La Vita di Eschilo
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Ἑλληνική Transliterate
English
Αἰσχύλος ὁ τραγικὸς γένει μὲν ἦν Ἀθηναῖος , Ἐλευσίνιος τῶν δήμων , υἱὸς Εὐφορίωνος , Κυνεγείρου ἀδελφός , ἐξ εὐπατριδῶν τὴν φύσιν .
2 νέος δὲ ἤρξατο τῶν τραγωιδιῶν , καὶ πολὺ τοὺς πρὸ ἑαυτοῦ ὑπερῆρεν κατά τε τὴν ποίησιν καὶ τὴν διάθεσιν τῆς σκηνῆς τήν τε λαμπρότητα τῆς χορηγίας καὶ τὴν σκευὴν τῶν ὑποκριτῶν τήν τε τοῦ χοροῦ σεμνότητα , ὡς καὶ Ἀριστοφάνης ·
ἀλλ’ ὦ πρῶτος τῶν Ἑλλήνων πυργώσας
[ ῥήματα σεμνὰ
καὶ κοσμήσας τραγικὸν λῆρον .
3 συνεχρόνισεν δὲ Πινδάρωι , γεγονὼς κατὰ τὴν †μ΄† Ὀλυμπιάδα .
4 γενναῖον δὲ αὐτόν φασι , καὶ μετασχεῖν τῆς ἐν Μαραθῶνι μάχης σὺν τῶι ἀδελφῶι Κυνεγείρωι τῆς τε ἐν Σαλαμῖνι ναυμαχίας σὺν τῶι νεωτάτωι τῶν ἀδελφῶν Ἀμεινίαι καὶ τῆς ἐν Πλαταιαῖς πεζομαχίας .
5 κατὰ δὲ τὴν σύνθεσιν τῆς ποιήσεως ζηλοῖ τὸ ἁδρὸν ἀεὶ πλάσμα , ὀνοματοποιίαις τε καὶ ἐπιθέτοις , ἔτι δὲ μεταφοραῖς καὶ πᾶσι τοῖς δυναμένοις ὄγκον τῆι φράσει περιθεῖναι χρώμενος . αἵ τε διαθέσεις τῶν δραμάτων οὐ πολλὰς αὐτῶι περιπετείας καὶ πλοκὰς ἔχουσιν ὡς παρὰ τοῖς νεωτέροις · μόνον γὰρ ζηλοῖ τὸ βάρος περιτιθέναι τοῖς προσώποις , ἀρχαῖον εἶναι κρίνων τὸ μεγαλοπρεπές τε καὶ ἡρωϊκόν , τὸ δὲ πανοῦργον κομψοπρεπές τε καὶ γνωμολογικὸν ἀλλότριον τῆς τραγωιδίας ἡγούμενος · ὥστε διὰ τὸ πλεονάζειν τῶι βάρει τῶν προσώπων κομωιδεῖται παρὰ Ἀριστοφάνει .
6 ἐν μὲν γὰρ τῆι Νιόβηι ἕως τρίτου μέρους ἐπικαθημένη τῶι τάφωι τῶν παίδων οὐδὲν φθέγγεται ἐγκεκαλυμμένη · ἐν δὲ τοῖς Ἕκτορος λύτροις Ἀχιλλεὺς ὁμοίως ἐγκεκαλυμμένος οὐ φθέγγεται , πλὴν ἐν ἀρχαῖς ὀλίγα πρὸς Ἑρμῆν ἀμοιβαῖα .
7 διὸ ἐκλογαὶ μὲν παρ’ αὐτῶι τῆι κατασκευῆι διαφέρουσαι πάμπολλαι ἂν εὑρεθεῖεν , γνῶμαι δὲ ἢ συμπάθειαι ἢ ἄλλο τι τῶν δυναμένων εἰς δάκρυον ἀγαγεῖν οὐ πάνυ . ταῖς τε γὰρ ὄψεσι καὶ τοῖς μύθοις πρὸς ἔκλπληξιν τερατώδη μᾶλλον ἢ πρὸς ἀπάτην κέχρηται .
8 ἀπῆρεν δὲ ὡς Ἱέρωνα , κατά τινας μὲν ὑπὸ Ἀθηναίων κατασπουδασθεὶς καὶ ἡσσηθεὶς νέωι ὄντι Σοφοκλεῖ , κατὰ δὲ ἐνίους ἐν τῶι εἰς τοὺς Μαραθῶνι τεθνηκότας ἐλεγείωι ἡσσηθεὶς Σιμωνίδηι · τὸ γὰρ ἐλεγεῖον πολὺ τῆς περὶ τὸ συμπαθὲς λεπτότητος μετέχειν θέλει , ὃ τοῦ Αἰσχύλου , ὡς ἔφαμεν , ἐστὶν ἀλλότριον .
9 τινὲς δέ φασιν ἐν τῆι ἐπιδείξει τῶν Εὐμενίδων σποράδην εἰσαγαγόντα τὸν χορὸν τοσοῦτον ἐκπλῆξαι τὸν δῆμον ὡς τὰ μὲν νήπια ἐκψῦξαι , τὰ δὲ ἔμβρυα ἐξαμβλωθῆναι . ἐλθὼν τοίνυν εἰς Σικελίαν , Ἱέρωνος τότε τὴν Αἴτνην κτίζοντος , ἐπεδείξατο τὰς Αἴτνας οἰωνιζόμενος βίον ἀγαθὸν τοῖς συνοικίζουσι τὴν πόλιν .
10 καὶ σφόδρα τῶι τε τυράννωι Ἱέρωνι καὶ τοῖς Γελώιοις τιμηθεὶς ἐπιζήσας τρίτον ἔτος γηραιὸς ἐτελεύτα τοῦτον τὸν τρόπον · ἀετὸς γὰρ χελώνην ἁρπάσας , ὡς ἐγκρατὴς γενέσθαι τῆς ἄγρας οὐκ ἴσχυεν , ἀφίησι κατὰ πετρῶν αὐτὴν συνθλάσσων τὸ δέρμα · ἡ δὲ ἐνεχθεῖσα κατὰ τοῦ ποιητοῦ φονεύει αὐτόν . χρηστηριασθεὶς δὲ ἦν , " οὐράνιόν σε βέλος κατακτενεῖ . "
11 ἀποθανόντα δὲ Γελῶιοι πολυτελῶς ἐν τοῖς δημοσίοις μνήμασι θάψαντες ἐτίμησαν μεγαλοπρεπῶς , ἐπιγράψαντες οὕτω ·
Αἰσχύλον Εὐφορίωνος Ἀθηναῖον τόδε κεύθει
μνῆμα καταφθίμενον πυροφόροιο Γέλας ·
ἀλκὴν δ’ εὐδόκιμον Μαραθώνιον ἄλσος ἂν
[ εἴποι
καὶ βαθυχαιτήεις Μῆδος ἐπιστάμενος .
εἰς τὸ μνῆμα δὲ φοιτῶντες ὅσοις ἐν τραγωιδίαις ἦν ὁ βίος ἐνήγιζόν τε καὶ τὰ δράματα ὑπεκρίνοντο .
12 Ἀθηναῖοι δὲ τοσοῦτον ἠγάπησαν Αἰσχύλον ὡς ψηφίσασθαι μετὰ < τὸν > θάνατον αὐτοῦ τὸν βουλόμενον διδάσκειν τὰ Αἰσχύλου χορὸν λαμβάνειν .
13 ἐβίω δὲ ἔτη ξγ΄ , ἐν οἷς ἐποίησεν δράματα ο΄ καὶ ἐπὶ τούτοις σατυρικὰ ἀμφὶ τὰ †ε΄† . νίκας δὲ τὰς πάσας εἴληφε τρεισκαίδεκα · οὐκ ὀλίγας δὲ μετὰ τελευτὴν νίκας ἀπηνέγκατο .
14 πρῶτος Αἰσχύλος πάθεσι γεννικωτάτοις τὴν τραγωιδίαν ηὔξησεν τήν τε σκηνὴν ἐκόσμησεν καὶ τὴν ὄψιν τῶν θεωμένων κατέπληξεν τῆι λαμπρότητι , γραφαῖς καὶ μηχαναῖς , βωμοῖς τε καὶ τάφοις , σάλπιγξιν , εἰδώλοις , Ἐρινύσι , τούς τε ὑποκριτὰς χειρῖσι σκεπάσας καὶ τῶι σύρματι ἐξογκώσας μείζοσί τε τοῖς κοθόρνοις μετεωρίσας .
15 ἐχρήσατο δὲ ὑποκριτῆι πρώτωι μὲν Κλεάνδρωι , ἔπειτα καὶ τὸν δεύτερον αὐτῶι προσῆψε Μυννίσκον τὸν Χαλκιδέα · τὸν δὲ τρίτον ὑποκριτὴν αὐτὸς ἐξεῦρεν , ὡς δὲ Δικαίαρχος ὁ Μεσσήνιος , Σοφοκλῆς .
16 τὸ δὲ ἁπλοῦν τῆς δραματοποιίας εἰ μέν τις πρὸς τοὺς μετ’ αὐτὸν λογίζοιτο , φαῦλον ἂν ἐκλαμβάνοι καὶ ἀπραγμάτευτον , εἰ δὲ πρὸς τοὺς ἀνωτέρω , θαυμάσειε τῆς ἐπινοίας τὸν ποιητὴν καὶ τῆς εὑρέσεως . ὅτωι δὲ δοκεῖ τελεώτερος τραγωιδίας ποιητὴς Σοφοκλῆς γεγονέναι , ὀρθῶς μὲν δοκεῖ , λογιζέσθω δὲ ὅτι πολλῶι χαλεπώτερον ἦν ἐπὶ Θέσπιδι , Φρυνίχωι τε καὶ Χοιρίλωι εἰς τοσόνδε μεγέθους τὴν τραγωιδίαν προαγαγεῖν ἢ ἐπὶ Ἀισχύλωι εἰσιόντα εἰς τὴν Σοφοκλέους ἐλθεῖν τελειότητα .
17 ἐπιγέγραπται τῶι τάφωι αὐτοῦ ·
αἰετοῦ ἐξ ὀνύχων βρέγμα τυπεὶς ἔθανον .
18 φασὶν ὑπὸ Ἱέρωνος ἀξιωθέντα ἀναδιδάξαι τοὺς Πέρσας ἐν Σικελίαι καὶ λίαν εὐδοκιμε
2 νέος δὲ ἤρξατο τῶν τραγωιδιῶν , καὶ πολὺ τοὺς πρὸ ἑαυτοῦ ὑπερῆρεν κατά τε τὴν ποίησιν καὶ τὴν διάθεσιν τῆς σκηνῆς τήν τε λαμπρότητα τῆς χορηγίας καὶ τὴν σκευὴν τῶν ὑποκριτῶν τήν τε τοῦ χοροῦ σεμνότητα , ὡς καὶ Ἀριστοφάνης ·
ἀλλ’ ὦ πρῶτος τῶν Ἑλλήνων πυργώσας
[ ῥήματα σεμνὰ
καὶ κοσμήσας τραγικὸν λῆρον .
3 συνεχρόνισεν δὲ Πινδάρωι , γεγονὼς κατὰ τὴν †μ΄† Ὀλυμπιάδα .
4 γενναῖον δὲ αὐτόν φασι , καὶ μετασχεῖν τῆς ἐν Μαραθῶνι μάχης σὺν τῶι ἀδελφῶι Κυνεγείρωι τῆς τε ἐν Σαλαμῖνι ναυμαχίας σὺν τῶι νεωτάτωι τῶν ἀδελφῶν Ἀμεινίαι καὶ τῆς ἐν Πλαταιαῖς πεζομαχίας .
5 κατὰ δὲ τὴν σύνθεσιν τῆς ποιήσεως ζηλοῖ τὸ ἁδρὸν ἀεὶ πλάσμα , ὀνοματοποιίαις τε καὶ ἐπιθέτοις , ἔτι δὲ μεταφοραῖς καὶ πᾶσι τοῖς δυναμένοις ὄγκον τῆι φράσει περιθεῖναι χρώμενος . αἵ τε διαθέσεις τῶν δραμάτων οὐ πολλὰς αὐτῶι περιπετείας καὶ πλοκὰς ἔχουσιν ὡς παρὰ τοῖς νεωτέροις · μόνον γὰρ ζηλοῖ τὸ βάρος περιτιθέναι τοῖς προσώποις , ἀρχαῖον εἶναι κρίνων τὸ μεγαλοπρεπές τε καὶ ἡρωϊκόν , τὸ δὲ πανοῦργον κομψοπρεπές τε καὶ γνωμολογικὸν ἀλλότριον τῆς τραγωιδίας ἡγούμενος · ὥστε διὰ τὸ πλεονάζειν τῶι βάρει τῶν προσώπων κομωιδεῖται παρὰ Ἀριστοφάνει .
6 ἐν μὲν γὰρ τῆι Νιόβηι ἕως τρίτου μέρους ἐπικαθημένη τῶι τάφωι τῶν παίδων οὐδὲν φθέγγεται ἐγκεκαλυμμένη · ἐν δὲ τοῖς Ἕκτορος λύτροις Ἀχιλλεὺς ὁμοίως ἐγκεκαλυμμένος οὐ φθέγγεται , πλὴν ἐν ἀρχαῖς ὀλίγα πρὸς Ἑρμῆν ἀμοιβαῖα .
7 διὸ ἐκλογαὶ μὲν παρ’ αὐτῶι τῆι κατασκευῆι διαφέρουσαι πάμπολλαι ἂν εὑρεθεῖεν , γνῶμαι δὲ ἢ συμπάθειαι ἢ ἄλλο τι τῶν δυναμένων εἰς δάκρυον ἀγαγεῖν οὐ πάνυ . ταῖς τε γὰρ ὄψεσι καὶ τοῖς μύθοις πρὸς ἔκλπληξιν τερατώδη μᾶλλον ἢ πρὸς ἀπάτην κέχρηται .
8 ἀπῆρεν δὲ ὡς Ἱέρωνα , κατά τινας μὲν ὑπὸ Ἀθηναίων κατασπουδασθεὶς καὶ ἡσσηθεὶς νέωι ὄντι Σοφοκλεῖ , κατὰ δὲ ἐνίους ἐν τῶι εἰς τοὺς Μαραθῶνι τεθνηκότας ἐλεγείωι ἡσσηθεὶς Σιμωνίδηι · τὸ γὰρ ἐλεγεῖον πολὺ τῆς περὶ τὸ συμπαθὲς λεπτότητος μετέχειν θέλει , ὃ τοῦ Αἰσχύλου , ὡς ἔφαμεν , ἐστὶν ἀλλότριον .
9 τινὲς δέ φασιν ἐν τῆι ἐπιδείξει τῶν Εὐμενίδων σποράδην εἰσαγαγόντα τὸν χορὸν τοσοῦτον ἐκπλῆξαι τὸν δῆμον ὡς τὰ μὲν νήπια ἐκψῦξαι , τὰ δὲ ἔμβρυα ἐξαμβλωθῆναι . ἐλθὼν τοίνυν εἰς Σικελίαν , Ἱέρωνος τότε τὴν Αἴτνην κτίζοντος , ἐπεδείξατο τὰς Αἴτνας οἰωνιζόμενος βίον ἀγαθὸν τοῖς συνοικίζουσι τὴν πόλιν .
10 καὶ σφόδρα τῶι τε τυράννωι Ἱέρωνι καὶ τοῖς Γελώιοις τιμηθεὶς ἐπιζήσας τρίτον ἔτος γηραιὸς ἐτελεύτα τοῦτον τὸν τρόπον · ἀετὸς γὰρ χελώνην ἁρπάσας , ὡς ἐγκρατὴς γενέσθαι τῆς ἄγρας οὐκ ἴσχυεν , ἀφίησι κατὰ πετρῶν αὐτὴν συνθλάσσων τὸ δέρμα · ἡ δὲ ἐνεχθεῖσα κατὰ τοῦ ποιητοῦ φονεύει αὐτόν . χρηστηριασθεὶς δὲ ἦν , " οὐράνιόν σε βέλος κατακτενεῖ . "
11 ἀποθανόντα δὲ Γελῶιοι πολυτελῶς ἐν τοῖς δημοσίοις μνήμασι θάψαντες ἐτίμησαν μεγαλοπρεπῶς , ἐπιγράψαντες οὕτω ·
Αἰσχύλον Εὐφορίωνος Ἀθηναῖον τόδε κεύθει
μνῆμα καταφθίμενον πυροφόροιο Γέλας ·
ἀλκὴν δ’ εὐδόκιμον Μαραθώνιον ἄλσος ἂν
[ εἴποι
καὶ βαθυχαιτήεις Μῆδος ἐπιστάμενος .
εἰς τὸ μνῆμα δὲ φοιτῶντες ὅσοις ἐν τραγωιδίαις ἦν ὁ βίος ἐνήγιζόν τε καὶ τὰ δράματα ὑπεκρίνοντο .
12 Ἀθηναῖοι δὲ τοσοῦτον ἠγάπησαν Αἰσχύλον ὡς ψηφίσασθαι μετὰ < τὸν > θάνατον αὐτοῦ τὸν βουλόμενον διδάσκειν τὰ Αἰσχύλου χορὸν λαμβάνειν .
13 ἐβίω δὲ ἔτη ξγ΄ , ἐν οἷς ἐποίησεν δράματα ο΄ καὶ ἐπὶ τούτοις σατυρικὰ ἀμφὶ τὰ †ε΄† . νίκας δὲ τὰς πάσας εἴληφε τρεισκαίδεκα · οὐκ ὀλίγας δὲ μετὰ τελευτὴν νίκας ἀπηνέγκατο .
14 πρῶτος Αἰσχύλος πάθεσι γεννικωτάτοις τὴν τραγωιδίαν ηὔξησεν τήν τε σκηνὴν ἐκόσμησεν καὶ τὴν ὄψιν τῶν θεωμένων κατέπληξεν τῆι λαμπρότητι , γραφαῖς καὶ μηχαναῖς , βωμοῖς τε καὶ τάφοις , σάλπιγξιν , εἰδώλοις , Ἐρινύσι , τούς τε ὑποκριτὰς χειρῖσι σκεπάσας καὶ τῶι σύρματι ἐξογκώσας μείζοσί τε τοῖς κοθόρνοις μετεωρίσας .
15 ἐχρήσατο δὲ ὑποκριτῆι πρώτωι μὲν Κλεάνδρωι , ἔπειτα καὶ τὸν δεύτερον αὐτῶι προσῆψε Μυννίσκον τὸν Χαλκιδέα · τὸν δὲ τρίτον ὑποκριτὴν αὐτὸς ἐξεῦρεν , ὡς δὲ Δικαίαρχος ὁ Μεσσήνιος , Σοφοκλῆς .
16 τὸ δὲ ἁπλοῦν τῆς δραματοποιίας εἰ μέν τις πρὸς τοὺς μετ’ αὐτὸν λογίζοιτο , φαῦλον ἂν ἐκλαμβάνοι καὶ ἀπραγμάτευτον , εἰ δὲ πρὸς τοὺς ἀνωτέρω , θαυμάσειε τῆς ἐπινοίας τὸν ποιητὴν καὶ τῆς εὑρέσεως . ὅτωι δὲ δοκεῖ τελεώτερος τραγωιδίας ποιητὴς Σοφοκλῆς γεγονέναι , ὀρθῶς μὲν δοκεῖ , λογιζέσθω δὲ ὅτι πολλῶι χαλεπώτερον ἦν ἐπὶ Θέσπιδι , Φρυνίχωι τε καὶ Χοιρίλωι εἰς τοσόνδε μεγέθους τὴν τραγωιδίαν προαγαγεῖν ἢ ἐπὶ Ἀισχύλωι εἰσιόντα εἰς τὴν Σοφοκλέους ἐλθεῖν τελειότητα .
17 ἐπιγέγραπται τῶι τάφωι αὐτοῦ ·
αἰετοῦ ἐξ ὀνύχων βρέγμα τυπεὶς ἔθανον .
18 φασὶν ὑπὸ Ἱέρωνος ἀξιωθέντα ἀναδιδάξαι τοὺς Πέρσας ἐν Σικελίαι καὶ λίαν εὐδοκιμε
Aeschylus
the
tragedian
was
Athenian
by
birth
,
from
the
deme
of
Eleusis
.
He
was
the
son
of
Euphorion
,
brother
of
Cynegirus
and
one
of
the
Eupatrids
.
2 He began writing tragedies as a young man and greatly surpassed his predecessors with his poetry , the arrangement of the stage , the splendour of his choral productions , his actors’ costumes , and the solemnity of the chorus , as Aristophanes , too , says ( Frogs 1004-5 ) :
But you , who first among the Greeks created towers of solemn words and beautified tragic nonsense .
3 He was a contemporary of Pindar and was born in the †40th† Olympiad .
4 They say that he was noble and that he participated in the battle of Marathon together with his brother , Cynegirus , and in the naval battle at Salamis with the youngest of his brothers , Ameinias , and in the infantry battle at Plataea .
5 In the composition of poetry , he strove for a consistently grand style by using coinages and epithets . He employed , in addition , metaphors and all other devices capable of conferring weight on diction . The plots of his dramas do not have many reversals and contortions , as is the case with more recent poets . He strove only to give his characters gravity , for he judged magnificence and the heroic to be archaic , and considered sententious and ingenious knavishness to be alien to tragedy . Hence , he is parodied by Aristophanes because of the excessive gravity of his characters .
6 For , in the Niobe , the heroine , who is veiled , sits on the tomb of her children saying nothing for three scenes . And in the Ransoming of Hector , Achilles , similarly covered up , again says nothing , except in the beginning , when he says a few verses to Hermes in dialogue .
7 As a result , a great number of passages could be found in his plays that are distinguished for their artistic treatment , but gnomic statements , or scenes of pathos , or any of the other devices which can bring people to tears are completely absent . For he uses visual effects and plots for the sake of portentous shock rather than for the sake of beguiling the audience .
8 He left Athens for the court of Hieron , as some say because he was vexed with the Athenians because of his defeat by Sophocles , then a young man ; according to others , it was because he had been defeated by Simonides in an elegy for those who died at Marathon . For elegy requires much subtlety as regards the treatment of emotions , which as we said , is alien to Aeschylus .
9 But some say that at the performance of the Eumenides , when he led on the chorus one by one , he frightened the people so much that some children lost consciousness and unborn babies were aborted . Going to Sicily , therefore , at the time when Hieron was founding Etna , he put on the Women of Etna , divining a good life for those who settled the city .
10 Having been greatly honored by the tyrant Hieron and the citizens of Gela , he lived a further two years and died an old man in the following way : an eagle had seized a tortoise , but was not strong enough to break open its prey , so dropped it on the rocks to crush its shell . But the tortoise fell on the poet’s head and killed him . In fact , it had been prophesied to him : ‘a heavenly missile will kill you . ’
11 After his death , the citizens of Gela gave him a public burial and honoured him magnificently by writing the following epitaph :
This memorial holds Aeschylus the Athenian , son of Euphorion , who died in grain-bearing Gela . The grove of Marathon could speak of his famous courage and the Mede with thick long hair who knows of it .
And whoever was professionally involved in tragedy , when they visited his memorial , would offer sacrifices and declaim his dramas .
12 But the Athenians loved Aeschylus so much that they voted after his death that anyone who wished to put on the plays of Aeschylus would receive a chorus .
13 He lived for sixty three years , during which he put on seventy dramas and additionally around †five† satyr plays . In total , he was victorious thirteen times . He also won quite a few victories after his death .
14 Aeschylus was the first to augment tragedy with the noblest sufferings and he decorated the stage-building and astounded the spectators’ gaze with splendour , paintings and machines , altars and tombs , trumpets , ghosts and Erinyes , and he gave the actors long sleeves , increasing their size with long robes and raising them up on bigger boots .
15 He used Cleandrus as his first actor , then he added a second actor , Mynniscus the Chalcidean . The third actor he himself introduced , although Dichaearchus of Messene says that it was Sophocles .
16 With regard to the simplicity of his dramatic composition , if one were to judge him in relation to the playwrights who succeeded him , one would find him unsophisticated and lacking elaboration , but if one were to judge him in relation to those who preceded him , one would marvel at the poet’s ingenuity and inventiveness . Anyone who thinks that Sophocles was the more perfect tragic poet , is right to do so , but should consider that it was far more difficult for a playwright who succeeded Thespis , Phrynichus and Choerilus to bring tragedy to such greatness than for a successor of Aeschylus to reach even the perfection of Sophocles .
17 On his tomb has been inscribed :
I died , struck on the forehead by a missile from an eagle’s claws .
18 They say that being esteemed by Hieron , he re-produced the Persians in Sicily to great acclaim .
2 He began writing tragedies as a young man and greatly surpassed his predecessors with his poetry , the arrangement of the stage , the splendour of his choral productions , his actors’ costumes , and the solemnity of the chorus , as Aristophanes , too , says ( Frogs 1004-5 ) :
But you , who first among the Greeks created towers of solemn words and beautified tragic nonsense .
3 He was a contemporary of Pindar and was born in the †40th† Olympiad .
4 They say that he was noble and that he participated in the battle of Marathon together with his brother , Cynegirus , and in the naval battle at Salamis with the youngest of his brothers , Ameinias , and in the infantry battle at Plataea .
5 In the composition of poetry , he strove for a consistently grand style by using coinages and epithets . He employed , in addition , metaphors and all other devices capable of conferring weight on diction . The plots of his dramas do not have many reversals and contortions , as is the case with more recent poets . He strove only to give his characters gravity , for he judged magnificence and the heroic to be archaic , and considered sententious and ingenious knavishness to be alien to tragedy . Hence , he is parodied by Aristophanes because of the excessive gravity of his characters .
6 For , in the Niobe , the heroine , who is veiled , sits on the tomb of her children saying nothing for three scenes . And in the Ransoming of Hector , Achilles , similarly covered up , again says nothing , except in the beginning , when he says a few verses to Hermes in dialogue .
7 As a result , a great number of passages could be found in his plays that are distinguished for their artistic treatment , but gnomic statements , or scenes of pathos , or any of the other devices which can bring people to tears are completely absent . For he uses visual effects and plots for the sake of portentous shock rather than for the sake of beguiling the audience .
8 He left Athens for the court of Hieron , as some say because he was vexed with the Athenians because of his defeat by Sophocles , then a young man ; according to others , it was because he had been defeated by Simonides in an elegy for those who died at Marathon . For elegy requires much subtlety as regards the treatment of emotions , which as we said , is alien to Aeschylus .
9 But some say that at the performance of the Eumenides , when he led on the chorus one by one , he frightened the people so much that some children lost consciousness and unborn babies were aborted . Going to Sicily , therefore , at the time when Hieron was founding Etna , he put on the Women of Etna , divining a good life for those who settled the city .
10 Having been greatly honored by the tyrant Hieron and the citizens of Gela , he lived a further two years and died an old man in the following way : an eagle had seized a tortoise , but was not strong enough to break open its prey , so dropped it on the rocks to crush its shell . But the tortoise fell on the poet’s head and killed him . In fact , it had been prophesied to him : ‘a heavenly missile will kill you . ’
11 After his death , the citizens of Gela gave him a public burial and honoured him magnificently by writing the following epitaph :
This memorial holds Aeschylus the Athenian , son of Euphorion , who died in grain-bearing Gela . The grove of Marathon could speak of his famous courage and the Mede with thick long hair who knows of it .
And whoever was professionally involved in tragedy , when they visited his memorial , would offer sacrifices and declaim his dramas .
12 But the Athenians loved Aeschylus so much that they voted after his death that anyone who wished to put on the plays of Aeschylus would receive a chorus .
13 He lived for sixty three years , during which he put on seventy dramas and additionally around †five† satyr plays . In total , he was victorious thirteen times . He also won quite a few victories after his death .
14 Aeschylus was the first to augment tragedy with the noblest sufferings and he decorated the stage-building and astounded the spectators’ gaze with splendour , paintings and machines , altars and tombs , trumpets , ghosts and Erinyes , and he gave the actors long sleeves , increasing their size with long robes and raising them up on bigger boots .
15 He used Cleandrus as his first actor , then he added a second actor , Mynniscus the Chalcidean . The third actor he himself introduced , although Dichaearchus of Messene says that it was Sophocles .
16 With regard to the simplicity of his dramatic composition , if one were to judge him in relation to the playwrights who succeeded him , one would find him unsophisticated and lacking elaboration , but if one were to judge him in relation to those who preceded him , one would marvel at the poet’s ingenuity and inventiveness . Anyone who thinks that Sophocles was the more perfect tragic poet , is right to do so , but should consider that it was far more difficult for a playwright who succeeded Thespis , Phrynichus and Choerilus to bring tragedy to such greatness than for a successor of Aeschylus to reach even the perfection of Sophocles .
17 On his tomb has been inscribed :
I died , struck on the forehead by a missile from an eagle’s claws .
18 They say that being esteemed by Hieron , he re-produced the Persians in Sicily to great acclaim .