Euripides is identified with theatrical innovations that have profoundly influenced drama down to modern times, especially in the representation of traditional, mythical heroes as ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances. This new approach led him to pioneer developments that later writers adapted to comedy, some of which are characteristic of romance. He was referred to by Aristotle as "the most tragic of poets", probably in reference to a perceived preference for unhappy endings, but Aristotle's remark is seen by Bernard Knox as having wider relevance, since "in his representation of human suffering Euripides pushes to the limits of what an audience can stand; some of his scenes are almost unbearable." Focusing on the inner lives and motives of his characters in a way previously unknown, Euripides was "the creator of ... that cage which is the theatre of Shakespeare's Othello, Racine's Phèdre, of Ibsen and Strindberg," in which "imprisoned men and women destroy each other by the intensity of their loves and hates". But he was also the literary ancestor of comic dramatists as diverse as Menander and George Bernard Shaw.
Life and Career
In the comedies of his contemporary Aristophanes, Euripides is lampooned for his intellectualism. Modern scholars have varied greatly in their views of Euripides, with some regarding him as an iconoclastic intellectual, and others seeing him as a more traditional playwright. Euripides's portrayal of women has attracted particular interest in modern times, on account of the perceptiveness and sympathy with which Euripides depicts women and the difficulties facing them in Greek society, especially in his Medea.
Key Facts
- Born: January 1, 480 in Salamis
- Died: 406
- Field: Literature
Legacy and Impact
The influence of Euripides extends far beyond his own lifetime. He fundamentally shaped literature and the written word, and his written works and literary innovations remain foundational to this day.
Though he passed away in 406, his ideas continue to be studied, debated, and built upon by scholars and practitioners worldwide.
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