Euripides
Radical Athenian tragedian who explored human psychology and gave voice to women and outsiders
The Meaning of Euripides
Euripides of Salamis (c. 480-406 BCE) was the youngest of the three great Athenian tragedians and the most controversial in his own time, winning only four first prizes during his lifetime. Of roughly ninety plays, eighteen tragedies and one satyr play survive — more than for any other Greek dramatist. His innovation was psychological realism: Medea's anguished deliberation before killing her children, Phaedra's shame at her forbidden desire, Heracles' madness and broken despair. Euripides gave unprecedented voice to women, slaves, and barbarians, questioning the heroic values his predecessors celebrated. Aristophanes mocked him relentlessly, yet within a generation of his death Euripides became the most performed tragedian in the ancient world.
Parents
None recorded
Symbols
Fun Fact
Euripides won only four prizes in his lifetime but became the most popular tragedian after his death
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth. See our full guide to English words from Greek mythology.
Explore Further
Sophocles
💭 conceptTragedy, fate, heroism
Athenian tragedian who introduced the third actor and created Oedipus and Antigone
Oedipus Complex
💭 conceptPsychoanalysis and psychology
A Freudian psychoanalytic concept describing a child's unconscious desire for the parent of the opposite sex, named after the mythological king who unknowingly killed his father and married his mother
Catharsis
💭 conceptEmotional purification through art
Aristotle's concept that tragedy purifies the audience by arousing and then releasing pity and fear.
Plato
💭 conceptPhilosophy, myth, forms
Athenian philosopher who both critiqued traditional myths and created powerful new ones in his dialogues
Electra Complex
💭 conceptPsychoanalysis and psychology
A psychoanalytic concept proposed by Carl Jung describing a daughter's unconscious rivalry with her mother for her father's affection, named after the mythological princess who urged the murder of her mother
Pathos
💭 conceptRhetoric and Emotion
The Greek rhetorical appeal to emotion, one of Aristotle's three modes of persuasion.
Tragedy
💭 conceptLanguage and drama
An English word for a serious dramatic work ending in suffering, derived from the Greek tragodia meaning "goat song," possibly referring to the goat sacrificed to Dionysus or awarded as a prize
Hippolytus and Phaedra
💭 conceptNarrative
A tragedy of forbidden desire, false accusation, and divine cruelty destroying an innocent young prince
Oedipus Cycle
💭 conceptNarrative
The interconnected myths tracing the cursed lineage of Oedipus from prophecy to tragic fulfilment
Aeschylus
💭 conceptTragedy, justice, divine law
Father of Greek tragedy who introduced the second actor and composed the Oresteia trilogy
Pygmalion Effect
💭 conceptPsychology and education
A psychological phenomenon in which higher expectations lead to improved performance, named after the mythological sculptor whose statue came to life because he believed in her so completely
Narcissistic Personality
💭 conceptPsychology and mythology
A psychological condition characterised by grandiosity, need for admiration, and lack of empathy, named after Narcissus, the beautiful youth who fell in love with his own reflection