Euripides: Difference between revisions

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[[Image:Euripides.jpg|right|thumb|200px| A Statue of Euripides]]

'''Euripides''' (c. [[480 B.C.BC|480]]–[[406 BC|406]] BCE) was one of the three great [[tragedy|tragedians]] of classical [[Athens]], along with [[Aeschylus]] and [[Sophocles]].

He is believed to have written over ninety plays, eighteen of which have survived (it is now widely believed that a nineteenth, ''[[Rhesus (play)|Rhesus]]'', was written by someone else). Fragments, some of them substantial, of most of the other plays also survive. More of his [[plays]] have survived than those of [[Aeschylus]] and [[Sophocles]] together, partly because of the chance preservation of a manuscript that was probably part of a complete collection of his works.<!--source?-->

Euripides is known primarily for having reshaped the formal structure of traditional [[Attic]] tragedy by showing strong women characters and smart [[slave]]s, and by satirizing many [[hero]]es of [[Greek mythology]].

==Life==

[[image:Euripides Statue.jpg|thumb|[[Euripides]]., [[Vatican Museum]]]]

<!--According to legend, Euripides was born in [[Salamís]] on [[September 23]], (480 BC); the day of the [[Peloponnesian War]]'s greatest naval battle. - please provide a source for this, and how could the exact date be known?-->

His mother's name was Cleito, and his father's either Mnesarchus or Mnesarchides. Evidence suggests that Euripides' family was financially well off. He had a wife named [[Melito]], and together they had three sons. It is rumored that he also had a daughter, but she was killed after a [[Rabies|rabid]] dog attacked her. Some call this rumor a joke made by [[Aristophanes]], a comic writer who often poked fun at Euripides. However, many historians fail to see the humor in it, and believe that the story is indeed true.

The record of Euripides' public life, other than his involvement in dramatic competitions, is almost non-existent. It has been said that he travelled to [[Syracuse, Italy|Syracuse]], [[Sicily]], that he engaged in various public or political activities during his lifetime, and that he left [[Athens]] at the invitation of kingKing [[Archelaus II of Macedon|Archelaus II]] and stayed with him in [[Macedon|Macedonia]] after [[408 BC|408 BCE]]; there is, however, no historical evidence for any of these claims.

According to legend Euripides was born in [[Salamís]] on [[September 23]] (480 BC); the day of the [[Peloponnesian War]]'s greatest naval battle.

His mother's name was [[Cleito]], and his father's either [[Mnesarchus]] or [[Mnesarchides]]. Evidence suggests that Euripides' family was financially well off, and very influential. Due to this he was exposed to the great thinkers and philosophies of the day--including [[Protagoras]] [[Socrates]], and [[Anaxagoras]], who maintained that the [[sun]] was not a golden chariot steered across the sky by some elusive [[god]], but rather a fiery mass of earth or stone. This exposure lead to his questioning of the religion he grew up with (It is recorded that he served as a cup-bearer for [[Apollo]]'s dancers).

He had a wife named [[Melito]], and together they had three sons. It is rumored that he also had a daughter, but she was killed after a [[Rabies|rabid]] dog attacked her. Some call this rumor a joke made by [[Aristophanes]], a comic writer who often poked fun at Euripides. However, many historians fail to see the humor in it, and believe that the story is indeed true.

The record of Euripides' public life, other than his involvement in dramatic competitions, is almost non-existent. It has been said that he travelled to [[Syracuse, Italy|Syracuse]], [[Sicily]], that he engaged in various public or political activities during his lifetime, and that he left [[Athens]] at the invitation of king [[Archelaus II of Macedon|Archelaus II]] and stayed with him in [[Macedon|Macedonia]] after [[408 BC]]; there is, however, no historical evidence for any of these claims.

==His plays==

Euripides first competed in the famous Athenian dramatic festival (the [[Dionysia]]) in [[455 BC|455 BCE]], one year after the death of [[Aeschylus]]. He came in third, <!--because he refused to cater to the fanciesfancy of the Judges.judges:please supply a source--> It was not until [[441 BC|441 BCE]] that he won first place, and over the course of his lifetime, Euripides claimed a mere four victories.

He was a frequent target of Aristophanes' humor. He appears as a character in ''[[The Acharnians]]'', ''[[Thesmophoriazousae]]'', and most memorably in ''[[The Frogs]]'', where [[Dionysus]] travels to [[Hades]] to bring Euripides back from the dead. After a competition of poetry, [[Dionysus]] opts to bring [[Aeschylus]] instead.

Euripides' final competition in Athens was in [[408 BC]]BCE. Although there is a story that he left Athens embittered because of his defeats, there is no real evidence to support it. He died in [[406 BC]]BCE, probably in [[Athen]]sAthens or nearby, and not in [[Macedon]], as some biographers repeatedly state. ''[[The Bacchae]]'' was performed after his death in [[405 BC|405 BCE]].

When compared with Aeschylus, who won thirteen times, and Sophocles, with eighteen victories, Euripides was the least honored, though not necessarily the least popular, of the three &mdash; at least in his lifetime. Later, in the [[4th century BC]], the [[drama]]s of Euripides became more popular than those of [[Aeschylus]] and [[Sophocles]]. His works influenced [[New Comedy]] and [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] drama, and were later idolized by the [[French classicists]]; his influence on drama reaches modern times.

Euripides' greatest works are considered to be ''[[Alcestis (play)|Alcestis]]'', ''[[Medea (play)|Medea]]'', ''[[Electra (Euripides)|Electra]]'', and ''[[The Bacchae]]''.

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===Tragedies of Euripides===

# ''[[Alcestis (play)|Alcestis]]'' ([[438 BC|438 BCE]], second prize)

# ''[[Medea (play)|Medea]]'' ([[431 BC|431 BCE]], third prize)

# ''[[Heracleidae (play)|HeracleidaeChildren of Heracles]]'' (c. [[430 BC|430 BCE]])

# ''[[Hippolytus (play)|Hippolytus]]'' ([[428 BC|428 BCE]], first prize)

# ''[[Andromache]]'' (c. [[425 BC|435 BCE]])

# ''[[Hecuba (play)|Hecuba]]'' (c. [[424 BC|424 BCE]])

# ''[[The Suppliants (Euripides)|The SuppliantsSuppliant Women]]'' (c. [[423 BC|423 BCE]])

# ''[[Electra (Euripides)|Electra]]'' (c. [[420 BC|420 BCE]])

# ''[[Heracles (Euripides)|Heracles]]'' (c. [[416 BC|416 BCE]])

# ''[[Trojan Women]]'' ([[415 BC|415 BCE]], second prize)

# ''[[Iphigeneia in Tauris]]'' (c. [[414 BC|414 BCE]])

# ''[[Ion (play)|Ion]]'' (c. [[413 BC|413 BCE]])

# ''[[Helen (play)|Helen]]'' ([[412 BC|412 BCE]])

# ''[[Phoenician Women]]'' (c. [[410 BC|410 BCE]], second prize)

# ''[[Orestes (play)|Orestes]]'' ([[408 BC|408 BCE]])

# ''[[The Bacchae|Bacchae]]'' and ''[[Iphigeneia at Aulis]]'' ([[405 BC|405 BCE]], posthumous, first prize)

===Fragmentary tragedies of Euripides===

The following plays have come down to us today only in fragmentary form; some consist of only a handful of lines, but with some the fragments are extensive enough to allow tentative reconstruction: see ''Euripides: Selected Fragmentary Plays'' (Aris and Phillips 1995) ed. C. Collard, M.J. Cropp and K.H. Lee.

# ''Telephus'' (438 BCBCE)

# ''Cretans'' (c. [[435 BC|435 BCE]])

# ''Stheneboea'' (before [[429 BC|429 BCE]])

# ''[[Bellerophon]]'' (c. 430 BC)

# ''Cresphontes'' (ca. [[425 BC|425 BCE]])

# ''Erechtheus'' ([[422 BC|422 BCE]])

# ''[[Phaethon]]'' (c. 420 BCBCE)

# ''Wise Melanippe'' (c. 420 BCBCE)

# ''Alexandros'' (415 BCBCE)

# ''Palamedes'' (415 BCBCE)

# ''Sisyphus'' (415 BCBCE)

# ''Captive Melanippe'' (412 BCBCE)

# ''[[Andromeda]]'' (c. 410 BCBCE)

# ''Antiope'' (c. 410 BCBCE)

# ''Archelaus'' (c. 410 BCBCE)

# ''Hypsipyle'' (c. 410 BCBCE)

# ''[[Oedipus]]'' (c. 410 BCBCE)

# ''Philoctetes'' (c. 410 BCBCE)

===Satyr play===

# ''CyclopssCyclops'' (unknown)

===Spurious plays===

# ''[[Rhesus (play)|Rhesus]]'' (mid 4th century BC,BCE) probablyProbably not by Euripides, as originally argued by L. C. Valcknaer and now maintained today by most scholars ([http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/eb11-euripides.html Ancient History Sourcebook])

== See also ==

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== References ==

*Croally, N.T. ''Euripidean Polemic: The Trojan Women and the Function of Tragedy''. Cambridge University Press, [[1994]].

*Ippolito, P. ''La vita di Euripide''. N�poles: Dipartimento di Filologia Classica dell'Universit'a degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, [[1999]].

*Kovacs, D. ''Euripidea''. Leiden: Brill, 1994.

*[[Mary Lefkowitz|Lefkowitz, M.R.]] ''The Lives of the Greek Poets''. London: Duckworth, [[1981]].

*Scullion, S. ''Euripides and Macedon, or the silence of the Frogs''. The Classical Quarterly, Oxford, v. 53, n. 2, p. 389-400, [[2003]].

*Webster, T.B.L., ''The Tragedies of Euripides'', Methuen, [[1967]].

== External links ==

{{wikiquote}}

*{{gutenberg author| id=Euripides | name=Euripides}}

*http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761567264/Euripides.html

*http://perseus.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/text?lookup=encyclopedia+Euripides

*http://www.theatrehistory.com/ancient/euripides001.html

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*http://www.ac-strasbourg.fr/pedago/lettres/Victor%20Hugo/Notes/Euripide.htm

*http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/~amahoney/tragedy_dates.html

*[http://www.gpc.edu/~shale/humanities/literature/world_literature/euripides.html *http://www.gpc.edu/~shale/humanities/literature/world_literature/euripides.html]

*[http://www.imagi-nation.com/moonstruck/clsc4.htm http://www.imagi-nation.com/moonstruck/clsc4.htm]

[[Category:480 BC births]]

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[[Category:Ancient Greek poets]]

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