Darkthorn’s Blog

The three main tragedians of Classical Greece are Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides. Each has his own individual style, as explained later in this paper.

Euripides could be read superficially as a “realist”, but he frequently presents fragmented worlds described in very formal language. He usually opens his plays with a non-naturalistic prologue in the form of a monologue, then closes them with a detached coda, often by the appearance of a deity. Like Aeschylus, Euripides is innovative, often adapting traditional stories in order to create reoccurring dramatic situations which often focus on female characters.

Aeschylus is described as the greatest innovator and the most imaginative of the Greek Dramatists. In his early works Aeschylus uses two leading actors, as the main interaction of the play is between character and chorus, not from the contact between character and character. The central interest of the play, established by the chorus, is therefore in situations and a build up of tension leading towards a climax. He introduces a third actor to his later plays as a kind of alternative chorus, enabling the main characters to interact. Aeschylus’ lyric style is flexible, contains patterns of language and is usually easier to understand than that of Sophocles. The politics and intricacies of community life are intrinsically linked into Aeschylus’ works.

Sophocles is sometimes described as having a ‘middling’ style. His rich, formal language, following highly structured rules, can be esoteric. Yet he uses it with tact and subtlety, maintaining the pulse of the verse – hardly an average playwright. He also specialises in enacted metaphor and often achieves the powerful effects of the eerie and uncanny. Sophocles’ theatricality is expressed through significant objects and events that promote a connection between gods and men in the form of dreams, oracles and omens.

It can be appreciated that each of these writers has developed a unique style for dramatising the diverse myths of their time.

References

Hornblower, Simon and Antony Spawforth, ed. Oxford Classical Mythology Dictionary. 2003.