production was in 499 (Suidas ai 357 with π 2230), his first victory in 484 (Marmor Parium); thereafter he may have been almost invariably victorious, especially after the death of Phrynichus c.473 (he gained thirteen victories altogether, Vita 13). Of his surviving plays, Persians was produced in 472 (his chorēgos or financial backer being the young Pericles) and Seven against Thebes in 467. Suppliants, part of a production which won first prize over