Euripides’ parents came from the area of Phlya in Attica, but he himself was probably born on the island of Salamis (on the very day of the famous battle, according to legend), and died in Pella in Macedonia. He had one of the first private libraries, knew philosophy, and became a friend of the Sophists, whose ideas are reflected in his works. A friend of Socrates, he was described in antiquity as a “stage philosopher”, as his writing raised important questions about nature, the suffering of war, the position of women, the education of young people, and the influence of the gods on human life. Euripides (480-406 BCE) combined philosophical thought with poetry, and lyricism with a strong line of argument. His technique is characterised by long monologues, during which a hero or a god narrates the myth on which the play is based or foretells its end, and by the appearance of a deus ex machina that brings an unexpected resolution. Influenced by Sophist thought, Euripides handled religious themes and old myths with originality, creating realistic heroes and heroines and exploring their passions, instincts and motivations. The psychological conflicts of his female characters influenced later theatre and, through Roman dramatists, determined the form that modern theatre would take.

He wrote more than 90 plays. They survived 18 tragedies and a satyr play.

Suriviving plays:
Alcestis, Medea, Heracleidae, Hippolytus, Cyclops (satyr play), Andromache, Hecuba, Suppliants, Heracles, Ion, Trojan Women, Iphigenia Among the Taurians, Electra, Helen, Phoenissae, Orestes, Iphigenia at Aulis, Bacchae.The authorship of Rhesus is disputed. 

 

Immoderate deeds never do
Bring good to man;
They pile still greater calamity upon a house
If it is struck by divine wrath. (Medea)

 

Let the love I awaken in others be mild,
And my own heart’s
A share in love, but without excess. (Iphigenia at Aulis)

 

We long
Passionately for what has lustre here on Earth
Not knowing if there is another
Life below ground; and so
We live with futile fairy tales.(Hippolytus)