Page:The Tragedies of Aeschylus - tr. Potter - 1812.pdf/9



noble author, with whose remaining tragedies the public is here presented, was an Athenian of an honourable family, distinguished for the sublimity of his genius and the ardour of his martial spirit. In his youth he had read Homer with the warmest enthusiasm ; and finding his great master unrivalled in the possession of the Epic, he early conceived the design of creating a new province for himself, and forming the Drama; so much we may be allowed to infer from the fable, that whilst he was yet a boy Bacchus appeared to him as he lay asleep in a vineyard, and commanded him to write tragedies. This noble design he soon executed, and before the twenty-fifth year of his age began to entertain his countrymen with representations worthy of an Athenian audience. He had pursued these studies about ten years, when Darius invaded Greece. His generals, Datis and Artaphernes, with an army of two hundred thousand foot and ten thousand horse were now advanced to