The great phrases of Aeschylus, the king of Greek tragedy

The great phrases of Aeschylus take us to a tragic world in which destiny catches us no matter what. Recognized as one of the great Greek tragedy players, along with Sophocles and Euripides, his conception of fictional life is marked by moira and the hubris.

Let us remember that the moira It’s eternal doom. This fatality will always reach us, since it governs all of nature above even the power of the gods. So, no matter how much pride and excess we show, that is, hubrisnothing can be done to escape destiny, because just punishment comes to all of us.

That said, we focus on a series of phrases from Aeschylus that show us a way of see the world that, in one way or another, still today, 2500 years after his death, we can consider current.

The great phrases of Aeschylus

Let us remember that Aeschylus lived between 525 BC and 456 BC, in the midst of Greek splendor. A brilliance based on knowledge, but also on success on the battlefields, like the one they achieved in Salamis or Marathon against the Persians.

Among his most notable works are the trilogy of Oerstia, Prometheus Bound either The seven against Thebeswhere it stands out the tension between classical belief and the new Greek movementsmore rationalist and democratic.

Below we leave you a selection of the best phrases of Aeschylus.

The truth

For Aeschylus, the truth always perishes during wars. The first thing is the interests, in the face of which one can lie and manipulate in favor of a different goal, the final victory; although to achieve it thousands of human lives must perish.

Family relationships

So simple that it can even be scary. Aeschylus shows the importance of family relationships and how these ties have always translated into commitments. In ancient Greece it was not unusual for a father, for example, to have children who would inherit outside of marriage. Without a doubt, this way of thinking was quite advanced for the time, since Family members did not always respond to the commitments socially associated with this type of bond..

The paternity

Without a doubt, studying family relationships in ancient Greece would deserve extensive research. However, this phrase has full meaning both then and now.

On most occasions, the birth of a child is accompanied by immense joy. However, sometimes, bitterness is also associated with them. They can get sick, argue, have problems… In short, they could end up breaking up. be a source of perennial concernsince whatever bad happens to them, parents experience it with enormous bitterness.

half listen

This phrase is really wonderful and perfect for the times we live in. In a trial, both sides are heard. In politics, the different points of view of the speakers must be understood. And so, in all facets of life.

Curiously, We are the ones who, many times, only want to see and hear a part. We read the newspaper that says what we want to read, we listen to the radio station that interests us, we watch the television station that matches our way of thinking or we interact with people with similar ideologies.

Unfortunately, it should not be necessary to remember it from the pen of Aeschylus. If we stay with only one part of the story, we are missing the whole story.

The need

There are not a few authors who affirm, like Aeschylus, that someone moved by necessity has no brakes. It is something natural, because when we are hungry, we need to eat, just as when we are thirsty, water improves its flavor.

Nothing can stop the need. Therefore, those people who need something and look for it, do not stop until they find it, because for them it is basic, a first necessity. It doesn’t matter ideology or philosophy, for example, if you have nothing to eat. That is how The least important needs become those that worry us the least or those that cause us the least discomfort when we do not satisfy them.

Destiny

There are many phrases from Aeschylus that deserve to be here, but we don’t have space for more. Of course, we want to say goodbye with a sentence that is still used very, very much today.

Aeschylus, like so many Greeks, was fully convinced of the inviolability of some elements of our future. Whatever we do, whatever has to happen will happen, because no one escapes what is written in it: first birth and then death.

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