Aeschylus

Aeschylus (525–456 B.C.), earliest of the 3 great dramatists of ancient Greece, preceding Sophocles and Euripides. He is often regarded as the originator of tragedy. Only 7 of at least 80 plays survive, including The Persians, Prometheus Bound, and the Oresteia, which concerns the murder of Agamemnon by his wife, Clytemnestra, and the subsequent revenge of their son, Orestes. Aeschylus elaborated Greek dramatic form by adding a second actor (previously the poet had spoken all roles) and exploiting the dramatic possibilities of dialogue.