Πέρσαι
Persians
Aeschylus · first staged City Dionysia, 472 BC · first prize
At Susa, the Persian court waits for news of Xerxes’ army in Greece. A messenger brings it: the fleet is destroyed at Salamis. Xerxes comes home in rags.
Persons, in order of appearance
- Χο.Chorus
- Βα.Atossa
- Αγ.Messenger
- Δα.Ghost of Darius
- Ξε.Xerxes
Translations
- H. W. Smythprose · 1922 · aligned by line · with Smyth's Greek
- E. D. A. Morsheadverse · 1881–1908 · aligned by speech · with Murray's Greek
- Ian Johnston (VIU)verse · aligned by speech · with Murray's Greek
Greek texts
Cite as Aesch. Pers. 1–1077
Full synopsis (tells the ending)
At Susa the elders of the Persian council wait for word from Xerxes' expedition against Greece. Atossa, the queen mother, comes out troubled by a dream. A messenger arrives with the news of Salamis: the fleet destroyed, the army in retreat over a starving country. Atossa and the elders call up the ghost of Darius, who blames his son's pride and foretells the defeat at Plataea. Xerxes himself comes home in torn robes, and the play ends in lament.
Drawing: Line drawing after the 1883 plate of an Apulian amphora in Naples (Heydemann, Hallisches Winckelmannsprogramm 8); cut out and retraced.