Aeschylus

Often called the father of tragedy, Aeschylus is one of the most influential tragedists in history. He was born in the year 525 B.C in the town of Eleusis, located in West Attica. Before he got into Greek theater, he served in the Athenian army and fought in the Persian War. Aeschylus is the oldest one of the three great tragic poets, the other two being the younger Sophocles and Euripides.
Aeschylus is said to have written over ninety plays during his lifetime although only seven of them are preserved today. His play The Persiae, a tragedy about the Persian War, is considered to be the first tragedy that was based on an actual historical event. He is the first known playwright to have more than one character in his play thus creating the concept of dialogue within Greek plays. Before he had done this plays consisted of only the chorus and one actor. It is for this reason that he is regarded as the first tragedian. It is clear that, like Thespis, he had a big impact on both Greek tragedy and on Greek theater.
Although we have learned to associate Oedipus with Sophocles, Aeschylus wrote a play about the same character nearly forty years before Oedipus Rex was written. One of the seven plays that are preserved is Seven Against Thebes. This play is split into two parts; the first focusing on Laius and the second focusing on Oedipus. While Sophocles focuses on Oedipus’ life, Aeschylus’ play focuses more about the aftermath that resulted from the fall of Oedipus.
Aeschylus eventually passed away in 456 B.C. and his death is believed to have been caused by traumatic brain injury. There are some historical sources that state that an eagle dropped a tortoise on his head and killed him. The Roman philosopher Pliny states in his book Naturalis Historia that Aeschylus was outdoors when this happened because he was attempting to avoid a prophecy that said he would be killed by a falling object. If this is true and not just a myth, then, like Oedipus, he attempted to avoid having his prophecy become true but eventually could not prevent it from being realized.