Euripides

flat =Biography:= Euripides was born the year 485 B.C. in Salamis. He was raised in a wealthy, cultured family in Phlya, Athens. While he was young, he served as a wine-pouter and a torch-bearer for wealthy families. A few years after Euripides was born, he discovered that he was destined to win something called "crowns of victory". When his father and he found this out, his father made him train in athletics. Because of this, Euripides was not only a writer, but also an accomplished athlete. His writing career excelled to the point that he eventually became known as the youngest of the three great tragedians of classical Athens, the other two being Sophicles and Aeschylus. He won 5 victories out of the 22 that he competed in at Dramatic Competitions. He studied poetry and philosophy as well. Euripides had two completely awful marriages, in which both wives were unfaithful to him. This caused Euripides to go into exile by his own choosing, where he did most of his work in a cave. Euripides later retired to Macedonia, where he died in 407 B.C.

=** Writing Style: **= Euripides mostly wrote plays and dramas. He was also called one of the most tragic writers. One thing he did differently from other play writes was that he portrayed ordinary people as heroes. He was unique, too, in that he had women as main characters in his plays, as well as an intellectual servant class. He was the first to develop a form of play later refereed to as a comedy. Another thing that made his writing unique was that he focused on the psychology of his characters motives, diving deep into their thoughts. Most of Euripides plays were written from the views of the Gods. Out of all the events that the characters in his plays experienced, Euripides almost never took part in any of these. He wrote approximately 92 plays. the exact number is uncertain because many of them have been lost or destroyed over time. Of the original 92 plays, around 18 of them have survived and only 1 has survived as a fragment.

=Works**:** ﻿=

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-Euripides wrote many plays, which is what he is remembered for. The first play he wrote was called //Alcestis// (438 B.C.). Seven years later, he wrote //Medea// (431 B.C.). He then wrote //Hippolytus// and //The Children of Hercules//. He wrote many others, of which the dates are uncertain. He only won 5 awards out of all of the plays that he wrote, but because of his rise of popularity in the future generations, a lot of his plays were preserved.=====

-The first play that Euripides wrote was //Alcestis.// -It was first play produced in front of a crowd at the City Dionysia Festival. He won second place. -In this play Euripides gave a young boy a speaking role, which was unusual at the time.

-//Medea// was the second play that Euripides wrote. -It was based on the myth of Media and her husband Jason. -It was about the revenge and jealousy of a woman betrayed.

-Then Euripides wrote the //Children of Hercales//. -First produced at the City Dionysia Festival. It won no prize. The second play surviving about Hercales.

-After that he wrote //Hippolytus.// -the origional verson, (//Hippolytus Veiled//) had to be revised because the caracter Phaedra, Hippolytus' stepmother, was far to lustful for the approval of the audiance. - Euripides second verson, (//Hippolytus who wears a crown)// had a much more appropriate Phaedra. This verson won first place at the City Dionysial Festival.

= = = Euripides Facts: = -Introduced “dues ex machine”, a plot device in which someone or something, often a god or goddess, is introduced suddenly and unexpectedly to provide a contrived solution to an apparently insoluble difficulty, to resolve his plays.

-Euripides was considered inferior to Sophocles and many of the other writers of his time, and was less popular because of the way he wrote. He made realistic characters that showed real emotions for real situations. Euripides was looked down on for the fact that his writings were ahead of his time.

-It wasn’t until nearly nine hundred years later in the fourth century that his writings were popular. His writing style was used on many Roman dramas and New Comedy writings.

-It is debated by many that Euripides parents are from a noble origin or a humble origin.

-Of the ninety two surviving plays Euripides wrote, he won first prize for only five of them.

-Although Euripides plays weren’t popular at first, they became popular throughout Greece by the end of his life. It wasn’t until nearly the fourth century, though, that the plays were understood and the style was used in plays by writers of the fourth century.

-Euripides works varied from the normal, by viewing life of ordinary individuals, not legendary characters that were god-like, perfect beings.

-He was capable of bitter, realistic observation of human weaknesses and corruption, and yet just as often his work reflected respect for human heroism, dignity, and more tender sentiments.

-Euripides use of the chorus was unusual to many other writers. In his later plays he used the choral odes to back-up the theme and tell the audience what the stories theme is, and less of using them in part of the dramatic action

= Euripides Quotes: = = = = =

“Sweet is the remembrance of troubles when you are in safety.” “Time will explain it all. He is a talker, and needs no questioning before he speaks.” “In case of dissension, never dare to judge till you've heard the other side.” =Sources:= []; []; []; [] Sources: Gill, N.S. "Euripides - A Writer of Greek Tragedy." //Ancient / Classical History - Ancient Greece & Rome & Classics Research Guide//. Web. 27 Sept. 2011. [].> "Euripides and His Tragedies." //TheatreHistory.com//. Historical Publishing Company. Web. 27 Sept. 2011. atrehistory.com/ancient/euripides001.html>. Kates, Herbert S. "Euripides." //Theatre Database//. Minute Histroy of the Drama. Web. 27 Sept. 2011. <[]>. Grant, Michael. //Greek and Latin Authors.// New York: H.W. Wilson Company,1980 Writer of Greek Tragedy." //Ancient / Classical History - Ancient Greece & Rome & Classics Research Guide//. Web. 27 Sept. 2011. [].> "Euripides and His Tragedies." //TheatreHistory.com//. Historical Publishing Company. Web. 27 Sept. 2011. atrehistory.com/ancient/euripides001.html>. Kates, Herbert S. "Euripides." //Theatre Database//. Minute Histroy of the Drama. Web. 27 Sept. 2011. <[]>. [|http://www.wayneturney.20m.com/EURIPIDES.htm]; //WayneTurney.com.// "EURIPIDES" Sources: Turney, Wayne. Web. 1 October 2011. "Alcesits. 438 B.C. Set in Thessaly at the house of Admetus." //Classics.// N.p., n.d. Web. 2 October 2011. [] "Medea." //Theatre History.// N.p., n.d. Web. 2 October 2011. [] "Ancient Greece-Euripides-Hercales." //Ancient Literature.// N.p., n.d. Web. 2 October 2011. [] "Hippolytus." Theatre History. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 October 2011. []

Grant, Michael. //Greek and Latin Authors.// New York: H.W. Wilson Company,1980

Mastin, Luke. "Euripides - Ancient Greece - Classical Literature." //Classical Literature - Tragedy, Lyric Poetry, New Comedy, Satire, Epic Poetry ... and Much More//. Web. 29 Sept. 2011. .

"Euripides (480-406)." //Euripides//. Web. 29 Sept. 2011. .