An additional great playwright is
Aeschylus, who is often called “the
father of tragedy.” His most famous
works include The Persians (the only
one to survive to modern times),
Prometheus Bound, and Oresteia.
Though it is debated whether he or
his son authored Prometheus
Bound, all of his works turned him
into a widely acclaimed playwright
in his time; Aristotle praised his idea
to add multiple characters to plays
and have them interact with each
other rather than only the chorus.
Jumping to the times of Rome,
there are fewer known ancient
authors of the theatrical arts. Of the
few that are recorded, one of the
most notable was Titus Maccius
Plautus, who wrote comedies. In
fact, his comedies are the earliest
Latin works to have entirely
survived! A great number of his
plays have survived, though some
are missing segments, such as
Amphitryon, Aulularia, and
Cistellaria. Though he was
sometimes accused of teaching the
public indifference and mocking
the gods, he would make sure the
characters who would deliver such
lines were foolish, low-life
scoundrels to maintain a positive
image. All of these great writers
help Latin students understand that
drama truly began a long, long time
ago and that some of the best
theatrical ideas began with the
classics.