home-Skirts-As in the time of Aeschylus they called the ending of a play. Biography of Aeschylus - the creator of European drama

As in the time of Aeschylus they called the ending of a play. Biography of Aeschylus - the creator of European drama

Aeschylus, whose biography will be discussed in the review, is considered the creator of Greek, and therefore all-European, tragedy. What is known about him and his work?

The poet's homeland and relatives

According to information from various sources, including Wikipedia, the biography of Aeschylus began in the south-eastern part of Central Greece. He was born in the city of Eleusis in 525 BC. It was famous for its ancient customs, which were established by Demeter herself. At least that's what the legends say.

The direction of Aeschylus's work was associated with the cult of the Eleusinian Demeter. However, Athens became the arena for him. It was in this polis that he became a tragic poet. There was a cult of Dionysus in the city. It is better known as but for the ancient Greeks it personified “Bacchanalian” ecstasy. By drinking wine, the Greeks came to the conclusion that the human soul is separate from the body. During celebrations in honor of Dionysus, they sang dithyrambs (ecstatic poems). They became the beginning of the tragedy with which the biography of Aeschylus is connected.

The Greek playwright belonged to an aristocratic family. His brother Kinegir was the hero of the Battle of Marathon. Nephew Philocles - famous author tragedies of his time. Aeschylus's son was named Euphorion, he also created tragedies.

More is known about the biography of Aeschylus from his work.

Periods of creativity

How did the playwright Aeschylus develop? Biography and creativity can be divided into three periods:

  • Youth.

In the work of this period there was a struggle between the Attic dithyrambs and the Peloponnesian tragedy. Aeschylus's poetic activity began during his time in Athens. At this time, at the festivals of Dionysus, preference began to be given to citizen choirs. Aeschylus developed his own style, which was expressed by the gradual introduction of a second actor, the use of Attic drama and playful Peloponnesian satiricon in one work, and the infusion of Homeric heroic epic.

  • Reign on the Attic stage.

The period began in 484 BC and lasted fourteen years. At this time, two important battles took place - Salamis and Plataea. Aeschylus took a direct part in both. The fame of the poet even spread to Syracuse. King Hiero founded the city of Etna at the foot of the volcano in 476 BC and invited the poet to the celebration. An example of his creativity is the tragedy “The Persians,” which he staged in Syracuse in 472 BC.

  • Maturity.

At this time, Aeschylus had to share his fame on the Athenian stage with his student Sophocles. Playwrights began using three actors in their works. It was in the final period that the poet's technique in drama began to progress.

Drama technique

The Greek author began writing when tragedy was a lyrical choral creation. It consisted of parts of the choir, replicas of the luminary and one actor who could play one or three roles. Aeschylus was the first to introduce the second actor. This allowed the dramatic conflict to be conveyed through dialogue.

Towards the end of his life, the poet learned to manage several characters. Basic actions in latest works began to occur through dialogues.

The plot structure remained simple. Main character turns out to be in difficult situation by the will of the deities. This continued until the end. Aeschylus used the chorus not as a commentator on what was happening, but as another actor.

Theology of Aeschylus

In recent works, Zeus appears as an omnipotent deity who combines universal balance and justice.

Aeschylus, short biography which is being considered, in his theology created a divine principle that governs the universe, including the kingdom of human morality. Higher power heroes are punished for their sins and crimes.

According to Aeschylus, wealth does not lead to death in itself. However, rich people are often prone to blind delusion and madness. This leads to sin with presumption, which leads to punishment and death. According to the poet, each subsequent generation creates its own sin. This is how it arises generational curse. The punishment that Zeus sends makes the hero suffer. This is how a person is re-educated. That is, suffering is a positive moral task.

Famous tragedies

Aeschylus, whose biography is connected with Athens, created about ninety tragedies. Five works have survived to this day:

  • “The Persians” is based on the historical plot of the devastating defeat of Xerxes the First.
  • “The Petitioners” is a mythological story about how fifty Danaid sisters ask for asylum from King Pelasgus and receive it.
  • "Seven Against Thebes" - tells the story of the siege of Thebes.
  • "Oresteia" - tetralogy.
  • "Prometheus Bound" - the most famous work about Prometheus, who was punished by Zeus for giving fire to people.

Aeschylus is a playwright Ancient Greece, the father of European tragedy.

Aeschylus was born in 525 BC in the Attic city of Eleusis. The first youthful period of his work lasted until 484 BC. It was then that he won his first victory. Unfortunately, the tragedies of this period have not survived. However, already at this time his own tragic style could be traced in Aeschylus’s work:

  • A second actor was introduced to the first actor, which was supposed to help introduce the action. In the earliest tragedies of Aeschylus that have survived, the role of the second actor is insignificant and most scenes can be played with the participation of one.
  • Aeschylus adopted two dramatic forms that had previously been at odds with each other: the serious Attic drama and the playful Peloponnesian satiricon. He introduced a tragic tetralogy, which included three serious dramas and one satirical one, in the form of a conclusion.
  • “Homer” was included in the tragedy, that is, the entire ancient heroic epic, the creator of which Homer was considered.

Begins from 484 BC new period works of Aeschylus. He becomes the king of the Attic stage, on which he has no equal. Of the works of this period, “The Persians” and “The Petitioners” have come down to us. The first tells about the defeat of the Persians at Salamis and the disastrous retreat of their troops to Asia. The second plot is quite mythological: the arrival of Danae and her daughters in Argos and the protection shown to them by the Argives against them cousins, sons of Egypt, brother of Danaus. The composition of these tragedies itself is simple and strict. There is no prologue, the action begins with the introduction of the choir, which “speaks” about the purpose of its appearance. After this, the choir sings a lyrical song, which expresses his anxious feelings about the expected events. There are few characters: in the first tragedy - Queen Atossa, a messenger from the Persian army, the shadow of the late Darius, and in conclusion Xerxes himself. In the second - Danaus, the Argive king Pelasgus and the envoy of the sons of Egypt. They appear on stage one at a time, rarely two. Their conversations are long speeches followed by poetry. In this case, the interlocutors alternate, pronouncing one verse at a time.

This period in the poet’s life was quite stormy. In the life of Athens, this was precisely the period of the Battles of Salamis and Plataea, in which Aeschylus took a direct part. His fame as a poet began to spread everywhere.

Later in the tragedy, a prologue appears, which precedes the entry of the chorus, and the volume of dialogue also increases.

Apparently, at the same time the Prometheus trilogy was staged, of which only the second tragedy has reached us: “Chained Prometheus.” The perspicacious titan, knowing that only in man can Zeus find a savior from the destruction that threatens his kingdom, wants to raise the human race and for this purpose gives him ethereal fire. He kidnapped him from the heavenly heights. Zeus saw this abduction as a violation of the world treaty. As punishment, he chained Prometheus to the rocks of the Caucasus. Prometheus endures all the torment and does not reveal his secret prematurely, knowing that over time Zeus will appreciate his service. This is the only divine tragedy that has come down to us from antiquity.

The last trilogy of Aeschylus to survive in its entirety was his Oresteia. It included “Agamemnon”, “Choephori” and “Eumenides”. These tragedies have an advantage over Prometheus, because in the arena it is not a divine, but a human environment.

Aeschylus, soon after his “Oresteia,” left Athens; he went to Sicily for the third time, where he died in 456 BC in the city of Gela. There are 90 tragedies left from him. The heroes of his trilogies were Achilles, Ayant, Odysseus, Memnon, Adrastus, Perseus, etc.

Aeschylus (525 BC - 456 BC) - the first great Greek tragedian to receive global recognition. It was he who gave Greek tragedy magnificence and a monumental-pathetic style and rightfully earned the name “father of tragedy” back in ancient times. The images he created entered art as an integral part of it.

Biographical information about Aeschylus is not very extensive. He was born in 525 BC. in Eleusis and came from an ancient aristocratic family. He took part in all the most important battles Greco-Persian wars (Marathon - 490 BC, Salamis - 480 BC, Plataea - 479 BC), and put his merits as a citizen and warrior above victories in dramatic competitions, although nothing is known about his participation in state or political life. In 470 - 60s. BC. he was the most popular poet in Athens. Around 472 BC Aeschylus was forced to leave for Sicily, where he lived at the court of the tyrant Hieron. There, at the court in Syracuse, his tragedy "The Persians" was staged. As the reason for this exile, sources put forward either his failure in a poetic competition with the young Sophocles, or the disclosure of the secrets of the Eleusinian Mysteries. Aeschylus died after his second arrival in Sicily, in Gela in 495 BC.

Aeschylus wrote 70 tragedies and 20 satyr dramas, but only 7 tragedies written in the last two decades of his life have come down to us: “The Petitioners” (“The Pleaders”), “The Persians”, “Seven Against Thebes”, “Prometheus Bound” and the trilogy "Oresteia", consisting of the tragedies "Agamemnon", "Choephora" and "Eumenides" (the satirical drama "Proteus" has not survived to this day) and more than 400 fragments. Aeschylus's first performance as a playwright dates back to 500 BC. In 484 BC. he achieved his first victory. The tragedies of this early period have not survived. After this, Aeschylus, according to some sources, won the competition 13 times, and according to others - 28. In 468 BC. Sophocles defeated him, but at the end of his life in 458, Aeschylus with the tetralogy “Oresteia” took 1st place. The tragedies of Echilus were resumed even after his death.

Aristotle reports that Aeschylus introduced a second actor onto the stage. He is also credited with introducing luxurious costumes, masks and buskins. Aeschylus wrote coherent trilogies, dedicated either to one plot or to different, but somehow related plots. Each such trilogy ended with a satyr drama, i.e. a drama with the participation of satyrs, interpreting some myth in a very funny way.

From 484 BC to 470 BC is considered the second period of Aeschylus's work. From it two tragedies have come down to us: “The Suppliants” (“Petitioners”) and “The Persians.” The tragedy of "The Petitioner" (mid 490 - 460 BC) is based on an ancient myth about the 50 daughters of Danaus, who are fleeing the persecution of 50 of their cousins, the sons of Egypt (Danaus' brother). This myth serves Aeschylus to affirm barbaric humanity in contrast to barbaric despotism. The tragedy "The Persians" (472 BC) was part of a tetralogy that has not reached us and was dedicated to a real event: the defeat of the Persian fleet at Salamis. This period of Aeschylus's work ends his second journey to Sicily.

The final period of Aeschylus's work begins in 468 BC. e., when he performed on the Athenian stage in a competition against his student Sophocles, who was 30 years younger than his teacher and rival. Sophocles staged the tragedy Triptolemus, Aeschylus staged a trilogy unknown to us. The tragedy of Sophocles delighted the audience; nevertheless, the judges for a long time did not dare to vote against the panhellenic glory of Aeschylus. The archon who led the performance suggested that the then famous commander Cimon and his comrades resolve the dispute, and then they awarded the victory to Sophocles.

In 467 BC. Aeschylus staged his Theban trilogy (Laius, Oedipus, Seven against Thebes and the satyr drama Sphinx), of which only the last tragedy, Seven against Thebes, has survived, in which Aeschylus, following Sophocles, introduces a third actor. The tetralogy was based on the plot of the myth of Oedipus. The central place in the tragedy that has come down to us is occupied by a scene consisting of seven pairs of dialogues between the Scout and Eteocles. The scout reports that seven generals are approaching the seven gates of the city of Thebes. Eteocles assigns a worthy opponent to each general.

Most famous work Aeschylus is "Chained Prometheus". Nothing is known about the time of its writing and production. It is possible that the tragedy was also part of the trilogy along with the tragedies “Prometheus Unbound”, “Prometheus the Fire-Bearer” and some other satyr drama unknown to us. Among scientists there is an opinion that the tragedy “Prometheus the Fire-Bearer” occupied the first place in the tetralogy. This opinion is based on the assumption that the content of the tragedy was the bringing of fire to people. However, the name "Firebearer" rather has cult meaning, therefore, refers to the establishment of the cult of Prometheus in Attica and forms the final part. This tetralogy was apparently staged around 469 BC, since we find responses to it in the surviving fragments of Sophocles' tragedy Triptolemus, dating back to 468 BC. The plot of "Prometheus" is taken from ancient myth, in which, as can be seen from the cult of Prometheus in Attica, he was represented as the god of fire. The first mention of the myth about him is contained in the poems of Hesiod. In them he is simply portrayed as a cunning man who deceived Zeus during the first sacrifice and stole fire from the sky, for which he is punished. A later version attributes to him the creation of people from clay figures into which he breathed life. The main content of this tragedy is the clash of the power of the tyrant, the bearer of which is represented by Zeus himself, with the fighter and sufferer for the salvation and good of humanity - Prometheus.

The Oresteia trilogy (458 BC) is the most mature of Aeschylus' works. It consists of three parts: "Agamemnon", "Choephora" and "Eumenides"; they were followed by the satyr drama Proteus, which has not reached us. The main idea of ​​this work is the moment of personal determination, a person’s own responsibility for his behavior. The plot of these works is taken from poems Trojan cycle, namely, the legend of the death of King Agamemnon. The first tragedy is based on the myth of Agamemnon’s return from Troy and his death.

The second tragedy of this trilogy is called "Choephori", which means "women carrying funeral libations." Clytemnestra instructed these women to perform funeral rites at the grave of Agamemnon. The action takes place ten years after the previous tragedy. In it, Orestes, avenging the death of his father, kills his mother Clytemnestra and her lover Aegisthus. The continuation of this tragedy is the Eumenides. Orestes, driven by the Erinyes, runs to Delphi to the temple of Apollo. Following him there are the Erinyes, who form the chorus in this tragedy. Apollo tells Orestes to go to Athens and there seek justification before the goddess Athena. The action moves to Athens, to the Acropolis. Athena arranges a special court for the trial of Orestes - the Areopagus - and opens the trial. She herself votes for his acquittal and Orestes is acquitted.

Legend has it that Aeschylus died when an eagle dropped either a turtle on his head, mistaking Aeschylus' bald head for a stone, or a stone, mistaking his bald head for an egg.

Bibliography

Tragedies

Suppliers (Petitioners) (mid 490 – 460 BC)
Persians (472 BC)

Seven against Thebes (467 BC)

Film adaptations of works, theatrical performances

Chained Prometheus (Greece, 1929) b. D. Gaziadis
The Persians (Les Perses; The Persians; France, 1961) b. Jean Pra
Agamemnon (Agamemnon; Belgium, 1973) b. Lode Hendricks


(525 BC - 456 BC)


Biography

Aeschylus, the ancient Greek poet-playwright, son of Europhorion, lived in an era of historical changes in his homeland. In society, the antagonism between the liberated people and the reactionary forces of the landowning nobility, as well as sharp differences and clashes within the democratic mass itself, was especially acutely felt. By origin, Aeschylus belonged to an aristocratic family, the Eupatrides, but with his views and sympathies he was on the side of everything new, progressive, which was embodied for him in Athenian democracy.

When Aeschylus was sixteen years old, the Pisistratids, the sons of the tyrant who seized power in the city, were overthrown in Athens. Two years later, Cleisthenes' revolutionary measures were carried out, directed against the aristocratic elite. The struggle did not stop and did not subside. 3a five years before the death of Aeschylus, the rights of the highest court - the Areopagus - were abolished. Peasants, artisans, shipbuilders, and merchants sought to establish their status. Having become the main leading force in Athens, they had to protect the city from both internal and external opponents - oligarchic Sparta, Boeotia, Aegina.

Aeschylus tried to establish democratic principles in his work. and when the threat of captivity loomed over his homeland, he bravely defended his homeland with a spear in his hand. Aeschylus took part in the Persian wars, fighting at Marathon and Plataea. Defense of the fatherland was considered for him the most important feat and purpose of his life. This is proven by the epitaph, which was probably written by Aeschylus himself, since in the tombstone he noted as his main quality only the valor of a fighter, without mentioning his creativity. If this epitaph had been written by someone else, a lot would have been said about the work of the great tragedian. One way or another, but the fight Greek people for their freedom and independence and formed the basis of the writer’s worldview.

Aeschylus wrote 70 tragedies and 20 satirical dramas, of which we know 79 titles. 7 tragedies have been preserved in their entirety, as well as about 400 excerpts. Aeschylus took the plots from Homer and from the epic cycle. The oldest known tragedy by Aeschylus is the tragedy "Persai" (Persai: 472), which is the second part of the trilogy. The first part was the tragedy of Fineus, the third was Glaucus Pontieus; they were followed by the satirical drama Prometeus Pyrkaeus.

In ancient Greece, competitions in writing and staging tragedies were popular. Aeschylus performed for the first time in such a competition in Athens during the 70th Olympiad (499-496 BC) together with Horil and Pratin; in 484 he won his first stage victory; and in 472 he received the first award for the trilogy that included the Persians.

In 471-469. Aeschylus made his first journey to Sicily, to the court of the tyrant of Syracuse, Hieron I, where he wrote a play in honor of the newly founded Doric colony of Etna - "Etna" or "Etneans" (Aitnai or Aitnaiai) and re-staged "The Persians". Upon returning to Athens, he competed in a tragedy competition in 468 with Sophocles, who made his debut there, and defeated him. But in 467, the tragedy of Aeschylus won again. In total, he won 13 lifetime victories and 15 posthumous ones. After 458, Aeschylus left for Sicily for the second time, where he died in Gela.

In his tragedies, Aeschylus tried to reconcile traditional Greek mythological ethics with new morality, the religious worldview with the civil one. He tried to comprehend the mystery of human destiny and deeds, believing that providence guides human aspirations and that even the gods cannot resist fate. A person intoxicated with too much power and wealth easily succumbs to a sense of superiority, which pushes him to crime. Punishment for an offense falls on the culprit and his entire family. Aeschylus made man responsible for his own actions. The only school of life, according to Aeschylus, is suffering, which teaches a person “moderation.”

Majesty is the main feature of Aeschylus's dramaturgy. His heroes are also majestic. They are overwhelmed strong passions, courageous, have unbending strength will that leads them to the goal (Eteocles, Prometheus, Clytemnestra, etc.)

Aeschylus's style and language are consistent with the content. They are characterized by sublimity and pathos, but the language of ordinary people appearing in his tragedies is ordinary and understandable.

Aeschylus achieved recognition among both his contemporaries and descendants. He was and remains a famous and great poet, tragedian, Titan in literature. The strongest influence of Aeschylus was observed during the Romantic period. English poets(Byron, Shelley, Keats) created their own idea of ​​such a phenomenon as “Prometheism”. The tragedies of Aeschylus are still on the stages of many theaters around the world.

Biography



AESCHYLOS (Aischylos) (525 -- 456 BC), the oldest of the three great Greek tragedians (E., Sophocles, Euripides). Born in Eleusis; during the Greco-Persian Wars he took part in the battles of Marathon, Salamis and Plataea. At the invitation of the Syracusan tyrant, Hierona visited Sicily twice. At the end of his life, after a clash with the citizens of Athens, caused by the extreme conservatism of his beliefs (see below), he finally moved to Sicily and lived in voluntary exile in the city of Gela until his death.

By origin, E. was an aristocrat landowner. His life coincided with a time of intensified class struggle in Athens, when the landowning aristocracy at the head of the state was forced to cede the primary role to the trading and monetary aristocracy, and the urban demos of Athens emerged as the dominant peasantry of Attica. shopping center. An exponent of traditional aristocratic ideology, E. at the same time reflected in his work the contemporary religious and ethical fermentation among the masses (the religion of Dionysus, Orphism).

The significance of E. for Greek tragedy is enormous. Engels calls him “the father of tragedy” [Archive of Marx and Engels, volume I (VI), Moscow, 1932, p. 318]. The pre-Aeschylean tragedy was essentially a lyric-epic cantata. The action took place behind the scenes. The messages of the only actor were intended to motivate the change of mood and lyrical outpourings of the choir, which played the central role. Aeschylus's dramatic innovation was the introduction of a second actor, which led to the direct display on stage of the actions of the heroes and their conflicts and the strengthening of the dialogical moment in the structure of the tragedy. However, the increase in value dramatic action and dialogue in E.’s work occurred slowly. Only in his later dramas did action and individual characteristics begin to play a significant role (researchers see here the influence of the young Sophocles, from whom E. also borrowed the technical innovation of the third actor).

E. usually drew his plots from various mythological cycles, developing them in three successive tragedies - the “trilogical” principle - followed by a drama of satyrs - a grotesque on a theme related to the same cycle of myths. E. began his work as a playwright (who in this era was also a director and actor) around 500 BC. e. Of the plays he wrote, according to an ancient report, 90 plays are known by the title of 79.

7 tragedies have survived. When considering them in chronological order, the enormous evolution that took place in E.'s creative method and gradually led him to the creation of a genuine tragedy of action and characters becomes obvious. The earliest play, “The Petitioners,” is the first part of a trilogy (followed by “Egyptians” and “Danaids”), dedicated to the myth of the daughters of Danaus, who flee to Argos, asking for refuge and protection from a forced marriage. Next in time historical tragedy"The Persians" (472) was part of a trilogy that was not united by a unified plot. The tragedy, which deals with the victory of the Greeks over the Persians at Salamis and the flight of King Xerxes, represents a panegyric to free Athens, put into the mouth of the Persians. In both of these tragedies there is still no action and individual characteristics and choral parts predominate.

The next tragedy, “Seven Against Thebes,” was part of the Theban tetralogy (preceded by “Laius” and “Oedipus”, followed by the satyr drama “Sphinx”). In it, E., defeated by the young Sophocles a year before, introduces a third actor for the first time. Here E. takes the first step towards the transition from the tragedy of fate to the tragedy of characters. The character of Eteocles, who rejects the help of the gods, challenges inexorable fate and dies in a duel with his brother, who brought a foreign army against his native Thebes, is especially vividly given. Next comes Prometheus Bound, one of the most remarkable works of all literature. ancient Greece. In it, E. gives a titanic image of the man-lover Prometheus (q.v.), who rebelled against the gods and was chained to a rock by order of Zeus. In "Bound Prometheus" we are dealing with new trends in religion that arose in democratic commercial and industrial Athens.

These ideas were essentially unacceptable to E. as a representative of the landowning aristocracy; in the trilogy, “Bound Prometheus” was followed by the tragedy “Prometheus Unbound”, in which Prometheus reconciled with Zeus (the third tragedy “Prometheus the Fire-Bearer” was either the initial or final link of the trilogy). The last of the surviving works of E. "Oresteia" (staged in 458) is the only trilogy that has come down to us in its entirety. It includes the tragedies: "Agamemnon", "Choephori" (women bringing libations to the grave of Agamemnon) and "Eumenides". The plot of this trilogy is the myth of the murder of Agamemnon, who returned to Argos after the fall of Troy, by his wife Clytemnestra and her lover Aegisthus ("Agamemnon"), of revenge for the father of Orestes, who killed his mother Clytemnestra and Aegisthus ("Choephors"), of the trial of Orestes, persecuted by the goddesses of vengeance Erinnia, and his justification (“Eumenides”).

"The Oresteia" is one of the greatest works of world literature, in which E.'s creativity reaches the highest point of its development. Central images the trilogies are depicted with the extraordinary power of powerful talent; All her scenes are full of exciting action. The chorus fades into the background: it only comments on the events unfolding on stage and enhances the moods they create. Engels (presenting Bachofen) sees in the Oresteia a dramatic depiction of the struggle between the dying maternal right and the victorious paternal right emerging in the heroic era. “Paternal right has triumphed over maternal right, the “gods of the younger generation,” as the Erinnyes themselves call them, defeat the Erinnyes, and the latter, in the end, allow themselves to be persuaded to take a new post in the service of the new order of things” (Engels F., Origin family, private property and the state, Preface, 2nd ed., M., 1932, p. 11).

Erinnyes cease to be avenger goddesses and become Eumenides - merciful goddesses. This is a kind of compromise between the old patriarchal religion of the aristocracy and new religion and ethics, a compromise made under the influence of new democratic ideas. In the Oresteia, Aeschylus, however, defends the aristocratic institution - the Areopagus. This brought him into conflict with the Athenian demos, which at that time was preparing to greatly narrow the functions of this institution.

Marx, according to Lafargue’s memoirs, ranks E. among the greatest dramatic geniuses that humanity has produced (“K. Marx, thinker, man, revolutionary,” M. - L., 1926, p. 107). The severity of the ethical conflicts first shown in E.'s tragedies, brought forward by the contradictions in the life of his contemporary society, the elemental power of his figures, majestic in their immobility, the rich courage and imagery of the language, which becomes a tool for expressing new problems, place E. among the most prominent playwrights of world literature. But at the same time, E.’s aristocratic conservatism, his religious traditionalism, and his penchant for depicting the miraculous seemed archaic already at the end of the 5th century. This impression was also contributed by the severity and immobility of E.’s images, the low dynamism of his dramatic construction and the solemn “dithyrambic” style.

Already in the Hellenistic era, E. was almost not read and studied little, which explains the small number of quotations from his tragedies that have come down to us from ancient writers. In the 2nd century. hr. e. a selection was made from the surviving works of E.; The 7 tragedies that have come down to us were, in all likelihood, included in this sample.

The best edition of the text is U. Wilamowitz-Moellendorff (Aeschyli tragoediae, V., 1914).

Other publications:

W. Dindorf (Oxford, 1841 -- 51), Kirclihoff (W., 1880), H. Weil (Lpz., 1884, 1907). Wecklein-yitelli (V., 1885 -- 93), P. Mazon (2 vis, P., 1925); Dictionary to E.: Lexicon Aeschyleum, ed. W. Dindorf (Lpz., 1873), with addition L. Schmidt, Supplementum ad Lexicon Aeschyleum, Greiffenberg, 1875. Excerpts: Tragicomm graecorum fragmenta, rec. A. Nauck, 2 ed., Leipzig, 1889. Cf. also: Reitzenstein R., Index lectionum, Rostock, 1890 - 93; Der Anfang des Lexikons des Photios, Lpz., 1907.

Rus. translations:

- “Prayers”, N. Kotepova (“Pantheon of Literature”, St. Petersburg, 1894, No. 2),
- “Persians”, V. A. Appelrot (M., 1888),
- “Seven against Thebes”, his own (M., 1887),
- “Prometheus”, D. S. Merezhkovsky (St. Petersburg, 1902), S. Solovyov and V. Nylender (M. - L., 1927),
- “Oresteya”, P. Kotelova (St. Petersburg, 1883),
- “Agamemnon”, Radzig (M., 1913),
- "Bound Prometheus", intro. article, ed. and approx. A. Deycha, M., 1931.

Literature.:

Westphal R., Prolegomena zu Aeschylus" Tragodien, Lpz., 1869;
- Patin M., etudes sur les tragi-ques grecs, P., 1870;
- Weil H., Etudes sur le drame antique, P., 1897;
- Wilamowitz-Moellendorff U., Aischylos (Interpretationen), V., 1914;
- also, Griechische Tragodien. B. II, 10 Aufl., V., 1925;
- Pоrzig W.. Aischylos, die attische Tragodie, Lpz., 1926;
- Snell V., Aischylos und das Handeln im Drama, Lpz., 1928;
- Zleilnski Th., Tragoedumenon libri tres, Cracoyiae, 1925;
- Pohlenz M., Die griechische Tragodie, B. I - II, Lpz., 1930;
- Howald E., Die griechische Tragodie, Mimchen, 1930;
- Zelinsky F.F., Aeschylus, P., 1919:
- Him. The idea of ​​moral justification, its origin and development, in the book: From the life of ideas, vol. I, 3rd ed., P., 1916;
- Annensky P., Artistic treatment of the myth of Orestes, the murderer of his mother, in the tragedies of Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides, "Journal of the Ministry of Public Education", St. Petersburg, 1900, book. 7 and 8;
- Kogan P. S., Essays on the history of ancient literatures, vol. I - Greek literature, 5th ed., M., 1923;
- Engels F., The origin of the family, private property and the state, 2nd ed., M., 1932 [see. Preface to the fourth (German) edition 1891].

Nikolay Kun

Source: Bolshaya Soviet encyclopedia. Volume sixty-four. M.: GSEI "Soviet Encyclopedia", 1934. Pp. 724 -727. OCR: V. Esaulov, December, 2008.

en.wikipedia.org

Biography



Basic information

His homeland was the Attic city of Eleusis, famous for its ancient sacraments, established, according to legend, by the goddess Demeter herself. In these sacraments, under the transparent symbol of the rebirth of grain immersed in the ground, profound ideas were held about the upcoming resurrection of a person buried in the ground, about his afterlife, about rewards for the good and punishment for the evil. They gave direction to the mind of young E., forcing him to think about the meaning of life, the relationship of the human will to deity and fate, to the causes and conditions of moral decline and moral justification.

Aeschylus’s dependence on the cult of the Eleusinian Demeter did not escape his contemporaries: Aristophanes in his “Frogs” (under this title hides a dramatized competition between E. and Euripides, ending in the victory of the former) puts the following prayer into his mouth: “Demeter, who raised my soul, give I must prove worthy of your sacraments.” But if the direction of Aeschylus’ creativity was determined by his birth in Eleusis, then he owed his arena to Athens; thanks to them, he became not a singer of liturgical hymns and cantatas, but a tragic poet.

In Athens, for a long time, there was a cult of Dionysus, the god not so much of wine, but of that special “Bacchanalian” ecstasy, which the Greeks first became acquainted with through wine and which struck their impressionable and thoughtful mind as the second (after sleep) and even more obvious proof of isolation human soul and her ability to perform, to “frenzy” (Greek ek-stasis) from the framework of individual, bodily life. That is why, since ancient times, at the festivals of Dionysus, ecstatic poems, the so-called dithyrambs, poems of visions and elevated feelings, have been performed; their technical feature was the independent role of the luminary, who inserted passages of an epic nature and size into the lyrical song of the choir, so that the lyrics alternated with the epic, affects with visions, while due to the general ecstatic mood, all performers felt their souls transferred to other bodies and spoke and acted like the heroes of those visions that occupied their imagination at that moment.

This is the germ of tragedy; its development before E. consisted of: - the introduction of an actor separated from the choir, who appeared in one or another role and entered into a conversation with the luminary, as a result of which a dramatic dialogue could arise, along with the epic parts of the luminary in the original dithyramb (his introduction was attributed to Thespis, the poet of the era of Pisistratus, who was therefore considered the founder of tragedy), and - in joining this primitive, purely Attic drama, the so-called “satirical drama” introduced from the Peloponnese; it was the same dithyramb, in which, however, the chorus consisted of goat-like forest demons, the so-called satyrs, and the actor acted as their father, the nurse of the baby Dionysus, Silenus. It was thus a real “song of the goats,” tragodia (from tragos “goat” and ode “song”); It was only over time that the word tragodia (Latin trag?dia, tragedy) was transferred from this satirical drama to the serious tragedy performed on the same stage.

Youth

The era of E.'s youth was a time of fierce struggle between this Peloponnesian tragedy and the primordial Attic dithyramb: the head of the Attic direction was the immediate predecessor of Aeschylus, the Athenian Phrynic, the head of the Peloponnesian was Pratinus from Phlius in the Peloponnese. Aeschylus was still a youth when an event occurred that should, as it seemed, give an advantage to the Peloponnesian direction, but which led, quite unexpectedly, to the triumph of the Attic one. This event was the expulsion of the Pisistratids in 510 BC. e. It took place under the pressure of Delphi and thanks to the intervention of Sparta, but the victors took too much advantage of the fruits of their victory and thereby caused a reaction, which resulted in the expulsion of the Spartans from Athens and the reforms of Cleisthenes. In connection with these reforms there was, undoubtedly, the one that took place in 508 BC. e. replacement of traveling choirs at the festivals of Dionysus with choirs of citizens (see Chorus). From about the same time, E.'s poetic activity began: according to his biographers, he began to write tragedies in his youth.

The first youthful period of his work lasted until 484, when he won his first victory; the tragedies of this period have not survived; Apparently, this was the time when E. slowly developed his own tragic style. In this regard, three points deserve attention: - the introduction of a second actor in addition to the first one, which was introduced by Thespis. It does not follow from this that E. was the inventor of tragic dialogue (possible with one actor, since his interlocutor could be a luminary), but there is no doubt that this innovation should have contributed to the development of the action, since only it made it possible to bring two people onto the stage simultaneously characters from the presented plot. However, this development took place very slowly: in the earliest surviving tragedies of E., belonging to the next period, the role of the second actor is quite insignificant and whole line scenes can be played with the participation of one; - reconciliation of the Attic element with the Peloponnesian (Doric). The dramatic forms that were at war with each other - the serious Attic drama and the playful Peloponnesian satiricon - were both accepted by E. into the tragic tetralogy he introduced, which included three serious dramas (trilogy) and one satirical one, in the form of a conclusion; the special name of this latter, tragodia (see above), was also extended to the former, and then remained specifically for them. Sometimes the entire tetralogy was united by the unity of the plot; Thus, the Theban tetralogy included three tragedies, “Laius”, “Oedipus” and “Seven Leaders”, which depicted in three successive stages the origin and flowering of the tragic guilt that destroyed the Theban Labdacid dynasty, and as a final satirical drama the poet added a play entitled "Sphinx", the content of which was the deliverance of Thebes by Oedipus from the monster that was rampaging there. Sometimes only a specially tragic trilogy was united by the unity of the plot, while the satirical drama stood apart. Sometimes, finally, a trilogy consists of three tragedies that are separate in content; This is the trilogy to which the “Persians” that have survived to us belonged: “Phinaeus”, “Persians” and “Glaucus of Potnia” (the middle one is historical, both extremes are of mythological content). In these latter cases, critics assumed an ideological unity different from the material one, but it is especially difficult to prove this assumption in view of the fact that the case concerns trilogies, from which at best one play has survived to us. The trilogical composition of Aeschylus was a very important step forward in the development of tragedy as drama: it gave the poet the space he needed to trace the growth and completion of the tragic idea, and thereby prepared the concentrated tragedy-drama of Sophocles, the laws of which in all important things are laws our tragedy. The reconciliation of the Attic and Doric elements did not consist only in tetralogical composition. The dispute between both was largely musical; Phrynichus was an adherent of free and imitative Ionian music - E. also introduced the strict harmonies of Doric lyric poetry into his tragedy. Without possessing the music of E. (who was the creator of not only the specifically poetic, but also the musical and orchestic part of his tragedies), we cannot appreciate in its entirety the significance of this innovation; one can judge it only by the size of the choir songs, and even then more or less guesswork. - The third innovation was the introduction of “Homer” into the tragedy, that is, the entire ancient heroic epic, the creator of which in the era of Aeschylus was considered Homer. In this epic, the ancient tales of the Hellenes received their first poetic decoration. The second most recent decoration was given to them by the lyric poetry of the 6th century. before. n. BC: having Delphi as its center, it naturally modified ancient myths, adapting them to the spirit of not only Delphic ethics, but also Delphic politics. Pisistratus, the first proponent of the idea of ​​Athenian hegemony, rebelled against this tendentious character of Delphic poetry: in the absence of his own, Athenian poetry, he opposed Homer to Delphi, the study of which he cared a lot about in Athens. E. was a continuator of the ideas of Pisistratus: by infusing the Homeric epic into his tragedy and modifying its myths in the spirit of Athenian citizenship, he emancipated his homeland from the spiritual influence of Delphi. And that he consciously chose the Homeric epic as the source of his poetry is evidenced by his famous saying, in which he modestly calls his tragedies “dishes from Homer’s table.” These fundamental innovations should have taken place even in the first, preparatory period of the poetic activity of E. For Athens, this was a very turbulent period; To the internal turmoil associated with the reorganization of the Athenian community by Cleisthenes, there was added the danger of war with Darius. The suppression of the Ionian uprising was a harbinger of the invasion of Athens by the Persian army; it took place, after much preparation, in 490 BC. e., but was successfully repulsed by the Athenians near Marathon. E. was then in his prime; he himself was among the “marathon fighters,” and the memory of his participation in this glorious battle was his pride throughout his life; he is mentioned in a funeral epigram composed (by tradition) by himself, which is completely silent about his poetic meaning.

Second period of creativity

In 484, a new period of Aeschylus’ creativity begins: we see him as the king of the Attic stage, on which he finds no equal. This period lasts until approximately 470 BC. e.; Two tragedies have come down to us from it - “The Persians” and “The Petitioners”. The first has content historical event- the defeat of the Persians at Salamis and the disastrous retreat of their troops to Asia; the second is a mythological plot, the arrival of Danaus and his daughters in Argos and the protection given to them by the Argives against their cousins, the sons of Egypt, brother Danaus. The composition of these tragedies - our earliest examples of tragic poetry - is striking in its severity and simplicity. There is no prologue; the action begins with the entry of the choir (consisting in the first tragedy of elderly members of the royal council, in the second - of the daughters of Danaus), who first speaks in an anapestic monologue about the purpose of his appearance, then, in a lyrical song, gives in to anxious feelings about the expected events. There are few characters: in the first tragedy - Queen Atossa, a messenger from the Persian army, the shadow of the late Darius, and in conclusion Xerxes himself; in the second - Danaus, the Argive king Pelasgus and the envoy of the sons of Egypt. They appear on stage one at a time, rarely two; their conversations (mostly with the choir) consist of rather long speeches, followed by also long, so-called stichomythia, in which the interlocutors alternate, pronouncing one verse at a time: neither violation of this order nor the beginning or end of speech in the middle of a verse is allowed . The action is very poorly developed: in “The Persians” only mystical rituals can be called this way, through which Queen Atossa summons the shadow of her deceased husband from the underworld, in “The Petitioners” - comparatively lively scene, in which a messenger from the sons of Egypt tries to force the Danaids to follow him. There are no individual characteristics yet. Atossa is just a queen-mother, Danaus is just an exiled father, Darius and Pelasgus are kings. Interest is attracted especially by choral singing, which occupies first place both in content and in decoration; especially good in “Persians” - a funeral song for fallen soldiers, in “The Petitioners” - a song of gratitude to the Danaids for the hospitality shown to them, both filled with high humanity and nobility. Both plays were parts of trilogies, but only “The Petitioners” were united with the following plays by the unity of the plot. They told how the Egyptiads went to war against Argos, how after the death of Pelasgus Danaus was elected king and, putting royal feelings above fatherly feelings, agreed to give his daughters to the hated Egyptiads, but ordered them to wedding night kill their spouses (2nd play, “Builders of Chambers”). All the daughters carried out their father’s orders, except one, Hypermnestra; Danae presides over the trial of the disobedient woman, but she is acquitted after Aphrodite herself, defending the accused, in a lengthy speech (which has been preserved) declared the sanctity of the rights of love (third play, “Danaides”).

In the poet's life, this period was no less stormy than the previous one. Suffice it to say that it was foreign policy Athens was the period of the Salamis and Plataea battles (E. took part in both) and the founding of the Attic power, and in the interior - the period of the rise of the Areopagus, who led Athenian politics during the alarming time of enemy invasion. E. was noble birth; it is more than probable that he himself was a member of this aristocratic college; it is clear that the then policy of Athens enjoyed his full sympathy. At the same time, his fame as a poet began to spread everywhere; it also penetrated into the western center of the Greek world, Syracuse, which shortly before and at the same time as Athens just as heroically withstood the attack of a much more powerful enemy - the Carthaginians. Their wise and active king Hiero in 476 BC. e. founded a city with the same name as the mountain at the foot of Etna and invited Aeschylus to take part in the festival given for this occasion; for him E. wrote a (now lost) tragedy entitled “The Ethnean Women.” After 472 BC e. E. was in Syracuse for the second time to stage his “Persians” there: the worries of the Carthaginian invasion made this play quite understandable and appropriate there.

The final period of creativity

The second journey to Sicily completes the second period of Aeschylus' activity; upon his return to Athens, he found a mature and independent man, in whom until then he had only seen his student - Sophocles. In 468 BC. e. both poets performed simultaneously on the Athens stage. Sophocles, who was 30 years younger than his teacher and rival, staged his Triptolemus, Aeschylus staged a trilogy unknown to us. The tragedy of Sophocles delighted the audience; nevertheless, the judges for a long time did not dare to vote against the panhellenic glory of Aeschylus. The archon who led the performance suggested that the then famous commander Cimon and his comrades resolve the dispute; the victory was awarded to Sophocles. Since then, both of them have jointly owned the Athens stage; that their relationship with each other has not deteriorated is clear from some hints in the already mentioned “Frogs” of Aristophanes. The success of Triptolemus was partly a consequence of Sophocles increasing the number of his actors to three; it is clear how much the liveliness of dialogue and action should have benefited from this. Aeschylus hastened to take advantage of this idea of ​​his young rival; in 467 BC e. he staged his Theban trilogy, of which only the last tragedy, “Seven Leaders,” has survived, with the participation of three actors. But in another respect, this trilogy - more precisely, a tragedy, since only we can judge about it - was a progress in comparison with the tragedies of the second period: for the first time, instead of a typical characteristic, we encounter an individual one, and, moreover, a very bold and powerful one. The hero of the tragedy is Eteocles, one of the two rejected sons of Oedipus. He expelled his brother Polyneices from Thebes; he has recruited an army and allies (these are seven leaders) and with their help wants to forcibly conquer his homeland. The father's curse begins to come true. Eteocles is aware of this; but he is too brave and proud to retreat. Being generally an active and intelligent king, he gloomily rejects the help of the gods, to whom the frightened wives and daughters of his subjects turn; Instead of taking precautions, he boldly causes fate, before which the rest tremble, personally opposes his brother and dies in a duel with him. The Athenians liked E.’s majestic plan; he was awarded the victory. There has also been progress in technology: the tragedy begins with a prologue preceding the entry of the chorus, the parts of the latter have been significantly reduced and, due to them, the volume of dialogue has been increased.

Prometheus

Around the same time, the Prometheus trilogy was apparently staged, of which only the second (according to Westphal, the first) tragedy has been preserved: “Chained Prometheus.” The perspicacious titan, knowing that only in man can Zeus find a savior from the destruction that threatens his kingdom, wants to raise the human race and for this purpose gives him ethereal fire, abducting him from heavenly heights; Zeus, seeing in this abduction a violation of the universal treaty and not knowing the decisions of fate, chains him to the rocks of the Caucasus as punishment; Prometheus endures all the torment and does not reveal his secret prematurely, knowing that over time Zeus will appreciate his service. This is the only divine tragedy that has been preserved for us from antiquity: in the grandeur of its concept it surpasses all other tragedies of our poet and has greatly interested thinkers and poets new Europe. Not everything in it, however, is clear to us - mainly because its continuation, “Prometheus Unbound,” which contained the solution to the riddles, has not reached us.

Oresteia

The last trilogy of Aeschylus that we know about (458 BC) was his “Oresteia” - consisting of three tragedies: “Agamemnon”, “Choephora” (libation bearers) and “Eumenides”. The content of this trilogy is the fate of the Atrid family: Agamemnon and his son Orestes. Before the Trojan campaign, Agamemnon went to the court of Athena. Pursued by the Eumenides, Orestes flees to Athens: the goddess herself establishes a court - the later Areopagus, who acquits Orestes; The trilogy ends with the propitiation of the offended Eumenides. In terms of their drama, the tragedies of this trilogy are the most perfect of all the works of Aeschylus. In their profundity they compete with Prometheus, but they have the advantage over it that in the arena it is not a divine, but a human environment. The trilogy and especially its last tragedy are not without a certain political tendency: by exalting the Areopagus as the moral foundation of Athenian citizenship, Aeschylus undoubtedly had in mind to protect this college, which he liked, from the attacks to which it had recently been subjected by Ephialtes and Pericles.

It is very possible that it was these attacks that poisoned Aeschylus’s stay in Athens; Aristophanes himself testifies that Aeschylus “did not get along with the Athenians” in the last part of his life. We are even told that Aeschylus was accused of impiety - namely, that in one of his tragedies he brought to light the mysteries of the Eleusinian Demeter.

Be that as it may, Aeschylus, soon after his “Oresteia,” left Athens, went to Sicily for the third time, and in 456 BC. e. died in the Sicilian city of Gela. Legend has it that Aeschylus died when an eagle dropped either a turtle on his head, mistaking Aeschylus' bald head for a stone, or a stone, mistaking his bald head for an egg.

Heritage

About 90 tragedies remain from Aeschylus (including satirical dramas), the titles of which are known to us, with few exceptions; More or less significant fragments have also survived from many. The heroes of the trilogies were Achilles, Ayant, Odysseus, Memnon, Niobe, Adrastus, Perseus; The circle of legends about Dionysus included the trilogy about Lycurgus and Pentheus, opponents of his cult, terribly punished for their obstinacy.

Soon after the poet's death, a resolution was passed by which all his plays were admitted to tragic competitions along with new plays by other poets. In this way his fame and influence were secured for many generations, and the preservation of his plays was also ensured. In the Alexandrian era they were all known without large gaps and were all read and studied; It was only in the Roman period (in the 2nd century) that a selection of the seven plays that have come down to us was made. During the Byzantine era, three of them (namely: "Persians", "Prometheus" and "Seven Chiefs") were chosen for school reading; they were preserved in a larger number of lists, while the preservation of the remaining four should, apparently, be attributed to a happy accident.

Aeschylus was the creator of Greek, and therefore all-European, tragedy. When reading and analyzing his plays, what first strikes the eye is the significance of the evolution of tragedy as a poetic type that took place in them. Although the tragedies of the first, preparatory period have not been preserved, and those that have survived cover a gap of only 14 years (472-458 BC), nevertheless, the difference between the first and last of them (“The Persians” and the tragedies of the “Oresteia”) is much greater stronger than Sophocles - between Antigone and Oedipus at Colonus, or Euripides - between Alcestis and Iphigenia of Aulis, separated by a 30-year gap. The Persians and Petitioners are more cantatas than dramas; they still have no characterization and almost no action. In the middle tragedies - “Seven Leaders” and “Prometheus” - the central personalities are already very strongly characterized; are also found, especially in Prometheus, and characteristics minor characters, but there is still almost no action. In "The Oresteia", finally, we have both vivid characterization and (especially in "Choephori") lively, exciting action. The role of the choir is gradually diminished; V latest plays, however, it again becomes more significant than in the average. Apparently, the poet took back the concession made in the middle dramas: as a child of the era when tragedy was still a branch of lyric poetry, he was too accustomed to that direct communication with the audience, which was possible only in the lyrical passages of the choir, and it was inconvenient for him to develop his ideas through the mouths of the characters. This inconvenience was the stronger the more clearly the character of the characters was depicted and the more lively the action itself was; that is why the strengthening of characterization and drama led to a strengthening of the role of the chorus, while this is not noticed among the followers of Aeschylus, who did not know the lyrical period of tragedy. The need to be content with two (later three) actors in surviving plays is not felt as a constraint; This was not the case in many of the lost ones, where this necessity sometimes led to the fact that the poet, in order to have more space for minor characters, in some scenes entrusted the role of the main characters to extras, that is, doomed them to silence. Of course, this was done with the observance of psychological plausibility and therefore was very impressive: the images of the silent Achilles after the loss of a friend, the silent Niobe after the death of her children were deeply imprinted in the memory of contemporaries and descendants. Nevertheless, it should be recognized that in the matter of reviving the dialogue, Aeschylus stopped halfway: until the very end, the dialogue consists of long solemn speeches and stichomyths no less solemn in their correctness. The same should be said about the action and characterization, despite the undoubted progress in the last plays. The main action still takes place behind the scenes or in the intervals between in separate parts trilogies; There are no twists and turns yet, and there is also no tragic intrigue (except for “Hoefor”). In his characteristics, Aeschylus prefers majesty; He best succeeds in proud characters, either in his rightness, like Prometheus or Electra (in “Choephors”), or in the awareness of his sinfulness, like Clytemnestra (in “Oresteia”). Therefore, his women are not very feminine: only Sophocles was left to create the image of the meek Ismene next to the proud Antigone. Aeschylus was alien to any eroticism: he himself says to himself in Aristophanes that no one can indicate among the types of women in love he created. It is also worth emphasizing his love for the miraculous and outlandish, which finds its explanation in the atmosphere of miracles in which the Eleusinian religion raised him. It is especially noticeable in “Prometheus”, where the Oceanids appear on a flying chariot, the Ocean itself - on a griffin, where, with thunder and lightning, the titanium rock falls into the abyss. In "The Persians" the prophetic shadow of Darius appears, in "Eumenides" - the shadow of Clytemnestra. The rationalism of the Peloponnesian War ridiculed this trait; but it harmonizes well with the rest of the character of Aeschylus’s poetry, with its grandeur, which places it above the standard of ordinary realism. When writing this article, material was used from the Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron (1890-1907).

Translators of Aeschylus into Russian

Ivanov, Vyacheslav Ivanovich
- Apt, Solomon Konstantinovich
- Piotrovsky, Adrian Ivanovich

Literature

Texts and translations

In the “Loeb classical library” series, works were published under numbers 145, 146 (7 tragedies) and number 505 (fragments).
- In the “Collection Bude” series, 7 tragedies were published in 2 volumes.

In Russian, from those published in the 19th century, ESBE highlights the following translations: “Orestei” - Kotelova (St. Petersburg, 1883); “Agamemnon”, Maykov (excerpts entitled “Cassandra”) and Merzlyakova (M., 1825, “Cassandra”); “Prometheus” - I. A. Kossovich (Warsaw, 1873), Merezhkovsky (“Bulletin of Europe”, 1891 and separately, the best) and Appelrot (M., 1888, prosaic, accurate); “Seven against Thebes” - Merzlyakov (M., 1825, excerpts) and Appelrot (M., 1887, prose); “Petitioners” - Kotelova (“Pantheon of Literature”, 1894, book 2, under the title “Prayers”); “Persov” - Ordynsky (M., 1857), Kotelov (St. Petersburg, 1894) and Appelrot (M., 1888, prose).

Newer Russian translations:
- Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides. Tragedies. / Per. D. Merezhkovsky, entry. Art. and note. A. V. Uspenskaya. M.: Lomonosov. 2009. 474 pp.
- Aeschylus. Tragedies. / Per. A.I. Piotrovsky. M.-L.: Academia, 1937. XXXII, 411 pp. 5300 copies.
- Aeschylus. Tragedies. / Per. S. Apta, intro. Art. N. Sakharny. (Series “Library ancient literature"). M.: HL. 1971. 383 pp. 40,000 copies.
- reprint: (series “Ancient Drama”). M.: Art. 1978.
- Aeschylus. Tragedies. Translated by Vyacheslav Ivanov. (Additions. / Translated by A. I. Piotrovsky. Fragments [p. 268-306]. / Translated by M. L. Gasparov). / Ed. preparation N. I. Balashov, Dim. Vyach. Ivanov, M. L. Gasparov, G. Ch. Guseinov, N. V. Kotrelev, V. N. Yarkho. Rep. ed. N. I. Balashov. (Series " Literary monuments"). M.: Science. 1989. 592 pp.

Research

Yarkho V. N. Aeschylus. M.: GLI. 1958. 287 pp. 10,000 copies.
- Yarkho V.N. Dramaturgy of Aeschylus and some problems ancient Greek tragedy. M.: HL. 1978. 301 pp. 10,000 copies.
- Guseinov G. Ch. “Oresteia” of Aeschylus: figurative modeling of action: Lecture. M.: GITIS. 1982. 63 pp. 1000 copies.
- Lefevre, Eckard Studien zu den Quellen und zum Verstandnis des Prometheus Desmotes / Gottingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprech, Cop. 2003 - 190 pp.; 25 cm.. - (Abhandlungen der Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Gottingen: F. 3 / Philol.-hist. Klasse Bd. 252). - Decree.. - Bibliography: p. 177-184. - ISBN 3-525-82524-2

Scholium to Aeschylus

Edition of Aeschylus with scholia: volume I (1809); Vol. V (1812); Volume VIII (1816).
- Scholium to Aeschylus (Diendorff edition 1851)
- Scholium to the “Persians” according to Denhardt’s edition (1894)
- Scholium to “Seven against Thebes” (1908)
- The older scholia on the Prometheus Bound. 1972. partial view
- Scholia in Aeschyli Septem adversus Thebas. Leon, 1989. 142, 364 p.

Aeschylos (about 525, Eleusis, - 456 BC, Sicily) - ancient Greek playwright, the first of the three great Athenian tragedians of the 5th century. BC

Aeschylus came from an old aristocratic family. Participated in the Greco-Persian wars. In 484 he won his first victory in dramatic competitions; Subsequently, he won 12 more times in playwriting competitions.

The idle talker is lashed with a double lash.

In antiquity, about 80 were known dramatic works Aeschylus, only 7 have survived: “The Persians” (472), “Seven against Thebes” (467), the trilogy “Oresteia” (458; “Agamemnon”, “Choephori”, “Eumenides”); There is no consensus on the time of creation of the tragedies “The Petitioners, or the Prayers” and “Chained Prometheus”. Of the remaining tragedies of Aeschylus, fragments have survived, rarely exceeding 5-10 verses; relatively large fragments from the satyr dramas “Drawing the Net” and “Ambassadors, or Isthmians” were published in editions of Egyptian papyri in 1933 and 1941.

The work of Aeschylus dates back to the period of the final establishment of Athenian democracy (1st half of the 5th century BC) and reflects a revaluation of the ideological principles of the tribal system. The hero of his tragedies is a person who is independent in his behavior and responsible for his actions. The essence of the tragic in Aeschylus is revealed most clearly in the Oresteia: the curse of the Atrides that hangs over the house of Agamemnon is carried out only because the members of this house (Agamemnon, Clytemnestra) are themselves guilty of committing heaviest crimes against divine and human laws. The bloody string of revenge-crimes stops thanks to the intervention of the court of the Athenian Areopagus, whose decision is sanctified by the goddess Athena and symbolizes the victory of democratic statehood over the archaic law of tribal revenge.

The triumph of the principles of patriotism and civil equality over “barbaric” despotism constitutes the main content of “The Persians” and is also reflected in “Seven against Thebes” and “Petitioners”. The humanistic content of Aeschylus's work excludes. is revealed vividly in the tragedy of Prometheus - “the most noble saint and martyr in the philosophical calendar.”

"The Father of Tragedy", Aeschylus was the greatest innovator in the field artistic form. Choral and lyrical parts with the participation of actors play the most important dramatic role in his tragedies, whipping up an atmosphere of excitement and anxiety and bringing the action to a climax. By introducing a second actor, Aeschylus significantly increased the role of individual characters, among whom such titanic images as Eteocles, Prometheus, and Clytemnestra stand out. The tragedies of Aeschylus were well known in Ancient Rome; some of them served as a prototype for the works of Ennius, Actius, and Seneca. The image of Prometheus is widely reflected in the literature and art of modern times.

Works

Aeschylus combined his tragedies into trilogies devoted to a common theme, such as the fate of the Laia family. It is not known whether he was the first to create such unified trilogies, but the use of this particular form opened up wide open space for the poet’s thoughts and became one of the factors that allowed him to achieve perfection. It is believed that Aeschylus was the author of ninety dramas, the titles of 79 are known to us; of these, 13 are satyr dramas, which were usually staged as an addition to the trilogy. Although only 7 tragedies have come down to us, their composition was determined as a result of a careful selection made in the last centuries of antiquity, and therefore they can be considered the best or most typical fruits of Aeschylus's poetic gift. Each of these tragedies deserves special mention. The Persians, the only extant historical drama in all of Greek literature, describes the defeat of the Persians at Salamis in 480 BC. Aeschylus The tragedy was written eight years after these events, i.e. in 472 BC Aeschylus There is no data regarding the time of production of the tragedy of Prometheus Chained.

If power is united with justice, then what could be stronger than this union?

Some scientists consider it to be related to early period creativity, others, on the contrary, to the late. It was probably part of the Prometheus trilogy. The myth on which this tragedy is based - the punishment of Prometheus for stealing fire and neglecting the will of Zeus - was developed in Shelley's famous poem Prometheus Unbound and in many other works. The tragedy of the Seven against Thebes, staged in 467 BC by Aeschylus, is an account of the story of the sons of Oedipus, Eteocles and Polyneices. This is the final part of the trilogy, the first two tragedies were dedicated to Laius and his son Oedipus. The Tragedy of the Petitioner tells the story of the fifty daughters of Danaus, who chose to flee Egypt rather than marry their cousins, the sons of Egypt, and took refuge in Argos. Due to the abundance of archaisms, this tragedy for a long time was considered the earliest surviving work of Aeschylus, but a papyrus fragment published in 1952 allows it to be dated presumably to 463 BC. Aeschylus The Oresteia trilogy was written in 458 BC by Aeschylus and consists of Agamemnon, Choephorus and Eumenides.



Related publications: