As the representative of the new spirit of individualism in drama, he moved away from the metaphysical sublimity of the Aeschylian heroes and into a compassionate world of more human characters conscious of their social environment. His plays reflected the contemporary Athenian democracy, requiring the participation of all citizens in the political and social happenings. A student of Anaxagoras, he shared his teacher's belief that the world was created by a supreme Intelligence and in his plays he presented a value system, which was cultivated through rational approach. Tragedy is determined by the individual's passion, unique character and personal decisions. The psychological state of the individual character induces the dramatic conflicts and emphasizes the Protagorian concept "man is the measure of all things".

He belongs to the post-Sophocles generation. Born on the day of the battleship of Salamis which witnessed the Athenian glory and the Peloponnesian War. He started as a painter which enabled him to develop his personal aesthetics, a more individual perception of the world, as well as a greater freedom in expression. His education and his deep study of philosophy took him to a path of more humanistic values and his tragedies became the framework for examining man's ability to set the standard and become the measure of all things. All people were examined; citizens and slaves, men and women, poor, beggars and rich. And the world was seen through their individual actions and reactions. Technically, his work differed from Aeschylos' and Sophocles' as he detached the chorus from the organic part of the tragedy thus adding to the play a more realistic spirit. He widened the dramatic range and his prologues became more important as they 'told the story'. His main aim was the individual reaction and the development of character rather plot. His rhetorical strength, his elegance in style, his depth in character analysis (even through the explosion of passion, when necessary) make him, according to Aristotle, one of the most moving tragic poets.