Inspirational Quotes by Aeschylus (Greek Playwright)

Aeschylus (c.525–c.456 BCE) was the earliest writer of Greek tragic drama whose works survive. He is regarded as the founder of Greek tragic drama. His seven extant plays from a known 80 titles include Prometheus Bound and the Oresteia trilogy.

Aeschylus contributed considerably to the methodological development of the dramatic form and the movement away from pure ritual to the theater as we know it. He did so by introducing the concept of two actors in dialogue and by limiting the role of the choral song.

Aeschylus is best known for his trilogy, the Oresteia (458 BCE,) consisting of the tragedies Agamemnon, The Choephori, and The Eumenides.

Using themes from Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, the Oresteia tell the story of the fall of the House of Atreus in a series of retributive murders over three generations. Agamemnon, who has killed his daughter to ensure victory over the Trojans, returns home and is killed by his wife Clytemnestra and her lover Aegisthus. This is followed by the vengeance of their son Orestes.

The Oresteia have inspired some of the greatest artists and thinkers of the modern world—from Richard Wagner and Friedrich Nietzsche to T. S. Eliot and Simone de Beauvoir.

According to legend, Aeschylus was killed when an eagle dropped a turtle onto his bald head, taking it for a stone on which the shell could be broken. Aeschylus’s head was broken; this fulfilled an oracle’s prediction that Aeschylus would be struck dead by a force from the heavens.

More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by Aeschylus

Bronze in the mirror of the form, wine of the mind.
—Aeschylus
Topics: One liners, Wine

His resolve is not to seem, but to be, the best.
—Aeschylus

The sea is there—and who shall quench it?—nurturing the juices which yield much purple worth its weight in silver, wholly renewable, the dye of vestments; there is a remedy for these here with the gods’ help, my lord, from our reserve: the house does not know how to be poor.
—Aeschylus

Only one accomplishment is beyond both the power and the mercy of the Gods. They cannot make the past as though it had never been.
—Aeschylus
Topics: Past

To the man who himself strives earnestly, God also lends a helping hand.
—Aeschylus
Topics: Prayer

Delay not to seize the hour.
—Aeschylus
Topics: Inaction, Getting Going, Procrastination

Who except the gods can live without any pain?
—Aeschylus
Topics: Acceptance

It is always in season for old men to learn.
—Aeschylus
Topics: Learning

Bronze is a mirror of the face, wine of the mind.
—Aeschylus

When one is willing and eager, the Gods join in.
—Aeschylus
Topics: Will, Will Power, Willpower

Let war stay abroad; it makes no difficulty in coming, for the man who will have in him a strong desire for glory. I disapprove of a bird’s battling in its own home.
—Aeschylus

Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering.
—Aeschylus

Few men have the natural strength to honor a friend’s success without envy.
—Aeschylus
Topics: Success, Envy

Excessive fear is always powerless.
—Aeschylus
Topics: Fear

Fortune is for all; judgment is theirs who have won it for themselves.
—Aeschylus
Topics: Fortune

Wisdom comes alone through suffering.
—Aeschylus
Topics: Suffering

The wisest of the wise may err.
—Aeschylus
Topics: Mistakes, Wisdom

God lends a helping hand to the man who tries hard.
—Aeschylus
Topics: Trying, Helping

Justice shines in smoky cottages, and honors the pious. Leaving with averted eyes the gorgeous glare obtained by polluted hands, she is wont to draw nigh to holiness, not reverencing wealth when falsely stamped with praise, and assigning to each deed its righteous doom.
—Aeschylus
Topics: Justice

There is no pain so great as the memory of joy in present grief.
—Aeschylus
Topics: Grief, Pain

I count false words the foulest plague of all.
—Aeschylus

Words are healers of the sick tempered.
—Aeschylus
Topics: Words

Words are the physicians of a mind diseased
—Aeschylus
Topics: Words

Time as he grows old teaches many lessons.
—Aeschylus
Topics: Time Management

Everyone’s quick to blame the alien.
—Aeschylus

A prosperous fool is a grievous burden.
—Aeschylus

For there is no defense for a man who, in the excess of his wealth, has kicked the great altar of Justice out of sight.
—Aeschylus
Topics: Defense

When a man’s willing and eager the god’s join in.
—Aeschylus
Topics: Will Power, Willpower, Will

The reward of suffering is experience.
—Aeschylus
Topics: Adversity, Experience

Time brings all things to pass.
—Aeschylus
Topics: Patience, Resilience

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Inspirational Quotes by Aeschylus (Greek Playwright)

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