Born, according to the legend in exile and fated to die in exile, Euripides in whatever light one regards him, is a man of curious and ironic history. As a poet he has lived through the ages in an atmosphere of controversy generally though by no means always loved by poets and despised by critics. As a thinker he is even to this day treated almost as a personal enemy by scholars of orthodox and conformist minds defended idealized and sometimes transformed beyond recognition by various champions of rebellion and the free intellect.
