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Seven Against Thebes
Seven Against Thebes is the third part of a trilogy written by one of the greatest of the Greek tragedians, Aeschylus in 467 BCE, winning first prize in competition at Dionysia. Unfortunately, only fragments of the first two plays, Laius...

Definition
Catullus
Gaius Valerius Catullus (84-54 BCE) was a Roman poet whose poems are considered to be some of the finest examples of lyric poetry from ancient Rome, despite his youth and early death. Catullus wrote in the neoteric style during the high point...

Definition
Lysistrata
Lysistrata was the third and final of the peace plays written by the great Greek comic playwright Aristophanes (c. 445 - c. 386 BCE). Shown in 411 BCE at the Lenaea festival in Athens, it was written during the final years of the war between...

Definition
Pindar
Pindar (c. 518 to c. 448/7 BCE) was an ancient Greek lyric poet, probably the greatest of his time. His works have been divided into 17 books of different types of poetry, but only those containing 44 choral victory songs composed for the...

Definition
Juvenal
Decimus Junius Juvenalis (l. c. 55-138 CE), better known as Juvenal, was a Roman satirist. He wrote five books, containing 16 satires, each of which criticized a different element of Roman society, whether it was poor housing, the patron/client...

Definition
Medea (Play)
The tragedy Medea was written in 431 BCE by Euripides (c. 484 – 407 BCE). Euripides authored at least 90 plays of which 19 have survived intact. As with the plays by Sophocles and Aeschylus, the audience was already well aware of the myth...

Definition
Hippolytus
Hippolytus is a tragedy written by Euripides (c. 484-407 BCE), one of the great Greek playwrights of the early 5th century BCE. As with many tragedies of the era, the central focus of Hippolytus is humanity's relationship with the gods. Hippolytus...

Definition
Cyclops (Play)
The satyr-play The Cyclops was written by Euripides, one of the great Greek tragedians, in 412 or 408 BCE. Like many of his fellow tragedians, Euripides centers his play on a well-known story from Greek mythology. The Cyclops is based on...

Definition
Ecclesiazusae
The Ecclesiazusae (aka Assemblywomen) is a comedy play written by Aristophanes, one of the great Greek comic playwrights. Written sometime between 393 and 391 BCE, it is, along with his play Wealth, one of only two he wrote after the Athenian...

Definition
Electra by Sophocles
Electra is a play written by the 5th-century BCE Greek tragedian Sophocles. Similar to Aeschylus' Libation Bearers, Electra focuses on the return of Electra's brother Orestes from exile and the plot to murder their mother. Years earlier...