...Tragedy” was born in 525 B.C in the city of Eleusis. He was the son of Euphorion and the brother to Cynegeirus, Euphorion, and Ameinias and it is said that he also had a sister. It is not a hundred percent sure but historians are lead to believe that Aeschylus and his family belonged to Eupatridae. This means that he was heir to an aristocratic tradition back to the tribal society of primitive Attica. When Aeschylus was a young adult he was known to have fought in the Persian Wars. In the Battle at Marathon Aeschylus and his brother Cynegeirus fought to defend Athens against Darius. Though Athens did win this battle it was here that Aeschylus lost his brother at battle. The next battle that he served in was the Battle at Salamis. It is this naval battle that holds significance in his oldest surviving play The Persians.
Aeschylus made his debut at the City Dionysia (a festival held in honor of the God Dionysus in the month of March between the first quarter and full moon of the month) in 500 B.C. He was only twenty five years old when he took part in his first contest at the City Dionysia. It wasn’t until about fifteen years later in 484 BC that he won his first prize at this yearly festival and that first win was followed by twelve more victories. Because Aeschylus was only twenty five when he debuted at the City Dionysia it makes it very clear that he began writing plays at a fairly young age. It is said that Aeschylus knew that he was meant to be a writer of tragedies because when he was a young child he was sent to watch his father’s flocks in the countryside and was visited by the God Dionysus and he told him that he is meant to write tragedies for their [1]glorification in the religious festivals. It was the next day that he began writing.
The City of Eleusis where Aeschylus was born was the central worshipping area for the Goddess Demeter. This explains...
