It’s All Greek To Me

Although there were many Greek playwrights of the Golden Age of Greek Drama, only the work of four playwrights has survived in the form of complete plays. These playwrights are the tragedians Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, and the comic writer Aristophanes. Their plays, along with some secondary sources, such as Aristotle, are the basis of what is known about Greek theatre. Most of the written evidence has been erased by time and the elements.

While only 7 plays remain each for Aeschylus and Sophocles, these were considered their greatest works. The works of Euripides were preserved in an anthology among other ruined works in a monastery library. The collection was in alphabetical order, so all of the surviving plays of Euripides begin with the letters E-K.

The Greek Classics: Aeschylus – Seven Plays ISBN 0977340023

The Greek Classics: Aristophanes – Eleven Plays ISBN 0977340031

The Greek Classics: Euripides – Nineteen Plays ISBN 097734004X

The Greek Classics: Sophocles – Seven Plays ISBN 0977340058

All surviving Greek plays:

(with wikipedia links for further reference)

Tragedies

• Aeschylus (c. 525–456 BC):
  • The Persians (472 BC)
  • Seven Against Thebes (467 BC)
  • The Suppliants (463 BC)
  • The Oresteia (458 BC, a trilogy comprising Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers and The Eumenides.)
  • Prometheus Bound (authorship and date of performance is still in dispute)
• Phrynichus (~511 BC):
  • The Fall of Miletus (late 500s BC)
• Euripides (c. 480–406 BC):
  • Alcestis (438 BC)
  • Medea (431 BC)
  • Hippolytus (428 BC)
  • Electra (c. 420 BC)
  • Sisyphos (415 BC)
  • The Bacchae (405 BC, posthumous)
• Sophocles (c. 495-406 BC):
  • Theban plays, or Oedipus cycle:
    • Antigone (c. 442 BC)
    • Oedipus the King (c. 429 BC)
    • Oedipus at Colonus (401 BC, posthumous)
  • Ajax (unknown, presumed earlier in career)
  • The Trachiniae (unknown)
  • Electra (unknown, presumed later in career)
  • Philoctetes (409 BC)

Comedies

• Aristophanes (c. 446-388 BC), presumed father of comedy:
  • The Acharnians (425 BC)
  • The Knights (424 BC)
  • The Clouds (423 BC)
  • The Wasps (422 BC)
  • Peace (421 BC)
  • The Birds (414 BC)
  • Lysistrata (411 BC)
  • Thesmophoriazusae (c. 411 BC)
  • The Frogs (405 BC)
  • Ecclesiazusae (c. 392 BC)
  • Plutus (388 BC)
• Menander (c. 342-291 BC), chief inventor of the New Comedy
  • Dyskolos (317 BC)