Death of Aeschylus

[snopes]

Comment: I have seen several web sites which claim that the ancient Greek playwrite Aeschylus died when a vulture (or
an eagle) dropped a tortoise on his head, apparently mistaking his bald head for a rock. Can you confirm this?

[Andrew of Ware]

I have heard this story as well. However, I cannot find any reference to it in any of my books on Greek history - except the children's book, 'The Groovy Greeks'. This is in the 'Horrible Histories' series and is often more concerned with comedy than with accuracy.

In 'Greece and the Hellenistic World' (part of the 'Oxford History of the Classical World') it mentions that Aeschylus wrote his own epitaph. It said that he wanted to be remembered as a soldier in the infantry at the Battle of Marathon, not as a playwright. There is no mention on the manner of his death.

A lengthy article in the 'Encyclopaedia of the Ancient Greek World' (edited by David Sacks) mentions an anecdote from his early life but merely says that he died in Sicily at the age of 69 (456 BC). Once again the manner of his death is not mentioned.

Is Sicily noted for its short-sighted eagles?

(I have copied and pasted this from the 'old' forum. I hope that this is all right.)

[bthyb]

I have a children's book that mentions this story as well; the book is called "Would You Believe" - at least, I believe that's the title.

The book is in Maryland and I'm in California, so I can't access it right now.

[Johnny Slick]

It's "traditional", meaning that for all we know it's not even remotely true but there's no real way to prove it one way or another. We're talking about a period where basically the *only* thing we know about these folks is the literature they left behind. I don't believe there's any actual evidence that Socrates existed anywhere outside of Plato's mind. Given that, I don't think this particular legend can ever rise above "undetermined" status.

If it helps at all, the Greeks seem to be all about making up stupid deaths for famous people or else famous people died in some weird ways. Chrysippus, for instance, supposedly died of laughter after watching a donkey try to eat figs. I'm not sure what's uproariously funny about that, but these are people who thought that rocks fell to the ground because they wanted to return to their native earth. Just sayin'.

[ganzfeld]

Originally Posted by Johnny Slick

Chrysippus, for instance, supposedly died of laughter after watching a donkey try to eat figs. I'm not sure what's uproariously funny about that, but these are people who thought that rocks fell to the ground because they wanted to return to their native earth. Just sayin'.

There is another story told about Aeschylus, probably apocryphal. Aeschylus and Euripides were two great tragedians. Aeschylus wrote "Eumenides". Later, the two playwrights got together to start a tailor shop: Euripides, Eumenides.

[Andrew of Ware]

According to one book I read Aeschylus wrote his own epitaph in which he said he wanted to be remembered as an infantryman in the Battle of Marathon rather than as a playwright. Perhaps he thought that the sword is mightier than the pen.

[Richard W]

Originally Posted by Andrew of Ware

According to one book I read Aeschylus wrote his own epitaph in which he said he wanted to be remembered as an infantryman in the Battle of Marathon rather than as a playwright. Perhaps he thought that the sword is mightier than the pen.

The wikipedia page gives the text of the actual epitaph on his "gravestone" (although it doesn't say where that is), which "may have been written by him":

This tomb the dust of Aeschylus doth hide,
Euphorion's son and fruitful Gela's pride
How tried his valor, Marathon may tell
And long-haired Medes, who knew it all too well.

They give their source as "'Anthologiae Graecae Appendix, vol. 3, Epigramma sepulcrale 17" - I don't know whether that means the inscription itself still survives or not.

The only source for the tortoise story I can see is "legend" - somebody must have been the first to write it down, though.

It doesn't appear to have been a contemporary story, anyway:

Aeschylus, Perseus Encyclopedia

No reliable contemporary source provides us with any detailed information about the life of Aeschylus, but later sources allow us to piece together an outline. The Parian Marble informs us that Aeschylus was thirty-five years old at the battle of Marathon. A bit later, the same source asserts that Aeschylus died at the city of Gela in Sicily in 456/55 and informs us that he was sixty-nine years old at the time. This would place his birth at 525/4.

The Parian Marble is in the Ashmolean in Oxford. It has one reference to a different Aeschylus, a king of Athens, but the ones about the playwright are here and here:

48) From when the Athenians fought at Marathon against the Persians, and Ar[taphernes the] nephew of Darius, [and Da]tis the general, which battle the Athenians won, 227 years, when the second [Ph]ain[i]p[pid]es was archon at Athens. Aeschylus the poet fought in this battle, aged 35.

...

50) From when Aeschylus the poet first won with a tragedy, and Euripides the poet was born, and Stesichorus the poet [arrived] in Greece, 222 years, when Philocrates was archon in Athens.

59) From when Aeschylus the poet, having lived for 69 years, died in [Gel]a in Sicily, 193 years, when Callias the earlier was archon at Athens.

The Perseus Encyclopedia page gives a list of later sources about Aeschylus, including Aristophenes and Aristotle, but I searched the Aristophanes plays in question (The Frogs and The Clouds) and the story isn't in those either.

(I also searched an online edition of Herodotus's Histories on the off-chance before finding this source list, which was a long shot; apparently no mention of Aeschylus in there.)

I would think, perhaps, death from above (tortoise corollary) was certainly not the intention of the eagle. Perhaps it just missed the stone it was aiming at.

Just a useful reminder:

Cuius testiculos habes, habeas cardia et cerebellum.

1 point for reference.

Gofer

[geminilee]

Small Gods, Terry Pratchett. Too easy.

[vison]

Originally Posted by ganzfeld

There is another story told about Aeschylus, probably apocryphal. Aeschylus and Euripides were two great tragedians. Aeschylus wrote "Eumenides". Later, the two playwrights got together to start a tailor shop: Euripides, Eumenides.

Indeed. Hm. I have to have 10 characters? I do now.