Euripides Ancient Greek playwright Euripides (c. 480-c. 406 BC) was well-known in classical Athens. He is one of the three playwrights from antiquity whose works have not all been preserved. Around 480 BC, he was born on Salamis Island to Cleito (his mother) and Mnesarchus, a merchant from a hamlet close to Athens. In 455 BC, Euripides made his debut at the renowned City Dionysia theatrical festival in Athens. His books, together with those of Aeschylus and Sophocles, show a disparity in the three authors' worldviews. The chronology of Euripides' plays also reveals that his perspective may have evolved. Citizens in Athens were accustomed to hyperbole in the legislature and courts. The language of Euripides' characters is revealed to be flawed, and they are self-conscious about speaking formally. A social gathering for "publicly the maintenance and development of mental infrastructure" took place in Euripides' tragedy from the fifth century. Compared to Aeschylus and Sophocles, his characters discussed the present in a more contentious and caustic manner, at times even questioning the democratic system. Although the exact circumstances of his death are unknown, it is believed that he allegedly passed away in Macedonia in 406 BC, after being assaulted by King Archelaus's Molossian hounds. Read More Read Less