The Persians

Aeschylus’s tragedy depicts the Persian defeat at Salamis through the grief and reflections of the Persian court. First performed in 472 BCE, it is the oldest surviving Greek tragedy.

Battle of Salamis: A naval battle in 480 BCE in which a Greek fleet defeated the Persian fleet near Salamis. The battle’s Persian defeat is the catastrophe reported and mourned in the play.
Aeschylus: An ancient Greek tragedian whose surviving plays include The Persians, Seven Against Thebes, and the Oresteia. He turned a recent Greek victory into a tragedy centered on the defeated Persians.
Aeschylean trilogy: A set of three tragedies by Aeschylus presented together at an Athenian dramatic festival. The Persians was presented with Phineus and Glaucus Potnieus, now largely lost.
Persian Wars: A modern collective name for the conflicts between Greek states and the Achaemenid Empire. The drama presents one Greek victory without reducing its Persian losses to triumphal spectacle.
Xerxes I: Achaemenid Persian king who invaded Greece and ruled from 486 to 465 BCE. His failed invasion and return from Salamis drive the play’s central lament.
Greek tragedy: A form of ancient Greek drama featuring tragic action, a chorus, and performance at civic festivals. The play uses tragic conventions to shape a public account of war and loss.
City Dionysia: An Athenian festival honoring Dionysus that included dramatic competitions. The play won first prize at this festival in 472 BCE.
Barbarian (classical antiquity): A Greek term for people perceived as speaking unintelligibly or living outside Greek culture. The play complicates the Greek-Persian divide by giving Persian characters dignity and grief.
Atossa: Achaemenid queen, wife of Darius I and mother of Xerxes I. Her dream and questions frame the court’s response to the defeat.
Greek chorus: A group of performers who sing, dance, and comment on events in ancient Greek drama. The Persian elders voice collective fear and grief while the news unfolds.

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