053 - Euripides at War

In this episode, we discuss the historicity and some of the major themes of Euripides' surviving plays that he produced against the backdrop of the Peloponnesian War, which include The Children of Herakles, Andromache, Hecuba, The Suppliants, Electra, The Madness of Herakles, The Trojan Women, Iphigenia in Tauris, Ion, Helen, The Phoenician Women, Orestes, and Iphigenia at Aulis (excluding The Bacchae)

480 BC - Euripides is born

455 BC - Euripides competes in his first Dionysia (unknown work)

ca. 442-441 BC - Euripides wins his first victory at the Dionysia (unknown work); Sophocles stages trilogy with Antigone and Ajax (his oldest surviving plays)

438 BC - Euripides stages a tetralogy with Alcestis (mixed satyr/drama) as the fourth play 

431 BC - Aeschylus' son, Euphorion, wins first prize at the Dionysia (unknown work); Sophocles places second (unknown work); Euripides places third (trilogy with Medea)

430 BC - Euripides stages trilogy with The Children of Herakles

428 BC - Euripides stages trilogy with Hippolytus and takes first place; Sophocles' son, Iophon, places second (unknown work); Ion places third (unknown work)

ca. 428-425 BC - Euripides stages trilogy with Andromache

424 BC - Euripides stages trilogy with Hecuba

423 BC - Euripides stages trilogy with The Suppliants

ca. mid-410s BC - Euripides stages trilogy with Electra

416 BC - Euripides stages trilogy with The Madness of Herakles

415 BC - Euripides stages trilogy with The Trojan Women and takes second place; defeated by Xenokles (unknown work); third place is unknown

ca. 414-412 BC - Euripides stages trilogies with Iphigenia in Tauris and Ion

412 BC - Euripides stages trilogy with Helen

412-408 BC - Euripides stages trilogy with The Phoenician Women

408 BC - Euripides stages trilogy with Orestes

ca. 408-406 BC - Euripides migrates to the court of Archelaos, King of Macedon, where he composed a play in his honor, titled Archelaos (lost work)

406 BC - Euripides dies while in Macedon

405 BC - Euripides' son or nephew posthumously wins first prize at the Dionysia by staging trilogy with his last two completed surviving plays, Iphigenia in Aulis and The Bacchae; the third play, Alcmeon in Corinth, survives only in fragments 

Primary Sources:
Text/Euripides' The Children of Herakles
Text/Euripides' Andromache
Text/Euripides' Hecuba
Text/Euripides' The Suppliants
Text/Euripides' Electra
Text/Euripides' The Madness of Herakles
Text/Euripides' The Trojan Women
Text/Euripides' Iphigenia in Tauris
Text/Euripides' Ion
Text/Euripides' Helen
Text/Euripides' The Phoenician Women
Text/Euripides' Orestes
Text/Euripides' Iphigenia at Aulis

052 - Early Euripides

In this episode, we discuss the life, theatrical innovations, and tragic works of the third great Athenian playwright, Euripides; and the historicity and some of the major themes of his earliest surviving plays, which include Cyclops, Rhesus, Alcestis, Medea, and Hippolytus

480 BC - Euripides is born

455 BC - Euripides competes in his first Dionysia (unknown work)

ca. 442-441 BC - Euripides wins his first victory at the Dionysia (unknown work); Sophocles stages trilogy with Antigone and Ajax (his oldest surviving plays)

438 BC - Euripides stages a tetralogy with Alcestis (mixed satyr/drama) as the fourth play 

431 BC - Aeschylus' son, Euphorion, wins first prize at the Dionysia (unknown work); Sophocles places second (unknown work); Euripides places third (trilogy with Medea)

430 BC - Euripides stages trilogy with The Children of Herakles

428 BC - Euripides stages trilogy with Hippolytus and takes first place; Sophocles' son, Iophon, places second (unknown work); Ion places third (unknown work)

ca. 428-425 BC - Euripides stages trilogy with Andromache

424 BC - Euripides stages trilogy with Hecuba

423 BC - Euripides stages trilogy with The Suppliants

ca. mid-410s BC - Euripides stages trilogy with Electra

416 BC - Euripides stages trilogy with The Madness of Herakles

415 BC - Euripides stages trilogy with The Trojan Women and takes second place; defeated by Xenokles (unknown work); third place is unknown

ca. 414-412 BC - Euripides stages trilogies with Iphigenia in Tauris and Ion

412 BC - Euripides stages trilogy with Helen

412-408 BC - Euripides stages trilogy with The Phoenician Women

408 BC - Euripides stages trilogy with Orestes

ca. 408-406 BC - Euripides migrates to the court of Archelaos, King of Macedon, where he composed a play in his honor, titled Archelaos (lost work)

406 BC - Euripides dies while in Macedon

405 BC - Euripides' son or nephew posthumously wins first prize at the Dionysia by staging trilogy with his last two completed surviving plays, Iphigenia in Aulis and The Bacchae; the third play, Alcmeon in Corinth, survives only in fragments 

Primary Sources:

Text/Euripides' Cyclops

Text/Euripides' Rhesus

Text/Euripides' Alcestis

Text/Euripides' Medea

Text/Euripides' Hippolytus

051 - Sophocles

In this episode, we discuss the life, theatrical innovations, and tragic works of the second great Athenian playwright, Sophocles; and the historicity and some of the major themes of his seven surviving plays, which include Antigone, Ajax, Oedipus Rex, The Women of Trachis, Philoctetes, Electra, and Oedipus at Colonus

497 BC - Sophocles is born

479 BC - 18-year-old Sophocles is chosen to lead the paean (a choral chant to a god), celebrating the Greek victory over the Persians at the Battle of Salamis

ca. 475-470 BC - Sophocles competes in his first Dionysia (unknown work)

468 BC - Sophocles wins his first victory at the Dionysia (unknown work) over Aeschylus; unusual in that Kimon and the other strategoi served as judges; Aeschylus and Sophocles dominate the dramatic competitions as rivals for the next decade

456 BC - Death of Aeschylus; Sophocles becomes preeminent playwright in Athens

443-442 BC - Sophocles served as one of the Hellenotamiai, or treasurers of Athena, who managed the finances of the city and the empire during the political ascendancy of Pericles

ca. 442-441 BC - Euripides wins his first victory at the Dionysia (unknown work); Sophocles stages trilogy with Antigone and Ajax (his oldest surviving plays)

441-440 BC - Sophocles, as one of the ten strategoi, served in Athens' campaign at Samos

431 BC - Aeschylus' son, Euphorion, wins first prize at the Dionysia (unknown work); Sophocles places second (unknown work); Euripides places third (trilogy with Medea)

429 BC - Sophocles stages trilogy with Oedipus Rex and takes second place; defeated by Aeschylus' nephew, Philokles (unknown work); third place is unknown

ca. 425-420 BC - Sophocles stages trilogy with Women of Trachis 

420 BC - After Asklepios is introduced from Epidauros into the city of Athens, Sophocles welcomes and set up at his house an altar for the image of the god, in his guise as a serpent; for this, after his death, he was worshipped at a hero shrine on the western slope of the Acropolis, where he was given the posthumous epithet, Dexion, meaning "the Receiver"

413 BC - Sophocles is elected as one of the probouloi, or "commissioners," who responded to the catastrophic destruction of the Athenian fleet in Sicily

409 BC - Sophocles stages trilogy with Philoctetes

ca. 409-406 BC - Sophocles stages trilogy with Electra

Winter 406/5 BC - Sophocles dies in Athens

401 BC - Sophocles' grandson (also named Sophocles) posthumously stages trilogy with his last completed and final surviving play, Oedipus at Colonus

Primary Sources:
Text/Sophocles' Antigone
Text/Sophocles' Ajax
Text/Sophocles' Oedipus the King
Text/Sophocles' The Trackers (fragmentary satyr play)
Text/Sophocles' The Women of Trachis

Text/Sophocles' Philoctetes
Text/Sophocles' Electra
Text/Sophocles' Oedipus at Colonus