Introduction


Euripides
Euripides was the bad boy of Ancient Greek tragedy, a rebellious “upstart” who rejected many of the formal structural elements of drama during his time. Significantly reducing the emphasis of the chorus in his plays, Euripides instead shifted the focus to the characters themselves. This less-rigid approach gave him the freedom to explore character psychology more deeply, which eventually allowed to create three-dimensional, rounded figures, especially women such as the tragic heroine of his play Medea. Though ahead of their time in golden age Athens, his plays have since been embraced by modern audiences. And despite the notable work of his contemporaries Aeschylus and Sophocles, it is Euripides who gets the credit for giving Greek tragedy—and ultimately all drama—a human face.

Essential Facts

  1. Euripides is the author of The Cyclops, the only satyr play to survive in its entirety. Short, ribald, and comic, satyr plays were part of a tetralogy—a set of four plays that also included three tragedies.
  2. Euripides was frequently lampooned by the comic playwright Aristophanes. Euripides figured prominently in Aristophanes’ The Frogs, in which he and Aeschylus are brought back from the dead to debate which of them was the better dramatist. Naturally, Aeschylus won.
  3. Euripides’ works still appeal to even the avant-garde. His Alcestis was reimagined as a kind of performance art piece by theatrical experimenter Robert Wilson in 1986.
  4. Of all of the tragedians who competed in the City Dionysia, a dramatic festival hosted in ancient Athens, Euripides won the fewest prizes.
  5. Although Euripides was underappreciated by his contemporaries, history has been on his side. Of the three major Greek tragedians (Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides), the rebellious bad boy has had the largest number of complete plays to survive.
 

Recommended Resources

  1. Euripides - Critical Survey of Drama
  2. Medea Lesson Plans
  3. Medea Study Guide (eNotes)
  4. The Bacchae Study Guide (eNotes)

All Resources

Display as: Categories, List
  1. Alcestis - Literary Characters
  2. Alcestis - Literary Places
  3. Andromache - Book Review
  4. Andromache - Literary Characters
  5. Andromache - Literary Places
  6. Classical and Medieval Literature Criticism
  7. Cyclops - Literary Characters
  8. Electra - Book Review
  9. Electra - Literary Characters
  10. Electra - Literary Places
  11. Euripides - Critical Survey of Drama
  12. Helen - Literary Characters
  13. Heracles - Literary Characters
  14. Hippolytus - Book Review
  15. Hippolytus - Literary Characters
  16. Hippolytus - Literary Places
  17. Ion - Literary Characters
  18. Iphigenia (1977)
  19. Iphigenia in Aulis - Literary Characters
  20. Iphigenia in Aulis - Literary Places
  21. Iphigenia in Tauris - Literary Characters
  22. Iphigenia in Taurus Study Guide
  23. Medea
  24. Medea (1970)
  25. Medea (1988)
  26. Medea - Literary Characters
  27. Medea - Literary Places
  28. Medea and Electra Study Guide
  29. Medea Lesson Plans
  30. Medea Study Guide (eNotes)
  31. The Bacchae - Book Review
  32. The Bacchae - Literary Characters
  33. The Bacchae - Literary Places
  34. The Bacchae Study Guide (eNotes)
  35. The Children of Herakles - Literary Characters
  36. The Oxford Companion to English Literature Article on Euripides
  37. The Oxford Companion to English Literature Article on Euripides
  38. The Oxford Companion to English Literature Article on Euripides
  39. The Phoenician Women - Literary Characters
  40. The Suppliants - Literary Characters
  41. The Trojan Women - Book Review
  42. The Trojan Women - Literary Characters
  43. The Trojan Women - Literary Places
  44. Trojan Women (1971)