They sent forth men to battle, But no such men return; And home, to claim their welcome, Come ashes in an urn

At least one of his works was influenced by the Persian invasion of Greece which took place during his lifetime. Hugh Lloyd-Jones (Regius Professor of Greek Emeritus at Oxford University) draws attention to Wagner's reverence of Aeschylus. During Aeschylus's lifetime dramatic competitions became part of the City Dionysia in the spring.

So important was the war to Aeschylus and the Greeks that upon his death around 456 BC his epitaph commemorated his participation in the Greek victory at Marathon rather than his success as a playwright. 456/455 BC) was the first of the three ancient Greek tragedians whose plays can still be read or performed the others being Sophocles and Euripides. He was probably the first dramatist to present plays as a trilogy and his Oresteia is the only ancient example of the form to have survived.