Aeschylus: The Persians (Classical Texts Ser.)) [Paperback]

E. Hall (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 2007 | ISBN-10: 0856685976 | ISBN-13: 978-0856685972

A ghost summoned with bizarre rituals from the underworld, the elaborate protocol of the Persian court, a thrilling eye-witness account of the battle of Salamis - as the earliest surviving European drama it is of incalculable interest for students of ancient literature: as the only extended account of the Persian wars by an author who fought in them it is a unique document. This is the first English edition for thirty-five years, in parallel translation with introduction and commentary.

Product Details

• Paperback: 201 pages
• Publisher: Aris & Phillips (December 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0856685976
• ISBN-13: 978-0856685972
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 6.8 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,299,052 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Greek tragedy by Aeschylus based on historical events, April 19, 2003

By 

Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Aeschylus: The Persians (Classical Texts Series) (Hardcover)

"The Persians" is a minor work in the extant plays of Aeschylus, but has considerable historical if not dramatic significance. The play is the second and only remaining tragedy from a lost tetralogy that is based on the historical events of the Persians Wars. The play was first performed in 472 B.C., eight years after the defeat of the invaders at the Battle of Salamis, and the speech by the Messenger has been assumed to be a fairly accurate description of the battle. Aeschylus had fought the Persians at the Battles of Marathon and Salamis, which certainly lends authenticity to his description of events.

However, the focus of the play is on the downfall of the Persian Empire because of the folly of Xerxes. After the ghost of Darius, father of Xerxes and the leader of the first Persian invasion that was defeated at the Battle of Marathon laments the ruin of the great empire he had ruled, Xerxes offers similar histrionics concerning the destruction of his fleet. One of the reasons that "The Persians" is interesting is because Aeschylus presents Xerxes, a foreign invader, as exhibiting the same sort of hubris that afflicts the greatest of mythological heroes in these Greek tragedies. Laud and honor is given the Athenians for defeating the Persians in battle, but Aeschylus surprisingly provides a look at the Persian king's culpability in the downfall of his own empire. There is a reference in the play to the tradition that Xerxes was descended from Perseus (for whom the Persian race was therefore named), but even so it seems quite odd to turn him into a traditional Greek tragic hero.

Aeschylus won the festival of Dionysus in 472 B.C. with the tetralogy of "Phineus," "The Persians," "Glaucus of Potniae," and the satyr play "Prometheus the Fire-Kindler." Phineas was the king who became the victim of the Harpies, while this particular Glaucus was the son of Sisyphus and the father of Bellerophon who was torn to pieces by his own mares. Consequently, this particular tetralogy clearly has the theme of kings brought down by their own folly. But even within that context, the fact that Aeschylus would write of a historical rather than legendary figure, not to mention a Persian rather than a Greek, remains more than a minor historical curiosity.