Though little is known for certain of his early life, Euripides was probably born around 460 b.c.e. to the farmer Mnesarchus and his wife Clito, and his studious nature quickly led him to a literary life in Athens. Euripides turned to playwriting at a young age, achieving his first victory in the dramatic competitions of the Athenian City Dionysia in 441 b.c.e. He would be awarded this honor three more times in his life, and once more posthumously. His plays are often ironic, pessimistic, and display radical rejection of classical decorum and rules. Together with Aeschylus and Sophocles, Euripides would provide the canon of Greek tragedy and thereby lay the foundation of Western theatre. ‘Rhesus’ takes place during the Trojan War, and, as in book 10 of Homer’s ‘Iliad’, depicts the night when Odysseus and Diomedes sneak into the Trojan camp. There has been some debate as to the authorship of ‘Rhesus’, but modern scholars believe Euripides to be the correct author.
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