The most prestigious of the drama festivals held in Athens was the City Dionysia, held of a six-day period. Hundreds of visitors, dignitaries, and rural citizens crowded the city to see the spectacle. Aeschylus (524-456 B.C.) and Sophocles (496-406 B.C.), two playwrights of the era, held top honors at the festival for many years. Their contributions laid the foundation for modern drama as we know it today.

Aeschylus, the first of Athens' two greatest tragedy writers, was born into an aristocratic, land- rich family just to the northwest of Athens at the height of the city's greatness. Ignoring the more common themes of love and passion, his thinking was more towards theology and serious contemplations of humanistic questions, such as the nature of justice. He credits much of his poetic success to the epic, labeling his plays the "scraps from Homer's banquet." Aeschylus made such significant contributions to the development

Sophocles modified drama by adding a third actor, allowing more complex triangular scenes. He began painting more scenery on the stage and enlarged the chorus from twelve to fifteen. Sophocles also separated the tetralogies, which had traditionally featured a single theme. In his plays, Sophocles extracted his characters from familiar fables and myths of his culture. He scrutinized their humanity, interweaving human fault with the workings of fate. His characters symbolize the depths of sorrow, the extremes of foolishness, and the bitterness of regret.

dancing to the tragedy. To increase the stature and importance of the actors he added long-sleeved garments and high-heeled boots, costumes. The earliest documented history of Western theater, are the seven plays of Aeschylus.

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In summary, all of the significant contributions made by Aeschylus and Sophocles to drama seem to be clear. Aeschylu

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