During the economic decline of Greece in the fourth century B.C.E.:
a)former soldiers often worked as mercenaries who disrupted the household-based culture of the Greek poleis
b)Greek artists created sculpture that was increasingly idealized and dignified
c)Greek drama reached its peak under the leadership of Sophocles, Aeschylus, and Euripides
d)prices declined and taxes were lowered, allowing state treasuries to accumulate substantial surpluses
Fifth century Greece was the age of the great tragedians. The three playwrights, Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, wrote during this time, all the while establishing and developing the new theatre of tragedy. [ [ The first tragedian, Aeschylus, refined primitive drama and became the archetype for the subsequent playwrights. Sophocles further improved upon his predecessor, achieving a balanced use of the elements of tragedy. The last great tragic writer, Euripides, focused less on the crudities of Aeschylean drama and more on systematic and analytical tragedy.
Euripides? schism from
archetypal tragedy has been a matter of academic debate. Critics, such as Friedrich Nietzsche, go as far as to say that Euripides caused the decline of ancient Greek tragedy, which occurred in the early fourth century. This essay will attempt to explain in what way Euripides fell from the ?pure? tragedy of Aeschylus and offered a more philosophical outlook on drama. Nietzsche?s nineteenth century treatise, The Birth of Tragedy, will be used to aid in my examination of the decline of tragedy. Moreover. I will focus on the Euripides? last play, the Bacchae, which, ironically, is also his most Aeschylean work. To see more. ] ]
