Classical Wisdom Litterae - Nov 2019

VI c 4 1 5 Trojan Women is staged and is not well received, as it seems to contain an anti- war message. Many accuse Euripides of being anti-Athenian. c 4 1 4 About this time, Euripides is not popular in Athens. He is believed, similarly to Socrates, to be disrespectful to the gods and traditions of the city. c 4 1 3 Euripides becomes increasingly reclusive and it is claimed that he withdrew to live in a cave with a library. 4 1 2 Helen is written, Iphigenia among the Taurians is publicly staged, and the satyr play Cyclops is first performed, the only complete extent surviving example of the genre. Euripides is invited to the Macedonian Court by King Archelaus, where he continues to write. In one story, the King permits him to whip a man who insults him for having bad breath. c 4 1 1 c 4 1 0 Ion is staged. Many believe that Euripides is writing escapist fantasies so the Athenian audience can escape from the horrors of the Peloponnesian War. 4 0 8 4 0 9 The Phoenicians is first staged. Orestes is given its first public performance. Many believe that Euripides wrote it in a state of despair. 4 0 8 - 4 0 6 Bacchae and Iphigenia at Aulis are written and performed. The Bacchae may have been written to refute a charge of impiety. 4 0 6 Euripides dies in Macedonia. Some claim that he died in the winter cold, others that he died after being attacked by the Macedonian King’s Molossian Hounds. 4 0 4 The Peloponnesian War ends. According to legend, the Spartans decided not to destroy defeated Athens after being moved by the beauty of Euripides’ lyrics. D E A T H