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Greek Plays and Playwrights

The Greeks invented two kinds of drama, tragedy and comedy. Tragedy is the older and more famous of the two t ypes: it is said to be the invention of Thespis in 534 BC , while comedy is generally dated fsome half century later, around 486 BC. But both genres were important to Athenians of the fifth and fourth centuries, and both were performed several times during the year as part of religious and agricultural festivals. We know the names of many dozens of Greek tragic and comic playwrights, but the works of only four authors have survived in their entirety. Three of them are tragic playwrights, AEschyus, Sophocles, and Euripides; among the comic playwrights, only the works of Aristophanes have survived intact . It is a pity that so much has been lost of the literature of the ancient world, but at least we have the consolation of knowing that the work we do possess is the best there was; Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, and Aristophanes were all acclaimed by their contemporaries as the most talented of Greek playwrights, and together they won many prizes in the dramatic competitions.

What follows is a list of the extant works of Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, and Aristophanes. From it and from the time line you can see how their careers overlapped. By clicking on their names, you will move

Tragedy

Aeschylus (525 - 456 B.C.)

Sophocles (496 - 406 B.C.)

Euripedes (c. 480 - 407)

Comedy


Aristophanes (c. 448 - c. 380 B.C.)

Click the image to view the clip of the play Medea. It will take about 60 seconds to download, and you will need to press the "Play" button (the second button from the lower left).