Aeschylus
Aeschylus
Aeschyluswas an ancient Greek tragedian. His plays, alongside those of Sophocles and Euripides, are the only works of Classical Greek literature to have survived. He is often described as the father of tragedy: critics and scholars' knowledge of the genre begins with his work, and understanding of earlier tragedies is largely based on inferences from his surviving plays. According to Aristotle, he expanded the number of characters in theater to allow conflict among them, whereas characters previously had interacted only...
NationalityGreek
ProfessionPoet
eye
I gave them hope, and so turned away their eyes from death
adversity suffering rewards
The reward of suffering is experience
want ruins literature
You have been trapped in the inescapable net of ruin by your own want of sense.
resolve seems
His resolve is not to seem the bravest, but to be.
dream men literature
I know how men in exile feed on dreams.
justice suffering literature
Justice turns the scale, bringing to some learning through suffering.
power powerless
Excessive fear is always powerless.
positive wisdom world-suffering
Wisdom comes alone through suffering.
silence speech misery
I, schooled in misery, know many purifying rites, and I know where speech is proper and where silence.
doctors intelligence hunger
Bonds and the pangs of hunger are excellent prophet doctors for the wits.
suffering despair
Those who would learn must suffer. In our own despair, against our will, wisdom comes to us.
joy tears stealing
Joy steals upon me, such joy as calls forth tears.
winning wish athena
ATHENA: You wish to be called righteous rather than act right. [...] I say, wrong must not win by technicalities.
destiny men waiting
Destiny waits alike for the free man as well as for him enslaved by another's might.