The tragic cycle of justice. Aeschylus (c. 525–456 BCE), the dramatist who made Athenian tragedy one of the greatest forms of art in the world, was a witness to the establishment of democracy in Athens, fought against the Persians at the Battle of Marathon and possibly also at Salamis, and had one of his performances funded by the young Pericles. He was summoned to visit Sicily twice, where he died.
In Athens, he competed for the tragedy prize at the City Dionysia about nineteen times between 499 and 458 BCE, winning it thirteen times. In his later years, he was likely victorious in almost every production he presented, though Sophocles defeated him at least once. Of his total of about eighty works, seven have survived intact.
The first volume of this new edition of the Loeb Classical Library includes fresh texts and translations by Alan H. Sommerstein for the "Persians" (472), concerning the recent war, the only surviving Greek historical drama. It also includes "Seven Against Thebes" (467), the third play of a trilogy, about the conflict between the sons of Oedipus, which ends with them killing each other. Additionally, it includes the "Suppliants," the first or second play of a trilogy, about the successful appeal of the daughters of Danaus to the king and the people of Argos for protection from a forced marriage to their cousins (whom they will later kill, all but one); and the "Prometheus Bound" (authenticity disputed), about the terrible punishment of Prometheus for giving fire to humans in defiance of Zeus (with whom he will later reconcile after averting his overthrow).
The second volume includes the complete trilogy "Oresteia" (458), consisting of "Agamemnon," "Libation Bearers," and "Eumenides," presenting the murder of Agamemnon by his wife, the revenge taken by their son Orestes, the pursuit of Orestes by the vengeful Furies of his mother, his trial and acquittal in Athens, the reconciliation of the Furies by Athena, and the blessings that both invoke for the Athenian people.
The third volume of this edition offers all the main excerpts from lost Aeschylean works, with brief headings explaining their known or possible contents, and bibliographies of recent studies.
