Euripides was the last of the three great tragedians of Classical Greek theatre, alongside Sophocles and Aeschylus. He was supposedly born in Salamis in 480 BC, in the midst of the Persian War. It is thought that he wrote his plays in a secluded cave on Salamis Island, now come to be known as the Cave of Euripides. He competed in the City Dionysia competition for the first time in 455 BC, but he repeatedly came in third place until 441 BC, when he won first prize for a play as yet undiscovered.
He moved from Athens to Macedonia in 408 BC, where he spent the last few years of his life writing plays (including the Bacchae) in the court of King Archelaus. The most likely cause of his death in c. 406 BC is that he was not used to the harsh winters in Macedonia, but some more unusual sources claim that he was torn apart by women or eaten by King Archelaus’ dogs.