One of the three great Greek tragic poets of the 5th century BC, Euripides (480-406) was a highly educated Athenian from a prosperous family and a dramatist whose work was strongly influenced by the Sophists. Regarded as a “philosopher of the stage”, he portrays his heroes realistically and presents human emotions and situations in a manner that reflects everyday reality. We know of ninety-two plays attributed to him, but only eighteen tragedies survive complete (Alcestis, Andromache, Bacchae, Electra, Hecuba, Helen, Heracleidae, Heracles, Hippolytus, Ion, Iphigenia in Aulis, Iphigenia in Tauris, Medea, Orestes, Phoenician Women, Rhesus, Suppliants, The Trojan Women), along with Cyclops, the only complete surviving ancient satyr play.