Page:The tragedies of Euripides Vol I Buckley.pdf/10



, son of Mnesarchus, was born in the island of Salamis, on the day of the celebrated victory ( B. C. 480). His mother, Clito, had been sent thither in company with the other Athenian women, when Attica was given up, and the ships became at once the refuge of the male population, and the national defence. Mr. Donaldson well remarks, that the patronymic form of his name, derived from the Euripus, which was the scene of the ﬁrst successful resistance offered to the Persian navy, shows that the attention of his parents was fully excited by the stirring events of the time.

Notwithstanding the fact that his mother had been a herb-seller, it is probable that his ﬁsther was a man of some family. That he was at least possessed of ample means, is evident from the care and expense bestowed upon our poet’s education. Under the tutorship of Anaxagoras, Prodicus, and Protagoras, he had studied both natural philosophy and rhetoric in its sophistical form. In gymnastic exercises be exhibited a successful prowess, being twice victorious in the Eleusinian and Thesean games. Of his skill in painting, some specimens were preserved at Megara.

His appearance as a dramatist was at an earlier age than that of his predecessors, as he was only ﬁve and twenty years