Commonplace Fun Facts

The Author of Tragedies Was the Victim of One

Advertisements

Aeschylus, the great Athenian author of tragedies, died in 455 BC. He was killed when an eagle mistook his head for a rock and tried to crack a tortoise’s shell by dropping it on the shiny object below.

Pliny, in his Naturalis Historiæ, adds that Aeschylus had been staying outdoors to avert a prophecy that he would be killed by a falling object.

The death of Aeschylus illustrated in the 15th century Florentine Picture Chronicle by Maso Finiguerra.

Read about more strange deaths.

Read about more strange coincidences.

Advertisements

Advertisements