Like many other components of Western civilization, drama and playwriting can be traced back to ancient Greece. Drama was invented during festivals which honored the god Dionysus. Each play had three playwrights and they each presented one part of a trilogy of tragedy dramas. 

One of the most well-known playwrights was Aeschylus (525-456 BC) who wrote more than 80 plays and half a dozen of them are still around today. A deeply religious man, he thought that gods could tempt men into evil and put men into morally impossible predicaments, in which whatever they did there would be punishment. Aeschylus’ play tells one of these situations: the king must defend his city, but his brother is among the attackers. So it is impious for him to flee or to fight. 

Sophocles is most famous for writing the character Oedipus. Similar to many of his other works, Sophecles describes Oedipus trying to escape a horrible fate or prophetically imposed on him by the gods. An entire trilogy of Oedipus describes how he desperately tries to escape his destiny but ends up fulfilling it anyway. 

Euripides was an extremely controversial playwright who was contemptuous and critical of the gods. Loathed by traditionalists, he was a skeptic and often put this into his plays. Many times, Euripides wrote plays disproving Greek myths and traditions. Despite this, Euripides is easier to follow, translates better into English, and his concept of a tragedy is closer to ours than the other playwrights. 

At the time, the most popular playwright was a traditionalist and comic called Aristophanes. He believed in religion and opposed popular rule. Gaining the people’s support, Aristophanes wrote various plays mocking Euripides and satirizing politicians instead of the general public. Hilariously, he won first prize for a play making fun of Euripides. 

In Greek culture, there was a heavy emphasis on buildings, vases, and statues. Although some modern historians say that the Greeks were a progressive and irreligious culture, the vast majority of the population were faithful to the gods and there were few radicals trying to destroy Greek mythology and tradition.