Euripides was a tragic playwright who lived in Athens during the 5th century BCE, from approximately 480 to 406 BCE. He was a contemporary of the other great Athenian dramatists, Sophocles and Aeschylus. His life coincided with the Peloponnesian War, a long and devastating conflict that influenced the themes in his work. According to ancient sources, he spent his final years at the court of King Archelaus in Macedon, where he died.
He wrote over 90 plays, and 19 of them survive today, which is more than any other ancient Greek tragedian. Among his most famous works are Medea, The Trojan Women, The Bacchae, and Hippolytus. The authorship of one surviving play, Rhesus, is disputed by scholars. Some of his final plays, like Iphigenia at Aulis, may have been completed after his death.
Euripides is considered one of the three foundational figures of Greek tragedy. Modern scholars note that his plays were innovative and often challenged traditional values. They are known for their complex, psychologically realistic characters, including powerful and sympathetic portraits of women. His work frequently engages with contemporary philosophical debates and can express a rationalistic critique of traditional myths and the gods.
Although he won fewer prizes in his lifetime than his rivals, his plays became immensely popular in the centuries after his death, profoundly influencing later Greek, Roman, and European drama.