Euripedes (c. 480-406 BC)

While Aeschylus examined divine justice and Sophocles explored fate, Euripides focused on something Athens found disturbing: the psychology of people driven past breaking points. His characters - vengeful women, traumatized soldiers, capricious gods - challenged comfortable assumptions.

Medea depicted infanticide chosen over humiliation. The Trojan Women portrayed military victory's brutal aftermath. Contemporary audiences reacted with discomfort, awarding him fewer prizes than rivals. He died in self-imposed exile. Yet posterity vindicated his approach completely. Eighteen of his approximately 92 plays survived - more than Aeschylus and Sophocles combined - because later generations recognized his psychological honesty as groundbreaking rather than unsettling.