Aeschylus (525 BC – 456 BC) was a playwright of ancient Greece and is considered the father of Tragedy. He wrote between 70 and 90 plays, won 28 competitions and completely altered the face of the stage… As well as being an important dramatist, he was a successful military man, having taken part in both the Battle of Marathon and the Battle of Salamis.
He is the earliest of the three greatest Greek tragedians, the others being Sophocles and Euripides… and below are Aeschylus’ best quotes.
Bust of Aeschylus
“It is not the oath that makes us believe the man, but the man the oath.” – Fragment 385
“For somehow this is tyranny’s disease, to trust no friends.” – Prometheus Bound, lines 224–225
“Words are the physicians of a mind diseased.” – Prometheus Bound, line 378
“His resolve is not to seem, but to be, the best.” – Seven Against Thebes, line 592
“Wisdom comes through suffering.” – The Oresteia, line 178
“It is in the character of very few men to honor without envy a friend who has prospered. – The Oresteia, lines 832–833
“Only when man’s life comes to its end in prosperity can one call that man happy.” – The Oresteia, lines 928–929
“Death is better, a milder fate than tyranny.” – The Oresteia, line 1364
“Good fortune is a god among men, and more than a god.” – The Libation Bearers, line 59
Did you know??
Robert F. Kennedy quoted these lines in his speech announcing the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. on 4 April 1968. His version of Aeschylus’ poetry:
Even in our sleep, pain which cannot forget
falls drop by drop upon the heart
until, in our own despair, against our will,
comes wisdom through the awful grace of God.
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