Euripides

American  

[yoo-rip-i-deez, yuh-] / yʊˈrɪp ɪˌdiz, yə- /

noun

1. c480–406? b.c., Greek dramatist.

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Euripides British  

/ jʊˈrɪpɪˌdiːz /

noun

1. ?480–406 _bc , Greek tragic dramatist. His plays, 18 of which are extant, include Alcestis, Medea, Hippolytus, Hecuba, Trojan Women, Electra, Iphigeneia in Tauris, Iphigeneia in Aulis, and Bacchae

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Euripides Cultural  

1. An ancient Greek dramatist. He was the author of numerous tragedies, including the Bacchae, Medea, and The Trojan Women. He often used the device of deus ex machina (literally, “a god from the machine”) to resolve his plots.

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Today, a “deus ex machina” refers to any person or event that provides a sudden, unexpected solution to a problem or situation.

Other Word Forms

• Euripidean adjective

Example Sentences

But while the bloody rites of the original Euripides are at the heart of the tale, this version is so relentlessly digressive and irreverent that it plays more like parody than tragedy.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 15, 2025

Plays by Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides illuminated how pride, injustice and failed leadership could threaten a community.

From Salon • Apr. 13, 2025

Jackson is part of a long tradition of dissenting, critical-minded dramatists, dating back to Euripides and extending through George Bernard Shaw to the present.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 6, 2024

He studied Greek and quoted freely from Homer and Euripides.

From National Geographic • Nov. 16, 2023

Cleopatra read Homer’s epics, The Iliad and The Odyssey, poetry by Hesiod and Pindar; and plays by Euripides and Menander.

From "Sterling Biographies®: Cleopatra: Egypt's Last and Greatest Queen" by Susan Blackaby