AEschylus, the first of the great Grecian writers of tragedy, was born at
Eleusis, in 525 B.C. He was the son of Euphorion, who was probably a
wealthy owner of rich vineyards. The poet's early employment was to
watch the grapes and protect them from the ravages of men and other
animals, and it is said that this occupation led to the development of
his dramatic genius. It is more easy to believe that it was responsible
for the development of certain other less admirable qualities of the
poet.
His first appearance as a tragic writer was in 499 B.C., and in 484 B.C.
he won a prize in the tragic contests. He took part in the battle of
Marathon, in 490 B.C., and also fought in the battle of Salamis, in 480
B.C. He visited Sicily twice, and probably spent some time in that
country, as the use of many Sicilian words in his later plays would
indicate.
There is a curious story related as to his death, which took place at
Gela in 456 B.C. It is said that an eagle, mistaking his bald head for a
stone, dropped a tortoise upon it in order to break its shell, and that
the blow quite killed AEschylus. Too much reliance should not be placed
upon this story.
It is not known how many plays the poet wrote, but only seven have been
preserved to us. That these tragedies contain much that is undramatic is
undoubtedly true, but it must be remembered that at the time he wrote,
AEschylus found the drama in a very primitive state. The persons
represented consisted of but a single actor, who related some narrative
of mythological or legendary interest, and a chorus, who relieved the
monotony of such a performance by the interspersing of a few songs and
dances. To AEschylus belongs the credit of creating the dialogue in the
Greek drama by the introduction of a second actor.
In the following pages will be found a translation of two of the poet's
greatest compositions, viz., the "Prometheus Chained" and the "Seven
Against Thebes." The first of these dramas has been designated "The
sublimest poem and simplest tragedy of antiquity," and the second, while
probably an earlier work and containing much that is undramatic,
presents such a splendid spectacle of true Grecian chivalry that it has
been regarded as the equal of anything which the author ever attempted.
The characters represented in the "Prometheus" are Strength, Force,
Vulcan, Prometheus, Io, daughter of Inachus, Ocean and Mercury. The play
opens with the appearance of Prometheus in company with Strength, Force
and Vulcan, who have been bidden to bind Prometheus with adamantine
fetters to the lofty cragged rocks of an untrodden Scythian desert,
because he has offended Jupiter by stealing fire from heaven and
bestowing it upon mortals.
Vulcan is loth to obey the mandates of Jove, but urged on by Strength
and Force and the fear of the consequences which disobedience will
entail, with mighty force drives the wedges into the adamantine rocks
and rivets the captive with galling shackles to the ruthless crags.
Prometheus, being bound and left alone, bemoans his fate and relates to
the chorus of nymphs the base ingratitude of Jove, who through his
counsels having overwhelmed the aged Saturn beneath the murky abyss of
Tartarus, now rewards his ally with indignities because he had
compassion upon mortals.
Ocean then comes to Prometheus, offering sympathy and counsel, urging
him not to utter words thus harsh and whetted, lest Jupiter seated far
aloft may hear them and inflict upon him added woes to which his present
sufferings will seem but child's play.
Ocean having taken his departure, Prometheus again complains to the
chorus and enumerates the boons which he has bestowed upon mankind, with
the comment that though he has discovered such inventions for mortals,
he has no device whereby he may escape from his present misfortune.
Io, daughter of Inachus, beloved by Jove, but forced, through the
jealous hatred of Juno, to make many wanderings, then appears, and
beseeches Prometheus to discover to her what time shall be the limit of
her sufferings. Prometheus accedes to her request and relates how she
shall wander over many lands and seas until she reaches the city of
Canopus, at the mouth of the Nile, where she shall bring forth a
Jove-begotten child, from whose seed shall finally spring a dauntless
warrior renowned in archery, who will liberate Prometheus from his
captivity and accomplish the downfall of Jove.
Io then resumes her wanderings, and Mercury, sent by Jove, comes to
question Prometheus as to the nuptials which he has boasted will
accomplish the overthrow of the ruler of the Gods. Him Prometheus
reviles with opprobrious epithets, calling him a lackey of the Gods, and
refuses to disclose anything concerning the matter on which he questions
him. The winged God, replying, threatens him with dire calamities. A
tempest will come upon him and overwhelm him with thunderbolts, and a
bloodthirsting eagle shall feed upon his liver. Thus saying, he departs,
and immediately the earth commences to heave, the noise of thunder is
heard, vivid streaks of lightning blaze throughout the sky and a
hurricane--the onslaught of Jove--sweeps Prometheus away in its blast.
The "Seven against Thebes" includes in its cast of characters Eteocles,
King of Thebes, Antigone and Ismene, Sisters of the King, a Messenger
and a Herald. The play opens with the siege of Thebes. Eteocles appears
upon the Acropolis in the early morning, and exhorts the citizens to be
brave and be not over-dismayed at the rabble of alien besiegers. A
messenger arrives and announces the rapid approach of the Argives.
Eteocles goes to see that the battlements and the gates are properly
manned, and during his absence the chorus of Theban maidens set up a
great wail of distress and burst forth with violent lamentations.
Eteocles, returning, upbraids them severely for their weakness and bids
them begone and raise the sacred auspicious shout of the paean as an
encouragement to the Theban warriors. He then departs to prepare himself
and six others to meet in combat the seven chieftains who have come
against the city.
He soon re-enters, and at the same time comes the messenger from another
part of the city with fresh tidings of the foe and the arrangement of
the invaders around the walls of the city. By the gate of Proetus
stands the raging Tydeus with his helm of hairy crests and his buckler
tricked out with a full moon and a gleaming sky full of stars, against
whom Eteocles will marshal the wary son of Astacus, a noble and a modest
youth, who detests vain boastings and yet is not a coward.
By the Electron gate is stationed the giant Campaneus, who bears about
him the device of a naked man with a gleaming torch in his hands, crying
out "I will burn the city." Against him will be pitted the doughty
Polyphontes, favored by Diana and other gods.
Against the gate of Neis the mighty Eteoclus is wheeling his foaming
steeds, bearing a buckler blazoned with a man in armor treading the
steps of a ladder to his foeman's tower. Megareus, the offspring of
Creon, is the valiant warrior who will either pay the debt of his
nurture to his land or will decorate his father's house with the spoils
of the conquered Eteoclus.
The fiery Hippomedon is raging at the gate of Onca Minerva, bearing upon
his buckler a Typhon darting forth smoke through his fire-breathing
mouth, eager to meet the brave Hyperbius, son of OEnops, who has been
selected to check his impetuous onslaught.
At the gate of Boreas the youthful Parthenopaeus takes his stand, a
fair-faced stripling, upon whose face the youthful down is just making
its appearance. Opposed to him stands Actor, a man who is no braggart,
but who will not submit to boastful tauntings or permit the rash
intruder to batter his way into the city.
The mighty Amphiarus is waiting at the gate of Homoloeis, and in the
meantime reproaches his ally, Tydeus, calling him a homicide, and
Polynices he rebukes with having brought a mighty armament into his
native city. Lasthenes, he of the aged mind but youthful form, is the
Thebian who has been chosen to marshal his forces against this invader.
At the seventh gate stands Polynices, brother of Eteocles, bearing a
well-wrought shield with a device constructed upon it of a woman leading
on a mailed warrior, bringing havoc to his paternal city and desirous of
becoming a fratricide. Against him Eteocles will go and face him in
person, and leader against leader, brother against brother and foeman
against foeman, take his stand.
Eteocles then departs to engage in battle, and soon after the messenger
enters to announce that six of the Theban warriors have been successful,
but that Polynices and Eteocles have both fallen, slain by each other's
hand.
Antigone and Ismene then enter, each bewailing the death of their
brothers. A herald interrupts them in the midst of their lamentations to
announce to them the decree of the senate, which is that Eteocles, on
account of his attachment to his country, though a fratricide, shall be
honored with fitting funeral rites, but that Polynices, the would-be
overturner of his native city, shall be cast out unburied, a prey to the
dogs.
Against this decree Antigone rebels, and with her final words announces
her unalterable intention of burying her brother in spite of the fate
which awaits her disobedience to the will of the senate.