Euripides

Euripides (c. 480–406 BCE) was an ancient Greek tragedian from Athens, regarded as one of the three great tragedians alongside Aeschylus and Sophocles. Born on the island of Salamis, he produced plays for the city’s dramatic festivals and is known for introducing a more realistic and psychologically complex style to Greek tragedy. His work often questions traditional beliefs, authority, and the gods, while placing ordinary people and their moral choices at the center of the action.

Over his career Euripides wrote roughly 90 plays, but only about 19 complete works survive today, along with substantial fragments. Among the best-known extant plays are Medea, The Trojan Women, Hecuba, Hippolytus, Electra, Iphigenia in Tauris, Andromache, The Phoenician Women, The Suppliants, and The Bacchae. These works explore themes such as gender, family, power, war, and religious doubt, and they frequently present strong, nuanced female protagonists. Euripides is also noted for his more skeptical or skeptical-tinged treatment of myth and piety, as well as his focus on character-driven tragedy rather than purely grand spectacle.

His influence on later drama was considerable, shaping both Hellenistic and Roman tragedy and informing modern perceptions of dramatic realism and human psychology. Despite facing political criticism in his lifetime, Euripides’ plays were revived and studied for centuries, contributing to enduring debates about fate, justice, and the human condition. He died in 406 BCE, during a visit to the court of King Archelaus of Macedon, leaving a legacy that continued to shape theatrical storytelling long after his death.