Euripides ( or ; ; ) (c. 480 – 406 BC) was a
tragedian of
classical Athens. He is one of the few whose plays have survived, with the others being
Aeschylus,
Sophocles, and potentially
Euphorion. Some ancient scholars attributed 95 plays to him but according to the
Suda it was 92 at most. Of these, 18 or 19 have survived more or less complete (there has been debate about his authorship of
Rhesus, largely on stylistic grounds) and there are also fragments, some substantial, of most of the other plays. More of his plays have survived intact than those of
Aeschylus and
Sophocles together, partly due to mere chance and partly because his popularity grew as theirs declinedhe became, in the
Hellenistic Age, a cornerstone of ancient literary education, along with
Homer,
Demosthenes and
Menander.
