Euripides was an influential Greek playwright born around 484 BC who wrote tragedies, tragicomedies, and melodramas reflecting the myths, legends, and issues of his era. Some of his works that have survived include Medea, Hippolytus, Helen, and The Bacchae. Helen tells the story of Helen of Troy's virtuous nature and transport to Egypt by the gods to avoid her double going to Troy. Euripides was one of the three great tragic poets of ancient Greece and his works influenced later Roman drama and playwrights like Shakespeare and Racine.

1. EURIPIDES
A SHORT BIOGRAPHY

2. EURIPIDES’ LIFE
• Euripides, the son of
Mnesarchus was a Greek
playwright, who was born
on Salamis Island around
484 BC and who died in
Pella c. 406 BC.
• He married Melito and
had three sons.

3. EURIPIDES’ LIFE
• From the 92 plays that were written
by Euripides only 18 have survived.
His plays express both religious
belief and ancient myths. His
characters' unfortunate destiny and
circumstances arise from their own
imperfect nature. During the last
decade of his career he began to
write “tragedies” that might actually
be called romantic dramas, or
tragicomedies with happy endings.
Helen is one of them.

4. EURIPIDES’ LIFE
• Along with Aeschylus
and Sophocles,
Euripides was one of
the three great tragic
poets of ancient
Greece.
Even though Euripides’ plays reflect the
legends and myths of a time that was different
from fifth century Athens, they draw attention
to issues that were prominent during his era.

5. EURIPIDES’ IDEAS
• Euripides’ central ideas deal with
problems of knowledge, language,
appearance, reality, and personal
existence.
• Euripides was also troubled by the
Peloponnesian war with Sparta which
broke out in 431BC and outlived him.

6. EURIPIDES’
CONTEMPORARIES
• Euripides lived in the time
of Aeschylus and
Sophocles, both writers
and poets.
• Socrates, a philosopher,
was also an acquaintance
of Euripides
Socrates c. 469-399 BC

7. Euripides's existing plays (except the Cyclops ) belong
to three basic categories. His tragedies include:
• Medea (431 B.C.)
• Andromache (early in the Peloponnesian War)
• Heraclidae (c. 430 B.C.)
• Hippolytus (428 B.C.)
• Hecuba (c. 425 B.C.)
• Suppliants (c. 420–419 B.C.)
• Heracles (c. 420–418 B.C.)
• Trojan Women (415 B.C.)
• Bacchae (c. 407 B.C.).
EURIPIDES’ PLAYS

8. His tragicomedies (plays that combine
tragedy with comedy) include:
• Alcestis (438 B.C.)
• Ion (c. 418–413 B.C.)
• Iphigenia at Tauris (414–412 B.C.)
• Helen (412 B.C.)

9. The melodramas (sentimental dramas that
often have a happy outcome) include:
• Electra (c. 415 B.C.)
• Phoenician Women (c. 409 B.C.)
• Orestes (408 B.C.)
• Iphigenia at Aulis (c. 407 B.C.)

10. EURIPIDES’ HELEN
• Euripides’ romantic tragicomedies
were unusual in that they had
happy endings.
• Among them was ‘Helen’. In this
particular tragicomedy Euripides
presents Helen of Troy as a
woman of virtue. The play is set in
Egypt, where the innocent Helen
was transported by the gods when
her double (eidolon) went to Troy.
Helen tries to preserve her virtue
and her husband’s life. She gladly
degrades her own beauty in order
to return happily to Greece with
her long-lost husband, Menelaus,
who presents himself as the hero
of the Trojan War and the truly
suitable husband for her. Yet
Euripides questions the reality of
this romantic fantasy.
Abduction of Helen by Theseus

11. EURIPIDES’ INFLUENCE
• The works of
Euripides, which were
very popular in his
time are known to
have influenced
Roman drama. They
have also shaped
English and French
drama, such as the
work of the English
playwright William
Shakespeare an the
French dramatist
Jean-Baptiste Racine.

12. 1. What are the main themes in the work of Euripides?
2. Does Euripides express problems of his own era in his
plays?
3. Name some of Euripides’ contemporaries.
4. Describe the basic plot of his tragicomedy Helen.
5. Name a major dramatist and playwright who were
influenced by his work.

13. Webography
• http://www.didaskalia.net/studyarea/greekstagecraft.http://www.didaskalia.net/studyarea/greekstagecraft.
html (accessed October 2013)html (accessed October 2013)
• http://www.notablebiographies.com/Du-http://www.notablebiographies.com/Du-
Fi/Euripides.htmlFi/Euripides.html (accessed October 2013)(accessed October 2013)
• http://www.poetry-http://www.poetry-
archive.com/e/euripides_bibliography.htmlarchive.com/e/euripides_bibliography.html (accessed(accessed
October 2013)October 2013)
• http://newspapers.bc.edu/cgi-bin/bostonsh?http://newspapers.bc.edu/cgi-bin/bostonsh?
a=d&d=bcheights19250421.2.18a=d&d=bcheights19250421.2.18 (accessed October(accessed October
2013)2013)