Aeschylus, EHS kuh luhs (525-456 B.C.) was the earliest writer of Greek tragedy whose plays exist in complete form. He wrote more than 80 plays, of which seven survive. These seven plays reveal a deeply patriotic and religious artist who brought Greek tragedy to maturity. Before Aeschylus, tragedies had a single actor who could only respond to the questions or suggestions of the chorus. Aeschylus increased the number of actors to two, which created dialogue that permitted interaction between characters.