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Aeschylus

Aeschylus (c. 525 – c. 456 BC) was an ancient Greek tragedian from Eleusis, widely regarded as the father of tragedy for elevating the nascent dramatic form through poetic innovation and structural advancements in fifth-century BC Athens. Born into a prominent family as the son of Euphorion, he participated in the Persian Wars, fighting at the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC where his brother Cynegeirus perished, experiences that informed the historical realism in plays like The Persians. Credited by Aristotle with introducing a second actor to the stage—reducing the chorus's dominance and emphasizing conflict between characters—Aeschylus transformed tragedy from choral lyricism to dialogic action, producing over 80 plays of which seven survive intact, including the sole extant trilogy, the Oresteia (458 BCE). His works, performed at the Dionysia festival where he secured 13 first-place victories starting with his debut win in 484 BC, explore themes of justice, divine retribution, and human hubris through grand, mythic narratives drawn from Trojan War cycles and other legends.

Persians

The Persians (Πέρσαι, Persae), is the oldest extant Greek tragedy, first performed in 472 BC at the City Dionysia festival in Athens, where it secured first prize among competing tetralogies. Unlike other surviving tragedies rooted in mythology, it dramatizes a recent historical event: the Persian Empire's defeat at the Battle of Salamis in 480 BC during Xerxes I's invasion of Greece. Set in the Persian capital of Susa, the play unfolds from the perspective of the defeated invaders, emphasizing the human cost of imperial overreach. Aeschylus, who had personally fought the Persians at Marathon in 490 BC and Salamis in 480 BC, drew on eyewitness experience to portray the catastrophe, lending authenticity to details of the naval engagement where approximately 200 Greek triremes routed a much larger Persian fleet.