About the Author

Aeschylus (c. 525–456 BCE) was an Athenian playwright often called the “father of tragedy,” born into a noble family at Eleusis and serving as a soldier in the Persian Wars, including the famous Battle of Marathon. He wrote around 70–90 plays (only seven survive), and revolutionized theater by adding a second actor onstage, deepening character conflict and making drama far more complex and psychological. Best known for the Oresteia trilogy, he explored themes of justice, fate, suffering, and the slow, painful progress from vengeance to law and order. Living through war, political upheaval, and the transition from old blood feuds to civic justice, Aeschylus understood that inner peace doesn’t simply “happen; it must be chosen and cultivated, even amid hardship, which gives rich context to the idea that “happiness is a choice that requires effort at times.”