{"product_id":"2940013693166","title":"The Orestia","description":"Of the life of Aeschylus, the first of the three great masters of Greek\u003cbr\u003etragedy, only a very meager outline has come down to us. He was born at\u003cbr\u003eEleusis, near Athens, B. C. 525, the son of Euphorion. Before he was\u003cbr\u003etwenty-five he began to compete for the tragic prize, but did not win a\u003cbr\u003evictory for twelve years. He spent two periods of years in Sicily, where\u003cbr\u003ehe died in 456, killed, it is said, by a tortoise which an eagle dropped\u003cbr\u003eon his head. Though a professional writer, he did his share of fighting\u003cbr\u003efor his country, and is reported to have taken part in the battles of\u003cbr\u003eMarathon, Salamis, and Plataea.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOf the seventy or eighty plays which he is said to have written, only\u003cbr\u003eseven survive: \"The Persians,\" dealing with the defeat of Xerxes at Salamis;\u003cbr\u003e\"The Seven against Thebes,\" part of a tetralogy on the legend of Thebes;\u003cbr\u003e\"The Suppliants,\" on the daughters of Danaüs; \"Prometheus Bound,\" part of\u003cbr\u003ea trilogy, of which the first part was probably \"Prometheus, the Fire-bringer,\"\u003cbr\u003eand the last, \"Prometheus Unbound\"; and the \"Oresteia,\" the only example of a\u003cbr\u003ecomplete Greek tragic trilogy which has come down to us, consisting of\u003cbr\u003e\"Agamemnon,\" \"Choephorae\" (The Libation-Bearers), and the \"Eumenides\" (Furies).\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe importance of Aeschylus in the development of the drama is immense.\u003cbr\u003eBefore him tragedy had consisted of the chorus and one actor; and by\u003cbr\u003eintroducing a second actor, expanding the dramatic dialogue thus made\u003cbr\u003epossible, and reducing the lyrical parts, he practically created Greek\u003cbr\u003etragedy as we understand it. Like other writers of his time, he acted in\u003cbr\u003ehis own plays, and trained the chorus in their dances and songs; and he\u003cbr\u003edid much to give impressiveness to the performances by his development of\u003cbr\u003ethe accessories of scene and costume on the stage. Of the four plays here\u003cbr\u003ereproduced, \"Prometheus Bound\" holds an exceptional place in the literature\u003cbr\u003eof the world. (As conceived by Aeschylus, Prometheus is the champion of man\u003cbr\u003eagainst the oppression of Zeus; and the argument of the drama has a certain\u003cbr\u003ecorrespondence to the problem of the Book of Job.) The Oresteian trilogy on\u003cbr\u003e\"The House of Atreus\" is one of the supreme productions of all literature.\u003cbr\u003eIt deals with the two great themes of the retribution of crime and the\u003cbr\u003einheritance of evil; and here again a parallel may be found between the\u003cbr\u003eassertions of the justice of God by Aeschylus and by the Hebrew prophet\u003cbr\u003eEzekiel. Both contend against the popular idea that the fathers have eaten\u003cbr\u003esour grapes and the children's teeth are set on edge; both maintain that\u003cbr\u003ethe soul that sinneth, it shall die. The nobility of thought and the majesty\u003cbr\u003eof style with which these ideas are set forth give this triple drama its place\u003cbr\u003eat the head of the literary masterpieces of the antique world.","brand":"WDS Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47083156832496,"sku":"2940013693166","price":2.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940013693166_p0.jpg?v=1763584449","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940013693166","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}