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The historical drama and its development

• Κράιας, Γεώργιος

One of the most obscure fields of ancient Greek drama is the historical drama which reached its peak and decline within a very short period of time. The first production of historical drama was done by Phrynichus. His first historical tragedy was the Capture of Miletus; it was performed in 492 B.C. and was about the sack of the Ionian city on the coast of Asia Minor two years before. The right moment for his second historical drama came after the Persian Wars, and so in 476 B.C. he presented his Phoenissae. The play was about the Persian Empire until its defeat at Salamis in 480 B.C.. The second to stage a historical drama was Aeschylus in 472 B.C. with his Persians. Four years after the success of Phrynichus, Aeschylus discussed the same topic, but he went one step further. With the appearance of Darius at verse 681 Aeschylus attempts a new interpretation of the utter defeat which Xerxes suffered in Greece. About the course of the historical drama towards its peak and decline, the first period of Attic tragedy is a time of striking innovations and intense experiments which had a very strong influence on the character of tragedy. This experimental phase coincided with the Persian Wars which affected a lot of social and political reforms in the life of the Athenians. On the other hand, it was the political situation itself after the Persians Wars in Athens which led to the decline of the historical drama. Finally, the actual themes of the historical dramas were also the reason for their exclusion from the theatrical performances in Athens.

• Languages and Literature
• History and Archaeology

• Classical philology
• Λογοτεχνία
• Ιστορία, Αρχαία

Περιέχει σημειώσεις, Το παρόν κείμενο αποτελεί την διευρυμένη μορφή ανακοίνωσης με τίτλο Το Ιστορικό Δράμα στα Πλαίσια της Αττικής Τραγωδίας πού εκφωνήθηκε σε ημερίδα αφιερωμένη στην Ελληνική Λογοτεχνία (θεματική ενότητα: Αρχαία Ελληνική Τραγωδία ) στο Πανεπιστήμιο Νεαπόλεως Πάφου της Κύπρου στις 04-04-2009.