First performed in 472 BC, Persians by Aeschylus is the oldest extant Ancient Greek play.
Setting:
The Royal Palace of the the Persians at Susa, a few months after the Battle of Salamis [September 480 BC], which the Persians had lost. The Skene represents the tomb of Darius the Great [Xerxes' father].
Dramatis Personae:
Chorus of Persian Elders
Queen Atossa [mother of Xerxes, wife of Darius, queen mother of Persia]
The Ghost of Darius [the previous Persian king]
Messenger
Xerxes [king of kings Persia]
Summary:
Parodos [Lines 1-154]
Enter The Chorus of Persian Elders. They sing how they have been appointed by their rank to watch over the Persian Empire in the absence of King Xerxes, and how they cannot go to war because of their age.. They chant how Xerxes has summoned a vast and glorious army and navy, recruited from all over the Persian Empire, and taken it to Greece to avenge his father, the dead King Darius, for his defeat at the Battle of Marathon. They sing of their anxiety for the huge land and sea forces that have been sent. They sing of the crossing that Xerxes has made with his army at the Hellespont. And they praise its glory. They sing of the blindness that befalls every mortal, and the loneliness of the Persian women who have been left behind.
Enter Atossa (line 147) They make obeisance to her.
Episode 1 [Lines 155-531]
Atossa is also anxious. She tells of a dream she has had in which her son Xerxes had yoked two beautiful women in fine garb to his chariot, one dressed as a Persian and the other as a Dorian Greek. One was obedient to the tug of the reins and the other struggled in her harness. Her son was then thrown to the ground because the woman in the Greek dress had recalcitrantly tripped up and overturned the chariot. This dream was further reinforced by another vision which she had seen at the sacrificial altar at Darius' tomb, of a falcon attacking a frightened eagle. The eagle was defenceless.
She saw these dreams and visions as being ominous.
The Chorus advise her to make further sacrifices to the gods, and to summon the ghost of Darius for his prudence. She seeks answers from the leader of the chorus for news about the war,
enquiring where Attica is. She curious to
know why Xerxes would be at all interested in an insignificant land which is so far off. She learns of its richness from silver mines, military might and its democratic system of government,
A messenger enters. He announces that Xerxes huge fleet has all been destroyed except for a handful of ships, defeated at the sea battle of Salamis: the shores of that island are now strewn with large numbers of bodies all miserably done to death, The Chorus of Elders lament the losses. Atossa presses the messenger for more
details, The messenger tells her that the Greeks had only 300 ships, whereas the Persians had over 1207. The Persians, as they outnumbered the enemy, believed they should have won. She is comforted to learn that her son Xerxes, who had watched the battle from a safe vantage point on a high hill on the land, has survived. The
messenger delivered a long list of chiefs, warriors, and troops who will
not be coming back home.
Stasimon 1 [Lines 532-597]
The Chorus of Elders sing that it was the gods who brought about the defeat of the Persian fleet. And of how Xerxes had led his men off to foreign lands to die. They lament how king Darius' work had now all been for nothing, that the power of the Persian king is now gone; that the people of the Empire will no longer pay tribute to him or obey him.
Episode 2 [Lines 598-622]
In the second episode the grieving Queen prepares an offering to the gods of the Underworld, hoping that this would bring back the ghost of the late king Darius back to his palace. Just a few years after his death, Persia seems to need his wisdom and military prowess now more than ever.
Stasimon 2 [Lines 623 - 680]
The Chorus sings an ode to summon up the spirit of Darius. They sing of how great the Persian empire once was in the time of the late king Darius. They sing of its former glory. They list all the lands of the Empire he conquered and ruled over. They lament the loss of the battle of Salamis, saying how the gods have caused that loss and how it has brought an end to Persia's glory.
The ghost of Darius appears above his tomb. He learns of the ruin of the Persian fleet and his son's impious yoking of the Hellespont, He reveals his surprise at the speed which an oracle had indeed come true, one which had foretold that the gods would seek vengeance on Xerxes for his hubris, Atossa explains how Xerxes had been incited by the men surrounding him at court telling him all about about his father's glorious exploits. Darius then lists the glorious history of the Persian dynasty, which has now ended with Xerxes' folly and recklessness.
He tells the Persians that they are never again to attack Greece, prophesying that if they did they would suffer a further defeat at Plataea, which would brought on by their blasphemous destruction of Greece's shrines and temples,
The Ghost of Darius tells Queen Atossa to put on her best robes and to comfort her son, and it then disappears back into the ground.
The Queen is sorry for the dishonour which has befallen her son. She exits.
Stasimon 3 [Lines 852 - 907]
The Chorus chant in praise of Persia's former prosperity and glory in the time of Darius.
Exodos [Lines 908-1077]
Enter a folorn and broken Xerxes. He sings a lament [kommos] recalling bitterly his dead comrades and expressing disgust with himself. Xerxes and the Chorus then join together in a long lament for the slain. Exeunt.
References
Xerxes I - Wikipedia
Darius the Great - Wikipedia
Battle of Salamis - Military Wiki - Fandom
Battle of Salamis - Wikipedia
Barry Strauss (16 August 2005). The Battle of Salamis: The Naval Encounter That Saved Greece --
and Western Civilization. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-0-7432-7453-1.
Hellespont (Dardanelles) - Wikipedia
Atossa - Wikipedia
Atossa – Encyclopaedia Iranica
The Persians - Wikipedia
Persians by Aeschylus - GreekMythology.com
Aeschylus: Persians (Πέρσαι) - Wiley Online Library
The Persians - Aeschylus - Ancient Greece - Classical Literature
A Guide to Aeschylus’s “Persians” - The Getty Iris
The Persians - Course Hero
Aeschylus (1996 edition) - Open Library
Aeschylus: The Persians - Tom's Learning Notes
The Interpretation of Aeschylus' Persae on JSTOR
Greek Editions
Πέρσαι - Βικιθήκη
Aeschylus, Persians - Perseus Digital Library
Persae : Aeschylus - Internet Archive editied by A. Sidgwick
Scaife Viewer | Περσαι -Perseus Digital Library
Aeschylos Perser : Aeschylus - Internet Archive
The Persae of Aeschylus - Aeschylus - Google Books
The Persae of Aeschylus : Aeschylus - Internet Archive
Translations:
Four Plays of Aeschylus (1908) Morshead/Persians - Wikisource [includes audio]
Persians (Aeschylus) - Wikisource
Aeschylus; A F Garvie (27 August 2009). Περσαι: With Introduction and Commentary by A.F. Garvie. University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-926989-
Four Plays of Aeschylus - Persians, by Aeschylus
The Internet Classics Archive - The Persians by Aeschylus
Aeschylus, Persians - Perseus Digital Library
Aeschylus (2008). Aeschylus: Persians and Other Plays. OUP Oxford. ISBN 978-0-19-814968-2.
The complete Greek tragedies Volume I - The Persians trans. S.G. Bernadete.
Aeschylus; Phillip Vellacott (trans.) (1961). Prometheus Bound and Other Plays. Penguin Books Limited. ISBN 978-0-14-044112-3.
Aeschylus; Alan H. Sommerstein (tr.) (26 November 2009). The Persians and Other Plays: The Persians / Prometheus Bound / Seven Against Thebes / The Suppliants. Penguin Adult. ISBN 978-0-14-044999-0.
Aeschylus(vol 1) Loeb : Herbert Weir Smyth - Internet Archive
Audio/Visual
The Persians : Aeschylus - Internet Archive Librivox
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