SOURCE: "Aeschylus," in Greek Tragedy: An Introduction. The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1991, pp. 26-55.

In the following, which was first published in German in 1986, Zimmermann provides an overview of the plots and themes of Aeschylus's plays.

Life And Works

Born at Eleusis in 525/4, Aeschylus belonged to one of the old aristocratic families of Attica, the so-called Eupatridae, or families with noble fathers. He presumably made his debut as a tragic poet in 499; he won his first victory in 484. He fought against the Persians at Marathon in 490 and again at Salamis in 480. In 476/5 he was invited by the tyrant Hieron I of Syracuse to stage Women of Aetna at the dramatic festival held on the occasion of the foundation of Aetna in Sicily. He returned to Sicily, again at the invitation of Hieron, to restage Persians, first performed at Athens in 472. It is not, however, clear from the sources...