Trios in literature

[Leopard]

Why is it that great writers often seem to be grouped into threes? Such as the Greek tragedians (Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides), the Roman poets (Virgil, Horace, Ovid), the Renaissance Italian poets (Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio), the great English writers (Chaucer, Shakespeare, Milton), the French dramatists (Corneille, Molière, Racine) and so on.

[OrphanPip]

Why is it that great writers often seem to be grouped into threes? Such as the Greek tragedians (Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides), the Roman poets (Virgil, Horace, Ovid), the Renaissance Italian poets (Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio), the great English writers (Chaucer, Shakespeare, Milton), the French dramatists (Corneille, Molière, Racine) and so on.

I suspect it's probably the same reason why we give special recognition to the top three performers in sporting events. Western culture has historical given particular significance to the number 3.

Although, the three Greek tragedians happen to be the only Classical Athenian playwrights to have their works survive.

[ennison]

This seems like a contrivance. Who says they come in threes?