The Eumenides Lesson Plan

Although no contemporary writers or biographers provide much reliable information about the life of Aeschylus as it actually unfolded, it has been possible to reconstruct, from later ancient chroniclers and historians, a tentative outline. Aeschylus was born around 525 B.C.E at Eleusis, a town west of Athens and the famous home of the cult of Demeter, a mystery cult that, through various rituals, prepared Greek souls for their transition into the afterlife. His father was named Europhion and there is documentation of a brother who was later killed at the Battle of Marathon. The playwright matured as the Athenian democracy regained power after a period of tyranny and sought to hold it...