THE PERSIANS

Purchase The Persians

THIS play offers the only instance in the Aeschylean tragedies of the use of a plot taken from other than Homeric sources. It was written to celebrate the final defeat of the armies of Xerxes, but was not exhibited until 472 B.C., seven years after the hostile army had departed, never to return. The scene is laid in Persia, among the very enemies against whom the Greeks had fought for more than eleven years. The successive scenes give the narrative of the defeat and ruin of the Persian forces. One sees the oriental setting, the fear of the down-trodden subjects in the presence of their despotic ruler, the votive offerings and libations of Queen Atossa, and finally the sorrow and wailing of Xerxes and his courtiers at the news of the disaster. It is easy to imagine how such a play would feed the secret pride and exultation of a Greek audience. It is, however, far more than a boastful picture of Greek triumph and Persian defeat; rather is it a moral lesson on the subject of tyranny, designed to touch the heart and conscience of every oppressor, whether Greek or barbarian.

Purchase The Persians

• Aeschylus and His Tragedies - Biography of the Greek dramatist and analysis of his poetic qualities.
• Aeschylus Characterized - A brief poetic impression of the works of Aeschylus.
• Aeschylus Forever Lost - An account of the destruction of the complete works of Aeschylus.
• Changes Made by Aeschylus - An analysis of the innovations made by Aeschylus in the drama.
• The Eclipse of Aeschylus - Revered as Aeschylus was in his life and honored in his death, yet there arose a generation that laughed at his archaic diction and ridiculed his plots.
• The Oresteia - Summary and analysis of the dramatic trilogy by Aeschylus consisting of: Agamemnon, The Choëphoræ, and The Eumenides.
• Patriotic and Religious Ideas of Aeschylus - Like most of the earlier Athenian poets, Aeschylus was intensely national. His plays reveal a constant care and anxiety for Greece and the traditions of greatness which she inherited.
• The Persians - An analysis of the play by Aeschylus.
• Prometheus Bound - Summary and analysis of the play by Aeschylus.
• The Renown of Aeschylus after his Death - An account by Victor Hugo of the near deification of Aeschylus by the Greeks after his death.
• The Seven Against Thebes - A brief summary of the play.
• Aeschylus (c. 525-456 BC) - A biography.